 evening. A Donegal TD says the ongoing controversy surrounding fish weighing in Kili Beggs is costing Southwest Donegal dearly in terms of money and jobs and requires direct intervention from the Taoiseach in factory weighing permits have been removed by the Chief Fisheries Protection Authority from two processors after catches were landed in Derry. The SFPA subsequently deemed Derry to be outside of Ireland. That's the fact that Sinn Féin Marine spokesperson Podrick McLaughlin says suggests Meehole Martin's shared Ireland brand is a hypocritical designation. Tony McLaughlin says untold damage could be done. It's an absolute calamity. It's cost the local community in Southwest Donegal a fortune of money. It's cost people their jobs and it's bureaucratic madness. What's been asked of fishermen and fish producers in Kili Beggs is not asked of anybody anywhere else in Europe. That's the scale of the madness that we're dealing with here and when they were forced then to land their catch in Derry they're being punished and penalised. Indeed their businesses, the future of their businesses are put at threat. Irish households are paying around 250 euro more per year for electricity than our European neighbours. New euro stat figures compiled before the conflict in Ukraine show electricity prices here were already 26% higher than the EU average. With more here's Maria Cleary. The euro stat analysis published in the Irish independent shows Ireland has the fourth most expensive electricity costs in the EU with only Germany, Denmark and Belgium more expensive. We're paying around 250 euro more each year than the EU average. However the figures are compiled before the war in Ukraine and so don't reflect the latest energy crisis which could see Irish households paying an extra 800 euro a year because of recent price hikes. Although taxes and government levies here are regularly criticised they are not the reason Irish consumers are paying more. Derek Hasidy from the price comparison website bonkers.ie is quoted as saying that once those charges are excluded net electricity prices here are 60% above the EU average. Suggesting that prices charged by suppliers in Ireland are the most expensive charged in the European Union. 100 new jobs have been announced for the north west medical device firm Arotech is to expand its headquarters in Sligo town. Recruitment will begin immediately with design engineers, project managers, finance, customer service and admin personnel being sought and the government is set to extend the lower 9% of that rate for the hospitality industry. The measure introduced to help combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was to have expired in August. Finance Minister Pascal Donahue is seeking cabinet approval today to keep the lower that rate possibly until the end of this year. Well, Paul Recriban the chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland says it should apply next year as well. Any extension is welcome, but I think it would be important to give certainty for the 2023 season. There are many businesses, coach tours, coach hire, that kind of stuff who price out for the full year and they're now fixing for next year. So while what is mooters is welcome and bear in mind until the minister speaks we don't know exactly what it is and we would like to see it extended to the end of 2023. Lustry today with sunny spells and scattered showers heavy at times highs of 13 or 14 degrees Celsius in moderate to fresh and gossy south-westerly winds increasing strong at times near coastal areas. That's Ireland Radio News back with more at 10 o'clock. COVID-19 can still cause serious illness especially in people at higher risk. We need to keep protecting each other so stay home if you have symptoms. Wear a mask in healthcare settings, public transport and busy places. Let fresh air in if you're meeting indoors. Keep hands clean and get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster. Let's keep looking out for each other from the HSC for us all. Hello a very good morning and you're very welcome along to the 9 till noon show on this Tuesday which is the 10th of May 2022 five minutes past nine. Did I mention that already? It's good to have you on board, it's good to have you listening to the program across the northwest on your radio. Don't forget to wherever you are you might even get a slightly better reception. You can always listen to us on your smart speaker just give your command and say play Highland Radio. If you want to you can watch us, you can hop on our website right now highlandradio.com, click the link, watch in your browser. Later on you'll see the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. She's joining us for chat a little later on. Of course she is visiting Donegal where her grandparents are from so we're going to be talking to her and so much more besides. We also did a little bit digging on the hotel prices, do you remember? Yesterday we had a couple of callers in texting us in saying that they were pricing, they were pricing hotels and they were coming back at astronomical rates 600, 700, 800, 900 per night and the theme there was that they were being booked via a third party the likes of booking.com and others. Well we've been doing a little bit of investigation when I say we I mean Donna Marie's been doing a little bit of investigating into this and we're going to see what difference it makes if you contact these hotels locally now not locally sorry directly now as I say it's not scientific we rang around a few to see what the story was. Right so I'll give you those that information now because we took three as an example okay. I'll come back to that in a second actually stay there because we we we've compared ringing direct to the likes of calling or going online at the likes of a third party site like booking.com and we're going to tell you what the difference might be. Well let's run through the papers first why break the habit of a lifetime. We'll start with the Dairy Journal. Sinn Fein president Marilyn McDonald has urged the immediate formation of a new executive under the joint leadership of First Minister to be Michelle O'Neill following an historic election for the party. Politics is about partnership it's about fair play said the Sinn Fein leader she arrived along with Michelle O'Neill at the Meyerfeld Count Centre at the weekend. Sinn Fein has made headlines around the world after topping the poll in the assembly election but Marilyn McDonald said delivery for local people was the urgent priority now we do know the DUP they want rid of the Northern Ireland protocol before they will enter power which is obviously interesting in that the assembly in and of itself if it is in power if it's not in power it's not within its gift to do anything really about the Northern Ireland protocol but interestingly Britain's Queen is going to well it's her declaration today she's not doing it because her balance is off but there was some talk that maybe this address today would include something as it relates to the Northern Ireland protocol but we understand that that's not going to be the case I don't know if that's the British government again sort of shafted the DUP a little bit but we shall see how all that unfolds the Donegal people's press today new industrial units are to be developed on the site in letter Kenny that was destroyed by a fire two years ago Donegal County councillors granted conditional planning for the development at the former Watson hire site in Kiltoy on the evening of June 15th 2020 a massive fire in Gulf the premises the staff were pulling the shotters around six p.m a huge bang was heard inside frightened staff members fled to safety in a blaze ravaged through the building with a minute's thick plumes of black smoke rose into the letter Kenny skyline and were visible four miles well Austin Reynolds has been granted permission to redevelop the site he sought permission for the demolition of the fire damaged stores and building and applied for the construction of a new development four light industrial units with ground floor and mezzanine levels including storage were applied for Mr Reynolds also sought permission for associated site works including reconnection to storm and foul drainage so some development going on there you heard Donal reference in the news I'm sure the fact that we are Europe's mugs clearly you know when we talk about everything that's going on we were mentioning our percentage of our catch in our own waters you know how the fact that you know we really had to the ones that were forced to dig deepest it seems during the market crash during the recession now we'll just be we have to pay 250 euro more for electricity than our EU neighbours for what reason there's no reason at all it's not to do with levees it's not to do with charges we have a landscape that's everywhere you turn now there's windmills and more planned and plans to put offshore wind and all that type of stuff and you would think there has to be some dividend for that doesn't there has to be some some payback some offset for us well there isn't because for whatever reason we simply are just because we're Irish because we live in Ireland we are being charged 250 euro more for electricity than the EU average so I'll read on here Irish householders are paying 250 euro more for the electricity each year compared to our European counterparts electricity prices in Ireland are 26 percent above the EU average and are the fourth most expensive in the block only Germany Denmark and Belgium are more expensive figures from euro stats show however the report does not capture the full extent of the energy crisis this is because the figures were compiled long before the war in Ukraine broke out and before many suppliers were increasing their prices again householders here pay 800 euro per year more in electricity costs due to recent price hikes the high cost of electricity comes despite the fact there are around a dozen suppliers in the residential market the euro stat report also shows that Ireland is the eighth most expensive country for residential gas in the EU however gas prices here are almost the same as the EU average that's fine but I mean why if we have multiple electricity suppliers here and this electricity can be supplied elsewhere in Europe what is going on that the lowest figure in Ireland is set so much higher than the average figure in Europe if there is true competition here surely the price would be driven down like a tendering process you know the lowest bid gets it how can it be that all of the companies in the Irish market will not bid any lower than 250 euro per year higher than the European average it's very I don't want to use the word suspicious but certainly requires further investigation I'm sure there are journalists working on that the Irish Times this morning efforts to form a power sharing government installment were deadlocked last night after dup leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would not go back into the executive until there was decisive action on the Northern Ireland protocol this of course despite most people elected in Northern Ireland not looking for it to be removed it's just really I think mainly the dup well speaking following a meeting with Northern Secretary Brandon Lewis and Belfast Mr Donaldson said his party made it's position clear he said it was the possession we've held before the election throughout the election campaign and will continue to hold and that is until we get decisive action taken by the UK government on the protocol we will not be nominating ministers to the executive the assembly is due to meet for the first time on Friday but without a dup nomination for deputy first minister a new executive cannot be formed and with no immediate prospect of resolution the north is facing a long period of political stalemate which could last up to six months and potentially a fresh election so in that speech from Britain's Queen today they're going to the the British are going to sort of prioritize further negotiations with the EU rather than making any decisions that would contravene international law we'll see how it plays out I just wanted to get it sorted you know there is a lot of money available that could be spent on the real things in Northern Ireland like we mentioned yesterday hospitals schools all that type of stuff business supports development and that really is the what should be the priority shouldn't it and I'm sure the dup would argue that is their priority but they believe that the Northern Ireland protocol is stifling the future or something along those lines I'm sure the Irish Daily Mail tells us today that Ireland should ban ads for formula milk to encourage breastfeeding a senator has suggested independent senator Alice Mary Higgins the daughter of the president Michael D Higgins is picking up the mantle of her parents who recently said the marketing of formula milk was manipulative now I just wonder and we have one of the lowest rates of of breastfeeding in Ireland and Ireland is one of the lowest levels of breastfeeding in Europe is it because of adverts for formula milk I mean obviously formula milk is there it's an option a lot of people avail of it but I wonder is the fact that it's available and advertised is that what would be discouraging people from breastfeeding I'm not too sure about that to be honest with you I think there's other things that be going on I think we've skipped a couple of generations of breastfeeding and there's probably not we could probably look at more supports in hospitals prenatal postnatal supports for people because it's very it can be a very difficult time I don't know I think it's just the the path of least resistance looking at adverts as being a solution to this but anyway there's others that know way way more than about this than I do anyway the proposal to crack down on the advertisements will be brought to the Shannad tomorrow as an amendment to the online safety and media regulations bill however one finnegal senator said the campaign was a red herring the move is being encouraged by the World Health Organization which is reported that formula milk companies are paying social media platforms and influencers to gain direct access to pregnant women and mothers at the most vulnerable moments in the lives are lent as one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world with that six percent of mothers still breastfeeding six months after birth senator Higgins told the Irish Daily Mail the lucrative business of advertising formula needs to be curtailed and perhaps it should I just think that if all the rights supports and encouragements and options were given so that people felt that they you know they weren't being pressured into it or that it's something that had a bit of space to try and work on and that wasn't working then maybe you could look at other things I just think it's bigger than that but what would I know compared to the WHO right the Irish Daily Mirror and just fingers in the ears if you're a little bit sensitive or even you wouldn't have to be a little bit sensitive the HSC it's just about where we spend our money in the health service and maybe this is good news or bad news I really don't know but the HSC paid more than one million euro for 69 men to be fitted with bionic penises the devices which is also known as a penile prosthesis is surgically implanted and can be manually inflated allowing a male patient to records released under the freedom of information act show that 86 men were fitted with the bionic devices in public hospitals between 2012 and 2020 69 of whom were public patients the remaining 17 either paid for the procedure privately or were covered by health insurance the word bionic is best known in relations to the 1970s classic tv series the six million dollar man the paper points out for some reason and it actually goes in to talk about the character Lee majors I think Dara McDonnell has gone off on want to weave it not article but anyway a million euro perhaps for those affected it represents good value for money the Irish Sun today won in seven footy fans and I'm fulfilling this is a survey out of Britain but it might apply here to one in seven footy fans love their club more than their partner and Jordy's are most devoted a quarter of New Castle United supporters would put the magpies before their wife or husband least bothered when large fans with just 8% putting the top flight flops first across all supporters 15% admitted loving their team more than their significant other the poll for sonos found Newcastle fan Andy Brookhouse 42 said his partner knew he was more in love with them than he was with her the carpet fitter said I met my partner three years ago but I've been going to st. James Park since I was a lad she has come to accept she takes second place to Newcastle United she really hit the jackpot there didn't she where her partner is publicly stating that he loves Newcastle more than her and not only that but publicly stating on her behalf that she fully accepts that okay and finally just from the world of showbiz would be watching the Eurovision semifinals Brook of course from the northwest will be representing Ireland I think it would be a travesty if she doesn't make the final because it's a good song whether you like the song itself or not it is a good pop song it's a decent Eurovision song and it seems it's likely she might get to the final and I would love it for her and for the country if she did the only thing not the only thing is is I mean Ukraine is going to win it okay it doesn't really matter if someone goes up on stage and puts their arm hand under their armpit and stops making raspberry noises the Ukraine are going to win it because of of what's going on and fair play so really what we're looking at here is who's going to come second to the Ukraine but Ireland's odds of reaching the Eurovision final have been slashed amid a flurry of bets but Ukraine is still tipped to win patriotic punters are rallying behind dairy native Brooks Gullion who's 23 to reach the final in the Italian city of Turin despite not qualifying since 2018 there's been a last-minute show support for Ireland to qualify from the second semi-final on Thursday with odds slashed to 10 to 3 from 5 to 1 yesterday so is the first semi-final tonight second semi-final which Ireland is in on Thursday and then the final itself takes place on Saturday night okay 08 6 60 25,000 what's up some text please to that number we have loads coming up on the show for you to get involved in if it tweaks your interest but we want you to raise your issues too i know many of you contact us directly via email and facebook but listen you can get through things moving quickly if you give us a call as well 07491 25,000 07491 25,000 or as I said that what's up text number 08 6 60 25,000 the newspapers are courtesy of Kelly centra mountain top letter Kenny the fishermen working the seas off Ireland bring us a real bounty every day like Irish crab meat low in fat and brim full of protein omega-3 and essential vitamins and minerals for lunch or dinner Irish crab meat is a delicious shellfish you can buy cooked and ready to go in your supermarket or fish muggers for great recipes online like crab pasta with cherry tomatoes and basil visit board via dot ie forward slash crab and make everyday meals amazing mcdades bathroom plumbing and tiles serving the northwest for over 40 years explore our showroom with more than 40 displays choose from an array of shower doors shower trays baths and bathroom accessories speak with an expert about tile selection and wall paneling we also stock an array of plumbing heating and stove spare parts as well as a great selection of kitchen mixers and radiators at our trade counter our stove department is also available for you to choose a style that suits your needs and complements your home mcdades bathroom plumbing tiles bunkrana we're here for you Ellen write what you want to be when you grow up on the blackboard Ellen remember to sign up for the swim team Ellen all competitors must register today turned into the history bus by wrong nothing is written until you write it Ellen can I have your autograph you write it we underwrite it Allianz proudly supporting Paralympics Ireland since 2010 the 9 til noon show with city of dairy airport pre-brook your airport parking fast track and launch access at cityofdairyairport.com for a stress-free start to your trip all right i took off early there right so we were talking about hotel prices whether you use the likes of booking.com I think it's the most popular so we'll use it but there's also a difference whether you use the booking.com app or a desktop and then you ring a premises over the telephone so we'll run through the various prices and then maybe we can come to a conclusion now we went for a peak time okay June 3rd and 4th it's a bank holiday weekend and we priced it for two adults and two children aged six and nine so we went down to westport to the Atlantic coast on booking.com on their mobile 1133 euro for those two nights if you booked on the desktop 1121 so you saved a bit of money there if you ran them directly this is Atlantic coast westport if you ran them directly the price was 486 euro that's a huge saving isn't it from 1133 to 486 so then we called a hotel in letterkenny over the same weekend to see what the story was on booking.com on the mobile right the hotel for those two nights for that family 385 euro which represents a decent value I think given the weekend that's in it if you have the money and you head in the way it's for two nights on a bank holiday weekend right but if you use booking.com on the desktop 428 euro so the difference between checking this hotel in letterkenny on the mobile on booking.com versus the desktop you saved considerably using the mobile app but if you rang them over the phone it was the same as the desktop price 428 euro a little bit confusing right desktop booking.com 428 for a hotel in letterkenny for those two nights over the phone 428 but if you went on your mobile 385 all right I don't necessarily know what the crack is there right booking.com on your mobile for juries in in Parnell street this is expensive whichever way you look at it 832 euro if you went on the booking.com website on mobile 832 on the website on your desktop 925 right so it's going up that's almost 100 euro saved by booking on your phone and over the telephone if you rang the hotel directly 969 euro so significantly more than booking.com on your mobile so the takeaway here is it's hit and miss it depends I think it depends on how many rooms booking.com has secured at the particular hotel and when you go on that website but I think really what the message is is don't take your first price price on your mobile price on your desktop and ring the hotel and go for the cheapest because there is hundreds of euro to be saved sometimes by ringing and also just by simply using your mobile instead of your laptop okay so just hopefully that's of some interest to you right Ian McLenny owns a caravan park he joins us now Ian thank you for taking the call right Ian we heard yesterday from a disgruntled caravan or I think you know he's been doing this for 15 odd years obviously then everyone was at it during lockdown and now he says post lockdown prices have gone through the roof he's going to see what the crack is this year and if prices don't come down he's going to pack in the activity all told but you own a caravan so can you give us some indication as to to why prices seem to be going up well great the price of everything is going up like last month I was paying 18.5 cents per kilowatt hour for an electric this month I'm paying 37.9 cents plus that for me like that's 100% increase water charges going up rates going up insurance is going up maintenance costs going up last year you were paying 80 euros a meter for concrete this year it's 125 a meter last year I put up new timber fencing thank god I done it last year because this year it cost me the double everything's going up you know do you think sometimes that people don't take into account making sure a place looks nice all the time because something can go into dereliction or rundown really really quickly I presume on the off season is when you do a lot of work around the caravan park do you think maybe that people don't see that and therefore don't factor that in when they're sort of criticising price hikes no they don't see that at all they just see you in the summer evening picking in this money but they don't see what's spun out on once the costs they give even standing charges for your electric you have about 300 pounds a month and they want to tail in the place close and the different things they got here you know they don't see that and your man also stated there yesterday and caller about um having to pay for pre booking well the the reason why that was on pictures was we would have got a lot of in the past people booking for the weekend and then maybe the weather went bad and they wouldn't arrive and they'll actually go on facebook and they'll say on facebook oh we do three parks and we decide in the morning on which one we go to but other people didn't see him yeah for the things that he said in fairness and that's the one I thought well to be honest if I were running a caravan park I probably would do that myself because we're here from the like the restaurant industry those in the you know hairdressing or nail bar industry you know people not turning up uh that that costs the business big time so I I think that I think that's reasonably and I think most people would think that's reasonable well if you want your uh your patch get pre booked guaranteed that you'll be there when you arrive mm you prepay if you want to arrive at the gate with the chance of getting in and maybe not get in the first could be bad but you can't have your cake uh you can't eat your cake you still have it you can't pre book and not turn up no but uh up until we have to just this uh prepay in before you put in your book and we would have them maybe 60 or 70 percent of people but the weather was bad not arriving and the place line empty so that's why we changed it now he also said that yesterday this guy that phoned on that uh everybody would be heading to foreign holidays once things get up and running and going right again I'd like to know what foreign holiday you could book without prepay off none none so I don't see where's item it as a product so we're out now for 20 years we have a lot of customers that would bring you up that's been there on team times like we don't keep pre booking for them because we know these genuine people yeah being with us maybe 20 30 times but I knew a new customer coming in you never met before you don't know if they're going to turn up or not we always take payments on the book yeah I don't think that's unreasonable in um how do you what are bookings like for the summer season is this going to be a bumper is it going to be normal is it going to be a dip after the the after the the the the spell of covid like what how do you think the summer is going to go well it's early yeah well it's bad yeah I think it will be as good as it was the last two years like we were packed out there for the two years whenever we could get open like we couldn't get open to the 29th of June year before last we opened the postage in I guess last year once we did get open then we're back to this you know we're turning away as many as we could let in frustrating I don't think I don't think it will be as good but it'll still be okay and do you think a lot of those were sort of new to the caravanning lifestyle because of covid and maybe they've they've put the trailer or whatever it might be up for sale on on don deal or the dealer or wherever else do you think or do you think they'll have caught the bug and you'll see them again this year well we I think we would have caught the bug and we'd see them and they didn't realize what good a crack it was and now we would have got a lot of people from Dublin last year we never got before I think what was happening in Dublin was because of the covid that we were afraid to head down the caravanning down there thinking it's packed out so they've come up to Donegal thinking it's quiet and when they landed up here they realized it's packed out up here too but we we would have got a hundred from from Dublin now that we never got before interesting we really interesting to see return buckings particularly from that kind of market Ian I think that would be you know really quite interesting and what about the the season sort of you know edging it out towards maybe the Halloween because the longer the season is obviously the better it is for you and the better it is for you the better it is for the local businesses as well that's how it all works do you know I mean obviously it's all weather dependent Ian but but do you see the season extending out naturally over the last couple of years no no the caravan season we do a lot of camps you know yeah and once you get into September and October days off will you get an odd foreigner and you know before the pandemic and that you would get an odd the hardy books jam and we'll get a lot of jam which would come with around September and that but uh days of death once it comes to September you make it depends on the weather you make it an odd weekend or so but you know but we do get an odd request to like I seen people asking to put up a tent Christmas week spend Christmas in the tent and did they oh we were closed we didn't you know I mean it's nice but I'm not sure I'd want to be cooking a turkey in a tent either no you get all sorts you know that's what I enjoy about so much I you meet people from all over the world every day of the week you don't know who's going to come in they get and all the stories and I tell them about all the history of the area and all around the year and they seem to enjoy that it's all that excitement of say if it's a caravan or it's pitch an attempt coming in and the young ones jumping out of the car and you know it's it's a lovely atmosphere to be around well I always say to them listen if you take a young family to the tail of that and saying it's time they'll forget that they were not holiday if you take them in a caravan in the or a tent and there's one to the shop when they're buying a tent and they're getting everything ready and everything packed into the car and landing on a park and all and something around campfire at night doing booking marshmallows men kind of things they'll never forget that yeah you find a lovely picture yep and listen hopefully uh you have a lovely another very successful summer and beyond and thanks for coming on thank you all right take care of yourself that's uh ian matelani there he's the owner of a caravan park and always good to get always good to get good perspectives on these things or different perspectives this color says the price is the price of a staycation is now matching that of a foreign holiday the reality is a foreign holiday will typically have more to do especially for children we're seeing a lot more last-minute cancellations because people are getting better get better deals abroad and this is not going to help uh prices no no like particularly tourism countries where that's their industry that's where they're geared and everything is geared up towards that you know they're looking to bounce back after uh covid and they're going to be offering great deals but it's not for everyone you know we're heading away in july and august uh it is just not for everyone with the heat and you know try booking maybe one or two nights in some of these hotels and you might get a different price compared to when you book out a week or 10 days i don't know there's it's different i think they're different products really to be honest with you but anyway we'll be back with more uh our next guest in fact after the break at m&s we know there are some essentials you buy weekend week out and we also know you want the best quality without flinching at the till so we're sure you will love remarkable value more than a hundred great quality products you use all the time all at a price you'll love you'll find pasta for 50 a liter of milk for only 85 and six eggs for just one euro 60 for m&s quality and everyday low prices choose remarkable value just one of the ways to save with m&s food subject to availability see in store for details make this gardening season a lot easier with the great range of garden equipment at great prices in watson hire leather kenny lawn mowers strimmers and hedge cutters scarifiers power washers and much more for sale and hire a full range of fertilizers and weed killers and great deals on paint and decorating accessories all at watson hire kill toy leather kenny for more see tiktok facebook or visit watsonhire.ie do you suffer from high cholesterol menopause symptoms digestive issues anxiety aches and pains or a lack of energy they're highly trained team at the natural way letter kenny can provide advice on natural remedies for a number of individual health issues the natural way also has its own brand of herbal treatments to help fight fatigue relieve digestive discomfort maintain a healthy immune system and alleviate common menopause symptoms the natural way at letter kenny shopping centre your one stop health shop now you might remember some time ago we did a result sorry we did an interview inviting you to take part in a national inpatient experience survey i think the hospital contacted people directly if they qualified during the time that was be analysed and and what have you but anyway the results of that survey have been released and we're joined now in the program by tracy o carroll who's head of national care experience program with hikwa and joins us on the line now good morning tracy morning greg how are you i'm okay i'm okay right um again and perhaps this is not surprising uh most people uh said they had a good experience um a good experience in in in hospital is that the standard one for you and yeah well i just remind everybody what it's all about of course go ahead tracy please yeah thanks so just it's the national care experience program so it's a partnership between the hsc the department of health um the health information and quality authority and the reason that's so important is that um it allows us all to use the findings in our own with our within our own remits so letter kenny um had 376 responses so that was everybody who is over 16 years of age and was in letter kenny university hospital and from september 1st to september 30th of 2021 were invited to tell us about their experience and remember we were still under covid restrictions and visitors you know were restricted etc so and they did phenomenally well to get such a higher results than as 81% who said that they had a good or very good experience and because the survey asked about the whole experience um from admission to care in the ward diagnosis and treatment and discharge and transfer so um uh like letter kenny did they did strongly um because they came out that they treated people with respect and dignity and that their hospital wards and bathrooms were clean and i mean obviously you know uh anyone that goes into hospital what they want is to be made better um to get home and if that happens and it's okay well you're up to high dole you know what i mean are we confident tracy that these surveys account for the fact that maybe or is it possible that maybe people who have a positive experience are more inclined to engage in this because they're so you know thank god to all the staff and the nurses were great rather than those that had a negative experience that might say you know what stuff that i don't want anything to do with that report i don't want anything to do with that hospital like do you believe and i'm not questioning tracy but do you believe this is a fair representation of people's experience in letter kenny university hospital and others and well we've never done a study on the people who don't respond and maybe that's a good idea greg we should take a look at that but um we do get negative um negative remarks as well are challenges and um and the strong piece about that is like for instance in letter kenny as in nationally actually discharge is our weakest area so people don't know what to expect when they go home they don't know when they're going home they don't know what to plan for when they go home um and letter kenny um are putting in kind of you know a response to that like they're putting in they've developed a leaflet to start you know the conversation with their patients about what what they need to think about for when they go home and when they will be going home um and another area is medication side effects and what to watch out for essentially the whole area around communication has always come across quite weak nationally and in letter kenny but it was stronger this year and that's because you know again we had the covert restrictions but patients really need to you know want the time um to sit down and talk to kind of their their doctors and their nurses to understand you know about their condition what the side effects of their medications and what the side effects of those are and they also would really like that their family members are involved in that because as we all know you know when someone's sick in our family when you know we all support them when they come home and we want to do the right thing and know what that right thing is you know so we need that support looking at the celta university care care group um over half of respondents felt they the care they received at hospitals within that group was very good which means that you know just short of half thought it was good or worse do you know where's our bar what what is our target there because you would hope that really the majority and an overwhelming majority would feel that they went in there they they could understand everything that was going on there was good communication the place was clean you know how high is our bar and we continually strive to improve um and i suppose at the moment i the focus um is on communication and discharge so we're taking letter kenny but actually the sales group are all putting in if they don't have them in i know they're in go away but um like they're putting in patient advocacy um managers which is a person who's going to go out talk to patients and see what they need and support them in every way possible and we have found that that is hugely like a positive role within hospitals and really helps patients to kind of navigate the hospital system and so our our bar is that everybody leaves with a good experience we don't want anyone to have a poor experience and and that is why it is really important that we hear you know about patients experience from their perspective not from you know the clinicians or the media it's from patients from the people actually using the service what's important and what's not and they're they're generally hugely complementary to like all staff members catering porcelain etc and of course the clinicians but they do notice the stress that they're under the you know if they're under a resource the facility challenges etc and they do comment on those and they they all help towards you know getting improvements in again because I just think a lot of people respond to these surveys are quite sympathetic to maybe the people that you talk of there I just wonder how truly were affected it is Tracy but I only hear probably you know people are probably motivated to contact programs like this when they've got a negative experience and perhaps less so when they've had a positive but the one thing that that surely is completely unacceptable I was sent pictures from from the hospital ED yesterday obviously not for publication or anything like that there but someone was so upset with what was happening they said look what's going on people sitting around the place people experiencing really long waits people that were really quite sick in one particular case that I'd be aware of over 70% of people attending the ED at Lederkin University Hospital waited more than six hours before being admitted so these were people sick enough deemed sick enough to be admitted to the hospital that's that's not acceptable listen no and that's for the HSC to work on that but I did I did note that they have improved since 2019 in their emergency department timelines as in the majority of people wait between six and twelve hours not acceptable higher than the where the HSC target is but it looks like they are moving towards improvement at least from the patient's perspective and from the patient responses that we have gotten okay but obviously a lot more to be done right Tracy thanks for your time this morning I appreciate it Tracy Carol who is head of national care experience program with the HICWA okay 08 660 25000 can you ask Greg why on earth is there men holding up traffic on the road outside on the road outside Crawley Lederkenny all week at 7 a.m and there's no one on the road for the last two weeks I don't know what's going on there maybe someone might have an insight that can help us a caller is a holiday home owner from her experience people leaving the heating running on constant with windows open and lights are left on all the time the cost to replace oil increases in electricity in the cost clean all home and linens between each day people need to understand that it's no wonder that prices have gone up and you do wonder you know would you be as inclined to switch that light off or switch that heating off in a hotel or in a holiday home as you might be in your own home all right so we're going to be speaking about breast feeding and as it relates to calls for a ban on formula milk adverts we're going to be talking about that excuse me after these messages the 9 till noon show with city of dairy airport pre-brook your airport parking fast track and launch access at cityofdairyairport.com for a stress free start to your trip experience a taste of italy with the italian event at dun stores mix and match any three for two on our new italian range think delicious italian made fresh and filled pastas flavor some sauces hand-stretched stone baked pizzas and all butter tear and share breads buy any two products get the third free plus with our 10 or 50 grocery voucher you save even more which means every trip to dun stores means better value dun stores always better value terms and conditions apply voucher confused an explosive shop of 50 euro or more if you're starting a new business in 2022 call into bizprint today and get sorted logo designed invoice books business cards and all your printing needs call bizprint at port road letter kenny on 9117995 or visit bizprint.ie chagask are holding a forest walk this wednesday the 11th at 7 p.m on the farm of michael chance drum barnard lower manor cunningham f92 f972 we will visit our recently felled spruce plantation transformed into a young woodland it has been redesigned with recreation in mind speakers are michael chance farmer ross puke annan forestry contractor and steven meann chagas forestry advisor all welcome highland radio weather updates with ireland west airport thinking of a sun holiday with the family you can now fly to barcelona three times weekly this summer with vayan air and enjoy some of europe's best family campsites ireland west airport you're flying okay looking at the window if you look at one window it's beautiful in sonny here at the mountaintop the other dark clouds and with the weather fast weather forecast tells us that a blustery day today with sunny spells and scattered showers turning heavy at times temperatures 13 or 14 degrees in moderate to fresh in gusty south westerly winds increasing strong at times near coasts so irish gps are backing calls to ban online baby formula ads the proposal was tabled in the shannard last week on the new online safety and media regulations bill the irish congress of general practitioners say just six percent of infants here are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives significantly lower than the european average of 25 percent and we've also heard from independent senator alice mary higgins who says the world health organization is opposed to targeted ads for formula milk right doctor sarah brennan is a gp uh ny goaway lecturer breastfeeding advocate and researcher and joins us on the program now good to have you back on the show sarah thanks for joining us good to be back again right okay would you back this call for abandon advertising for baby formula and what do you think it might achieve uh doctor yeah so um of course i back it and um i'd just like to i suppose qualify that this is not new we have done this before and we did this um as a as a result of an eu directive where we were asked to um have legislation so that there was a restriction on um advertisement of infant formula and this did happen um and when this happened when when there was a ban on infant formula advertisement that's when the company's developed funnel on formulas so this is not new this is just us reimagining or understanding what we can do now in today's really advanced technical media um i suppose strong worlds that we have now so this is is being time appropriate now yeah okay um but you know like speaking to people um on this program right and outside the program as well uh the reason they didn't do uh they didn't get on the road of breastfeeding they probably wanted to was the lack of they felt the lack of maybe encouragement to support uh uh before they had the baby they felt on the pressure or rushed uh or you know that the non's not supported uh after just after having the baby uh and then afterwards um they felt that you know are the facilities for it what does society think how will i be able to sort of you know get back to work or look after the other children whilst doing this like what i'm saying is is should we not be getting all of those things right and giving people all the support and encouragement and advice because we've skipped a couple of generations here so maybe moms and aunties or whoever it might be aren't there to help you know i just think is this not maybe like the path of least resistance and and and and we can do that and ban it but will it actually lead to any increase in women breastfeeding and feel supported and encouraged in doing so without being made feel guilty if it's not for them if sorry for the big long question i hope it makes some sense yeah and absolutely i mean having support systems in place is crucial um to being able to breastfeed and when we don't live in the families that we used to live in before where i would have had my mother and my mother's mother there to help me and support me to be able to breastfeed so our society has changed significantly and really it becomes a multi-sexual approach to helping create a culture that really helps people to make the choice of breastfeeding and again i might reiterate that it is so important that people make the right decision for them but the problem with the advertising is that it's pervasive it's predatory and it's also exploitative so it kind of prays on our insecurities and our emotional worries that we may have and it uses them to get into our unconscious mind and then it takes away our choice because actually infant formula becomes our only choice and that's the big shame about this really aggressive advertisement that's there and this this will not ban access to to formulate it will be freely accessible freely visible to everybody it just stops formula companies using the real predatory ways that they have of trying to tap into our unconscious mind and direct our choices to suit them and their commercial interests and how does it do that sarah in your view is it that it's seen it presents it as the an equal option or an easier option like how does the advertising influence how many people breastfeed in your view well and actually i think we have to go back to how we feel in ourselves and what they what they do is they create this imaging that's really positive and bright and optimistic and joyous around formula feeding and that lands on us and that's what we remember when it comes to infant feeding whereas if you look at the imagery that you see around breastfeeding can be really dark and lonely in the middle of the night with a little baby and certainly i'm a real sensitive person and i see those and i feel sadness and loneliness inside of me really strongly and if that's the feeling that we get when it comes to breastfeeding that's going to drive us away from that behavior and towards a different behavior so they're just examples but there's there has been a paper done called selling second best by jurid hate stings and it really highlights the taxi tactics that they use and they call first time mothers the holy grail and they really try and tap into whatever it is they're interested in are they interested in science are they interested in safety keeping their baby safe or are they interested in this joyous little baby and you know laughter and fun and they use them to kind of devise marketing strategies to kind of draw their attention and this is being flicked at us all the time once i put in that i'm due a baby this is flicked at me all the time when i'm scrolling through my phone and that lands unconsciously whether we're consciously aware of what we're seeing it lands in our body and it does influence our choices and the who have done really wonderful research and they're publishing all of these reports this year they've already published one in february and again in mar in april and it really highlights the shocking extent to which these companies are really driving their commercial interests and really not thinking about the health and well-being of of mothers and babies and families throughout the world okay so you look at the packaging it would say probably you know full of all these great things vitamins new formula you know a great it's not a substitute for mother's milk but you know what it's not far off it you know that's the kind of impression that you might get i'm not sure i've ever asked the question this way before like what is because there'll be a lot of people listening going if i've done something wrong and give them my baby formula we know what the advantages of breastfeeding are what are the disadvantages of formula feeding are there any other than you're not breastfeeding well if you look at what breast milk is it's a live bioactive substance that we produce ourselves and we tailor make it specifically for our babies and our babies dictate what's in that and actually if a baby is sick when they look at the constituents of breast milk they see that we produce a whole lot more immune factors you know white cells to help fight infection antibodies and it's specific to what that baby has there and then so that's something that you cannot replicate in formula and there is there is a basic constitutional requirement for formula and that's set down in law by the EU and every single formula has to have that and that that is is perfectly appropriate as a form of nutrition for infants and any brand is the same and they may say this one is good because it's got this but many of those claims are unscientific and unfounded by research and really that's manipulating people into thinking that this particular brand is better than that one when actually they're all the same so you know we shouldn't have to feel this financial pressure of buying this particular one because it's better when in fact they're all the same I mean is there is there an argument or could there ever be an argument for a levy on this formula milk and maybe that money being ring fenced to support women or encourage women to breastfeed I mean we see in other areas it's unimaginable it could happen in the area of formula milk but is there even an argument for something like that I don't think there is formula milk is necessary it has been a wonderful invention and we really do need to embrace that but really I think the most important thing is limiting the way that companies can really seep into our into our unconscious mind and affect our choices and it's well proven in research that this is what's happening and it won't again reduce anyone's access to formula because we don't want to do that we want everyone to be able to use what they feel is best for them because feeling comfortable in yourself with your baby is so important but we do want to create a culture that really helps people make the choice of breastfeeding and one that is well supported that is so important yeah and that the you to mention the social media ads you know they hit you with this in your face ads so right okay that's that product and then they start feeding you influencers and their review and then they start feeding you with articles that look like they would endorse your decision to get down a certain route it's so multi-layered it's not just simply an ad it's so manipulative in all areas but that's a wider conversation Sarah but on an issue as important as this you know I mean I think they have the social media companies need to take a look at themselves to some extent and what they're involved in yeah and that's exactly what's in the last report is those really underhand and unethical tactics that they use to really to drive our choices to suit their commercial interest and really this isn't about profits this is about health and well-being and that that's what we want for all of our babies we don't we don't want people you know be manipulated to making choices that that maybe you know can cause harm and that's the that's the big problem here okay um as always thank you very much for joining us Sarah I appreciate your time YouTube thank you okay that's Dr Sarah Brennan who's a GP NY Galway lecturer breastfeeding advocate and researcher what are your views on that issue or how has it made you feel 086 60 25 thousand your whatsapps and texts if you're listening to us from outside the republic uh 0035 386 60 25 000 you can always give us a call you know that don't you oh seven four nine one uh 25 000 or your emails too right okay how do you fancy a trip to andre rio it's this saturday so you have to be quick uh in your decision making we have three spaces remaining for the trip on saturday the 14th of may it's 275 euro per person sharing and the price includes luxury transfers overnight stay in the four-star city north hotel on a b&b basis your ticket to the show triple include a few hours leisure time in Dublin on sunday before traveling back to donning also listen this is by coincidence what we've been talking about hotel prices and some of the prices 275 euro includes your hotel your tickets your transfer if you have an interest in that if you'd fancy seeing the world and andre rio live uh you can call us right now 07491 25 000 and reserve your spot if that is for you okay we'll be back here with more on the 9 till noon show after the news at 10 with donal and the obituary notices stay where you are the 9 till noon show with city of dairy airport enjoy convenient travel to london liverpool manchester glasgow edinburgh the algarve and meorca visit city of dairy airport dot com wet and wild your one-stop shop for water sports is fully stocked with all the leading brands of wetsuits bodyboards kayaks paddle board scuba gear swimwear dry robes tow floats uv protection life jackets sunglasses point eight picnic sets cool boxes stoves cool bags barbecues and beach windbreaks so if you're on in under or beside the water this summer wet and wild can keep you safe and looking good ireland is leaving diesel behind and kelly's Toyota is leading the way with our incredible range of self-charging hybrid electric cars we've amazing offers including contributions and trade and boosters and with 46 years of experience here in dunygol you can trust us to help you on your electric journey you'll never take a wrong turn with toyota ireland's best-selling car brand visit kelly's toyota mount charles or letter kenny today toyota built for a better world terms conditions apply i have great news for everyone who's looking for a good night's sleep rest x beds are looking forward to welcoming you to their brand new showroom at mountaintop letter kenny it's one of the biggest and best bed and mattress showrooms in the northwest and has fantastic open and offers now in store rest x is the most trusted name in beds and mattresses in the northwest why don't you call in and get the bed of your dreams at rest x beds mountaintop letter kenny live on air online and on the highland radio app this is highland radio news good morning it's 10 o'clock donal cawna at the highland radio news desk a teenage girl injured in a road collision near karigart on sunday may 1st has died the 17 year old passed away last evening at bowmont hospital in dublin gar thee are again appealing for witnesses to the single car collision to come forward it happened at mean formal glen at approximately quarter past nine that evening gar thee are particularly urging any road users who are traveling in the area at the time and may have dashcam footage to make it available an emergency housing meeting is taking place today in the denti's municipal district as homelessness increases across the northwest there are renewed calls for vacant properties in dunny goll to be brought back into use particularly in the west of the county councillor michael cullamigal asberg also believes dunny goll county council needs to be more proactive in securing land to build homes he says there is an urgent need for action the reality is that we don't even have emergency accommodation we haven't built enough houses the government has chosen to allow the private market to meet the needs of of the of our communities and unfortunately what more and more people moving towards airbnb and people would hold their homes we're left with the sad reality and our fortunate reality and then more reality that people are homeless we need to respond to this crisis and the response hasn't been today by government adequate enough 100 new jobs have been announced for the northwest medical device firm arotec is expanding its headquarters in slago town recruitment will begin immediately design engineers project managers finance customer service and admin personnel are being sought irish households are paying around 250 euro more for electricity than our european neighbours new euro stat figures compiled before the conflict in ukraine show electricity prices here were already 26 percent higher than the eu average and it's not all down to tax with more here's marie cleary the euro stat analysis published in the irish independent shows ireland has the fourth most expensive electricity costs in the e u with only germany denmark and belgium more expensive we're paying around 250 euro more each year than the e u average however the figures are compiled before the war in ukraine and so don't reflect the latest energy crisis which could see irish households paying an extra 800 euro a year because of recent price hikes although taxes and government levies here are regularly criticized they are not the reason irish consumers are paying more darak hasady from the price comparison website bonkers dot ie is quoted as saying that once those charges are excluded net electricity prices here are 60 above the eu average suggesting the prices charged by suppliers in ireland are the most expensive charged in the european union meanwhile ergrid says there are huge opportunities in the northwest in terms of the production of renewable energy there were a number of road shows in letter kenny and dunigold town this month and ergrid said they want to reach a target of 80 percent of ireland's electricity coming from renewable sources in the coming years with more detail here's mckaylott lark in order to achieve up to 80 percent clean electricity by 2030 ergrid needs to add more energy from renewable sources such as wind and sun to the power system to do so the grid needs to be strengthened and made more flexible ergrid says dunigold is in line for extensive investment in this redevelopment with several new projects required to address new renewable generation in the northwest region head of public engagement with ergrid she needed to leave says the attendants at the road shows and the level of engagement showed that the people of dunigold want to be part of a cleaner energy future in a way that can also benefit them she says ergrid will look at high extra grid capacity can support balanced regional development irish water staff are working to repair four burst water mains in the county irish waters say repairs may cause disruptions at upper drone quick lease point and surrounding areas a traffic management is in place for the works there they're set to last until four o'clock this afternoon a burst affecting campe calheim boherl and surrounding areas in letter kenny is expected to be resolved by midday a burst main affecting much of bunkranna should be repaired by one o'clock while a burst affecting cranford carry garden surrounding areas should be resolved by four irish water say it could take two to three hours in each instance for supplies to return to normal after the work is complete full details of the bursts on our website highland radio dot com and the government is set to extend the lower nine percent vat rate for the hospitality sector the measure introduced to help combat the effects of the kovat 19 pandemic was to have expired in august the finance minister pascal donahoe is seeking cabinet approval today to keep the lower rate possibly until the end of this year well pory krubin chief executive of the vitner's federation of ireland says they want to see it extended to the end of 2023 any extension is welcome but i think it would be important to give certainty for the 2023 season there are many businesses coach tours coach hire that kind of stuff who who price out for the full year and they're now fixing for next year so while what is boosters is welcome and bear in mind until the minister speaks we don't know exactly what it is and we would like to see it extended to the end of 2023 well the forecast midair and tell us it'll be blustery today with sunny spells and scattered showers they'll be heavy at times highs of 13 or 14 degrees Celsius in moderate to fresh and gusty southwestern winds those winds increasing strong at times in coastal areas and that's highland radio news we're back with news headlines again at 11 o'clock until then good morning the average notices for this tuesday morning the 10th of may the death has occurred of trees of craig six swilly view inch island trees's remains will repose at her late residents from 11 o'clock this morning removal on thursday morning at quarter past 10 twilight day of lord church inch for requiem mass at 11 o'clock followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery family far is only pleased to nations in louis if desired to medical for letter kenny university hospital care of any family member or murphy funeral directors the death has taken place of cathleen margaret hume nay baxter 62 berry hill road artigarvin cathleen's remains will arrive at christchurch stroban this evening at half past six service of thanksgiving for the life of cathleen will take place there tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock followed by interment in lecpatrick parish graveyard bali maghore family far is only please donations in lou if desired to christchurch stroban care of mr philip smith 71 derry road stroban the death has taken place of david comings bali moore dunfanny and formerly of kent england his remains are reposing at his late residents which is strictly private pleas at the request of the deceased funeral mass in st michaels church creasel tomorrow wednesday at 12 noon followed by burial in doh cemetery mass can be viewed on mc in media dot tv family far is only pleased donations in lou if desired to the dunigal hospice care of any family member or james harkin funeral director the death has taken place of frankie brennan magumna are draw and formerly of main street are draw funeral from his home this morning at half past 11 to the church of the holy family are draw for a queer mass at 12 noon with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery family time please before the funeral this morning family far is only pleased donations in lou if desired to the kebyg patients comfort fund care of any family member the death has taken place of tony o bryan dramaul manor cunningham phenol from his home this morning at quarter to 11 going to st columbus church dramaul for 11 o'clock requiem mass followed by interment in the adjoining church yard family far is only pleased and the death has taken place of lily arrow malin road movil removal from her home this morning at half past 10 for 11 o'clock requiem mass in st pyce the 10th church movil followed by burial in balibrak cemetery family far is only pleased donations in lou if desired to carndon a community hospital care of any family member for more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highland radio dot com covid-19 can still cause serious illness especially in people at higher risk we need to keep protecting each other so stay home if you have symptoms wear a mask in healthcare settings public transport and busy places let fresh air in if you're meeting indoors keep hands clean and get a covid-19 vaccine and booster let's keep looking out for each other from the hsc for us all okay don't we're into the second hour of the night until noon show you're very welcome back to this program coming up shortly gran you will be joining us to give us the very latest appeals and information from on goddess yukana if you want to watch that hop on to our social medias right now or the website highland radio dot com you can watch it in the browser there click through or go straight to our youtube channel highland radio arland or either of our facebook pages and also later you'll be able to see in here the american ambassador to arland obviously she's been here visiting exploring her donagall roots we'll talk to her a little later on in the program as well some of your comments ahead of the bingo numbers and we were talking about breastfeeding this caller says i never see it discussed that a woman may consider their breasts as a sexual part of their anatomy and would find it very wrong to have anyone but their partner see never mind be intimate with the part of their body personally i would have been traumatized if that was the only way to feed a baby okay um but i would have you know been raised around women all my life and many of them did breastfeed and i never saw them um i don't want to speak so direct but i never saw them it was never done like you know out as such as a blanket used or certain types of tops or whatever so there would have been breastfeeding going on around us as we were growing up and i never actually saw what was going on if that makes sense another caller says surely we should have equal parenting so far as possible with formula feeding my partner was able to be the one to feed our baby for the very first time and share that role going forward okay i understand that too but obviously a lot of women that breastfeed would also express and um the partner can feed the mother's milk to the baby as well but it's what's out suits everyone i'm not making any judgment calls uh okay sorry the the end of this text both of us have an extremely close bond with our daughter and she's only once been slightly unwell in her 16 months and that's very good news thank you hi greg i fed all my children with bottles i'm over 50 my mom also fed us with bottles my mom told me that feeding us with a bottle gave her more freedom and she came from a time where most women breastfed i feel it is a personal choice and not to be made to feel guilty feeding with a bottle yes but conversely uh for it to be a personal choice 100 and i think that's the tone of that conversation uh but also though it's to make sure that we are not being pushed down a certain road by companies that make an absolute fortune off this as well i think if it's a personal choice it should be a free choice uh is the argument and not one that is influenced by uh formula milk formula milk uh manufacturers i think that's really the argument there this quarter says formula milk especially made to have all vitamins and minerals breastfeeding mothers require eating healthy all the time and may favor fast food may be an antidepressant and smoke a lot so thank god we can get quality formula milk i think the woman's body is such though that regardless of the woman's diet to a certain extent um that the body is able then to still produce milk that the baby requires in relation to the new meters being installed for upgrading our homes does anyone know what happens if our friars to get it do i later have to pay to have the meter installed i've tried calling the service provider but they couldn't answer it for me these are the electricity meters the smart meters i don't know much about it and i've said this before i would i would take one tomorrow i would love to know where my electricity is going i would love to know if plugging certain things in is having an impact on the cost of electricity i'd love to be able to make a calculated choice whether or not to put on say for instance an electronic patio heater but to know actually how much it costs something like that there uh that's just an example i'm trying to pluck out of the sky personally to me if i would love to have that little box in the corner of the room that told me how much electricity i was using how much it was costing daily and what was eating into in my power that would be me but there's it seems to be a big resistance to the smart meters for electricity and again i'd love to hear from someone who could tell me why what is the problem with them um i see resistance to them in certain sec amongst certain people but i still don't fully know what's going on there um i've heard they're putting in a fiber network for better internet connection around remelton and that's what the white vans are there for okay that'd be good wouldn't it good if you're in remelton i was in there for kenny hospital on monday from 1 p.m to 12 30 a.m people that did come in after me were called before me and away home an elderly woman was looking for help and no one was available the bottom line is is though i hurt my back yesterday uh at the weekend and if i went into the hospital i think anyone that went in with anything that potentially was broken or any bleeding or abdominal pain or head pain or a pain down the arm would all have been seen before me i would have probably been sitting there for 12 hours because any any it's not first served they assess people on their need for care and as i say i imagine i'd have been sitting there a long time uh you know with a bang compared to people that were presented with something that could be much more serious so maybe i don't know what you were in for and i'm not in any way trying to demean your experience i just wonder was that a factor a caller says letter kenny university hospital may have done well in a paper chasing exercise but the hospital is a disgrace in its management people waiting in the ed for hours upon hours young and old this is not a slight on the hardworking nurses and doctors but wasn't it just amazing that after all the months of patience on trolleys the day leo vradkar comes to town guess what there's no patience on trolleys the hospital uh is farcical uh the people that run it they say uh could someone from the council come on and tell us why the traffic has been stopped at seven in the morning in guidor and nothing happens till after eight or later anyone with an insight into that uh morning gregg in relation to campsite prices yes the prices have gone up and most of this is because a lot of owners jumped on the bandwagon uh with such a large increase of staycations last year that man talked about replacing fence in concrete but these things are only replaced maybe every 10 years it's a great way for holidays uh for harding especially for children hope they don't price families out i think the general upkeep of a site is probably more than every 10 years obviously he gave the example of a fence and the price of wood but i'd imagine maintenance cost uh across the year would be would be reasonably significant ah greg don't get uh greg got me wrong i meant i wouldn't even want my baby toddler seeing or being close to that part of my body aha i get you right okay uh i understood um so this is a woman who wouldn't want a baby or toddler near their boobs um and that's why why it would discourage them okay that's how you feel and um each of us are different oh eight six six two twenty five thousand whatsapps and texts soak it oak uh we are going to take a break now for the bingo numbers good luck if you are playing today uh i do hope you win one of you win uh here are the numbers back with more uh in fact back with gara grania after these messages with community information it's time for ncbi bingo on highland radio it's tuesday the 10th of may you're playing on the brown sheet the reference number is s12 it's game number 19 the numbers are 84 86 62 66 65 53 90 43 54 and finally 89 phone your claim to nine one zero four eight double three before eight tonight leaving your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your ncbi bingo information at highland radio dot com the nine till noon show with city of dairy airport enjoy convenient travel to london liverpool manchester glasco edinburgh the algarve and meorca visit city of dairy airport dot com when your new smart meter arrives it's going to change everything about how you use electricity and electric arland is ready to help you enjoy it all from choosing your own billing date to saying goodbye to estimated bills and taking more control over your usage you'll be able to make better energy choices for you and for arland so the better it'll be for everyone search electric arland smart meters today electric arland we're brighter together is your scoder a little older pre love perhaps what adventures i wondered it did have in the past another family another life bright city lights or a quiet country existence seeing ireland's best sights we don't really need your car's story with a scoder service you get a complete vehicle health check genuine scota parts and free roadside assistance for 12 months your local scota dealer is dmg motors clairo dunigaltown telephone 0 74 97 21 396 or visit dmg motors dot ie the onil sportswear massive warehouse clearance sale is backed by popular demand for one weekend only county ga jerseys leisurewear including t-shirts tracks at bottoms half sips hoodies and jackets are all reduced to clear open from 9 a.m friday may 20th and sunday may 22nd the seal will take place at a needed sportswear warehouse off the melmont road roundabout stroban and you're very welcome back to the program it is uh tuesday morning which means it's time now for the community guard information item and we're joined in studio by garter gran your daughtery from the letter kenny garter station good morning to you good morning thank you so much for joining us right very sad news emerged yesterday evening that the collision near car regard or in car regard at the start of this month uh as now a fatal road traffic collision um how can the public hell yeah as you said yeah an appeal was issued last week on our uh slot in relation to this collision but the sad news filtered through yesterday that the 17 year old female involved in the collision has since passed away so our condolences to her family to start um we are continuing continuing to appeal for witnesses in relation to this collision happened on sunday the first of may at mean formal glen karigert this collision involved a single car it happened at approximately 9 15 p.m. so a female aged 17 years was taken to letter kenny university hospital with serious injuries she was then transferred to the bow mount hospital where she sadly passed away yesterday gardy are appealing to anybody who may have witnessed the collision to contact them any road users who were traveling in that area around the time and who had a dash cam we would be most appreciative if they would make that footage available to investigate in gardy and milford anybody with any information may contact milford garter station on 915 3060 or as always the garter confidential line on 1800 666 111 okay um and gardy and milford investigating a burglary yeah so this burglary happened in the area of kull glass on the kill mcranon road in milford happened on wednesday the fourth of may between 2 40 p.m. and 9 15 p.m. so entry was gained to a house in that area between those times the house was ransacked now unfortunately in this instance the door to the property had been left unsecured it was unlocked nothing was stolen from the property um we appealed to residents in that area to contact us can't contact gardy if they observed any sort of activity and the on that day at any sort of suspicious activity if they could contact gardy and milford on 915 3060 um if anybody has any information relevant information to offer they can contact as always again the garter confidential line on 1800 666 111 now we're all human and uh we're all rushing around the place and we can tend to let our guards down a little bit so i suppose no harm in reminding us of what we should be doing to best protect our property grania yeah and look we urge you know it goes without saying really if you're leaving your home for any amount of time and it's going to be unoccupied ensure that your windows are closed they're secured and that the doors are locked um i'm supposed and as you said we're all human we all do it from time to time possibly leave the door in the ledge go to the shop but regardless of how long you're going to be away from your home always and ensure that your windows and doors are secured uh burglars generally don't target occupied properties so give the impression that your home is occupied you know use timer switches turn on a few lights if you are leaving your home for any period of time um don't post up and this is actually very relevant now this time of year in relation to upcoming holidays trips don't post to social media or while you're on holiday maybe it's tempting to show off that you're there on the beach and you're living it up while they're all suffering at home you know but don't post those pictures in social media always set your house alarm when leaving your home and cash and jewelry remain the target as always so please don't keep large amounts of cash at home you should consider installing a certified safe if you have as expensive jewelry and always report any suspicious activity in your area to guard you immediately yeah and and people might hear in the first instance you reference to social media and it comes like as a sport type of a comment right and they said it's only my friends i've heard this before i only share it's they're only close friends but really how many of us know who is on that friends list who did we add that maybe it was a fake profile and they share this information out there is a level of organization that can go on i'm not saying in all cases but that people will check out social media it's not just opportunistic stuff and if they get the right indications they'll say right that's a target and you can go through someone's social media and very quickly find out specifically where the property is you know so it's a genuine uh warning because it can be used and abuse that information yeah and it's not it's not even just a matter of who sees your picture your post on facebook or on whatever social media channel you use i mean word of mouth you know i could see it on facebook today i could be talking to somebody in the town tomorrow and mention such and such as on their holiday you know through word of mouth the word may get around also that your home is vacant yeah and in relation to given the impression that your home uh i'm a big fan of the smart plugs they've got really recently quite cheap now you can switch them on and off remotely you can put them on timers as well you can just command your whatever smart speaker you have if it or on your phone and also you can get um little lights that are quite easy to run that can generate the appearance of a tv being on in the front room it all sounds a little bit drastic but as you said the key thing is here burglar's very uh generally speaking don't talk at occupied properties so if they believe someone is there it's a it's a it's a really really good defense yeah and i also believe some of these video doorbells that you can um through your smartphone that you can respond through your smartphone regardless of where you are to give the impression that somebody's in the house as well and just one other point in that as well if anybody is going away on a holiday um just alert just contact your local garter station um you know make them aware that your home's going to be vacant between certain dates and garter you're aware of it then and on their patrols they'll monitor the area one of the best purchases i made was um it was it's a 24 99s camera which you can view remotely it's for hudson hd it's actually fantastic it's motion tracking and absolutely everything but also it has a feature and it doesn't require a subscription uh subscription that it will if it if you switch it on if it recognizes on any unusual movements it takes a hd picture dark or in daylight and sends it to you now i switched off uh because it's it's annoying uh but from a security perspective um it doesn't cost a fortune that camera's 24 99 and i'm astonished by the picture quality you can access it absolutely anywhere and it will instantly tell you uh if if it detects motion which i think is brilliant and take a screenshot of it as well yeah some of these guys just won't break the back either exactly 24 99 it was uh brilliant stuff and use i have an old tablet and i'll just use that as the monitor and it's you know it's like a 10 inch tablet it's fantastic stuff and you can look at it on your uh fire stick and everything if you wanted to it up in the corner when you're watching them and if you have nlots at the door you don't you know whether tans the door or not yeah exactly it looks after in-laws and outlaws okay right okay back to the appeals um road traffic collision uh on the port road in letter kenny how can the public help yeah this collision happened on sunday the 8th of may between 8 50 p.m and 10 or sorry 9 10 p.m so a red colored lexus a partial red if that car is 0 3 d l it exited a car park quite near the dry arch round about there in letter kenny collided with a parked car the driver of the lexus didn't remain at the scene but they traveled onwards on in the port road and towards letter kenny town the lexus was later discovered by garady on the oliver plunkett road at 9 55 p.m where it was believed to have been abandoned and it was detained then by garady so firstly we appealed to the driver off the lexus to come forward to speak to garady in relation to the incident uh we appealed to all road users who had a dashcam who traveled on the port road between the dry arch roundabout to the pole star roundabout between 8 45 p.m and 9 15 p.m to make that footage available to us uh we also appealed to anybody who believes that they may have observed the car being parked up or abandoned on the oliver plunkett road between 9 10 p.m and 9 55 p.m to contact us in letter kenny on 0 7 4 9 1 6 7 100 okay now um another uh road related instant dangerous driving in newtown conningham yeah so the roads policing unit and letter kenny are um investigating this matter so they're investigating a number of incidents of dangerous driving involving a black toyota crawler again a partial ridge of 0 6 dl this happened on friday the 6th of may and around 11 15 p.m um on the n 13 so in the townland of killy verry there at newton conningham then it traveled onwards towards galdon across and onwards again on the n 14 towards lyford town so we appealed to road users who had a dashcam who traveled in any of those areas on friday night around that time to make the footage available to us in letter kenny or if anybody has any information that may assist with this investigation if they believe they may have you know observed this egg on the road we asked them to contact the roads policing unit and letter kenny on 9 1 6 7 100 okay now um criminal damage by fire yeah letter kenny guard you're investigating the circumstances surrounding a fire at a home in oaklands park letter kenny this occurred on saturday the 7th of may in around 135 sorry between 135 p.m and 155 p.m so the fire service attended the scene and garrity were alerted we appealed to the residents in that area uh to contact garrity and letter kenny if they observed anything in that area that they believe might be beneficial to our investigation and as with all their appeals again the garrity confidential line may be reached on 1800 666 111 okay now mentioning uh motorcycle safety of course there are the weather's improved we're heading into the summer so i think we are seeing more more uh motorcycles uh out on the road so a time to remind us once again grogna yeah and again we've had a number of uh fatal fatal collisions in recent times involving motorcycles and as you said coming into the summer months now we're going to see an increase on these uh motorbikes on the road so we're just urging all drivers to remain alert always keep an eye out luck be in the lookout for motorcyclists and drivers should expect to encounter more cyclists on the roads be you know over the summer period so motorcyclists have less protection in the in the event of a crash and they're much more vulnerable uh a main factor involving a motor cyclist and a driver you know collisions involving a motor cyclist and a driver is when a car or a van turns or drives through a junction or when they join a main road from a main road and they fail to observe and they end up colliding them with the motorcyclist so therefore its critical drivers look out for motorcyclists especially at junctions at intersections when turning on to a main road and when changing lanes also always keep an eye out in your mirror and keep alert so in relation to the motorcyclists themselves uh they need to have a healthy respect for the motorcycle they're riding and a socially responsible attitude when using the roads motorcyclists should show restraint by reducing their speed they should never ride a motorcycle that should go without saying again under the influence of alcohol or drugs motorcyclists are reminded to wear the appropriate PPE the personal protective equipment and to use depth headlights also this will increase their visibility when out on the road so we actually we spoke about this before the bike safe program i'm just going to remind people about it because they can still apply to join that and so on June 21 the guards uh and the rsa launched the bike safe it was a pilot safety initiative at doubling castle so they offered a workshop on topics such as hazard awareness uh and they got an on-the-road assessment ride they were accompanied by an advanced guard or motorcyclist these workshops are open to all motorcyclists who hold a full motorcycle driving license and they're free of charge so that pilot scheme was a massive success so it's going ahead again this initiative will be provided again by the roads policing division at doubling castle this year over the summer months um you know by taking part in this program or similar programs you can increase your ability and confidence as a motorcyclist um like this this scheme will be beneficial to experience motorcyclists those perhaps who have um you know they haven't been on their bike in a few years and want to get back on the road are in particular maybe to those who have recently passed their test you know it will just give them that extra bit of confidence that they need so anybody who's interested in joining the bike bike safe program they can look up our garter website www.garter.ie there's a lot more information on the program on there they can also um submit their application online through that website or if they wish to email bike safe at garter.ie they'll answer any queries that they have in relation to it also okay i'm not sure if they do but if they don't they possibly should insurance companies maybe give a discount to motorcyclists that have gone through that program because obviously they're going to uh you would hope be less likely to have have a crash but anyway um granja thank you thank you for having me i appreciate it um that's got a granja da hati if they're getting garter station and you'll be able to watch that back if you wish uh on our uh facebook and on the garter shoe con uh facebook a little later on today possibly around six around about one o'clock i assure you granja yeah okay because i have to edit it all right uh granja granja granja's colleague will be back with you next tuesday morning after the ten o'clock news with another edition of community guard information we'll be back with more on the program after this break stay right where you are the nine till noon show with city of dairy airport pre-brook your airport parking fast track and launch access at city of dairy airport dot com for a stress-free start to your trip so you're struggling with your mobile connection yes i've tried everything have you tried walking in a circle standing on a chair shouting instead of speaking this is ridiculous um best i can do for you i'm afraid fear not super helpful mobile has got you covered with 99 covered staying connected has never been easier when you join tesco mobile this is supermarket mobile tesco mobile every little helps 99 population coverage visit tesco mobile dot ie forward slash service dash information treat your garden to a makeover at gmg stone letter kenny we offer great value on decorative stone garden paving slabs and artificial grass all tailored to your needs with home delivery available we also supply railway sleepers whiskey barrels and place sand all available for pickup or delivery open monday to saturday from 9 30 a.m to 6 p.m you will find us beside donahe motorhomes on the port road for an appointment call 087 647 9121 gmg stone just what your garden needs the hilarious three hill mary's is coming to letter kenny mary how are we going to keep in touch i know mary i know send me a twist see three hill mary's at on grain on theater letter kenny for one night only Friday may 13th see on grain on dot com or call 07491 20777 great means there's a cross the transport for arland network have been reduced which means traveling with tfi local link will cost up to 20 less visit transport for arland dot ie okay call it says uh greg on the drum keen side of carol vaddy forest there are workers replacing comms cables at the side of the road they've left the old cables in the hedge forest this area sees nothing rubbish dumped by people already with a company uh dumping cable wire that they should probably charge to remove or dispose of correctly we'll check into that i imagine maybe they've left it there for collection at a later date uh to give the benefit of but we can chase it up and see what the story is there more bs about when turbine says this call are the more turbines on the grid the more gas is used it's business as usual there's nothing clean or green about digging up peep bugs in donagol we need the land more than air grid etc need the subsidies air grid will say anything to keep making money degrowth is the only thing that will save the planet at this stage they believe i'm broadcasting lies uh come may 17th there will be a raft of new planning applications for turbines in donagol it doesn't make environmental sense it seems to be at odds to with what aamon ryan said on this program in that he said that he believes donagol had reached its capacity in terms of on land uh wind turbines they said that a year or two ago uh in this very studio greg um why are the doctor surgeries not back to regular visits it seems to me that they're making more money on short phone calls rather than having people visit at normal everywhere else has at least begun to return to normal why not there i think i'm not sure you see the thing about that it's not like when you talk about a hospital and it's the one hospital and we know what's going on gp surgeries are different i think every gp might have a different attitude and have a different way of doing it so it's not really right across the board that gps are operating like that uh it might just be your gp maybe you could ring them and see look is this how it's going to be for the foreseeable or what's the story but i take your point uh greg my son lives in doblin and was looking at booking.com and it's costing a fortune around the hotel direct and got a great deal my son couldn't believe it well there you go and is it nice to be able to help them out in that regard now and again too right let's take a break from music back with more including the uh us ambassador to arland between now and 12 after this from barry white okay there he is that's the sound of barry white my first my last my everything okay uh we mentioned earlier on that there were spaces remaining for our andre real trip uh they are all gone by the way so if you were interested in that uh unfortunately you missed out three people did call in and are going to see andre real which is nice for them isn't it right okay thanks for that by the way that information on that oh eight six sixty twenty five thousand that's your what's up that's your text number oh eight six sixty twenty five thousand i'll give us a call on oh seven four nine one twenty five thousand by the way if you want to email the program if you don't want to try and pack it all into a text uh you can email comments at highland radio dot com loads to come on the program between now and 12 we want you to stay with us and enjoy it and get involved uh we'll take a quick break and then we'll be right back the 9 till noon show with the city of dairy airport algarve and me orca summer holidays from the city of dairy airport free childish places available for ages 2 to 11 visit city of dairy airport dot com hey you're doing great everyone needs a boost sometimes is it time for yours COVID-19 can still cause serious illness in people who are high risk and in those who aren't so even if you've already had COVID-19 your booster vaccine can protect you from getting it again and make your symptoms less severe if you do everyone age 12 and over can now get a booster vaccine check if it's time for your booster and make an appointment on hse dot ie for us all from the hse breaking gardening news our correspondent petunia at alcorn's garden center i am surrounded by an array of spectacular summer bedding these beauties are moving fast with last year's prices held wow i'm amazed by the choice of shrubs trees roses and perennials ah rosemary has just selected a super specimen plant and trendy ceramic pot oh craig is advising on the many baskets buy from alcorn's where value happens every day there's more than me coming back to the mountaintop letter kenny this month rest takes beds have just opened their brand new showroom and if you're like me do you really appreciate a good night's sleep these guys have brilliant ranges of beds and mattresses and they have some great offers to call in and check out their new showroom no open just say this here at the mountaintop in letter kenny island radio weather updates with ireland west airport enjoy stress-free travel this summer with winters brand new services to permanent banchester ireland west airport you're flying okay so the weather forecast for today is as follows it will be a blustery day today with sunny spells and scattered showers turning heavy at times temperatures of 13 to 14 degrees in moderate to fresh and gusty southwest louis increasing strong at times near coast so that's the weather for now but a big conversation of course on the weather globally and for the years ahead and of course you know we can argue back and forward as it relates to alternative energy sources and what have you but what we're doing isn't currently working because we read that the likelihood of world temperatures rising hitting the critical 1.5 Celsius of warning within the next five years is now we're told a 50-50 and it's increasing the world meteorological organization issues the warning in a climate update to be published today scientists say 1.5 Celsius of warming is a key threshold in the attempt to keep temperature rise and climate change from escalating out of control the Paris agreement is based on international acceptance the global temperatures rise the global temperature rise must be kept below two degrees and as close to 1.5 as possible the chances of exceeding 1.5 have risen rapidly since 2015 when the Paris agreement was signed for the period 2017 to 2021 there was a 10% chance so the new prediction of a 50% chance for 2021 to 2026 is a cause for concern is it something that worries you i mean i don't think it's something uh this is quite naive right depending on how long each of us individually have left that maybe might have a devastating impact on me like things would have to happen really really quite quickly but you know our young children and our children's children i think there's uh is there any doubt that this is uh going to be uh something that they're going to have to contend with right uh Mick Clifford special correspondent at the Irish Examiner and he joins us on the program now Mick thanks so much for taking the call this morning right now it's based off the story on Balplanala the deputy chair is to step back from his duties as audits continue so can you give us the the background to this case uh Mick and how it came to public light yes um deputy chairman's man named Paul Hyde he was appointed in 2014 by the minister for environment Phil Hogan in 2019 he was appointed uh the chair of the subdivision that dealt with strategic housing development now not getting too technically great but that's basically a very controversial system whereby people applying for um housing developments of more than 100 units could go directly to onboard planola rather than and initially applying for permission through local authorities anyway a couple of weeks ago well maybe about over three weeks ago now first appeared in the ditch online media it's an online media resource uh that there were allegations that he had conflicts of interest in some of the decisions he made which he had not declared the initial allegation concerned a development in blackpool in carc city for 140 apartments he sat on the board making the decision he chaired the three person board and it was rejected what emerged afterwards is that a company he owns with his father owned a site 50 meters away from the site for the application now an issue arises to whether or not he should have declared that because potentially it would be a conflict of interest as in for example if that was turned down does it make the his own site that he owns uh more um lucrative or whatever and that kind of thing he responded to that within a week or so after his initially um or may have been sooner now but publicly became not after it was initially published and he said he didn't have a conflict of interest because the the the company that owns the site is dormant and it has a zero balance sheet whether or not that um is sustainable will be dependent on on an inquiry that's going on into these issues there was a second allegation involving a sister-in-law who appealed a planning decision i think was at her residence in sandy mountain dublin again he was on the board that decided that and there's a suggestion surely that was a conflict of interest he responded to the board in relation to that saying that he was unaware that the property involved belonged to his sister-in-law despite the fact that the the address would routinely beyond the application so he said again um as far as he was concerned he was unaware and therefore if there was a conflict of interest he was unaware of that conflict now there are a number of other allegations that have been made he has not responded to any of those yes and those will form part of the inquiry to be conducted by senior counsel remie farrell he was appointed by the minister for housing tarot or brine when a number of these issues came to light and the terms of reference for that inquiry the minister is due to announce them i think in the next day or so and i mean i'm not for any uh i'm not making any judgment uh on on any outcome or what's gone before but it did remind me of the the old saying sort of when you're explaining you're losing you could say that i mean you know let me put it this way to you the whole affair has shone a light and on board planol like never before now greg for most people who have who um perhaps are never coming to contact with the board you know it's very little known about it but you will know even for example there have been a number of uh energy developments in dunny gall involving wind farms that have been objected to by communities as in other places around the country people who get involved in those kind of campaigns they become familiar with them board planola and very often uh there's a suggestion that it's a kind of an unanswerable power so this kind of spotlight is very unusual on and you'll have to wait and see whether it illuminates the way it works to a greater extent than has been the case before now yeah and and just as it relates to how this came to pass you mentioned it being um published online the checks and balances within on board planola themselves didn't pick this up this was uh information from outside the the planning authority was it it was and and that's a very good point because as i say there are a number of allegations about potential conflicts of interest and none of those are picked up no it has to be said when the initial allegation on a reference in car city when that first came to light um sometime after that within days i think the board decided to review decisions that mr hide had been involved in so quite obviously at that point they decided there must be something boss as you say it would certainly appear that none of these issues were known to the board the wider board rather than mr hide himself if he was aware of them as i say in terms of sister i claim he wasn't aware of it and and and so therefore that wasn't picked up the board great it consists of nine people they're appointed by the minister there is very little transparency about the manner in which they're appointed and their full-time jobs i mean for example the chair earns i think is 204 000 the deputy chair mr hide is 144 and then 127 000 for ordinary members so they're very good jobs and um the the the reason they're there apart from appeals is to implement national pop planning policy and that can be very controversial particularly when for example i mentioned wind farms you can have a scenario and i there's one currently before the course in in relation to an issue in west cock we can have a scenario whereby there's a proposal for let's say a wind farm uh the community might be against this uh the council might say you shouldn't go ahead the elected members of the council might be against this the inspector forum board planola might say it shouldn't go ahead yes despite that and this is not uncommon the three board members who would make up a decision body could decide that despite all of that it's in accordance with national policy that it does go ahead so that's just an example of the kind of power that these individuals have and as i say despite a review of the way it worked a few years ago there is still not much transparency about how people are appointed to it yeah and make you quite rightly pointed out the situation here in donogall and i know there's people listening to this uh without drawing any uh uh suggestion of a conclusion to this investigation or this analysis that will say uh we've been telling you this for years you know and that's what stories like this do a lot of the people invest an awful lot of time for very good reasons often in objecting to something or expression their concern and already had a lack of faith in the system this is only going to throw fuel on the flames uh in the communities that are affected by this in the individuals that's very true now i just in terms of as opposed to that it should be said there is no reason to think that any individuals who are making decisions in terms of their brief in terms of following national planning policy are not doing so in very good faith however but it just raises the questions whether whether and the point you mentioned to and i can think of three or four really controversial developments where the inspector on site made one recommendation and the actual decision itself was at odds to that from from people who never were on site and i've read through uh in the past some of the reasoning uh and uh it did make a great deal of sense to me and as i say even if some of it's justified and some of it's not it's just it's going to raise the questions and and and is this open does this leave as i say this is an investigation it's ongoing we don't know what the outcome of that might be but does this mean an bold plan i was going to have to look at how it operates well you you would think so and i mean the point you make is well made greg the the issue about people wondering when they see something like this going on because the power they have is so great uh and because it affects so many people's lives in a very direct manner it's vital therefore that there's public confidence in the operation board and as you said particularly communities have been affected about it perhaps they don't have confidence but it's vital that in broad terms there's public confidence and then when issues like this arise it's inevitable on some level that it's going to um to affect that confidence and mc lastly how quickly did abp move on this uh mr hide was still making decisions up until relative uh relatively uh recently was there any resistance that you can determine from a bold plan to act on these concerns to be fair no um let me put this right here i mean i i was in touch with them after the initial allegations and the response i got was um i'm paraphrasing slightly but it was we've no comment far now so quite obviously as far as they were concerned it was a fluid situation it's now about i think it's about three weeks since the first allegation so it did initiate the internal inquiry fairly quickly but this perhaps because the allegations kept coming at this point now it's been decided by mr hide that he'll step back temporarily as he says while while some of these investigations are ongoing all right mc listen loads of detail there we really appreciate it thank you very much indeed no problem all right take care mc Clifford there his special correspondent at the irish examiner referencing the ongoing situation there with on board planala 08 660 uh 25 000 talking about state bodies uh reading on the front of the paper today a state agency funded an angling club that did not exist okay uh it had a fleet of uninsured vehicles on the road and leased a lavish historic home to an employee without any financial records a whistleblower has claimed the irish daily mail has obtained a dossier of claims by a board member of inland fisheries arland that was sent to environment minister amen ryan last week the board member claimed that there was an acceptance last year that protection crews in certain coastal areas did not do any work this they say resulted in the need to and i'll just turn inside uh mobilise a mobile response unit at considerable cost mr ryan has appointed a barrister to review the ifi after the dossier indicated to the minister that the function of the inland fisheries arland are not being performed in an effective manner the allegations include the leasing of a nine-bedroomed victoria home that's actually lodge which overlooks kilari harbour in kentimeo to a staff member who turned it into a guest house in the shanad on thursday former minister of state at the department of the environment shone kind uh whose previous remit covered the ifi said there was no transparency surrounding the lease arrangement there's been locally arranged leasing of ashley lodge which was an ifi project to a staff member as a guest house with no transparency process of financial accounts he said in a parliamentary question in may 2018 mr kind then minister of state at the department of the environment said the department agreed with the ifis intention to sell the property at the time however this did not happen last year the lease was put in place and the property was advertised as a guest house on several rental websites that is hard to believe isn't it uh but it is true okay uh we'll be joined uh in the next hour discussing a number of issues we'll be joined by a number of guests we're going to be talking about uh the donagle hospice and the work that they do we've a number of guests in studio to discuss that a little later on then we'll be joined by the united states ambassador to arland to discuss her visit to her home effectively uh and retracing her grandparents steps and what she sees with her new role and the relationships between arland and the us all of that and so much more besides coming up for you after the news at 11 to which we head towards now the 9 till nin show with city of dairy airport enjoy convenient travel to london liverpool manchester glasgow edinburgh the algarve and meorca visit city of dairy airport dot com the euro millions jackpot is an estimated 215 million euro play responsibly in store in app or at lottery dot iu the national lottery it could be you at leadle we do things every day to make life better for us all things like being the first retailer to work with farmers on a sustainable beef program to improve environmental impact donating over 600 000 meals in the last year through our partnership with food cloud and helping bees by doubling our number of pollinator friendly stores in 2022 decision by decision day by day we're taking little steps to a better tomorrow join us on our journey today at little steps dot i e little more for you right now you can get sky tv and broadband with netflix at no extra cost all for 55 euro a month must be worth a conversation son yep netflix is on us shall we dance with sky you get the best entertainment all in one place so get sky tv and broadband with netflix at no extra cost all for 55 euro a month what are you waiting for search sky 55 availability subject to location new sky customers only set up fees minimum term and further terms apply for more information see sky dot i e slash this wednesday the 11th around the northwest is live from the open day at donnie golly tv's newest further education and training center on the poords road letter kenny the open day is a chance to call in and see the new center have a look at their state of the art teaching and learning facilities meet the staff and find out about the range of fat courses on offer find out more listen in from 12 this wednesday on around the northwest okay it is 11 o'clock it's time for news updates and we say good morning now to donal kafner good morning donal thank you great good morning a teenage girl injured in a road collision near car regard on sunday may first has died the 17 year old passed away last evening at bowmont hospital in dublin gar thee are again appealing for witnesses to the single car collision to come forward it happened at mean formal glen at approximately quarter past nine that night brison recycling has been awarded a new three-year contract to continue managing the six recycling centers in the county by donnie goll county council brison first won the contract in 2012 the council says a number of improvements have been introduced across the county as part of the new contract including longer opening hours and this they say has led to the creation of five new jobs gar thee urging people to review their home security and take steps to secure their property it follows a burglary at cool glass kilmikrannan road millford on wednesday of last week gar thee say between 20 to three that afternoon and quarter past nine that night entry was gained to the house via the front door which was unlocked nothing was taken millford gar thee urging anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to make contact with them they also say anyone who notices any suspicious activity in their area at any time should make contact with gar thee and they say people should ensure that they protect their property as much as possible an emergency housing meeting is taking place today in the glendies municipal district has homelessness increases across the northwest there are renewed calls for vacant properties to be brought back into use a hundred new jobs have been announced for the northwest medical devices firm arotec is expanding its headquarters in slago town and its emerged irish households are paying around 250 euro more for electricity than our european neighbours new euro stat figures compiled before the war on newcreme show electricity prices here were already 26 percent higher than the eu average and it's not down to tax and we're back with news headlines again at okay donald thank you very much for that flow gas now offer 100 percent green electricity it feels good to know that as i cut my grass here the power is coming from 100 percent renewable sources also good to know that flow gas plant one tree for every person that makes the switch and the cherry on top you can get a welcome bonus worth up to 220 euro i put the savings towards this fancy new electrical lawnmower hey how's she cutting not bad not bad at all the grass is definitely greener on the flow gas site see for yourself terms and conditions apply switch to flow gas at flow gas dot ie to view our great range of offers or call us on 1800 200 052 okay you're very welcome back to the program and we welcome in to studio our two guests kathryn reagan director of nursing at the donald's hospice and palliative care services good morning to you kathryn thanks for joining us thank you greg it's good to have you with us and also a consultant doctor jessica suey it's lovely to have you with us doctor thank you thank you very much indeed 20 years next year isn't it since the establishment of the hospice of course planning before that kathryn is that hard to believe it's 20 years 20 years yeah well i'm only new here greg but the staff down there can't believe it's 20 years absolutely it has flown by and very successful 20 years yeah and this is one of those projects that was sort of born of the community and and sort of the the the the the drive in the vision of a relatively small number of individuals right from the get go yes that's right and they had the vision and the foresight to see what it could be and came about from a group of locals who got together and saw the need for palliative care and drove forward and and the community itself that fund raises and keeps the momentum going is what makes it so successful yes and it's one of those things isn't it um it it's there for people at the most difficult time uh and you know people generally come from it uh that the very difficult time they've went through has been made somewhat easier and i think that's why then people are so generous uh in either themselves um getting involved in fundraising or contributing to a fundraiser because they often see firsthand the work of the dongle hospice yeah that's right greg unfortunately there aren't too many people that aren't touched by uh either cancer or life limiting illness in some of their loved ones so um a lot of people have crossed the path of palliative care and dongle hospice and they want to give back which is which is fabulous to the service that they thankfully have used and and found a great help to them in their most desperate times um dr swede i mean there's many areas of of health care that one could work in uh why did you choose uh this path in your career um palliative care it's the specialty of my choice because i kind of feel i provide holistic care to my patients and family so palliative care encompasses not just physical care but looking at the whole picture psychosocial spiritual care to make sure that patients live well as long as they could yeah because there's a lot going on there's a lot of emotions there's a lot of you know it's very different say for instance from a sudden death yes absolutely um so um you know to do palliative care i think you have to be emotionally quite strong for it and to be able to you know to say when you're working you work but when you're out of work just try to forget about your work yeah and and it's it's in it we're all individuals and particularly i think that applies to all care but particularly with palliative care services and every effort is made isn't it to i'm supposed to tailor the service to each individual is that a yes absolutely i don't know if catering do you want to add anything yeah yeah so we you know we have a range of services within donny gall hospice so when you come under our service you have the um obviously the consultants and our other doctors and we have our social worker our occupational therapist and our physiotherapist so we hope to cater for all your physical needs but also we have our you know holistic care and we look after your your spiritual and your mindfulness and then if you're an inpatient we like to try our best to fulfill any wishes that you may have whether that's a special meal or a movie night with your family or you know just quiet time with your loved ones we try to fulfill everyone's needs tailored to their needs yeah um and you mentioned loved ones and family that's an important part of all of this too isn't it it's a big part palliative care isn't about the patient it's about the families and the loved ones as well Greg yeah we look after them as well because they are the ones who are going to be left behind so we need to be able to be assured that they are strong and and mentally cared for yeah um sorry Greg just to just add on to what catering has said um it's not just providing you know care to patients and family on in the Donegal hospital but also in community some patients would tell us that they don't want to die in the hospital they want to die at home so we'll do our best to support that yeah okay and I uh don't worry about jumping in Dr Sway because I get the impression Catherine will appreciate every moment you do so yes so if you want to do the heavy lifting doctor uh yeah I don't think Catherine will be complaining uh you're doing very well Catherine of course though thank you especially with it there's nothing worse than the frog in the throat um how has services changed over the last while at the hospital in terms of you know staffing and and what you're able to do uh in in that regard yes so my seven Dr Sway and Dr Fountain who couldn't be here today um started in September and November and so Donegal Hospice had unfortunately been downgraded to a level two service because they were waiting on the appointments of consultants so that has happened and it is now back upgraded to a level three service so we are providing clinical governance for all our patients in palliative care and as Dr Sway said in the hospice and in the community in their own homes and also we have an an arm in the hospital as well where Dr Sway and Dr Fountain provide you know support and guidance to their colleagues there yeah Dr Sway how long have you been with the Donegal Hospice now since September last year yeah so I mean your skills sets would have been in high demand uh I presume you you know uh you could have pick and choose wherever you wanted to work um I don't know if you were already living in the northwest or what your connections are to here but really the question I'm asking is why then did you choose uh to come up to the beautiful northwest of Ireland so I train as a junior doctor in Ireland before I moved to the UK um to do my specialist training so I've known the geography of Ireland uh in some what in uh in some details and I know in Donegal they need somebody to improve the service of palliative care for me I'm kind of with my training I'm ready to take up the challenge hence I applied for the job yeah but you saw enough there to say you know this is this is a good spot and I can add to this I can grow as a person and I can grow uh I can grow uh the services and the offering for people yes yes not just not just for the people of you know not just for people in Donegal but also to support the staffed um in overall you know palliative care knowledge and skills is it rewarding job oh yes I'm sure Catherine would agree with me yeah it's a very rewarding job because everything would indicate that it really shouldn't be yes and also you know I've had loved ones there as well so I can say this without hopefully getting too much agro on the text is is that even in the moment when you're losing someone or you know what's happening you can still find space to say that this is nice or what's happening feels right or this is positive you know which kind of feels like it shouldn't be that way during that process but the hospice affords that I think yeah it's it's a great honor to be with people as they leave this world and to be a part of that and to make it better and to make it a good experience because death can be a nice experience you know if it's in the right environment and it's done well and it's good for the patient as well and as doctors where you recognize the hospice is not going to be the setting for everyone supports or then offered where possible if it's in someone's home or whatever it might be obviously you can draw on because you mentioned working in in Britain you can draw on sort of an international sense is this this is not unique to to hear is it this type of care and how we do it is it or how does it vary in in your experience I think palliative care across you know island and UK very much the very similar very similar but at what we have an advantage here is we have great support by the people of Donegal and the board the board the hospice the hospice board ever so willing to support what we need yeah and to support the patient's needs did it surprise you how significant the funding from the community is for the likes of the Donegal hospice I mean obviously you would have done your research but did it surprise you that it's held in such high regard and so heavily supported it didn't surprise me that it was held in such high regard but I forget that you're recently in the position as well yes when I said September great so but it it the phenomenal support is is what's the continuing surprising people are just constantly supporting fundraisers and giving back and even in their time of grief they are always thinking about what can we do to give back which is absolutely amazing but with that comes a great responsibility doesn't it to to maintain that and to reward that generosity with a level of service and with ambitions and plans you mean you can't stand still no so there is plans to build on a new four bedroomed apartment so we have six rooms in Donegal hospice and two apartments so we're going to the board is going to use that money that has been fundraised and they're going to build on four apartments so that will allow families to live together if that's what they wish to do in Donegal hospice in a bigger room and in a more normal environment if you want to call it like that and that's hopefully starting very soon and that will be absolutely amazing for the people of Donegal and that's already been fundraised for hasn't it the money is there and the planning is there yeah I'm planning and we're working currently with HSC estates who've also been very supportive but I have to say the board and the people of Donegal who have give back the money will hopefully very soon see the fruits of that with the with that new build yeah and of course you want people to continue to be generous as well obviously because yeah well that's an important element of it yeah and it is an important element because unfortunately the hospices aren't funded as well by government perhaps as they should be because there's a lot of money that needs to go into different aspects there's a lot more than palliative care I suppose so the funding is always very well utilised and it you know it gives back it gives a little bit extra to the patient did you want to come in there sorry oh yes I just kind of wanted to say in addition to what Catherine mentioned earlier on regarding the extension of four apartments we are hoping that once we get enough staff that we will be providing a seven-day service in community and in the hospital yeah so that's really to main mainly to prevent emissions unnecessary emissions to emergency departments which of course is good for the patient and their family but that's also obviously takes potential a little bit of pressure from an acute hospital situation as well which is we want these things and need these things to work hand in glove don't we yeah Dr Sui where else do you see services going into the future or what would you like to see um I would like to see that you know I would like to collaborate further with the primary care gps especially to see what we can do to keep patients at home and secondly to work with the national ambulance service and in recognising dying patients and questioning if it's appropriate to transfer them to the hospital yeah that's a big piece of work to do um but that's the that's the next but again that's another thing that feeds into a better running health service but primarily of course presumably um better situation for patients and families yeah would you concur with that Catherine yeah yeah exactly and recognising that and hopefully with more staff and going to a seven day service which we hope to do you know in the next couple of months Greg what's that reliant on Catherine sorry is it finding the staff it's finding the staff it's finding the staff so I suppose initially it was set up to run five days yeah which it does monday to friday we have a fabulous relationship with our public health nurses so they you know essentially take over at weekends and look after and care for our patients we do have a phone service a 24 hour phone service but it's the ph n's that go in at the weekend so we hope to be able to deliver that service ourselves over the seven days and then hopefully as Jessica said prevent the unnecessary admissions to ed for symptom management that we can take in and help people with their symptoms and we can also discharge again the husband isn't about coming in and you stay there you can come in for your symptom control yeah get that under control and go back home and live another length of time relatively well yeah and it prevents the overrun the hospitals and the long stays in ed which we all know you know our national problem yeah so you know that's a piece of work that we're looking at as well preventing the hospital unnecessary hospital admissions I presume and this is like but I mean I presume with even more resources much more of this work could be done and and much more pressure could be taken off I mean because we're talking in the context of the space that you provide or you have available to you I mean if this were scaled up if that were the will of the the government or the health minister presumably you know it could work even better in achieving all the goals that you believe could be achieved yeah and the government is looking at that and there are national groups palliative care groups nationally that are looking at that and we have been very lucky actually we just got confirmation a few weeks ago that we have been given another clinical nurse specialist to work in our community the government's going to fund that for Dunneagal and we have been given the remit to look at our strategy plan for Dunneagal and see what we need and that the HSC will work with us to build on that service and add more staff to provide that care. Dr Sway anything you want to add before we wrap up? I just want to thank the people you know for supporting us of this wall and we will work hard for the people of Dunneagal yeah okay Catherine and and and just reiterate thank the people of Dunneagal but also I you know want to thank the people the staff that have kept Dunneagal Hospice open and going for the last 20 years the clinical staff and the fundraising and the board you know Isabelle and Grace and the people that who are very supportive to us since we came and the nurses and doctors there who have been very welcoming to us and really really supportive and we're thoroughly enjoying our time here and he's both nice and settled in now absolutely yeah okay enjoying it lovely stop okay listen it's been lovely speaking to both of you that was Catherine Regan director of nursing at the Dunneagal Hospice Hospice and palliative care and consultant Dr Jessica Sway both of you thank you so very much indeed it's been lovely having you on the program and we'll be back with more on the 9th noon show after we take this break the 9th noon show with the city of dairy airport Algarve and Mallorca summer holidays from the city of dairy airport free childish places available for ages 2 to 11 visit cityofdairyairport.com Sunsoak for less this summer with Tui savings on holidays in May and June holiday sorted Tui live happy harry jack's diner straban American style diner ice cream parlor and takeaway opening soon at market square straban or the real diner experience it will have to be harry jacks they say you should have your second baby first because with your second baby you'll have learned what to do but not to do what's best for baby and best for you like the loopy loo range from Lidl everything your baby needs including reward-winning nappies from under 99 cent when you know what to do loopy loo available exclusively at Lidl more for you see our full range at Lidl.ie forward slash loopy loo the euro millions jackbutt is an estimated 215 million euro play responsibly in store in app or at lottery.ie the national lottery it could be you hey yeah oh my god is everything okay you and paul no my bank we're breaking up oh jean there's plenty more fish in the ccpc money tool breaking up with your bank search for your new match using ccpc's free independent current account money tool find your new account now at ccpc.ie forward slash move from the competition and consumer protection commission 08 660 25 000 that is the number to whatsapp or text if you want to have your say to get involved with us so get involved with the conversation 08 660 25 000 or you can give us a call to on 07491 25 000 more delighted more than delighted to take your calls just to remind you how you email its comments at highlandradio.com comments at highlandradio.com and if you want to comment on our social media whilst watching the program please do you can click on youtube highland radio island and watch us on youtube or either of our facebook pages or just go straight to the website actually highlandradio.com and you can interact with us there either way we just want to hear from you and make sure that you feel that your voice is being heard on this program as we say it's a hugely important one right a comment here now hi greg i've just buried my old friend and the pilots of care team were amazing i would have been lost without them louise maryon and the irish cancer association oliver galler for her care with hubert and hubert got his wishes to pass away at home with me to the carers they do amazing work i thank them all so much that comes in from carmel right now just taking their seat as we speak is clare cronin who is the u ambassador to arland clare a very good morning to you how are you keeping i am having a wonderful time you're being drawn from pillar to post are you yes your agenda is full yes we have a fabulous agenda and we've been going like crazy since we got up here yesterday i suppose the first thing i should say to you is welcome home yes because uh you know i mean obviously your position is it's a lovely position and you represent the united states and but yesterday was particularly special for you wasn't it because you're able to it was a personal element to it you're able to sort of retrace retrace the steps of your forefathers yeah for sure my grandad came from dunny gall and i grew up my whole life hearing about dunny gall and how beautiful it was and my father loved it so much um my brother and sister had an opportunity to visit here before but i had not this was my first and to be able to come as the u.s. ambassador uh was just very very special and the warm welcome i received is you know i just can't believe it it was very nice wasn't it i haven't really seen something like that before it was a real welcome home kind of a situation wasn't it oh my god it was wonderful and then there were us flags and signs and school children came out and it was just a great day that i will never forget your grandfather was born and lived in it's a small village caromina yes okay so what were you able to do there yesterday so yesterday and historically if you were to go back to the caromina evictions my family was one of the 13 families that were evicted in the caromina evictions so yesterday we went we were at the caromina community center we visited the remembrance garden and you know i saw the plaque on the evictions which you know it really brought it home a little bit because it's only something i have read about before and of course my dad used to tell me the stories growing up and it's great and now you can say to your siblings beat that uh you think your visit was good look at the reception i received and what i've been but it is nice and something you want to explore a bit more is it uh your connections and and what have you yes and it's i said yesterday was like just the warmth of the welcome is you just can't put it into words and i met a woman there and it was really remarkable um her she was a descendant of one of the families of the caromina evictions and she was actually in the states and someone reached out to her and she was in florida saying we're trying to get some american flags to welcome the ambassador and they couldn't get them in time from amazon this woman flew from florida to philadelphia picked up the order of flags and flew here flew into belfast and came over to distribute the flags all through the center of caramina and i thought look at that effort that that woman made and the whole town made is just you know you just can't stop smiling thinking about it um clear how does one become the u.s ambassador or any ambassador for that matter but what was your journey um to become the u.s ambassador to arland sure there are two paths one you can be a career foreign service professional and that's one way the other way is to become a political appointee and i was nominated by president biden i first became friendly with president biden prior to his beginning the race worked very hard for him during the campaign starting actually before he had actually even announced his candidacy and over that period of time we got to know each other better and when the time came where he had to pick someone he put forth my name which was just the honor of a lifetime and do you think that's even more of an honor given the fact that it's clear uh you know he celebrates his connections with iran his irishness uh and so with that comes a bit of responsibility i think you know because the probably more inclined to ask you how we should trip to arland than he might trip to somewhere else perhaps is it a bit more pressure for you or a bit more of an honor actually maybe to come and get in a more positive uh approach it's both it it's certainly the honor of a lifetime uh but i always look at any job i've undertaken and ambassador is the same not as the title but as the responsibility because when you have a job like this there is a burden and a responsibility that goes along with it so i certainly uh desire to do the job well but knowing that president biden has this very strong love affection appreciation for all things ireland you know it probably just spurs me on to try to do my very best while i'm here and he is visiting later this year is that correct i don't know when he's coming i have seen that it's been reported in some news cycle um i did have a conversation with him on the phone uh a couple of weeks ago right prior to the shamrock ceremony and he did say he was visiting but i didn't push him for the date i figured that he'll let me know when the time is appropriate yeah of course um so claire as uh in in relation to you know what you hope to how long is your term sorry is uh ambassador to arland uh i will be here as long as president biden likes me to be his gift okay and typically in the second term he would appoint a new ambassador i think that's generally the way it's gone in the past see how that goes but like what what do you want to achieve or what do you feel maybe you can achieve uh over the amount of time that you have in this position first and foremost uh to strengthen our people to people ties i mean we uh our ties between the united states and ireland go back you know and they're pretty much founded on ancestral ties but our trade and investment is the glue that keeps it together we have more than 900 companies that are in located in ireland but it's a two-way street uh in the same token ireland is the ninth largest foreign direct investor in the united states so those trade and investment ties are there as we move forward one of my primary goals is to create an open door policy for both the u.s. embassy and the deerfield residents uh so we began a program we've started it two weeks ago and it's for students in their transitional year that are right around age 16 and 17 and we know they're i've just missed out on this yeah you just missed it by what a year or two three or four decades okay but what i have done is we've invited students uh they come to deerfield residents i give them a tour of the you know the september 11th monument the gardens then we come in and i let them have the run of the downstairs take them around it's fun the kids you know they're doing selfies with their friends on you know the beautiful rooms in there and then we sit in the ballroom and we have a snack and basically it's you know brown bag with the ambassador and you know kind of a q and a i always tell them you can ask me any question you want and it's been fabulous do you think that it's sort of ties between uh can we presume the ties between the united states and ireland will always be strong you know i mean going back a little bit of time a lot of people elected to power in in the united states uh would have been maybe irish or second generation irish or what have you but i think there might only be one uh now currently there and the world's changing so much i mean do we have to work on maintaining sort of that bond between the united states and ireland or do you believe it will always be there i believe it will always be there but it you know it might need a little love and affection along the way i mean someone gave me a statistic that one and i i hope i'm saying this correctly but that one in four children that are aged six in ireland have a parent from a different country yeah probably right yeah so that shows that ireland's becoming more diverse so the ancestral ties are becoming somewhat diluted and that's why it's important for the younger generation and that's you know one of the primary reasons we did start the open doors program but also you know the j1 visas well now it's bridge usa uh but i you know i'm older i it will always be a j1 visa to me uh but to see the students come over and come to the united states build their own connections and you know the reality is this ireland is the only country in the world that has a standing meeting uh with the t-shock and the president of the united states only country in the world and that's significant but let's not forget geographically ireland is you know as a result of brexit you know while there is some short-term pain there ireland is now the gateway to the eu in the same token it's the gateway for the eu to the us so ireland is positioned very well certainly and that relationship that already exists obviously that's that's a great leverage it's a great advantage yeah sure to benefit as much as we can from that yeah terrific and in terms of obviously companies american companies working and and operating in ireland i mean that seems to continue to go from from from strength to strength there was concerns about uh you know i'm talking about tech here there was some concerns that uh our adjustments as it relates to you know vat rates and what have you it's not vat it is anyway the the rates of tax them being adjusted upwards might have a negative impact but i know from uh the head of google recently they said that they don't believe that will be the case that they'll continue want to operate and expand and grow and invest in in in ireland sure and that global minimum tax rate um that was certainly corporation tax it is yeah the global uh that was certainly a u.s policy but it is one that what we find is the tax rate is really just one factor yeah the companies consider when they come in there are many many more reasons uh for businesses to want to invest in ireland you have a highly educated workforce an english speaking workforce proximity the e u proximity to the us uh there are far more reasons and in the comments by uh google you know just show that that's only one factor and i think maybe the threat the uh changed corporation tax might have on the economy here might have been somewhat amplified amplified by the media because most of the commenter i was hearing from government they were playing it down uh but if you were reading about it it was going to have this devastating effect but we we've yet to see yet to see but from the people that make these decisions i'm hearing the right noises that it won't impact us too negatively yeah i i agree let's not forget it is a minimum it's a it's a floor not a ceiling okay a caller asks everyone wants to claim you now i think a caller asks is the if the ambassador also has relations in the green castle area now maybe that has yet to be explored yeah uh so you know we began in caramena uh or as far back as we can uh connect uh but yesterday i had the opportunity to uh go to belly macArthur which is in i was able to view the actual home that my grandfather left uh not exactly sure about green castle uh but there are an awful lot of mcglocklands up here and i mean really all we could all we'd have to connect is your grandfather to a relation in green castle and and that's how it works isn't it uh well hi greg we had a fantastic day yesterday welcoming our new ambassador to caramena well done to anthony and all who helped him get caramena looking beautiful for the visits and we saw the efforts and we heard from the ambassador the efforts that went into that uh which is is amazing um i mean people might lobby you on certain things say for instance you know the undocumented you know there's probably 45 50 000 people from arland uh are living there they've got families in america they pay tax in america uh but they feel they can't come back to say attend a funeral or a wedding whatever might be for fear uh of um them not being allowed back in and being banned from returning is that something that your office can sort of lobby on or do you have representations made to you on issues such as that and then you can relate them relate them on to the the powers that be sure uh it's an issue that i am very familiar with uh i come from boss the boston area and we certainly have neighborhoods in the boston area uh that have many individuals from island many of them i know personally so i i can appreciate this problem uh greatly as an ambassador you know we always uh try to spread uh the word to congress about what we're hearing in this country certainly your irish elected officials uh this is a decision for congress and and there will have to be comprehensive immigration reform that it's not specific to ireland alone which is a congressional issue and one thing i can say um many of your elected officials here are really doing the job of you know fostering the ties in in ireland um in the us you know we have many delegations go over for st patrick's day recently minister covney uh was in boston and in washington dc as well so those conversations are happening uh what impact an ambassador can actually have i don't know but i certainly uh share the concerns whenever i have an opportunity and i think that's what it is isn't it it's about another voice saying you know this is what i'm hearing obviously you know we talk about the the ties and the supports between the united states and ireland and we talk about you know our cultural connections and uh gateways into europe and all that's very important how significant do you think it was uh the the us working with ireland as it relates to the recent really is a mind blowing press conference down in dublin as it relates to uh law enforcement in the united states working with ireland and others and others uh in relation to sanctions being levied against the the the um the kinhan organized crime gang i mean that was something else there was a i felt a real significance to that not just of the subject matter but that cooperation there it was very significant and it was uh something that had been being worked on i believe uh it began with the u.s customs and border protection uh but that is a prime example of the ways in which our country can work together with you know there was a effort by united states dea customs and border protection the treasury department the sanctions that were put against the kinhan family but we also you know this was something we worked on with uh interpol or europeo and the law enforcement within ireland and it was a really strong transatlantic uh great partnership that i believe will have a very significant impact yeah i don't think it's going to be necessarily on on on uh that organization i think going forward this changes things this change this disrupts this type of activity i think when people say i mean really at this stage there's not really a hiding place you know if company if countries work together like that i mean there's no hiding place for these people yeah and we recently saw the united arab Emirates came on board with their own sanctions as well so this is it will make it far more difficult to engage in these activities that have such a horrible impact on so many people um some reports that uh in that case against the three principal named individuals that the way the system works that charges may already have been uh instilled documents may have already have been levied against them we don't know having do you don't have any insight into that do you i do not i know that uh there is continually work being done all right um do you say all these nice things about everywhere you go uh ambassador i wonder are we getting special nice comments here in beautiful donnelly gall i mean what's not what's not i'm going to be monitoring your future into what's not i'm actually originally from kerry no i'm saying that's what you might say at a kerry radio station no no uh well you know i do have other strong feeling uh ties you know on my granddad side it's denny gall and you know what's not to love about denny gall but i do on my mom's side uh my people came from cork gallway and county claire so all beautiful counties yes you're you're from very i think i've got a good chunk of the map covered yeah you're from very good stock what's uh what have you got planned now i won't delay you any further what have you got planned now for the rest of your time your rest of your visit uh well we've got a good day ahead uh we are heading to kelly bags we are also i don't want to put you on the spot but you've got a quite night in a row kelly bags is beautiful and the weather's going to be beautiful for you as well there uh claire thank you so much thank you it's been lovely having you in like and chatting to you and we really appreciate your time because you have to go out of your way to come here so it's it's uh very nice it's my first time but it's not my last yeah that i can assure you but even to come to this radio station is really what i meant but claire listen it's been lovely having you likewise and we'll chat again soon i hope i hope all right that's claire cronin you ambassador to arland enjoy the rest of your time thank you all right we'll be back with more on the program after the break at magies.ie you can create gallery quality art on canvas from your favorite photo direct from your phone laptop or pc simply upload your favorite picture and have it printed on canvas transformed into gallery quality art for as little as 44.95 click and collect or have it delivered to your door ready to hang big picks small prices at magies chemist letter kenny see magies.ie michael murphy sports and leisure has everything you need to gear up for the ga season this year get your hands in the brand new dunnegall ga home jersey available in men's ladies and kids or gear up the whole family for pre-season and match days with the new harlem range of sweaters leggings and snuds at michael murphy sports.ie at hickey clark and langen insurance brokers they compare quotes from all the leading insurers so you get a great price home motor and van farm holiday home travel and liability insurance they quote them all so if the worst happens you're covered for a competitive insurance quote today called hickey clark and langen on 91 two double six double eight or pop into their office at bali mccool letter kenny hickey clark and langen general insurance is limited trading as hickey clark and langen is regulated by the central bank of ireland do you need a little extra help staying in your home at bluebird care we offer a wide variety of qmark approved personalized home care services across dunnegall and our fully trained and committed staff will always meet your care needs with kindness compassion and dignity to get your personal home care assessment plan visit bluebirdcare.ie or call our care team today on 07491 29562 and bring care home the nine till noon show with city of dairy airport pre-brook your airport parking fast track and launch access at cityofdairyairport.com for a stress-free start to your trip at leadle we do things every day to make life better for us all things like being the first retailer to work with farmers on a sustainable beef program to improve environmental impact donating over 600 000 meals in the last year through our partnership with food cloud and helping bees by doubling our number of pollinator friendly stores in 2022 decision by decision day by day we're taking leadle steps to a better tomorrow join us on our journey today at leadle steps dot ie leadle more for you give blood dot ie no we can count on you our community of blood donors to give blood and to choose to be there for others in their hour of need blood donors from bunkranna should attend the clinic in the inish own gateway hotel on monday 9th and tuesday 10th and donors from carndona should attend the clinic in the carndona community school on wednesday 11th and thursday 12th of may to ensure social distancing all donors need to make an appointment so call 1-800-731-137 to book your time new donors are welcome visit giveblood dot ie to see eligibility and clinic details with longer evenings outdoor living is back and there's great offers right now in garden furniture at kelly centra letter kelly outdoor tables chairs and benches at unbeatable prices also portable barbecues accessories and everything for grilling and chilling find all you need for outdoor entertainment at kelly's award-winning centra mountaintop letter kenny island radio weather updates with ireland west airport get ready to hit the beach and soak up the sun by choosing flights to alicante barcelona faro meorca malaga and melanda summer with ryan air ireland west airport you're flying so blustery day today with sunny spells and scattered showers some will turn heavy dependent where you are temperatures of 13 or 14 degrees in moderate to fresh and gusty southwestly winds increasing strong at times near coast but if you live near coast you will use that aren't you right okay now motion is going before the council shortly as it relates to events surrounding the irish legends golf tournament it's at the rosa penna hotel and golf resort running from the 16th to the 20th of august at 2022 uh cancer lee and blaney has a motion down on this i suppose cancer before we get to the thrust of your motion i mean this is it's a huge event uh to be located uh in donagolison it'd be great that crowds will be able to attend is it getting the platform the attention do you think that it deserves well first of all it's a massive event as you said greg for the downing area and there's a second year now the road has been there well far to the last year because of the restrictions with covid people were not allowed to attend it and uh thankfully paul meganley's managed to take it back to to the bit resort and downings the bit golf resort that is down there with three magnificent golf courses and um has come back down the middle of of august again and i had a motion on the council the end of last year that we're trying to arrange organize a festival for that week off events and downings and we've heard very little back since as far as council is concerned that's been a motion on for the day that the council to get updated and informed of what exactly is taking place there and uh look you're sure you have the reply in front of you there and it's very positive you'd be surprised i don't what is what is the reply councillor well give me a moment to get onto it here no problem uh and whilst you do that how does that this work is this about supporting people in the community or the resort itself to organize things or is this something the council would take a uh a lead on uh leon well i was hoping the council would take a lead on that and you know the council gives maybe a lot of bad press times about things that they don't do but i think the reply here to this motion and i'm getting a more updated report on it again later on at the meeting at our other meeting is that um the reply here states that council's tours and market and unit on the economic development division has been working closely with event organizers european tours on the organization of the festival and golf to coincide with irish legends tournament presented by the pal mcginley foundation at the russia panel tailgolf resort from the 16th to the 20th of august 2022 as a proposed to host live music entertainment on the friday and saturday night time expect to be nice and the headland acts in the coming weeks the team is also engaging with on the gov food coast as well as local businesses to set up a bespoke to go out food village village during both the tournament and the festival of riding a strong authentic dunigolf food offering to visitors the team are also working closely with the local community downings including the local g8 club the tiny towns committee and make arrangements for the events as well as with the council environment team to ensure that the event is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible an upcoming meeting is planned with our local service providers including council roads teams and garters have gone on a civil defense in the coming weeks the communications and marketing plan is currently being prepared and this will work hand in hand with the marketing activities of the irish legends tournament an update report will be included in the report today that's for really positive isn't it i mean it sounds like there's a there's a great deal of intent i mean if that all comes off it's it's really going to add to what's already got huge potential for the area yeah the opportunity is there and the potential is there and i think it's something can be worked on and the council is working hard on it and i have to thank the council and the economic development team and the tourism team has working on that and uh it was it was a huge opportunity to make a massive thing out of this legend tour and downings and i think that they're working hard to try and achieve that yeah and the thing about it is this is the long game as well at leon because i mean obviously the 16th to the 20th of august it's to make sure people enjoy themselves but it there's going to be a lot of visitors from all over the place peak season beautiful weather i'm sure you know you hope that people come and learn more about than a goal return and that's where the that's where the real benefits for the you know outside the golfing community for the broader community that's where the benefits are really felt that's where the benefits felt and maybe a couple of years time down the line you know before you will realize that the people came to a tournament enjoyed the the few days that stayed there that much that they've come back down the booked uh holiday home or the booked hotel rooms that booked whatever because they enjoyed themselves that much when they were here and they enjoyed the place and hopefully that will be a bigger spinoff down to the next couple of years to the whole community to all businesses and the area and also to what they could do this year what they couldn't do last year and has changed since i spoke to you and i think you sort of hinted at something was in the offing is access has been put in place for murder hall that you know that it's almost world famous at this stage that beach well there's a landowner put an access there there to the beach and are you happy with that that relieves well you're happy that there's access to it because it relieves a lot of pressure was on there on on local people that could not get out and there's businesses there that people could not get out on emergency service couldn't get enough they were needed because of the amount of people and many cars coming and parking on roads and abandoning cars and blocking roads and it's great to see that somebody's taken initiative and went ahead and done that and i'm hoping now that that will be worked on and it will be improved on and make as another great facility for people coming in holidays for someone else for them to do and an access for them to get out to the murder hall that is known plenty wide at this stage and a lot further yeah it is i mean and i mean it's it's not access for everyone i mean you have to have a bit of a pep in your step to use it but i suppose it's a half a loaf is better than no bread at all well it is it is a walk out it i was out on it and i'm sure someone can be worked on for people maybe that's not able to walk out it could be maybe made more friendly for people that aren't maybe is able to to walk at distance but that's someone has worked on down the line and as i said already i hope everybody can pull to you and to ensure that that has improved on and the access has improved on and that the experience that that everybody comes the visitors who comes there to see the experience that they have will be improved on as well all right councillor leigh and blaney thank you for joining us great just just one all week quick thing and you'll be interested in this as well that's and it's been good on mentioned now for a number of years go back to councillor leigh great he's the first person i've heard didn't mention that uh joe mcqueen john adal and myself about the footpath and carry yard to the to the downings and thankfully last year that was eventually at last pass been boarded by lala and uh the problem then was identifying funding for it and i identified funding at the motion in the last meeting that would apply for oris measure three funding which is five hundred thousand for to do that road and i'm just out of meeting here the minute and i'll be very positive from the feedback we're getting here that that's just one there's only about one application allowed per 20 for for this oris funding and uh i'm hopeful that at this stage that the downing is going to be applied for this year and it's going to be a big boost to that as well to get a footpath on from there from the bridge at carry yard right down all the way down to meet up with the footpath that has come up from the downing state and maybe improve that footpath as well all right great news for the area and if you're optimistic it's the only application in and that if all goes if the wind blows the right way the money will be there for to begin that sooner rather than later i'm very hopeful about that that does teach all right okay good stuff great stuff indeed great great boost for the area councillor liam blaney there with a round up of the downing's community notices but we do appreciate liam using the opportunity to give us all that information there the tram on historical society were delighted to have met the ambassador yesterday and want to thank her for coming i probably should have referred to his ambassador rather than claire that's my mistake i hope i didn't offend anyone but anyway i'm forgetful with titles greg i think more power needs to be handed over to the gp in terms of pain management prescriptions i've decided to not opt for chemotherapy i and others i believe would benefit of gp said the power to prescribe more natural pain relief such as cannabis oil okay i mean that's a big decision you made there and maybe if it's something that you you wish to talk about it might be of interest to to other people to hear your experience and reasons which lots of people make similar decisions okay just something that jumped out at me from the newspapers today and it's buried in it and it upsets me i don't know why well i might i do know why but the treatment of older people in this country something that i think should be put above an awful lot else you know we talk about big spend on defending the country you know having an army that's almost 10 000 and having tanks and aeroplanes and stuff and i think yeah i mean let's have that discussion but please let's do it after we get the basic rights the basics rights and that's making sure that older people aren't waiting for hours and end in eds that they aren't feeling isolated that they aren't you know struggling to make ends meet these are the people that we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for uh but anyway i'm ranting a little bit this is off the back of a headline i read which upset me greatly almost 16 000 cases of elder abuse have been reported within health service executive funded services for older people over the past five years 16 000 cases in in um services funded by the hsc really is what i'm saying so five into 16 you can see an awful lot that's happening and and how many reported versus how many go unreported the number of abuse concerns relating to over 65 increased from 3029 in 2016 to a peak of 3412 in 2020 the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic the number of cases reportedly uh strongly underestimates the true level of elder elder abuse according to the sage advocacy it's a group that campaigns on safeguarding uh issues these figures are just the tip of the iceberg according to sage deputy chairperson patricia rickard clark who pointed out that they do not cover abuse in private nursing homes hospitals or other services such as homeless units or addiction centers the most common type of concern reported the hsc over the period involved psychological abuse which accounted for 35 percent of reports in 2020 physical abuse accounted for 23 percent of cases in that year while 19 percent involved financial abuse according to the hsc's national safeguarding office neglect was involved in 15 percent of cases and self-neglect four percent of cases a total of 4 379 cases of physical abuse of older people were reported over the five years and 665 of sexual abuse the figures were provided to finnegale td fergus old dad in response to a question about the number of investigations carried out within hsc older persons services the most uh horrific uh uh claims their allegations uh and uh findings 16 000 cases of elder abuse over five years that is i mean it's i don't see it anywhere else it's in the middle of the paper and fair play for the paper um fair play to the paper for reporting it but like when how could that not be front page news um i don't know right a couple of comments as we head towards the end of the program this caller says it's great that the irish legends tour is coming to rosa penna but the problem is that the local amenities cannot cope with any more people in the area as a local we often lose water when the place is busy and the sewage system can't cope either these issues we need to be upgraded before more people come but look i mean you know this is the first time i've heard this claim but it's everyone's not going to stay you know on sides you know people will stay in letter kenny or stay in milford or wherever accommodation might be available and travel into it but i take your point and maybe it's uh i mean obviously it's an area that's grown in popularity but uh have the amenities grown at the same pace i don't know all right listen that's why we have to leave it on the program today we're back