 Belfast Agreement, which is a fundamental importance because that's what's given peace to Northern Ireland for the last 25 years. Three men aged 54, 32 and 29 detained in connection with an attempted hijacking in Derry on Friday have been released following questioning. The attempted hijacking happened in the Hollymont Park area of the city at around 25 to 10 on Friday morning. The men were also questioned about the discovery of a suspicious device in the Karate Road area on Saturday. A fourth man aged 34 remains in custody this morning. Police say their investigations are continuing. The Into the West Rail campaign has joined a consortium of groups from across the island to demand the publication of the All Ireland Rail Review. Work on the review has been completed, but the ongoing absence of an executive at Stormont means there is no NI infrastructure minister to approve it for public release as a result. The groups say this important document is now stuck in limbo with no clarity on when the report will be published. Nine different rail campaign groups from across the island covering 26 different counties, all four provinces and every county in Northern Ireland have written a combined letter to politicians and key civil servants calling for the report's immediate release. The government has today announced a round of wounds of funding for voluntary and community providers. Over 625,000 euros been allocated to 87 groups and projects in Donegal. The HSC will make the payments in the coming weeks and over three quarters of Irish people believe early years education should be available free to all children. That's one of the findings of early childhood Ireland's Bromiter opinion poll. It also shows 71% of Irish adults agree the education of children under 5 is as important as the education of those over 5. Early childhood Ireland's director of public policy is Frances Byrne. Early childhood Ireland's barometer is showing that Ireland is at an all time high of support for high quality early years care for our children. And we're delighted to see this so as of now 79% of adults in Ireland agree that every child should be guaranteed access to high quality and inclusive early years and school aged care in their own community. Rather damp and cloudy today with scattered outbreaks of light rain or drizzle, some hill and coastal mist and fog as well with relatively mild conditions for the time of year. Highs of 11 to 13 degrees Celsius breezy though with moderate to fresh and gusty south west winds strong for a time. And that's how in radio news back with more at 10 o'clock. Happy news from Aldi. We've topped the leaderboard at the National Parenting Product Awards with 22 wins, making us the most awarded retailer. There were goals for our organic Mamia baby food range. Mamia Ultra Dry Junior Plus Nappies size five plus and Mamia Premium Newborn Mini size two Nappies voted the nation's best Nappies by parents in Ireland. So mum and dad not using mummy and appies yet could be time for a change. Aldi, every day amazing. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The Nine Till Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, good morning, four minutes past nine, Monday the 20th of February 2023. How are you keeping? I do hope you're very well indeed. Was your weekend good? What did you get up to? Let us know. Keep us informed on everything going on in your life. Not quite, but let us know if there's anything you want us to talk about. How are you getting cut touch with us? Well, your WhatsApp or text 08 660 25000 08 660 25000 or give us a call on 07 491 25000 emails. If you wish to comments at highlandradio.com and you can engage with us on our social media and watch the show in fact as well. Go to YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland. That's on your tablet, your phone, your smart TV, your forestic, the same with Facebook. Facebook, watch all the app search at Highland Radio. Give us a like, a subscribe and hit the bell too because then you're reminded when we go live here on Highland Radio. And that's about it, isn't it? If you want to send us a letter, you can do that too. Highland Radio mountain top letter Kenny will get us. Thanks to Donald, who sat in for me on Thursday and Friday. It's great to be back with you up here in Donegal. I was down in Dublin explaining to everyone where we are and what we do and why we complain so much and pointing out that we're not in Northern Ireland. So that was my two days in Dublin and I think did I miss anything? Let me know what did I miss because I miss listening as to what's going on up here 08 660 25000. Right, let's have a look at the newspapers for this Monday morning. Is it just me or is the year really flying in 20th of February already? Like we are just moments away from St Patrick's Day. It seems that's how it feels anyway. The Dairy People Donegal News. Milford could lose its district headquarters status under a new guard of restructuring strategy. Donegal's most senior officers have been informed that the county will be cut from four guard of districts. And while on Godashiyakana's top table is that pains to say little will change on the ground, local officers feel that downgrading Milford station will impact negatively on the availability and visibility of personnel in communities indeed. And you know at the end of the day too, there's no communication. If they feel, you know, and we did have Drew Harris up here and he knew what was going on when he was up here. I'm sure although he says it was a local matter. What what does it mean? Like what's the impacts of it? How will policing change? It's not a secret, is it? Tell us if Milford is done away with us has been speculated now for some time. Well, what's replaced it? How does it work? But there's not that level of explanation that I've heard anyway. The Dairy News this morning, the Strathfoil Greenway Project on the outskirts of the city has received 109,000 pounds from the British government's leveling up fund. The funds part of a total package of 1.3 million allocated to help councils across the north enhance green spaces in their communities. It'll fund 26 projects, which will see the planting of trees, the expansion of paths and trails and the improvement of playing parks or play parks. On to the Irish Independent and this headline really doesn't tell the full story. It seems positive on the face of it. And I'm not trying to be negative for the sake of it, but I'll explain as we go on. The first price cut in the cost of electricity can be revealed, a move that is set to pile pressure on the larger players in the market to reduce costs for households. Sounds good, doesn't it? Independent operator Pinergy has broken ranks to deliver a price reduction of 7.1% from the end of next month. You'd think, oh, bills are going to come tumbling down, aren't they? Everyone's going to have to follow them. The problem is Pinergy is the most expensive in the market. And even after the 7.1% cut, they're still going to be way ahead of Electric Ireland, which has the majority of customers. Electric Ireland aren't going to look at and say, look, Pinergy have reduced their prices by 7.1%. But they're still more expensive than us. So hopefully we will, over the course of this year, sooner rather than later, see electricity prices come down. But it's not going to be because Pinergy, one of the most expensive in the market, has come back into the field. This is like a horse that's running away with the Grand National and falls back into the field. It's not that it's set in any fine example unless I'm reading it wrong. It comes at a time when wholesale gas and electricity prices have plunged back to levels. In the last scene before Russia invaded Ukraine, large players such as Electric Ireland, board Gash Energy, SSE, Electricity and Energy will find it difficult to argue that they're unable to reduce consumer prices. Well, they won't because, as I say, they are still most of them cheaper than Pinergy. Households have been hit with brutal and persistent energy price rises in the past two years annual. Electricity costs for a typical home that we all have or live in. They've doubled to around 2,000 euro. Please shop around. You can still go on to one of the switching sites, right? If you haven't switched for a while and put in your details and it'll tell you how much you can save. If you can't save anything, you've wasted five minutes on the internet. But if you've been with the same supplier for some time, please go on to one of those switcher sites and see if you can save some money, which will help pay for other things. The Irish Times this morning, coalitions cost of living measures may not exceed one billion. The government's scrambling to temper public expectation about the scale of cost of living measures being announced tomorrow. Ministers have said the package on offer will be significantly less than the measures announced in the budget. And the Irish Times understands that it may not reach a billion. There is to be a focus on targeted support, particularly for social welfare recipients and the prospect of a new 200 euro electricity credit for all households is seen as very unlikely. Whilst also stressed that the package of measures has not yet been decided upon, the indications are that at least one universal measure, the lower vac rate for electricity and gas, will be kept for some time. Now listen, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm not saying there's something going on, right? But it is kind of coincidental that the day before, right? Today before the government is about to announce cost of living measures, right? We have a front page paper page which states that electricity prices are coming down, okay? And it also really doesn't point out the fact that they're only coming down above what the cheapest are already. As I say, it's a convenient story for the government because they will say tomorrow, well, listen, we're not going to introduce a 200 euro electricity credit because we are starting to see the markets react to lower wholesale prices. Now, it's a wonderful coincidence. I'm not saying that it is anything other than that. But my word, that's the kind of front page you want when you're trying to temper the public's expectations as it relates to electricity credits, isn't it? I'd be delighted if it were me because it helps. It all helps. On to the Irish Daily Mail now. And how many cars would you say are on the road with no insurance? Now, a lot of you out there, of course, the majority are fully compliant with the rules of the road. You know, there's lots of people out there on learner's permits that need their cars to get to the work, but they can't get a test and they're not taking the car. The car's sitting outside the house because they're abiding by the law. But many, many, many, many people don't. One in 12 vehicles on the road last year had no insurance. I think that's a really high number. One in 12. So if you think you're going down a really busy road, you look around, you can't 12 cars. One of them's not insured. Well, the number of uninsured private vehicles in Irish roads grew for the third year in a row, new research reveals. Last year, the total number of private vehicles driving without insurance reached 187,803. This was an increase of 13,500 over the 2021 figure, the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland has found. The data shows that uninsured vehicles accounted for 8.3% of the entire fleet of private vehicles in Irish roads. This means that one in every 12 vehicles was breaking the law and driving without insurance last year. Since 2020, there are now more than 32,000 additional uninsured vehicles on Irish roads. So perhaps no surprise, but still, I think, you know, 8% one in 12, so it's not insignificant, is it? The Irish Daily Star reports has to all the papers today because there was a great deal of interest in the case of missing mum Nicola Bolly. You know, thousands of people go missing, sadly, across the UK, Britain and Ireland every year. But this is one of those stories that seem to gather an awful lot of interest. But sadly, it seems that there is a discovery if a body is going to mean that it's going to be a very sad conclusion to this story for families and friends. A body was found yesterday in the hunt for missing mum Nicola Bolly less than a mile from where she vanished. Officers in two police cars raced to the scene where the man and a woman who had been walking in the area pointed to the spot on the river wine. Now, there is a, in terms of body recovery from the water, after a passage of time, a body can become more visible than it were in the interim. And I think that might have been what happened here. And those who were involved in the professional side of this would have been expecting it to take a while before Miss Bolly's body was found. Well, cops received the call at 11.36 and Lancashire Police sealed off Rawcliffe Road in St Michael's Unwired. The man told the first response officer it was a body of a woman. It hasn't been formally identified, but the expectation is that it'll be a sad news. And the family, I understand, are preparing themselves for that. On to the Irish son now, West Borough Chief Burke is wrong. The head of the notorious West Borough Baptist Church say Sack Teacher Enoch Burke went too far in his war on proponents. Fred Phelps Jr. 69 is the pastor of the US church in Topeka, Kansas. The church has previously been the subject of several documentaries, one which branded it the most hated family in America. But the hate demo chief as is described and his members frequently picket rallies of LGBTQ members sides with the Irish courts over Burke, which will be interesting to see if Mr. Burke, who still persists, he had a week off because of midterm. It will be interesting to see even when he's getting criticisms from those, he may respect to see if he still continues with that protest of his. Finally, and it's not least in this case, it's a very serious story, because more than a thousand people, the vast majority of them women, attended a sexual assault treatment unit last year. This was a jump of 200 cases compared to 2021. The figures were obtained by Aintu leader and Meethi de Paratobine Tobin. He told the doll, the truth of the matter is this is only the tip of the iceberg of what is happening. A fifth of those who presented were children. Junior Minister Justice Minister James Brown claimed the government now has a zero tolerant strategy in tackling all forms of sexual violence and will be doing more to help victims, including stronger laws to punish perpetrators. OK, and it's not in the papers today, but I thought it interesting to read if I still have it here. See what you think. Lots of you out there are avid readers. Roald Dahl is a very popular author, classic children's author, isn't he? But it's British publisher of the Roald Dahl classic books has removed a lot of language that been rewritten effectively from work such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Many of you read that growing up Matilda also very, very popular book. And the idea is, is to make them more acceptable to modern readers. Now, this doesn't mean that old books with the old language are going to be burned at the stake either, by the way. So just to be clear on that, but I presume it's a new run with language that is more acceptable to some. A review of new editions of Dahl's books now available in bookstores show that some passages relating to weight, mental health, gender and race were altered. And I want to know what do you think of this? Augustus Gloop, that's Charlie's gluttonous antagonist in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He was originally, it was originally published in 1964 and it's no longer, he's no longer described as enormously fat. He's just described as enormous. Do you think that's good? Do you think young people growing up now need the word fat removed from their books? In the new edition of Witches, a supernatural female posing as an ordinary woman may be working as a top scientist or running a business. Now, previously she was a cashier in a supermarket or typed letters for a businessman. So instead of it being, I don't see anything wrong in working in a supermarket personally or typing letters for a businessman or woman for that matter. But instead of that now, she's turned into a top scientist or running a business. The word black was removed from the description of the terrible tractors in the 1970s, The Fabulous Mr Fox. The machines are now simply murderous, brutal looking monsters rather than murderous with the word black included. And that's just some of it. So what do you think? Do you think this is, you know, the world gone mad? Or do you think that, you know what, maybe if you've got a child and they're different or they feel they're different for whatever reason, whether they are or not, I don't know, you know, or if they feel they stand out from other people is what I'm trying to say, right? Because we're all different. Maybe they have a disability or maybe they are carrying some weight or maybe they are a person of colour. And maybe reading these books, they might feel, you know, this is, this is offensive or maybe it might trigger their friends to call them names. I don't know. Or so do you think it's a good thing or do you think it's a bad thing? What do you think? Now, Roald Dahl's house publishing house had to agree this, by the way, that both books will still sit in the shelf one beside the other. But there is this new watered down version. What do you think? Oh wait, 60, 25,000. Good morning, Paul, Rosemary and Noreen watching. Good morning to all of you out there and your thousands listening. It's great to have you on board. Back with our first guests in a moment. Hear that? That's the sound of you saving. When you drive an electric vehicle, you're helping save our beautiful planet. And you're saving yourself not having to pay ever-increasing fuel prices. Find out more about what you could save at fasterevcharge.com, save today and tomorrow. This project has been supported by the European Union's Interreg 5A programme. The great venue menu at Kelly's Diner in Etterkenney is packed full of family favourites. Try one of the famous Jakes Burgers, a mouth-watering pancake stack or an all-day breakfast. Bring a friend or bring all the family and enjoy the midterm kid's deal for just £6.50 with free ice cream to top it all off. Great food and great value at Kelly's award-winning diner, Mountaintop, Etterkenney. If I learned one thing in the last year, it's that falling into debt can happen to anyone. Luckily, I heard about the ISI, the Insolvency Service of Ireland. 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The Ninetal Noon Show with Etterkenney Credit Union, now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Etterkenney Credit Union, 9102127. Now the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is expected to brief his cabinet this week on the state of playing negotiations between Britain and the EU on the Northern Ireland protocol. As speculation continues, the deal could be imminent. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, though he's intervened on the issue as you might expect, he's warning his successor not to drop legislation that would allow the UK to override the protocol. We're joined on the programme now by Senator Niall Blaney. He's been a full spokesperson on Northern Ireland and party lead on Good Friday Agreement Implementation Committee. Niall, good morning to you. Thanks for joining us. Good morning, Greg. It's great to have you with us. Right, so, I mean, we've heard a lot of, of course, there was a series of meetings towards the end of last week and the mood music really seems quite positive in this regard. What's your reading of it? Do you think a deal is around the corner or should we not count our chickens yet? Yeah, I think that Richie Sunak is doing his level best here, trying to get a deal over the line, but Boris, coming into the equation, hasn't and is not helping the opportunity of achieving a deal. And I think it's right that we don't underestimate the pressure that Boris and his AORG are applying on Richie Sunak. They've applied quite a bit of pressure on him over the weekend. Quite significant. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has offered support in relation to a deal that the Labour Party come in and back him, and not Tory, but Boris and Coal, but they have countered and threatened his leadership. And that's quite a counter. And I suppose it's over the European Court's justice. But what's not been talked about is also the promise that was made by Boris and his colleagues in relation to the legacy or amnesty bill, and the promise they've made to veterans in the UK, that they'd be clear of any court hearings in relation to all those deaths and ongoing investigations that took place during the Troubles since. So, no, I don't think it's clear about the moment, Greg. I think the Prime Minister is under quite a bit of pressure. He wants to get this over the line. He's making an effort now to meet his cabinet and try and seek support for it, and I suppose it says it. So, yeah, it'll be interesting who day is to see where it is. It's really a problem for the UK at the moment. I think we're near completion, but it's where the UK government are at and what support is on the ground from us tonight. I suppose we'll assess that over the next day or two. Yeah, and the big payoff here obviously would be to get a government back in situ in Northern Ireland. Now, the DUP have a series of measures of any deal before they'll re-enter government. Looking at what could be on offer, it's hard to see any of those deals or all of the deals or the red lines, sorry, being met. So, it is going to require really the DUP being able to sell this to their members as we've got 80% over the line or 85% over the line. They're not going to get everything they want. Do you think that they will be prepared to sort of if they can sell it as a win to accept it and to get back into government or the ERGs you mentioned, are they going to be exercising their influence and using the DUP as some sort of a battering rod for the British government? It's still complicated in that regard, I think. Well, I suppose you're right, Noé, because it's the ERG and some of the Tories that are pushing out the seven items that the DUP wanted. The DUP haven't come out and said it, and the same terms as some of the Tories are suggesting. I think the DUP will get most of what they wanted if this agreement gets over the line. And I think they can sell to the people, absolutely. You may see the protocol disappear from all this, and whatever agreement is reached, it all be put into the new agreement. I don't believe cheques have to take place on the ports in Northern Ireland. They can take place in the UK, but those goods that are coming from the UK to Northern Ireland have to go on to the Republic. There's ways and means of working all these things out. The button relation to the European Court of Justice may be an issue. I can't see how we can do away with that. It's just not possible. And I have trade coming in from the EU freely. So that one's going to be an issue. But at the end of the day, if they have six or seven, I think we're doing particularly well. And no one's going to admit it, perhaps, and you can't please all of the people all of the time. But if this has gotten over the line, Northern Ireland will have its government in place, and it will be in this very strong position of having unfettered access to the EU market and free movement between Britain and Northern Ireland. And it positions it in a really quite useful place in terms of potential development investment and what have you like. A year down the road, if they can get it over the line, get a government back in situ, get the people of Northern Ireland, and hopefully then there's a bit of radiated good news for us here. Yeah, absolutely. A few takes since this all started. Trade, Northern Ireland and the EU has just exploded. The people of Northern Ireland are starting to feed that effect. The economy's going really well. Well, the economy across the water is in recession. So what's happening in the moment is really good for the Northern Ireland economy. And then moreover, as you say, getting a government in place, starting to make Northern Ireland work again. There's awful turmoil in Northern Ireland at the moment. And it's really important that, first of all, as you say, Stormy gets up and on, but then we get to work on the institutions in the north and south to make the all-Island economy work, to get all elements of the good Friday agreement back on strike. And maybe you're then in a position to start talking about our future in this island, to make the, I suppose, the all-Island economy work in a more streamlined way, to maybe start looking at sharing this island. And it can't be forgotten that we are reaching the anniversary of the good Friday agreement. And it's very easy to forget sometimes or for some, or if you're not aware of a certain age, to where we are now compared to where we were. And it's as a result of that. And I think it'd be quite fitting if there was some sort of pathway to, you know, sharing power in a form by way of government in the same year as we celebrate that important milestone of that important agreement. Yeah, that's funny. I was at Baird-e-Erenshforce Talk last Thursday, and Dublin. And I shared with us that he was very optimistic that the next three weeks would be crucial in relation to Northern Ireland. Nobody's seen this coming, but he did. And I suppose the good Friday agreement, he played a very big role in relation to that. Like all over now. He is still very much involved. He was in Northern Ireland last week. And I think we need all arms in society pushing us in the right direction, being positive and getting the best outcome for the people on the ground in Northern Ireland and for the economy of this island. Obviously, it's just the nature of the way things work now. Since he was re-entered the party, we're hearing an awful lot from people. His detractors, people who maybe are anti-Finafall, anti-British her, and some of them very obviously very justified in their views. But from a party's perspective, broadly welcomed by Finafall members, perhaps recognising his contribution, perhaps feeling that, you know, if there were a price to pay, then the price has been paid. And, you know, I mean, what is the sense within the party more broadly with Bertie Hearn now back being a member of it again, Niall? Well, I suppose as a person that proposed the parliamentary party, it was never necessarily about Bertie Hearn, but what Bertie Hearn brings to the table, to the equation, he is so highly thought of. Among all political parties in Northern Ireland, he's held such high regard. He has his finger in the pulse. There's a number of foreign auditions across all parties in Northern Ireland that meet with him on a monthly basis. And they're constantly working behind the scenes to unravel any, I suppose, tensions that exist from time to time. And they do what they do to calm things down. If we get to the stage where we can have meaningful negotiations on sharing this island, he will be pivotal. And from my perspective and a representative of Niall, the one thing that has, I suppose, held us back as a county has been the border. And I think there's real potential for the island to move on, to start sharing the island, to become as one. And I started with a bit of understanding, go back to, as you mentioned, the Good Friday agreement. I suppose the one thing that was brought to the table during that was a bit of respect and openness and relationships were built. It didn't matter what side of the equation you're on. If you're a unionist, nationalist, Caligar Protestant, you came to the table and, respectively, around the table. And in that manner, that's where politics works best. All right, listen, thank you very much for your time this morning. We do appreciate your insight on these matters as well. Take care of yourself. That is Senator Niall Blaney. He's having his say on Bertie Hearn re-entering the party and it's kind of a counter to a lot of messages and views that we've heard on this programme as well, who are completely against it. And for all the reasons that's been outlined, but as I say, everyone's entitled to their view on it, whether it's right or wrong in your view and that Senator Blaney's there. I just want to let you know that Monday Focus, it's a regular feature here on the show. We don't really plug it as much as we do. We just say it, but anyway, what happens is, and there's a couple of them, we focus on a particular element of mental or physical wellbeing and we afford it a bit more time to sort of dig into it and get more information out there. And then on Monday Focus, we do the same with issues right across the board. And the issue on Monday Focus this week is on planning, making and executing wills. Now, I know that through our brilliant work with Seamus gone, a lot of questions come in on wills and there's a lot of other questions too and it's hard to get the balance right. So it's not hard maybe to pull out for this week, pull out wills and focus on those. So Gillian McGough, Associate Solicitor at McElhenney's and Associate Stronola will be joining us and she'll discuss estate planning and probate, the different levels of service, enduring power of attorney, importance of estate planning for same-sex couples and cohabitese, families with special needs or disabled children and probate. So if you have any questions about wills, more specifically about putting a will in place, I think, but listen, I don't want to sort of say don't ask a question or that, but I think particularly if you have a child with special needs, what way does that work or what should you do? And also estate planning and probate is a word like what is probate? I understand it now, I think, because a lot of the work we do in this program, but for some out there, you might be planning to make a will, but maybe the terminology puts you off, I don't know. But we have Gillian joining us, so if you have any questions, get them into us nice and early if you don't mind and that will be coming up after 11 as part of Monday Focus. So wait 60, 25,000 WhatsApps and texts or give us a call on 07491 25,000. 07491 25,000. When will the science books be rewritten to include the multiple genders out there? When will the Bible be rewritten to accept the gay community? Well, when? I mean, there is already talk of in one particular church changing God from a man to a person, so maybe that's already started. In terms of science agreeing, I think actually the science books might be the last place where you might find changes as it relates to multiple genders because science, I don't think, has fully agreed on it yet, certain sections. Let's see. Hi, Greg. In relation to the protest on Saturday, refugees welcome. There was ones going around looking for people to sign up to take in refugees to their homes. The big crowd that was there never got one person to sign up, says a lot about the ones in the protest. Again, this and I personally haven't been judgmental or critical of any protests that are out there. I see an awful lot of sections of the media out there trying to disprove how many people got involved or calling the mengeos being paid. I don't know, listen, it's just people going out in the street, isn't it? I mean, I don't know what the motivation of any crew is. They went out in big numbers. I'm not quite sure it's the 50,000 some were saying, but certainly big numbers because when we were down in Dublin for the microprotest, it was a massive crowd, seemed bigger than at the weekend and I think it was estimated well less than 50. But anyway, there's always this thingy measuring when it comes to the size of crowds. A lot of people turned out to say, you know, that Ireland for all. Where is the regulator with regards to the cost of electricity? I'm not sure how much you can regulate private companies, to be honest with you. Last one before, break high, Greg, as long as people are suffering and they are all around us at the minute with the current cost of living, et cetera, no insurance on unable to pay bills will become the norm. People are faced with impossible positions, feed, food, clothes, the kids, et cetera. It's a complete mess and the public need to realise that and also too, you see as well, there's, you know, if you're engaged with your electricity provider, you're not getting cut off at the moment. But people are finding and people will be building up really big bills that will build up really, really quite quickly, a couple of grand over a year, that money eventually will have to be all paid back. So to some extent, even though we're doing certain things to stop people having power cut from their houses or whatever, they are facing the worry then of even bigger bills to follow. It's really, really tough out there. There's just absolutely no doubt about it. Are you in the process of moving to a new bank? Maybe you already have. Well, if you pay insurance or a pension policy by direct debit, just be sure to change your bank details so your policy continues uninterrupted. It's easy. Just contact your insurer, pension provider or broker today. For more information, visit understandinginsurance.ie forward slash bank exit. Brought to you by Insurance Ireland. Right Price Tiles and Wood Flooring are 25 years old. And to celebrate, we're offering up to 70% off across all tiles, wood flooring and bathware. And each week, 25 lucky customers will win their order for free. That's right, for free. Right Price Tiles and Wood Flooring, up to 70% off, birthday sale now on. 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Now, I hope I can say good morning to Brian Reid, Senior Executive Engineer with the National Roles Design Office. Are you there, Brian? Good morning, Greg, how are you? Great to have you with us. Right, OK, now you're inviting the public to have their say on the Barnasmore Gap Greenway. So what is being proposed here? Yeah, so, Greg, I suppose it's a very exciting project. Basically, it involves proposals to provide a greenway between the towns of Donegal Town and Balbuffet, Stern Orler. So I suppose it involves providing a safe and attractive corridor, which is mostly for recreational use by cyclists, pedestrians, and anybody with reduced mobility. So quite an exciting project for us. Yeah, and in terms of the public input into this, what is the public's role? I mean, obviously it's always good to consult with the public, public and let them have their say, but in terms of what form this could take, what might we have influence on? Yeah, so a really important role, Greg, there. So I suppose with the project, the initial stages of it. So we're just identifying a study area for the project and any of the constraints and opportunities within that. So the point at the minute, we're having our first public consultation. So we're very much just introducing the public to the project and then getting their feedback on any constraints or issues or potential problems within the area or other opportunities or benefits for the project as well. And that will feed into the project then and help inform the development of it going forward. So very much trying to get the public's opinion on it, on what we should do, and then feed that into the process then. So a very important part of the process. Yeah, indeed. And the whole process is important. We are at the beginning of it, though, the early stages of it, aren't we? Yeah, very, very start of it, Greg, pretty much. So we don't have any roots or options decided at the minute. It's very much just a big circle on a map between Donegal Town and Balbofaist and Arlar. And then we'll look at everything within that, get all their feedback, and then as we go into the next stages, then start defining it down and picking roots in that next. So, yeah, very, very start of the development. Yeah, and I mean, even in terms of the practicalities of it, I mean, the obvious thing here is that, you follow the rail track. But maybe it's not as obvious, but that's pretty perilous to make that safe and to make that protected from people falling from a great height, which might not be realised from the road. You know, even what might seem obvious might not be doable, or it could be incredibly, incredibly expensive. Yeah, yeah. Look, I know there's that kind of assumption for greenways in general that they follow the railroad, but it's definitely not the case. We have to look at all possible options. It is an option that we'll have to look at, but definitely not decided that that's the way it'll go. We'll have to look at all potential options in the area there and what suits best and what's most practical. So, that's what we do. So, definitely not a case of that decided route on the railway line. We'll have to look at every other alternative option as well as that. Yeah, and in terms of, you know, land acquisition, all that kind of stuff, does that form part of this process? And I presume it also can determine a route if and when we get to that point. I mean, it is, there's a lot of work to be done here. I'm just trying to manage people's expectations in case they think they're going to walk from Ballet Buffet to Stranolle, from Ballet Buffet to Donegal Town along a greenway, you know, this time next year. We're a long way off. Yeah, not definitely, Greg. There is a lot of work to do on it to develop it, I suppose, similar to developing a road project. There's a number of steps and approvals that you need to go through to develop the project, including, I suppose, the planning process and if there's any land requirement. I suppose on the land that you mentioned, it all depends on the route we take, what the effects on land. We obviously try and minimise the impacts where we can. Being a greenway, there's a code of practice for developing greenway projects, and there is an onus there in trying to stick to state-owned or controlled land where we can. So we will try and do that. Obviously, it's not always feasible or practical to do that, so there may be some requirement to acquire lands. We will try and minimise that, of course, but there may be a need to. So there is obviously a process to go through with that. Yeah, and then you have to accommodate, presumably, cyclists and walkers. There has to be as much as is possible accessibility for all. All of these boxes have to be ticked, I presume. So if I go into the Abbey Hotel on the Diamond in Donegal Town on Wednesday between midday and 8pm, and also Jackson's Hotel, Battle of Afae, on Thursday between the same times, midday and 8pm, what will I be met with? Now, people aren't expected to go there for eight hours. This is open for people to dip in at night. I wouldn't even wish that on you, Brian, but this is for people to dip in and out over the course of the day at times that might suit them. So you go in, what is the process? If I walk in there, what have I got access to? How do I contribute? Yeah, so we'll be there for the eight hours, I don't agree. But yeah, so the project team will all be there to greet anybody that comes in. There'll be a series of boards with information there where people can come and read up on the scheme. There'll be a series of drawings there. As I said, there's very little detail in the information as in no routes or anything like that selected. It's very much just the general area that we're looking at and what we're trying to achieve with the project. And then it's very much just getting people's opinions. So there'll be somebody there to talk to if anybody has any feedback on the project that they can talk to the team and relay that. Or there's also feedback forms there that can be filled out where we can take down any of the information and feed that into the process as well. So as well as that, we have the two days, Greg, and Wednesday in the Abbey and in Donegal Town, Thursday in Jackson's Ababa Faye. We also have a dedicated project website there as well. So it's barnasmoregapgreenway.ie where all the information that we'll have on Wednesday and Thursday will be on the website also if people can't make it that they can go on the website and have a look at it there and submit feedback online to us as well. So there's that option too. And finally, this is not an official answer. I'm looking from your brain just more a bit of guidance because there's been a bit of conversation over the last while about railways and whether Derry could be linked to Letter Kenney. And of course, then people say, well, Letter Kenney linked to Sligo and all that kind of stuff. So in planning a project like this that is sort of maybe medium term, even perhaps long term, would that have to be factored in in terms of route selection that to say, well, whatever we're planning here, we also have to have some level of consultation or consideration for maybe it could be in the way of any future plans to provide a rail link. Does that level of thought have to go into something like this? And if it does, in what way? Yes, it all forms part of the process. Greg, I guess I can't really comment on whether or not there'll be a rail provided in the county. As part of the process for the project, we do have to consult with all the relevant bodies, rail being one of those, of course. So we'll consult with all those bodies to, I suppose, make sure we're abreast of any plans or anything like that as we develop that we need to be aware of so that we're not affecting anything else or anything else isn't affecting us negatively. So that does form part of the process there to inform. Right, it'll be interesting to hear what they say. If you want to let me know. Okay. Listen, Brian, thanks very much. Have a good conversation, Greg. I know, I know, I know. But listen, I just was interested just to get an insight on how the process works. All right, take care of yourself. I remind listeners when and where, but thanks for your time this morning, Brian. Thank you very much. All right, take care. I encourage everybody, anybody that has an interest in the project, just to come along and have a chat to us if they can. Yeah. It'd be great to get as much feedback as we can. For sure, agreed. Okay, two in-person public consultation events taking place at the Abbey in Donegal Town, Jackson's Ballet Buffet. The Abbey Wednesday between noon and 8 p.m., drop in any time between those hours, Jackson's Thursday between noon and 8 p.m. And you'll have members of the project team available to discuss any queries or concerns regarding the project. Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later. I think it would be a great feather in the bone. When you talk of other greenways, you know, it's not that big a distance between, say for instance, Ballet Buffet and Letter Kenny. And then Letter Kenny is going to be linked, isn't it? Hopefully, if I agree with Bert and Port, you know, you can start to see, you know, quite a nice little network if we got it right. I'm not sure I'll get to see it all, but anyway, we have to plan for the future, too, don't we? All right, thanks, Brian Reed, Senior Executive Engineer with the National Roads Design Office. The Nine Till Noon Show with Letter Kenny Credit Union. Do you need to switch your current account or loan? We are now offering myCU current account and debit mastercard, bringing full banking features and competitive rate switcher loans. Ready for a change or upgrade? Thanks, Seat! With our wide range of award-winning Seat SUV, including the bold crossover Arona, the family-favorite Atteca, or the spacious 7-seater Taraco. All vehicles come with great offers on finance and PCP options. Book a test drive today by calling DMG Motors on 074 97 21 396 or visit dmgmotors.ie Choose your new 231 Seat with confidence with a visit to DMG Motors, Clairode, Donegal Town. SuperValue makes saving money as easy as one, two, three. One, we match Aldi and the products you love, like SuperValue Medium Red Cheddar 169, SuperValue Icing Sugar 80 Cent, two, get thousands of special offers, and three, money off vouchers every week on the app. So, follow the one, two, three, and save money at SuperValue. 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For a quote, search AXA.ie forward slash farm. AXA, know you can. Terms and conditions apply. AXA Insurance DAC is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport. Sala, Nines, The Beatles, you can now fly to Liverpool eight times a week with Ryanair this summer. Ireland West Airport, don't just take off, take it easy. All right, rather damp and cloudy today with scattered outbreaks of light rain and drizzle. Some hill and coastal mist and fog too. Relatively mild for the time of year with highs of 11 to 13 degrees and breezy too with moderate to fresh and gusty south-west winds strong for a time. But please note, later in the week Wednesday on, it's going to get a bit cooler. Not freezing, but maybe a bit of frost at night and chillier days, no doubt. So just be prepared for that. Terms of heat in the home and what have you. Right, Councillor Donald Mandi Kelly, he's Mayor of the Lettrakenni Municipal... I'll start that again. He's Mayor of the Lettrakenni Milford Municipal District. Good morning to you, Donald. Thanks for joining us on the programme this morning. Good morning, Greg, and good morning to your listeners there as well this morning. Right, OK, now you are relating concerns from the public as it relates to GP services at the Health Care Centre in Church Hill. What's going on there as far as we can determine? Yeah, listen, Greg, you know, I was brought to my attention just a recent last week here by local residents. I'm Churchill, I'm surrounding this. I had been following me with major concerns that there has been no GP in Church Hill at the Health Centre now for the past 18 months. You know, it's very alarming for Church Hill and the surrounding areas as well because we all know that this is a vital service, you know, especially in this area. You know, you can't lose this service. It's something that I'm eager, Greg, to lobby on to ensure that this service remains in Church Hill because, you know, this service has been in Church Hill for decades. You know, as long as I can remember and way, way back long before that, then, you know, local residents have contact with me and they're very concerned of this. So, you know, as we know, too, Greg, you know, and I suppose on recent years, especially, and a lot of villages, especially throughout rural Ireland, have lost a lot of very important and vital services. And, you know, Churchill is one of them, you know, a number of years ago they lost their garden states in there. Only in recent years, then, they've lost the post office, you know, and I'm talking now, like, they're losing their GP service, you know, or that's a rush, you know what I mean? Well, look at that. Yeah, look at the timelines here. Is this an example of a service that was adjusted because of the pandemic but has now become the norm? Yeah, it seems that way, Greg, but last time, you know, we're all fully aware of the pandemic and the, I suppose, the safety measures that had to be taken at the time. And that's, you know, before the pandemic, there was a GP bus service three days a week for decades, like I say, and I've been made aware that since the pandemic eased, a GP does return on a one-day-a-week basis, but just last 18 months now, there has been no GP at all, you know, and, like, that's something that I'm eager to look into and get the bottom of. And, you know, I have contacted our minister, Stephen Donnelly, I've contacted our minister, Mary Butler as well, our minister, Charlie McCall and Logan, and also our senator, Robbie Geller, who's originally from the Santa area, they are very close to proximity to Church Health, just to apply pressure on our minister as well to see what has actually come on here. But what is... Yeah, just to help me understand here, do the residents of this area not be the members of a GP practice and that practice had a satellite in Church Hill? Or do we have the population of Church Hill now without a GP at all, or trying to get on the list of a GP further away? I don't understand the makeup in that regard, because I know, say, for instance, down in Donnelly, they lost their GP, but they were actually... A lot of them, you know, they were referred to as members of the GP's practice in Glenties, for example. Yeah, no, listen, Greg, that's not the case, but to be honest, the GP service in Church Hill was always run, which is now known as the Arc Medical Centre. And, you know, there's a doctor that came out from there on a three-day-a-week basis, and, you know, like, the residents there now, I mean, like, every area, Greg, they're elderly within the area, and, you know, one thing and another, and they're finding it hard at the minute, actually, to get an appointment on the Arc Medical Centre. They're also finding it hard to have their calls answered, and, you know, this was not the only place that I have the calls about this year. They're struggling to get appointments. What's their GP's now within the Arc Medical Centre now? But, I mean, these people now, Greg, is expected, when they do get an appointment to travel to the Arc Medical Centre, it's not that far away, don't get me wrong, but it's a long distance for some people, you know, that are used to having that vital service in Church Hill. And I want to add as well, Greg, that I have also contacted the Arc Medical Centre as well to get a response on this, but to date, and to be honest, I can't get them to answer my own call. And, you know, this is simply not good enough. You know, these services need to be answered on the phone. And, you know, they're expected, when you rang there, actually, when I rang this morning as well, if I just threw any info to email, I mean, there's some age categories of people, Greg, and, you know, they don't know how to send emails, and they're not computer-wise, you know, and that goes for different age groups as well, you know, and it's something that we need to get rectified. And I'm eager to ensure that this vital service stays on the Valley Church Hill for all the local persons on the front there as well. All right, OK, well, we're making our inquiries, as you'd imagine, and we'll see what comes of it, what official response we get in that regard. OK, thank you very much for your time this morning. That is Councillor Donald Mandi Kelly there. So we were covering the reports of the latest edition of Roald Dahl's children's books being edited to remove language, which could be classified as offensive. Let's see what you think out there. Crazy world. I think I would prefer to be called fat rather than enormous. Well, enormously fat was the actual quote, I get you. Another, the world's gone mad. Another, the world is away mad. Eventually we won't know what to say or even be afraid to speak. It's never ending. Another listener. The dictionary is the next book to be written, or rewritten. The words, fun, laugh, boy, girl, he, she, woman, man, fisherman, fireman, et cetera, will all be removed as they may offend someone. That really is crazy, appeasing the weaker generation, says another. Honestly, every day there's something new now being removed or changed. What has happened to people? It's very sad times we're living in when words or names upset people so much. And last for now, I heard this. Can't believe it. What are they doing to the children? Someone needs to take a stand on this before it is too late. Now, this is not to be, I mean, people will obviously say, well, yeah, it's the same as what's happening in terms of genders and what have you. This is separate. This is words right across the board that people, some people might find offensive. It's just sometimes to make decisions. I hear the outcry saying, this needs to happen. That needs to change. And sometimes you feel it. Who's making these decisions? And I think it's going to be counterintuitive to any particular movements out there sometimes. All right, we'll talk more about that and so much more besides including all your questions answered about wills. That's all coming up after the news and obituary notices. Stay where you are. Thank you for joining us today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account. Did you know that using a hair dryer for just 10 minutes uses as much electricity as 30 hours worth of smartphone charging time? If you'd like to know more, sign up to ESB Network's pilot program. Is this a good time? We'll send you customized advice and relevant information to help you and your household take more control of your home's electricity usage. If you're having any hearing difficulties, at Donegal Hearing Clinic, we can help. If your hearing loss is slight but you want to look into it or it's got to the point where you have no other choice, we'll do what it takes to resolve your problem. It may be as simple as a wax removal. Donegal Hearing Clinic, Peer Showed Letter Kenny and Milltown Business Park, Bunkranna. Call us on 07491 88470 or visit Donegal Hearing Clinic dot e. Life sounds brilliant with Donegal Hearing Clinic, Letter Kenny and Bunkranna. 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This smash hit show where the cast take you on a roller coaster ride of nostalgia with over 40 hip songs from the 50s and 60s. Don't miss this record breaking musical filled with musical memories. At the Millennium Forum Dairy Thursday the 23rd of February. Tickets at the box office. We at Highland Radio love Irish music and we want to show our support. Throughout the Irish music month this March in partnership with Hot Press Magazine we're asking you to support the Irish musicians, artists and bands who make every party every drive home and everyday magic. That's right to celebrate Irish music month on Highland Radio we're asking you to support Irish artists and musicians by buying Irish albums Irish tickets, Irish t-shirts and Irish music merch. Irish musicians have shown that they are right up there with the best in the world. So let's support them by buying Irish proudly supported by Highland Radio Hot Press, IBI and the BAI sound and vision fund. Live on air online and on the Highland Radio app. This is Highland Radio News. Good morning it's Donna Marie Dorday with the news at 10 o'clock. The British Prime Minister wants to get the Northern Ireland protocol over the line that's according to Senator Nile Blaney. He said on this morning's 9 to 9 show that people shouldn't underestimate the pressure on Rishi Sunak from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and if the DUP wants six, if the DUP gets six of their seven demands met he would consider that a success for them. Deputy Blaney believes obstacles can be overcome. We're near completion but it's where the UK Government are at and what support is on the ground for Mr Sunak and I suppose he'll assess that over the next day or two. I don't believe checks have to take place on the ports in Northern Ireland they can take place in the UK but those goods that are coming from the UK to Northern Ireland have to go on to the Republic. There's ways and means of working all these things out but in relation to the European courts of justice may be an issue. I can't see how we can do away with that. It's just not possible and I have trade coming in from the EU freely. Meanwhile the Tanisha met with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator last night amid speculation a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol could come within days. Micheal Martin also met the British Prime Minister over the weekend although Rishi Sunak says an agreement is by no means done. He'll have to win over Eurosceptics in his own Tory party as well as the DUP who have collapsed the storm and assembly. Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg Mogg says they're well within the right to have done that. I think the DUP has set out the right test as to whether a new agreement is in line with the Good Friday Belfast Agreement which is of fundamental importance because that's what's given peace to Northern Ireland for the last 25 years. Three men aged 54, 32 and 29 arrested in connection with an attempted hijacking in Derry on Friday have been released following questioning. The attempted hijacking happened in the Hollymount Park area of Derry at approximately 9.35am on Friday morning. The men were also questioned about the discovery of a suspicious device in the Carderoy area on Saturday. A fourth man aged 34 remains in custody this morning. Police say their investigations are continuing. The Into the West Rail campaign has enjoyed a consortium of groups from across the island to demand the publication of the All-Island Review Port. The ongoing absence of an executive at Stormont means there's no Northern Ireland infrastructure minister to approve the four public release and as a result the nine groups say this is an important document now stuck in Limbo with no clarity on when it will be published. Donald Kavanaugh has more. Into the West which represents rail campaigners in Derry, Donnie Gaul, Tyrone and Fremanna has joined eight other bodies from all over the island both north and south. The All-Island Strategic Rail Review process was announced jointly in April 2021 with the brief of considering how the rail network on the island could improve to promote sustainable connectivity, enhance regional accessibility and support balanced regional development. There were 8,000 contributions from people and community organizations from all over the island came to highlight where rail should be improved and extended. A number of those submissions came from Donnie Gaul and Derry. The group says the report needs to be published so it can be implemented by April. If Stormont isn't sitting by then they say then a formula must be devised to allow publication go ahead. Goody are appealing to drivers to slow down speeding off fences of up to 157 km on the end 15 were detected yesterday. The Donnie Gaul town roads policing unit issued a number of fixed charge penalty notice yesterday on the road near Bondoren. The drivers in question will receive three penalty points each and pay a fine of 160 euro. And now for weather rather damp and cloudy today with scattered outbreaks of light, rain and drizzle. Some hill and coastal mist and fog too. Relatively mild with highs of 11 to 13 degrees and breezy with moderate to fresh south gusty winds strong for our time. That's all for now. We'll be back with more headlines at 11 o'clock. The obituary notices for this Monday morning the 20th of February. The death has taken place of Margarita Elizabeth Eta Hayes formerly of Liz Noble Ruffo. She died at her daughter Pamela and son in law Stanley Patterson's home as Clonarl Gordon. Her remains will repose at Clonarl today. Funeral from there tomorrow afternoon at 1 o'clock for 2 o'clock funeral service in St Union's Cathedral Ruffo followed by burial in the family plot in the adjoining graveyard. House private pleas from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. and on the morning of the funeral. Family flowers only please donations in lieu of desire to St Union's Cathedral Church care of any family member or Terence Matlintuk, funeral director. The funeral service can be viewed live on Craig's media Facebook page. The death has taken place of Patrick Logie McGee, Lune Beg, Derry Beg. His remains are reposing at his home. Rosary tonight at 8 o'clock with house private afterwards. Funeral mass tomorrow morning at 11 in St Mary's Chapel Derry Beg with interment afterwards in St John's Cemetery. The funeral mass can be viewed live on Kiran Rorty funeral director's Facebook page. The death has taken place of Dennis Toherty, Crora Kuldaf. Dennis's remains will repose at his daughter Yvonne's home at Bonagie Kuldaf from 4 o'clock to 7 o'clock this evening. House private pleas outside of those times. Funeral mass tomorrow morning at 11 in Sacred Heart Church Moth followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard. The mass can be viewed live on the parish website. And the death has taken place of Bridget Bridget Mcdonald named McNally three trees quickly's point. Funeral mass this morning at 11 in Sacred Heart Church Moth followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard. Bridget's funeral mass can be viewed live on MCN Street. Family flowers only please if desired donations in lieu to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member. For more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals, please go to highlandradio.com. Streaming March 1st exclusively on Disney Plus 18 plus subscription required TSNC's apply. The county's number one talk show the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio. And you're very welcome back to the second hour of the 9 till noon show. Good morning if you're just joining us. Thanks for keeping the phone lines hopping. Good to have it on a Monday morning. Good to have it any day the week for that matter. I'll wait 60, 25,000 WhatsApps and emails on our social media channels as well. So we really do appreciate that. Let's get to some of those comments before we take your bingo numbers. Hi Greg, can you check with Donegal County Council to see when they'll be able to fix the back of our grow road. There are around six sections of the road that have deteriorated and are unsafe. Large potholes are appearing again and loose chips all over the road needs to be done as a matter of urgency before someone's badly injured or worse. Thank you and it's not just that road. So I think that's a good question. I'm going to get to that. I'll go back to the question that I was asking Lee already in not fantastic conditions. Some would argue that took a terrible hammering during the cold spell. But of course, we'll make inquiries on your behalf. The world has got two sensitive, say a caller. If you don't want to read the word fat, don't read the books books that are already written should come with a trigger warning on the back of the book containing me saying it now, you know that I'm saying it on the radio. You know, really by rights, if we were to follow, if we were to follow the example of what's happening in those books, that's a word that I should be avoiding saying out loud now, isn't it? Or bold for that matter just so, you know, whatever it might be. More of your comments here. This is so wrong. I have a child doing her junior surgeon. The teacher wouldn't read certain books because they weren't PC or they were considered triggering. But in all honesty, the phrasing and language of these books just speak to the times in which they were written. Let me put it to you like this because I heard of another example whereby there was a book being done for I'm not sure if it was the junior sir, but it certainly was one of the exams and it has quite a lot of racial language, very strong racial words in there. The N word for an example, and it was read by the teacher in the class and it wasn't just they that felt uncomfortable because that word wouldn't really come out of a lot of young people's masks because they'd be more sensitive to other people's feelings. I think for right or wrong some might argue and the kickback for that teacher in question wasn't you know from the woke marble whatever you want to call them. It was actually from the students in general that they felt uncomfortable that this word was used in front of their classmates. So I think like us saying oh we don't want to be doing this or the world's gone crazy and we'll all be pushing up the daisies and it's not really us that's going to decide the future it's going to be younger people and I just wonder what they think coming through. It's not our world you know we're for you know we're a lot of us you know how long will we be around we hope for a long time but you know yourself what I'm saying is the world is changing but not for us it's changing for whomever comes behind us. Are we the best we're not a statement because as I say if you speak to teenagers now you know they're far more I think far more open minded and then maybe say if that's right or wrong but we can't tell people what to think either that doesn't make sense so I don't know maybe tease out their conversation but this caller goes on to say it's tantamount which is a great word thank you for putting it in there it's tantamount to changing history with this thinking we could just say things like the holocaust didn't happen at the end of the day these are children's books there's nothing that bad in them how many children have read them to date and all the books have done is enriched their lives another no no no no no that's just a fat load of mad craziness Roald Dahl was a genius and any changes to his work is nothing short of desecration and vandalism a lot of people believing the world has gone mad which wouldn't get into a Roald Dahl book now you know this madness has to stop just put a disclaimer at the start of the thing it was written in a different time using language no longer considered offensive simple tv programs have warnings of possible offensive contents so I can't books but are we going to whitewash the language to the point whereby the word fat is actually seen as offensive like are we accepting that the use of that word because Taylor Swift recently released her song and I think it was a scene in the video where she looked into a mirror and appeared larger now this is her story about her mental health about the challenges of being a young woman in the modern world and you would think Taylor Swift has it right on she's not going to offend anyone but she had to change the video if I remember correctly no sorry she looked down at scales and she stepped on the weighing scales and went up to fat now I thought really what Taylor Swift was doing there was maybe giving a voice to a lot of people not just young girls but a lot of us you know you look at what's on the scales and maybe you don't see exactly what's there or you judge yourself very harshly you're ashamed or upset with your body and I think that's just what she was representing but that was flagged as being offensive to some people so even those who you might think are fully awake let me put it like that there can get shut down and cancelled very quickly another caller says authentic literature should not be adapted for modern modernity keeping all our nationals could be worth a fortune another I think the world has gone into an identity crisis it's bloody stupid the way things are going but look at as I say I think things maybe are moving too far too fast there is a massive pushback and I think maybe the world might be a slightly different place for right or wrong again in five to ten years someone said the other day you can choose to be offended how true so many people choose to be offended and for some reason their opinion is the only one that matters can I choose to be offended by people who genders well of course you can everyone can have an opinion I think when it comes into people's rights you know I mean personally I if someone wishes to identify an adult I wish to identify as an agenda as a gender different to which they were born I don't have no problem with that that's up to them not harming anyone that's their life I don't mind if they want to call me a certain thing I walked someone and asked them what's their name and they whatever the name is I call them by that I don't mind that that's that doesn't bother me doesn't impact on my life so I don't know how that ties all into this argument but anyway morning Greg Doctor Farrelly came to the garter station in church hill upstairs a long time ago it was then changed to Wilkie's Bar then on to where it is now because of the stairs being too much for older persons to climb I'm from Trenta and it was brilliant because I didn't have to run down run to town letter can I presume sit half a day in there we need the service back in church hill doctors thanks from Primrose we're going to get an answer hopefully for you on Primrose in relation to that I phoned for an appointment on Monday did not see the doctor till Friday it's a joke okay still ongoing that isn't it cost of living doesn't affect refugees free housing no electricity bill and vouchers for food working or not working in this is this happening or my misinformed I am am I being racist for asking these questions no and it's ridiculous to suggest you being racist of course not I believe most of the new contracts have room only so I'm not sure how things are changing there's a time limit being put on the supports that are in place for people arriving here so things are changing in that regard where we're at in that process I'm not sure like an awful lot of people for instance who my understanding is that they're taking up homes and what have you they have to pay all the bills the state doesn't they have to pay the bills the electricity the oil whatever it might be if they're living in someone's house you know under this 800 euro month scheme they have to meet their own costs it'll never happen this is the green ways it through the gap it'll never happen we need another bridge out of letter Kenny it would be money well spent no more spin from people with ideas like this okay green ways are a fashion it will it'll be grown over in 10 years so they've destroyed the gap with pylons pylons and turbines who'd want to cycle through that it's still beautiful though I know the wider point you're making but it's still beautiful our green ways I mean like you look at Mayo Caroline's it goes down to Mayo green ways I think a huge business down there huge tourism we have the most beautiful county lots and lots of people want to walk and cycle through it I think green ways are really positive for our tourism project our tourism future but anyway there's always going to be competition isn't there for money if you own 9.6 million you get it written off like DJ Carey the more money you owe seems the better you're in I remember I owed 3,000 well actually I think it was a thousand and 1,400 euro to a credit card company I think it was MBNA they were based out of e-trum at that time and I was persecuted absolutely my life was a misery with phone calls and it kept going up and up and up and I just simply I simply hadn't the money to pay you know 3,200 euro I think it ended up and I'm telling you this was a massive amount of money and I just had no way of paying it and the phone calls and the ringing and the calls and the letters my anxiety I already suffered very very badly with anxiety and it was just you know it was very very very very difficulty small scale compared to what some of you out there are going to I understand but eventually I think if I'm not mistaken I had to get a loan however I got that for 3,000 euro I got 200 euro written off and that was the end of that and then I ended up paying the loan back for five years or something like that there and then you read people who owe millions upon millions upon millions and they get it all written off yeah that's at least part owned by the state isn't it and I don't know it just is it's a crazy world the more you owe the bigger chance that you are the better you get off if you're low level like us and you know you've a little bit of debt even a debt to the hospital you know the phone calls the letters the persecution but you've your millions no bother go into a little meeting and see what's what by coincidence that topic is next deputy part of McLaughlin of Sinn Féin is going to be joining us to talk about that it's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio it's Monday the 20th of February you're playing on the green sheet the reference number is s16 it's game number 8 the numbers are 13 50 76 42 2 65 4 71 7 and finally 87 phone your claim to 9104833 before 8 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 HighlandRadio.com if I learned one thing in the last year it's that falling into debt can happen to anyone luckily I heard about the ISI the insolvency service of Ireland their professional advisors can help you restructure or even write off your debt the first thing they said to me was every debt problem has a solution I can still feel the relief so if you're worried visit their website backontrack.ie or free text get help to 50015 the ISI together will get you back on track this is an initiative of the government of Ireland the world awaits you make that dream your next adventure cruise the Caribbean sail from Crete to Corsica soak in Santorini sunsets, dine on the shores of the Indian Ocean stroll through cobbled streets for hidden gems or bring the little ones to a magical wonderland trust the award winning Atlantic travel to guide your next adventure step through our doorway to the world Atlantic travel letter Kenny clear mobile has 99% 4G population coverage so where are people going? out west with four bars and all Dublin, outside of Dublin Longford, Waterford all the forts amazing coverage with unlimited calls, texts and data from a pretty smart 12.99 a month but hurry, limited time offer clear mobile, you clear yet? 30 day contract activation fee and fair usage applies max data speed 5 megabits per second 12.99 subject to eligibility 28 February 2023 see clear mobile.ie for terms the 9th old news show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union offering low rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today right one of Ireland's best known GEA figures DJ Carey secured a settlement with AIB bank in 2017 through which a debt of over 9.5 million euro was written down to just 60,000 euro this is following an investigation from the same time this means that Carey had to pay just 0.63% of the original amount owed to the majority state owned bank that settlement was in 2017 we're on a hearing about it now and fair play to the journalists for digging out this information Deputy Podrick McLaughlin the Sinn Fein party whip and spokesperson on fisheries and the marine he joins us to discuss this now right I mean you know like not looking to get into a witch hunt or anything this is an individual right I don't know his background I'm not sure what is going through currently at the moment either but this only came to light because of an investigation Podrick I mean is this the tip of the iceberg we need an audit don't we to find out who's getting the right toss how much what the background is who there's who other connections you know this is the potential to be really really dirty and I think it needs to be fully exposed yeah I mean it's absolutely second and and I'm thinking particularly Greg about the huge number of families in Donegal who have been abandoned by their banks these are families with defective concrete blocks in their homes and like I've raised this repeatedly along with Pierce to Hardy who's our finance spokesperson we've contacted the banks we've appealed to the Minister for Housing and the Minister of Finance again and again just in recent weeks I've been putting parliamentary questions and to see what they're doing to hold the banks to account but basically there's no compassion no support no breaks and payments you know nothing being offered walked away from their responsibilities and Greg I'm mindful that these assets because these are still assets belonging to the bank they have mortgages out on these properties and they're going to have them restored to full market value there's a huge financial gain for the banks from all of these schemes and they're nowhere to be seen the ministers have let them get away with it and then you hear about something like this and I was absolutely second second to think that these families who are in despair are learning about the rich and famous it appears to me getting deals extraordinary write downs while they can't get any help at all well look at I mean to put this into context this one settlement would be the equivalent of 36 Donegal families having their 250,000 euro mortgages written down that's the significance of it or many multiples of that having some sort of a break or assistance or whatever it might be what as I say we didn't know this happened right on the QT in 2017 what's the significance of this being with a bank that is majority state owned I mean that is an extra level of concern I think for the taxpayer because let's face it we're always being reminded that the taxpayer is picking up the bills especially when it's a bill that maybe the government don't want to pay so what is the significance do you think that this is AIB that made this settlement it is real significant Greg I think the state has a 56% control now over AIB at this point you'll recall I think it was last year the AIB talked about closing branches all across rural Ireland so there's going to be a large number of branches where basically cash payments not even an ATM could be used across Donegal and because it was state owned and because community groups and the GA and so on rose up they reversed that decision completely reversed it so you can see that because there is a degree of state control you know they are accountable what needs to happen now is AIB has to come before the finance committee of the Iraqis they need to explain how this operates how they work out these debt write downs but I think the big thing is I'm going to say it again I'm absolutely disgusted in second about this because they have to be questioned in the context of the Donegal problem in other words like it has to form part of it how is this an acceptable action versus what is being done to Donegal home on is it's not just Donegal but we're a north west station so that's why we're just mentioning that but beyond that then do they need to or is it public information or in the public interest do they need then to sort of outline what other type of settlements have been made let's just say anything over a 50% write down or over a million do you know I mean I want to narrow the focus because I and others have been absolutely persecuted by lending institutions in the past for a fraction of this one I mean there are people listening across Donegal the north west that I'd say this morning that are pulling their hair out who've had to deal with banks or lending institutions or indeed these vulture funds that buy up so-called bad debts people have had horrendous experiences of their homes across Donegal so yes absolutely Greg there needs to be an explanation as to what is their debt policy how do they deal with these things is there a separate rule for the rich and famous you know if you're a celebrity to get a write down versus the ordinary man and woman on the street so all of that has to be explained urgently the credibility of the banking sector is at stake here I mean it's not that unfortunately after what happened is a decade ago not that that credibility is all high anyway but they need to come in before the Iraqis and be fully accountable on this issue will they hide behind or will they have reason to hide behind the fact that we can't discuss personal cases that this is a a private arrangement you know like I think we might have to phrase this in a way whereby it can be talked about without them using the shield of GDPR whatever it might be to avoid an appearance before the Iraqis committee has to be done in a if that's the case we have to make sure that whatever happens they do come in and explain cases such as this yeah I mean they will their initial response has been to say that this is a you know an individual account we can't discuss it but they will have to be held to account on the policy issue here you know and yes as a Dunnegall TD I will certainly take that opportunity when they come in to quiz them about their approach to defective block homeowners and it's not just AIB it's all of the banks and financial institutions like it's I'm going to say again it's disgusting how weak they have been in supporting homeowners in Dunnegall you know people Paddy'd ever put a post up on social media over the weekend of a per family's home that had to mean demolished it's in rubble and they're still paying a mortgage in that house you know it's disgusting you know and like they have walked away from their responsibilities in the most recent response I got from government they talk about the central bank regulate them and so on blah blah blah there's a bank in Federation of Ireland that they're engaging with what's the outcome of that and this has gone on now for a number of years you know so for me and people want to know how far this goes I mean for an example and it's just the way stories work at the moment I'm sure at the moment there are journalists digging through settlements or documents trying to find out politicians that may have got a similar sweetheart deal let me put it like that there for instance it would prudent any political party and I wonder if Sinn Fein doing this putting a call out to its members saying look at you know have any of you when I say members I mean elected members obviously you know have any of you have any of you had some sort of a similar arrangement with the bank that's just the nature of the media and politics now is do you think parties or can you say if your party's actively doing that I will say this doesn't matter who you are if you're a political representative a GEA a business person whatever you are in life everybody should be treated the same so I'm very very clear that every single citizen in terms of debt write down engaged with the bank should be treated the same there should be no sweetheart deals no special deals everybody treated the same and what's clear to me is that families who have you know a genuine case can you imagine like the state's coming in the state's accepting responsibility for what happened with the failure of regulation and oversight of the construction industry and the manufacturing industry they're stepping in rightly so now it's not enough it should be 100% redress but providing a level of redress and the banks are benefiting from that to the tune of hundreds of millions of euro and they cannot provide some type of breathing space for the families payment breaks some kind of contribution nothing that I know of is on the table it's another bailout it's another bailout there's no other way of describing it we are ensuring and restoring banks assets and vulture funds assets it's a bailout by any definition I think we'll see what happens in relation to this Deputy Padre McLaughlin thanks for your time this morning I do appreciate you taking the call he's the chief whip there for his party just out of interest before that settlement in 2017 a lot of you out there would say leave the man alone you know I get that I'm not into witch hunts and I think this fella's gone through a difficult time at the moment and I'm not interested in heaping anything on that but in 2015 he was on Ray Darcy's program and he says I'm not one of those who would say I don't care about repaying debt you borrow money it should be paid back he said he added to whatever extent that can be I would still be conscious it has to be done as we learned he owed 9.5 million is he responsible lending though in the first instance isn't it he owed 9.5 million and if it was settled for 60k 60,000 euro alright okay back shortly or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102127 open day this is your opportunity to visit your local campus tour the fabulous facilities sample the NWRC experience and apply for your course running from 12 noon each day beginning 28th February first of March and second of March register to attend to be in with the chance to win an iPad Northwest Regional College open days from here to career is now serving pizza in our new and improved by this corner bar we have a wide range of delicious pizza options available call us at 0749121976 to book your table and don't forget Century Cinemas is located just across the car park check out centurycinemas.ie for movie times and tickets with 231 well underway are you calling in for a look should call in for a cup of tea or a coffee and let our sales executives show you the options available in our new Nissan range with an unbeatable range of vehicles there's only one garage to visit for your next purchase and that's iMotors visit us in letter Kenny or Malin or visit iMotors.ie or visit iMotors.ie photos printed instantly within an hour or in by 10, ready by 5 hold your memories in your hand with iMotors.ie now as you would know because of the nature of Donegal in terms of lowest disposable income and what have you that we have more than most areas a disproportionate amount of younger people living in poverty and we spoke on this program before about the particular problem of defective concrete blocks in homes and the terrible impact that's been having on young people in terms of you know dominating what they write in terms of you know essays for school or what have you and the conversation that's happening in school an awful lot and then we spoke to many families as well children living in very damn homes with black mould and we spoke to experts in terms of lungs who said that you know it's not only just making them poor of health now it's also making them poor of health well into their adulthood and beyond so I'm not saying that's anecdotal as such but we now have a survey from the ESRI which I think confirms all of what we know growing up in poor housing conditions can affect children's health and social well-being it's a new report Dr Helen Russell is research professor with the ESRI that's the institute and Dr Russell joins us now and thank you so much for your time this morning good morning it's great to have you on the program so talk to me a little sorry about the big preamble it just it's nice to get not nice it's what an awful word to use but it's it just gets a report which confirms what we know and what the drum we've been banging Helen that's why it's nice if that makes sense even though we're talking about a horrible situation so talk to me a little bit about the report and its headline findings please so obviously there's been a lot of discussion around housing supply and affordability but our study focuses on impact of the quality of housing and the impact this has on children so we look at the housing conditions of children and the problem is from basically nine months of age up to nine years we take a broad view of what adequate housing is so we're looking at things like whether the house is damp, whether the size is adequate for household needs, whether the family can keep the house warm and the neighborhood conditions and we find like the majority of children are and the problem is our adult experience housing problem but a significant minority do so about one in ten children lived in accommodation that their parents felt was unsuitable mostly because of inadequate space and about a similar proportion were in households where parents were struggling to keep it warm and then on the neighborhood side of things a higher proportion of both so one in five children are living in neighborhoods that we characterize as having high levels of disorder so this is things like public drunkenness and vandalism and rubbish lying around that sort of thing so as you say I suppose the critical thing about this study is that we're able to see what effect this has on children's outcomes so talk to us about that then because the findings can't be ignored I don't think well they shouldn't be ignored so we look at both the health outcomes as you were mentioning there there's quite a lot of evidence around you know how poor housing impacts on adults health so what we find here is that children who spend more of their childhood in damp housing or in housing where the families are struggling to keep it warm but they're more likely to experience respiratory health problems compared to their peers our parents were also more likely to say that they had poor health just judged by the parents themselves and also it was also associated with higher levels of accidents and injuries so poor housing is also associated with childhood accidents so there's a wide range of health effects that we see here and as you say it's useful to have this evidence that it's built on a survey that's over 7,000 children so this is the growing up in Ireland study so it's 7,000 children and their families and the families are interviewed every few years so you can follow it through so you can see we were able to look at exposure over that time as well so it's not just for some children it's kind of once off but for other children they have this persistent problem so every time we go back and interview their families they're struggling to heat the home and things like that and the more this accumulates the more likely it is to harm children's health now I'm not saying statistics don't live as such it's one in ten living in unsuitable premises it's a national survey but I presume the rate is much higher when you start and I'm not sure you didn't but say for instance you do go into a particular area and you were to do this study again the rate is going to be much higher if you came to Donegal with the struggle in terms of the level of disposable income and the defective concrete crisis I presume it's going to be greater it would be greater than one in ten because at the moment we're including lovely leetrim say for example you know doesn't have some of the problems inner city Dublin has for example yeah so it so it varies you know across family types and across the housing tenure as well so we find certain groups of families so for example lone parent families and families where the one of the parents has a disability they're more likely to be in adequate housing based on these different measures also those living in private rented accommodation or it's social housing they're more likely to experience in adequate housing particularly so for social housing the neighborhood effects are stronger there so they're much more likely to be living in areas that are characterized by high disorders so yes this is structured you know certain groups are more at risk and as you might expect lower income groups are much more likely to be exposed to these problems so it's a problem of poverty as you say as well at the start there it's inadequate housing goes alongside low income and it can't be ignored by government it hasn't been Rodericka Gorman says the report is important policy implications across a number of government departments which reflects the fact that children's well-being requires a whole of government approach fine words but we aren't a massive contrary and I think sometimes fixing a lot of these problems shouldn't be beyond us do you know what I mean it's not like we are a population of 380 million and you can't satisfy all needs all of the time there has to be a way but with information like you're providing today Helen hopefully the powers that be those with influence can make those decisions to make a change thanks for your time this morning I really appreciate it all right good to talk to you too Dr Helen I'm a social research professor economic and social research institute as I say one in ten young people living on suitable premises I think we can say the rate is going to be much higher here in Donegal how much higher I can't say but it has a really negative impact on children's health their well-being and they're you know went into their later lives so there you go and that is why we keep banging the drum because whatever about what happens to me now going forward our young people I want to say me I mean you know the older generations are young people really we have to kind of look out for now Blaney sounded so proud of proposing Bertie Herman back into his party yeah he is making make no bones about him I call it says if books are not going to be written for sensitive reasons it would cut out a lot of issues people who are divorced murdered have cancer etc it's all gone crazy believes the listener there I think the more we draw attention to things the bigger deal it becomes context is everything there is a huge difference between these sentences the man was too fat that the jumper didn't fit him compared to insulting someone as in you are a fat insert insulting name there Greg choosing to be male female fine choosing identity as a cattle dog or that is the world gone mad I haven't seen that listen there's one case about a cat in a school down the country a teenager wanted to identify it never ever happened unfortunately so please if you see stuff question it and I mean question it from me question it from RTE although I'm pleased on group me without you question it from other groups with you know question everything that if that's the story you're referencing it simply never happened you know there's people widely circulating a video social it happens all the time of of some man ripping the when screen wipers off a train and saying this is Dublin now look what's happening and listen the cars were on the wrong side of the road and we don't have trains on such beautiful rail lines that's in a different country all together so question everything people can be very helpful I said to someone the pub was handy we walk to it the man replied you don't walk far look at the size of you that's just horrible absolutely horrible and other if there are bad words in an old book then it's the teacher's duty to prepare properly for the class do you remember the films on RTE not RTI TV do you remember they put 18 films out in the Saturday night or something RTE to remember correctly and they beeped out swear words or changed the F word for friggin you know pull over the friggin car are we going to see that too down the line if it keeps going like this are we going to see a situation whereby words are dubbed into classic movies because they could be deemed offensive it's not a big leap you know if we're adjusting the text of world famous books how far is it how far down the line is it before words of a film are changed you know you dirty rat into something like you know you dirty sandcastle you know so you don't want to offend rats or something I'm not conflating rats with other things we're talking about but you just don't know I call it as the words like fat and black are descriptive nothing else there are two scientific genders but see this is not the same right can I just say genders aren't being adjusted in these books right I understand how people are jumping them in but I actually believe these are two separate issues because the conversation on genders is very emotive I can get that right and it kind of goes down into the core of humanity for some this other thing is about words that offend us this other stuff is a little bit more like you know comedians saying jokes that are offensive I don't think that the same personally speaking I think they're in the same space but I mean if we're talking about dubbing films which I think could be next or we're talking about changing books words that people don't like I think that's very different to what some people in our community and across our country are going through in terms of the whole conversation about genders but I respectfully I hope you realise I'm not disagreeing I'm just saying that's how I feel choosing to identify yourself as whatever you choose is up to you now people identify as non binary but when I was growing up that was deemed a split personality I'm not assaulting anyone but it appears we can't have a conversation about anything anymore I'm sure non binary personality are the same but I get you a caller says we must learn to share this island we have an occupation of a foreign state in our country and we've to find a way forward together it will cost us seven billion to take over and run Northern Ireland every GEA in Irish Association should come together and try to win over the streets of London because it is there we will win this battle not in Northern Ireland it's quite interesting and separate to this comment that there are those now there are people obviously very anti immigration but they are now siding with people in Britain who are anti Irish anti everything to do with Ireland get Ireland out of England they've said that I've heard them saying they're pro British Army you know they have supported the British Army and what they did on days like Bloody Sunday and it's strange isn't it to see now people who want Ireland for the Irish and Irish nationalists standing shoulder with people that want Irish out of England in some cases and stand and are actually pro British Army pro British Government in terms of the atrocities that were inflicted on the people of Northern Ireland in some cases it's a funny old situation don't get it myself but anyway that's what we're seeing the same local trustworthy service of your credit union new trainers from your favourite brands at Brian McCormick Sports Brooks, Assex, Onerunning and Hoca new Hoca Clifton 9 has a wider toe box and it's softer giving you that Hoca spongy feeling making your run more responsive step into our safe size experience have your feet measured and update your gait analysis Brian McCormick Sports main street Larry look the part, play the part on bmcsports.ie Joe Walsh tours are delighted to announce that the annual Ruffaux Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes will return in 2023 Fly direct from Dairy Airport on May 23rd and spend 5 nights on a fantastic pilgrimage to the beautiful Shrine of Lourdes with the Ruffaux Dioces call 01-241-0800 for details if you're having trouble paying your energy bills keep listening but more importantly keep talking because your energy supplier won't disconnect you as long as you engage with them if you're facing difficulty paying your energy bills suppliers have to offer you repayment options talk to your supplier or find out more at cru.ie here to shed light on your energy rights brought to you by the commission for regulation of utilities deliver to your home from the morning routines to cozy family moments Grant has been bringing comfort to homes for over 45 years with our biofuel compatible condensing boilers, heat pumps and underfloor heating you can trust Grant to heat your home now and into the future think heating, think grant visit grant.eu and all inspiring castle island west airport don't just take off, take it easy OK let's have a look at the weather forecast if I can get it open, yes here it is rather damp and cloudy today with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle some hill and coastal mist and fog too relatively mild for the time of year with highs of 11 to 13 degrees and breezy too, right OK Tony Forester is the CEO of letter Kenny chamber good morning to you Tony thanks so much for joining us as always good morning Greg between what we're going to talk about now and the recent GEA backing of a campaign there seems to be a renewed focus although we always knew of its importance to get the A5 underway with that in mind you're calling on the businesses community across the northwest to row in on this so talk to us about the initiative from the chambers yeah well there's another public inquiry starting again this year and we feel obviously there's been public inquiries and more public inquiries on this road but what we're trying to do we thought we'd take a bit of action before that starts and get an open letter John sometimes you know we do stuff quietly on our background so this time I think we just thought why not get both chambers together we work together anyway and do an open letter to government essentially to say let's move this forward if the Irish government are committed to the A5 it's just getting it moved within the northern Ireland and in the proposition while recognising obviously primarily perhaps the safety is the issue but also pointing out the importance of access for in other words making the dual argument which I think is important yeah I think so and we've always argued the A5 is really important in terms of connectivity we have most of our businesses in Dublin the workers in Dublin you know they got down all the time and that road is just unsafe we know from the casualties that that's on it all the time that it's an unsafe road it's not up to standard and it's about time we got it moving I've been around long enough to remember promises about that road being built in 2015 that it was going to be finished in 2015 and there's been not a solid cut on it so this is about us moving forward about our economy so we have a cross-border economy we all use that road to go through to Dublin and all their places so we need it upgraded as soon as possible and the safety issue it's just decimating communities every time we hear of an accident on that road we know it's going to be serious it's not a a little prying or anything like that it's really serious we keep, I mean our county council is doing work here to get other roads upgraded so this would be a great linkage for us from Lifford right through and I think the planning process is important don't get me wrong and it has to be respected but there does come a point I think whereby the public safety, the public opinion the opinion of associations like the GEA which represents an awful lot of opinion the opinions of individual businesses and then groups and organisations that represent them there comes a point where the public interest has to be properly balanced against the concern say for instance of some landowners as I say whilst respecting the process but there comes a tipping point and I think we're long beyond that now Tony I feel that I just feel like we've been talking about the A5 for a very long time we talked about the A6 which is the road to El Fast from Daring or the other way round that got momentum, that started and got momentum and we thought we were getting little bits of it the rest of it sort of seemed to happen and we feel that the A5 is the same if we got it started we got it approved, sorry first got it started we feel there were momentum there and I watched the A6 with interest there were certain bits of it that were causing angst with landowners and environmental issues but eventually they got it sorted and I'm assuming the people are happy enough that it's there the other thing with upgrading a road is you get it doesn't actually make it any quicker but you know your times or you know if you leave to go on the road you're probably going to get there at a particular time as opposed to waiting and getting stuff behind vehicles and slow moving and go through town, something like that so I'm frustrated about the A5 always helping and it's the one issue when we ask our companies what's the big thing that really frustrates you about doing business they say infrastructure and when you push them a little bit more it's usually the A5s are talking about we have other issues here that are in the planning process as well but the A5 is the key one and if you think if we got our docks in a row we could end up with a really good road from letter Kenny into Sturban and on to Belfast on down to Dublin and then of course running in the background the pipe dream maybe it's more than that of a rail link in other words options it is about connectivity because you know I often think about it when I'm travelling from the south of the county that Dublin's really quite accessible do you know you can be from Donegal town into you know the airport or whatever in close on three hours but I was coming from Dublin on Friday and I was going to the north of the county four and a half hours you know and it kind of opened my eyes into how I have these conversations in the future because in my head I'm on about like what's everyone up you know I can be down in Dublin in three hours here but even sitting in this chair as much as I do I don't think in the past I've fully factored in that we're a big county it's four and a half five hours from Dublin to parts of this county I suppose part of the problem is you just don't know so you get down maybe three and a half hours sometimes and then might take longer coming back and it just depends where you get stuck and invariably you'll get stuck somewhere because the A5 you can't it's single lane mostly and you can't overtake its dangerous and it's and especially at night time it's just a disaster and so I believe it's just that piece of jigsaw that we need now you could have a back road to Dublin with agricultural vehicles you can't have it like that real would be fabulous but we have been waiting for this road for a very very long time you map the roads out coming up to Donegal and it's mad the roads in Donegal are pretty good some of them you know there's lots of upgrades done and it just it just doesn't make any sense that we don't have a western corridor right okay so use of I'm assuming both chambers have sent out messages to their members but this is we're casting the next net wider here so to any business here that think they benefit from better access or even support other businesses that might what are you calling on them to do today Tony? We're asking to go to the link that we have on our I'm going to say it's on our socials I think it is we want to go to the link or even contact us and we'll send the link just fill in the form you're allowing then your name to go forward on the open letter and then that letter will be published March so we need people to do this before the 27th next Monday so that we can get it in in time and I'm going to keep our foot in the gas again now we hope that this will be the last public inquiry that that will happen and we'll start seeing this moving we see action soon okay listen Tony thanks very much indeed Tony Forester who is the CEO of Letter County Chamber of Commerce Stop Highland Radio are going to Scotland from Monday the 1st of May to Thursday the 4th of May with the very best of music and we would love for you to join us staying at the four-star Crown Plaza Hotel in Glasgow we are bringing with us some of the biggest country stars including myself David James, Declan Ernie and Robert Mazzell to name a few you will enjoy luxury travel to Glasgow three nights dinner bed and breakfast with music and entertainment each evening join us on the Highland Fling to Glasgow this May for only €575 per person Call Highland Radio today on 074 91 25000 Early booking is advisable single supplement applies Fabric World's biggest ever winter sale is now on there's over 5000 meters of curtain and upholstery now half price or less all craft and dress fabrics reduced and lining from £1 why not insulate your home with half price fleece interlining or avail of our fabulous euro rates at Fabric World May Down Jerry it's cold cold and ring flaming for their full range of garage doors agri doors insulated doors milking parlor doors flaming 91 48 234 it's not just that Sarah can't rely on the reins to come this year it's not just that the only water left could cost her her life it's not just that she has seen all her crops destroyed and she is struggling to feed her little boy like thousands of parents living in regions devastated by drought living in fear and it's not just this linch your health can make all the difference visit trochra.org or call 1 800 408 408 trochra together for a just world final call for entry to the dot i e digital town awards celebrating the digital achievements of towns and communities across Ireland with a 100000 euro prize fund enter by March 3rd at we are dot i e here's why you should be with clear mobile serious deal simple as great coverage exactly what a good time to get your mobile from a pretty smart 1299 a month plus you get unlimited calls texts and 4g data enjoy savings on your mobile plan but hurry limited time offer clear mobile you clear yet 30 day contract activation fee and fair usage applies max data speed 5 megabits per second 1299 subject to eligibility offer ends 28th of February 2023 see clear mobile dot i e for terms the 9th of noon show with letter Kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102 127 watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com okay brendan devaney is going to be in studio with us we're going to be answering your questions on wills that and so much more besides stay right where you are but 11 o'clock let's go to Donald Kavanaugh thank you Greg good morning the British prime minister wants to get the Northern Ireland protocol over the line that's according to Senator Nile Blaney he told Greg on this morning's 9th of noon show that people shouldn't underestimate the pressure on Rishi Sunak from former prime minister Boris Johnson and other bricks of tears within the Tory party however Deputy Blaney believes obstacles can be overcome the end of the west rail campaign has joined a consortium of groups from across the island to demand the publication of the all island rail the ongoing absence of an executive installment means there is no Northern Ireland infrastructure minister to approve for public release and as a result the nine groups say this important document is now stuck in limbo into the west chair Steve Radley says the indications are the report is very positive with regards to restoring letter Kenny Derry link but he said the publication is vital so that conversation can properly start the mayor of letter Kenny Milford municipal district has written to the health minister calling for the release of the report he said the report is vital the centre is a satellite of the arc medical centre in letter Kenny and before the Covid-19 pandemic a GP travelled to Churchill on a two or three day a week basis however councillor Donald Mandy Kelly says that's not been the case for the past 18 months he's calling on the minister and the HSC to act to ensure this service resumes the US president has made an unexpected visit to Ukraine Britain is promising to supply long-range missiles he's also pledging new sanctions against Moscow and Garthier appealing to drivers to slow down after speeding offences of up to 157 kilometres an hour were detected yesterday on the N15 the Donegal town roads policing unit issued a number of fixed charge penalty notices yesterday on the road close to Pandorum the drivers in question they say will receive three penalty points and fines of 160 euro each and we're back with news headlines alright Donald thanks very much for that OK some potentially good news because we're following a unanimous passing of a motion which councillor Jack Moray recently submitted to the council the application for funding to develop Bunkrana shorefront will now be expanded to include funding for a new leisure centre councillor Moray I mean on the face of it this sounds good but the shorefront development is that another kind of mid to long range kind of a prospect but people want the new leisure centre yesterday they do and they've waited far far too long for this leisure centre but I think this is probably the most positive step that we've taken on this long campaign for the leisure centre the repowering Bunkrana project which initially looked like it was going to be about 12 million euro for the shorefront this month has now been expanded to include funding for the leisure centre so you're talking a project now well over 20 million euro by far the biggest level of investment we've ever seen in the town of Bunkrana an absolute game changer and I'm very very optimistic the team that's there that's putting together this application are fantastic they're extremely professional they've secured a huge number of projects across the county but I think this will be the pinnacle of their achievements if we get it over the line I can't see why we can't at this point as we progress to secure plan information and all the necessities of getting this application in place I seem to recall talking to you in the past about and maybe I'm talking about a different project I hope or not you can correct me about securing funding for the new leisure centre you know in annual budgets was that the case and where did that money go no no but that money is still there and there's this over 3 million euro state funding there's money being fenced in the council's capital budget on a year on year basis but as we all know across the board construction costs are increasing and every time you look at the leisure centre it's gone up again you're talking now in the region of 8 to 10 million so that amount we needed to jump but gap that we needed to bridge can now be achieved within Bunkrana project and I do think this is the most positive step that we've reached in this campaign I see no reason where this won't go ahead and combined with a reimagined shore front the scale of this project is absolutely massive it's a game changer for the town of Bunkrana so do you think you don't believe there's any risk in coupling this project with the very ambitious Bunkrana shore front project you don't believe there's a risk there no if anything I think it strengthens it I think the whole argument for the repair in Bunkrana project is increased tourism, increased economic activity in Bunkrana town I think it would almost be slightly flying the ointment if we went ahead with the shore front which is a fantastic project but if the leisure centre laid down beside it I think we'd just be missing a trick there but to have the two of them constructed in tandem it would change Bunkrana from a place where people come for a day trip to spend the day to come for a week or more for sure, it's not just a passing through just remind us as to why you're so confident of the progress of the Bunkrana shore front I mean there was an initial allocation which really normally is the very firm stepping stone into a full allocation down the line so question A I suppose is tell us why you're so confident that this project will go ahead and B what's your guess in terms of timelines? I'm confident it's going ahead because the category one application might not be aware of it we secured 1.8 million euro and that's to get everything ready, that's to get your consultants your designs, your plan and permissions in place before going to category two which is the more substantial amount of money so when you've got that much in place and that much work you could not but take it over the line I think everything would have our eyes dotted or teased crossed as we go to the next stage so when it happens it's slightly more complicated than just giving an exact date because you have to have all those processes and they're all you have to achieve out of permission so I'm hoping in the third quarter of this year we'll be seeing part eight coming before the Royal County Council to approve the leisure centres plan the overall shore front project should take a bit longer than that and that'll be the start of next year but they're exploring to see if we can do this on a phase basis so we don't do it just as one application that starts at the one time if we can get the leisure centre going even before the rest of the shore front we could see diggers hopefully at the start of next year on the ground and begin that construction while we continue to push it in for the overall project in its entirety I think a big, big marquee project like this is long, long, long overdue in Boncrant and so I think it's a testament to the councillors of all political parties working together with the councillor and some great behind the scenes people in the council of course let's just hope the positive mood music on this project continues but for now thanks for your time Thanks, thank you Greg Take care Councillor Jack Moray there 08 660 25000 Good morning Beth watching us on Facebook and as well regular viewer thank you Darren thanks for your comment there Good morning Greg it's a bad thing again we are acting on feelings as usual Augustus is enormous enormous in what way enormous used like that means he would be a giant but indeed he's fat so you need that word to describe him Noreen as well good morning to you and I mentioned Paul and Rosemary a little bit earlier on didn't I 08 660 25000 WhatsApp's in text to this number that number I'm waiting on Brendan if I need to walk into studio but he's going to walk onto my computer instead hey for a Monday the phone lines are really great thanks so much I love it because what it is is that I love hearing your views and your opinions it's great thank you so much indeed morning Greg I get really annoyed and angry when I hear of those government bonuses I work 8 months each year in hospitality and pay my P.R.C.I. in the winter I sign on and get 220 euro a week but come Christmas I never get a bonus or increase of any kind I'm on very low pay yet anyone who doesn't work or contribute to the economy get every bonus going honestly I think the people like me are struggling to try and survive all year but get no help we are discriminated for working and I think you would probably be class would use a seasonal worker and I've been talking I hope that's not an offensive term I can't see how it might be but most of your work is in the seasons summer seasons and this is not just in this area this is in many areas of employment as well and for ages for decades people have been discouraged from taking up seasonal work the only work that's often available in an area so I'm really aware of what you're talking about that is truly unfair we need a fairer system we need people to be encouraged to work not discouraged because you might say well I won't work in the summer and then I'll be better looked after in the winter do you know what I mean it shouldn't be like that you should be encouraged and rewarded for working especially as it's particularly seasonal workers have and we have more seasonal workers here I think than in most parts of the county hi Greg while the tortured tax pair gets hounded the well healed gets the red slipper treatment even Dennis O'Brien got the carry call indeed he did shocking disgusting greedy people that I hope will get their just desserts and do time for their unduly crime now I'm not sure there's any crime here I think you're using that as a turn of phrase I get you because it wasn't a crime Kevin right okay we so much to get through stay where you are Brendan Deveney what did you think of the Donagall game yesterday though it was on the telly brilliant commentary from Oshina Martin and I love radio and even if it was on the telly I'd probably be listening to it anyway right but I would you know what rather than me talking waffle I'm gonna ask the question to Brendan why all these games aren't televised because the best thing ever happened to the premiership for example was all the games being televised people thought or many of them people thought that all people won't go and watch games live it increases interest there's great interest in the league but you can't bloody watch it and a lot of people who are big Donagall fans don't fancy trying to get in and out of cloneness but anyway we'll talk to Brendan about it in a moment buy online via our app or in office today that's the sound of you saving when you drive an electric vehicle you're helping save our beautiful planet and you're saving yourself not having to pay ever-increasing fuel prices find out more about what you could save at fasterevycharge.com save today and tomorrow this project has been supported by Donagall and I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoyed it this project has been supported by the European Union's Interec 5a program Wet and Wild is 20 years in business and would like to thank and reward our loyal customers with a massive 20% of absolutely every product purchased in store during the month of February choose from our massive in-store stock of quality outdoor clothing, footwear equipment and accessories and 20% discount of all prices will be applied at the till your local credit union has become aware of a text and email scam claiming to be from credit union stating that accounts have been placed on hold and asking the recipient to click on a link to verify their account if you get such a text or email please do not click on the link similarly if you receive a phone call requesting your credit union details or suggesting your account has been scammed please do not engage and hang up immediately if you are in any doubt about any message you receive in relation to your credit union account please contact your local credit union directly Do you have a stoma? Coloplast Ireland's Free Stoma Review Clinic comes to the Radisson Blue Hotel in Atta Kenney on Tuesday the 28th of February Registered Stoma Nurse Eileen Lim June will review your stoma, access your requirements and offer any training or ongoing support you may require For more information or to register for an appointment call Coloplast on 019190190 Welcome back to the show looking forward now to the DL debate which is live for you tonight after 7 o'clock after the 7 o'clock news and it also then is of course podcastedforyouonhighlandradio.com and go on to the website and go into the listen back section or on demand section there's lots of great stuff in there you've got Brendan's show you've got The Score that's your sport and you've got the Business Matters podcast you've got repeats of this show and what we've done now is we broke this show up into three bits for you hour one two and three two which makes it hopefully easier for you to access and we're adding all the time with new podcasts coming down the train coming down the train coming down the tracks right okay Brendan Devenay is the presenter of the DL debate he's with us now Brendan hello how are you getting on I put aftershave and everything I'm thinking you were coming into studio now sorry Greg I'll just stood you up today we'll go on to getting next week brush your teeth and everything come here I was just waffling there before the break the frustration of people who couldn't get to the game yesterday or other games and as I say I'm a radio man so I probably would listen and I did listen to Martin and Oshin yesterday but I just think at this day and age all those games should be available the league games there's a huge interest in the league I think out there from the people I speak to and the fact that the last two Donegal games people couldn't watch seems like the GA shooting themselves in the photo wee bit there yeah just around the rates and RTE and how they've been bought up Greg and then there's X amount of games and we've seen that of course with BBC in the north and that and who holds the rights then so they basically have the rights on everything so there's been a big push recently obviously with GA going and the streaming service so yeah listen I'm in agreement with that that all games should be streamed I don't think the fans that want to Google the games it's everyone to stop them but certainly it's a good spend the cloneness on the day and people are interested I'm happy enough I'm not just saying that listening to Martin and she knows half of the football on in the background and I'm listening to boys on the radio so but Greg I'm just looking all the shows I've done the last four years I kind of remember four of our county teams playing the four of them beating so I don't want to be doing glimpses listen you've got to do analysis we've got to look at that it's fun talking about sport listen it's not life or death stuff you know exactly exactly listen and just as I say there's usually a good news story somewhere at the minute but just the weekend that it was and of course but you know the big focus on Donny Goal we're having a wee bit of a testing time yeah Kevin Cassidy's on the show tonight by the way as is Paul Finlay a quick breakdown of the game yesterday I kind of I was in the car then I had to do something with Hudson then got back in the car and in the space of that you know I think Monaghan were four points up maybe the final scoreline the final scoreline is not fully reflected reflective of the game of its entirety what was your read of it and I'm sure you've been chatting to people since as well what's your take away from the Donny Goal game yesterday? yeah listen to that we competed well particularly first half we did a point up and you know we just are very threadbare at the back I always had big concerns particularly after being in Haley Park the week before and just how our defence were coping Monaghan then brought on a few subs and they were sharp in the forward line and I suppose if you look back at it Jamie Brennan hits a crossbar one more level you know and that goes on in my three points up we have something to fight for Greg and there's a possibility we could have got something out of the game but after that Monaghan took control six points in a row was really the death knell for the first half yeah the subs made the difference can we read anything into that in terms of where we're at now as compared to where we'll want to be later on in the season and Monaghan it seems to be the strength and depth of the Monaghan team is what was their advantage we didn't have quite the same quality and I mean that with no disrespect to spring from the bench is that going to be a season long thing or just a happenstance of where we're at now? well listen McBurney's injury is probably big it takes a man away so you've got another man down that would have maybe come in from the bench obviously Oshin Gallan and Langan were back big pluses and Womban was back I think going forward we're not bad, we've big memory in midfield we have something to work with here I just think at the back we have real issues man for man and having a structured defence we really need to get our act together at the back in terms of being able to tackle and being able to work as a unit we're just wide open at times I mean looking at the points last night I wasn't in Clonus because I was in Wombag and Saturday night doing the dairy meat game so that did me for the weekend as far as we're going to a game so just looking at the points man and kicked last night most of them were completely unchallenged we're not even near our men when they're kicking the ball over the bar we're so wide open and the worrying aspect from that involved maybe people may be asking now but it's not as if are we going to get relegated? what's the matter? we're going to get relegated and because playing the way we are there I'm looking at dairy now I know they're in devising too and they could go listen, dairy would absolutely destroy us if we played like that you know they have a proper rigid modern football team and they've built a system around that are we in transition then? is that the problem? we sort of in transition but I mean even not just in terms of the personnel but in terms of the identity as to how we play a transition from maybe trying to play a bit more freely compared to where we were at and then maybe that requires particular emphasis on defence or what have you or are the players just not there and in fairness in terms of the defence this is something you've been talking about for quite some time you didn't just come up with this since yesterday so what is the fundamental there is it personnel or is it the transition in style? well I think first and foremost obviously a transition going on there particularly with our defenders and you know you look back at their best team this last 20 years obviously the Ireland team I mean each one of them individually were top top drawer and then collectively as a unit then they were protected by nearly the whole rest of the team so you don't think all became this serious counter-attack and force that were able to man for man handle the role then but also then they plugged up gaps in this unit now if you look at us now we want to be putting those teams against each other but man for man none of our back six as I can say can really handle their opposite numbers and then we're not in any way protected then we seem so wide open at times so it's early days in the day I don't want to get too heavy on what's happening here your big fear is that the two teams that's beside us at the bottom of the table through on morning have both beaten as well in the last couple of weeks now well there's some kind of magic in our home couple of home matches where we pull it out against Galway next weekend they're getting it and the home crowd does something we've seen it in Val-de-Faye so that's the thing that you're clinging on we happen to have beaten Kerry they were well beat by Mayo and only beat Monham in between times that's why the game yesterday was saying this and could Monham is a game we target they ended up destroying us at the end of the game so we're looking now at your couple of home games Galway and Mayo and saying is there something in that bit of magic that we can get a bit of a lift from that that could maybe get us the points to stay in the division but at this stage them teams will be looking at us here there's some handy points does Ross Kalman deserve a bit of special mention yeah certainly great great story Ross Kalman Yo-Yo team you know in the last I suppose all the success we've had Donny Gall sometimes and you know we've had such a brilliant run competing in all their finals and been up there in the top divisions I mean that Ross Kalman team in the last 11 years have been right down the division 4 they've played in the 4 divisions and it's something that a lot of people we were so used to being at the top all the time that that's the journey that they're on but certainly yeah I mean people had them up for up for relegation because they kept going up and down up and down fantastic start for them and great to see their football mad county so listen if they can keep that run going of course they're always trying to climb into that top 7 or 8 team level that they compete in the championship so this is great great build up for them and Galway yeah well Galway had a load injuries at the weekend Greg and the fact that they were really overturned to their own sometimes just like playing other teams Galway always seemed to be able to mix it with their own but they were in that match with like from their forward line last year they played in all their finals only two of them available so they had a raft of injuries and their two best players was injured but they're still able to do enough to beat to roam which is a bit I suppose we were scary from our perspective that they're able to do that and of course I don't want to leave this thing a letter Kenny we don't seem to get the results we were quite a letter getting it's always a ball of the fey jeez boys are so you're still so superstitious aren't you I'm not superstitious I know for some reason we seem to save one of our worst performances listening to it we've no room for that we've got our backs to the wall listen this now a bit like Monahan yesterday we had two points they had known if we beat them they're relegated so there was a tremendous amount of pressure on them but in many ways I think the same way they had under Derek Kenny that is an absolute must one if we're beat we're basically you know we're not going to relegation yeah indeed you are going to be chatting to Monahan's Paul Finlay as I mentioned and Kevin Cassidy two top guys too so that's going to be an interesting chat also chatting to Mickey McCann he's having a convo after a defeat but it's the first league defeat in Division 2B Mays just getting the better of them yeah and Dunnigall competed well in that game you know in a game playing in a really high level league there Dunnigall have stabilised and at one point they struggled to stay in over the years they might have got to 2B a few times and they weren't able to cope but they've been there now for a few seasons Mickey McCann work on wonders and this Mays just pulled away on them there was a big breeze in the game and Dunnigall came back with a couple of points in the second half but Mays pulled away on them in the last quarter and showed real fitness and drive but listen that was a way game Dunnigall had 2 out of 2 so still a great start to the league season for them yeah I enjoyed the commentary from Oshun and Martin yesterday I like the insight I think Martin early on in the conversation says you know Dunnigall playing with a breeze behind them they'll need a 4 point need at half time just that kind of little thing that said that helps visualise a game I thought it was a credit where it's due you mentioned you were up at Derry on Saturday watching Derry Meath sorry in Dunn Given I might get really correctly we're impressed with Derry you're looking at a side that are to be contended with let's put it like that yeah this isn't good serious mix of talent and they obviously had a minor all early in the month a couple of seasons ago and there's a few players starting to come through from that as well but as a unit great they just were so solid Meath Meath looked like a junior team playing against them the naivety of Meath was unbelievable and I don't call them rogues come on me he's a throwback to an older generation and a style of playing that he wants to play which is fair enough and I commend that but against the team that Derry you know you'd have to say Derry were on the All Ireland semi-final last year are they a top 4 team a lot of people made a question that because they lost the semi-final fairly badly up front but they're coming back this year with something a bit different you know they've young that McAvoy and the fallback and the Lion Brand the rogers they play up the pitch all the time and then inside they've bereft of scoring talent now and McGwigan actually was probably one of the quieter ones last night but that said Meath never made a glove on them even though they were dropping players back they weren't able to man for man pick up the prayers and they had no sweepers or no proper system of defence so Derry absolutely went to a counter and the funny thing about football is a lot of people are balling that as an interesting game you know Meath had won their first two games Derry had won their first two games Derry absolutely destroyed them so I would say it was a sobering trip home for the beat lads but certainly from a Derry perspective they are on the up and up and after last year's success the tricky second album sounding pretty good so far this year we'll see how it affairs right the DL debate an association with Sarah's Kitchen at sister Sarah's letter Kenny on air live after seven as I mentioned looking through the football with Paul and Kevin Micky's on the show discussing the GEA and everything else that you normally expect from the show as always thank you so much for your time we'll chat to you next Monday take care alright Brandon that's Brandon Daveney there Dev 08 660 25000 WhatsApps and texts maybe silly for me thinking this but if DJ Kerry told us how he secured the deals other could try the same procedure that is one option maybe you can open a consultancy firm you can pay him to find out ancient saying if you owe the bank a thousand you're in trouble if you owe the bank a million the banks in trouble adjust for inflation and although the public pulled out the banks from bad decisions and bad financing the public are not afforded the same which I think is a really good point there banks are partly to blame for people getting into debt if you have a credit card from them you don't use online you only get a statement every two months so if you miss a payment you get a late payment fee added to the next payment which affects your credit rating let us see any more on that Greg how dare Bertie Hearn slither back into political life in Ireland and Mr. Blaney lighting his way it really is a disgrace honestly in this country so bad now only the thing for it is to double down instead of clearing the swamp listen I mean Bertie Hearn would argue that he never left politics that has been involved engaged in politics meet with groups in the north and internationally and what have you what he actually did was rejoin the Finafall political party I'm not sure if that's getting back into political life as such but anyway listen come here we're not going to sort that out people have their opinions and I don't think at this point on that man they're going to change Hi folks Paul McDevitt here inviting to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday night sessions I'll show this week we welcome back our good friend Brie Carr dairy singer-songwriter Noella Hutton will also be poppin' in for a chat and a few songs and we welcome back from an issue on the Terraways so that's the Monday night sessions this Monday night between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. right here on Heidel Radio 60 seconds to plump her skin almost 9 out of 10 women say they have dehydrated skin New Generation Hydra Essential from Clarence formulated for 24-hour hydration it helps skin naturally boost its hyaluronic power by day it hydrates and plumps at night replenishes moisture levels hydrated skin is radiant skin visit your local Clarence Stockest for a complimentary skincare consultation and Hydra Essential sample while stocks last Clarence for over 20 years Carzone has been the trusted name in Ireland's Muldering Marketplace bringing one million car buyers and sellers together 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We are now offering MyCU current account and debit MasterCard bringing full banking features and competitive rate switcher loans OK, you're very welcome back to the Ninetal Noon Show on the program on Monday focus now we're going to be talking about things wills and to help lead us down this path is Gillian McGuff associate slister at Macklehinney and associates in Strenaller Good morning to you thanks for joining us Good morning Greg how are you? Good it's great to have you on the show and this is one of those issues that exercises people an awful lot I mentioned we have a regular slot here where we talk about legal matters a lot of the questions are about wills a lot of them after the fact very few questions so is preparation planning and understanding is that the key to avoiding as many issues as possible after the day yes Greg it's very pertinent so like state planning I suppose describing what it is first state planning is putting a plan in place during your day now while you're alive and well and have capacity to deal with all of your assets and your affairs for both during your lifetime and after your day so I suppose the most basic form that everyone would be familiar with is a will and a will obviously you know it speaks from death and it deals with the distribution of your assets after your day and you nominate who is to inherit those assets after your day so that's the most basic form of a state planning most people would be familiar with that and it's extremely important that people do put a will in place but we struggle to overcome a lot of us a lot of people out there clearly some of us are just tardy and don't do but others think well I don't really want to talk about and I think that is what the blocker is for a lot of people it is but I think if people are aware of the consequences of not making a will that might be the big push to bring in them to the office to make a will so I suppose the most important matters that people should be aware of if they don't make a will is really they've lost control of the assets and how they're distributed after their day because the succession act very stringently sets out who's entitled to the estate if there's no will and those are persons who may not be your intended beneficiaries after all not only is that loss of control in who's going to benefit but you've also lost the chance to tax plan that succession and transfer of the assets particularly if you find you have a big there's a business asset or a big farming asset valuable assets and they then end up in the hands of beneficiaries that you never intended yeah but I think particularly with the farming one let's use that as an example or a business one I think people don't want to open up a can of worms whilst alive you know say everything's working out well do you know what I mean and everyone knows their place and everyone's getting on well you know then if you start sort of getting people around a table to talk about what you might want to happen after your death I'll be afraid that maybe you know a particular person in the family who's very useful around the farm might think well you know well I'm not getting enough I'm not you know do you know what I mean do you think there is I think the IFA actually had a meeting on this song and go there's a fear that if you start opening up the conversation about you know big assets that it could cause problems whilst you're alive actually it's the one thing I do advise clients to do is have that conversation with family members do have it because then you'll know whether they do have an interest in that asset or not and most people surprisingly maybe the children don't or use the farming asset that maybe one person is farming you know and has given up their whole life and you know to farm the lands and you mean if you don't plan it the tax consequences as well can be extraordinary for some beneficiaries Can you talk a wee bit more about that about the difference between taxation tax implications and when you make that will or if you don't make a will So well there's tax consequences either way but you know if you don't make the will I suppose the beneficiary inheriting has a tax free threshold and that very much depends on the relationship of the beneficiary to the person who's passed away so the largest tax threshold is 335,000 and that is from a parent to a child or you know it can be actually from a child to a parent in certain circumstances where the child made a predestination and that seems like a huge tax threshold but it may not be if the farm asset is worth a million euro or a business asset thereabouts and then the next tax threshold would be you know a brother sister and his nephew grandchild or you know another lineal descendant like that that's 32,500 it's not particularly generous Just in relation to what might appear generous on the face of it because there's cash rich I suppose and there's asset rich but these are assets that you may never intend of liquidating and then you face with the bill on those so that's it and that's where the beneficiaries find themselves in difficulty I mean who has the cash readily available to pay the capital acquisitions tax I should say that those thresholds are what you can inherit tax free anything over and above that is taxed at 33% so it's almost a third you know and what happens is the beneficiaries find that they have to as you just mentioned liquidate and sell the asset that then can lead to disputes and disgruntlement within families seeing family businesses family farms having to be sold which would all have been avoided if there was a will in place with the intentions of the test data set out very clearly and even when there's a will in place there are tax incentives there that can be examined if you like so for we'll touch on the agricultural lands again there's a sizable relief there on agricultural capital acquisitions tax so where the beneficiary meets certain conditions and where the asset passing is a certain asset there can be an agricultural relief it's a 90% reduction on the market value so you know it's only 10% capital acquisitions tax for the beneficiary but obviously it has to be planned and there's certain conditions there for a beneficiary and and the asset passing similarly with a business there's also a 90% reduction there it's in the taxable value of the CAT as long as it's a proper business asset that's passing and again the beneficiary can meet the conditions now you'll often find that the test data are coming in if they're armed with that knowledge they can almost prepare the beneficiary or the beneficiary can take active steps to try and fit them all if you like and I think on those more complex matters you really need a broader consultation don't you with the likes of yourself because there's a lot to tease out there can I give another scenario then so let's just say and I think this is probably more representative though we are a very rich agricultural country county in terms I would say rich I mean in terms of how many of them you are right but so say I am married right with four kids two girls and two boys right what happens if I die without a will in that scenario who gets what so you're married with children two boys and two boys two girls you make no will so it's two thirds passed to your surviving spouse and one third of the estate then among your children which divvying that up would be complicated of course it would be complicated then you find you might be minor children and then the spouse has to take it as trustee causes all sorts of difficulties and tax consequences I make a will now right but I don't want my eldest son getting anything because he's a bit of an Egypt let's just say hypothetically right so what can I do in a will can I literally put what I want exclude the eldest maybe exclude the youngest because I don't like her husband right no just say hypothetically I don't have this family settled so can I say right I want it to go to my wife and I want it to go to the second oldest son and the oldest girl but I don't want the other two getting anything can you do that in a will if you wanted to yes well let's just start by saying you know it's your will and to some extent a testator has what's called testamentary freedom to some extent so what you're talking about there is disinheriting a child so it's a section one one seven in succession act right so that child where they feel disgruntled can come back into the estate and make an application that they were not provided for in the estate where they feel their parent has failed in their moral obligation to provide for them either during their lifetime or after their day so then you know I would try and ascertain from you well what provision educated did they have an expensive college education did you provide them with a lump sum were they given a site to build a house that is provision you know and then just you choose to not leave them out of the world is that the reason you're leaving them out of the world because they've already been provided for or are they simply frivolous with money and they're irresponsible or do they have an addiction problem all of that is very important my questions was quite extreme but it was your role really to do this correctly is probably more important than just a being a witness or whatever it might be that you're a checking partner okay get you right alright good stuff so in terms then of making a will yes what what do I do I'll come into you make an appointment come into me and I always tell people if you can gather together a schedule of your assets put together you know I don't need to know money's worth just let me know investments, business assets caravan anything anything cars you know holiday homes dwelling house and then I take a list of that I'll take a list of any liabilities all accounts too because I think often sometimes people don't log little accounts that they might have here in there that said well if you think of it you know as basic as God forbid something should happen you and your loved ones are left behind how are they to know what you own and where it is give it to your solicitor who will have the schedule there and will know where your assets are and it's a good start point then for after your day for your executor to be able to identify where the assets are and gather them in you know so that's what I ask people to prepare come in sit down let us know what it is you think you want to do and then we can get them people be nervous coming in they do I think people in their mind and I don't have equated to going in to adopters it's quite a morbid thing to do I think it's in that space it's uncomfortable because you have to bring your mind to an uncomfortable place particularly if you have minor children Greg I don't know if you have children but people fail to see that if they have minor children then they should really be making a will to provide for the minor child God forbid both parents are in the unthinkable catastrophic accident leaving minor children behind I mean your will allows you to appoint a guardian of those children and trustees for those children and the fall back position is if you don't appoint them within your will testamentary guardians and trustees then in the event of competing interest among family members as to who should take them it's a court application and who wants to do that you know every parent would want to make that decision themselves as opposed to a court judge and even your your language and how you're saying it incredibly sensitive but the reason we have to talk about it is it happens okay the worst happens it does happen it doesn't happen all the time thankfully but it happens and it's happened to people that we're listening to and you know I think that's a really important one you're talking about when it comes to younger children particularly and I mean people often think I don't have any assets you know I don't have an estate well if you have children that's as much in the state as you need for sure okay so I presume this is across the board and not necessarily unique to your practice about the three levels what is provided okay so I think we've talked about the basic will with title review where I go in and say I've got a house and I want to go here is that what that is okay so then when it comes to tax and title review is that when you maybe have numerous properties or you have land numerous properties or sizable estate or land as you say or business assets that could really warrant tax advice for the disponer or the test date or the person making the will often the state planning can be lifetime transfers as well as leaving under the will so it may be more beneficial for the testator to transfer during their lifetime and also for the beneficiary to receive it particularly if they can fit them old for the taxation reliefs and the stamp duty reliefs and all of that you know so say I wanted for whatever reason to leave a child the property right but I also wanted to live in it until such time as I you know yourself would that be part of a will or part of a visit to you that legally locked that in can that be legally locked in or could the child get some notion and say right I've got it in my name now out you go pops you can do a voluntary transfer so during your lifetime and what you're talking about there is called an exclusive right of residence so the parent wants to transfer the interest of the property now to the child but they're going to retain what I call an exclusive right of residence so only they can reside there for the rest of their lives that can be done yes right talk to me about a power and then now of course then the full estate plan I think is much of what we talked about bells and whistles yeah is the power enduring power of attorney an important element to that that needs a particular mention it is you'll recall at the very start I said an estate plan is dealing with your estate and affairs for both during your lifetime and after your day so the power of attorney is the during the during your lifetime aspect so what it does and what it allows you to do is to appoint an attorney and a trusted individual and to make your life decisions if you like in the event that at some point in the future you become incapacitated that you cannot do it yourself well listen there's questions coming in along those lines so it does so that is someone that the enduring power will be half whilst you're alive if you lose the capacity to make those decisions and the important thing is only if you lose capacity yeah and so it sits there sort of like an insurance policy for you that you have a nominated individual nominated to make those decisions for you can you have a succession within that in that let's just say let's just say I did become incapacitated and the person that I've entrusted to look after my affairs themselves succumbs right okay so what you're talking about there's a substituted attorney and the document does allow for as many attorneys so if you wanted to and then two substitutes okay right good to cover that as well again don't want to talk about it but these things happen right okay we're in the company here of Gillian McGuff associate solicitor at McElhenney's and associates in Stranauler so we've covered quite a bit of 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McLean he's an associate so before we get into some questions maybe the default position when people ask questions and I'm not saying was mine was that we're talking about a married couple right so does any of what we've talked about change in terms of cohabiting couples which is more and more common now or even mixed couples yes for example so maybe two men are in a relationship cohabiting has the laws and their rights you know if they caught up to that of a man and woman married or cohabiting for example no so there's huge differences there and it's a huge area that needs to be explored and properly put in order if you wish to benefit your cohabity firstly I should say the cohabities are not automatically entitled to any share in the estate even if there's no will so if you pass away without a will your cohabity is not entitled gets nothing and you may have a situation where people are cohabiting but yet we're previously married and may not be divorced because of the costs of divorce and could be cohabiting for 10, 20 years in a previous marriage still sitting there if they die without a will there in those circumstances the spouse is still a spouse for the sake of inheritance imagine there can be a great deal of challenge that too because the cohabitant might say well I've invested such and such and we put this kitchen in together and we did that extension and then the wife or husband might say well we build that house together and half of that's in my name so I think actually that's really really really important area that people need to get on top on because society's changing now and the laws and what have you aren't catching up as quick with the money in the estate and cohabities if they are benefiting under a will and you want them to benefit under your will the second thing you need to be aware of is that they are strangers in blood as far as the revenue are concerned they are not family members to you they are strangers in blood so they get the lowest form of tax-free threshold allowance which is 16,250 alright so they are in a difficult position they are trying to benefit each other on their death but there are measures that you can take to try and counteract those tax consequences that can be catastrophic there so good financial planning is what is needed there for cohabities there are policies that you can put in place now I'm not a financial advisor but I do know of these policies on the life of another so the cohabities would take out a life insurance policy on the life of the other pay the proceeds or pay the premium out of their own bank account what that does is on the death untamely death of one of those cohabities the premium is paid to the surviving cohabity tax-free so the full premium is allowed to be paid tax-free because they've paid the premium on the life of the other and that money then can be used to set any capital I don't to some extent I've probably thrown a cat in the works and we're not going to get it all sorted and cleared up today but I think what we've done is we've highlighted the importance of actually maybe people who are listening to this in that situation I never thought about that and then they can get in contact with the likes of you and start sorting it because I think and it can be explained in more time we have can the executor if it will also receive something under the will yes in fact I think it's more beneficial because then they have a vested interest to come into you to do the job to get the estate tidied up and ultimately they'll benefit themselves so yes you can what does the word probate mean? probate is the process of administering the estate after the person is detected so lots of questions we get about the will's been such comment fast-tracked it depends how efficiently worked at the file the probate is you know but what I will say is the executors are allowed 12 months which is called an executors year to gather in the assets and the liabilities and to determine what's in the estate after that you would be hoping that you can have enough information to submit all of the information to probate your hands are then tied to some extent when you do submit it to probate the current waiting time so you've already nearly 18 months you know there gathered up and then after that when your grant is returned you can then begin to call in all the assets the monies and bank accounts life policies change the property ownership so in all Greg it's very hard to put a time frame on but allow up to two years 18 to 24 months actively been worked on my mom's getting a little bit forgetful can she do an enduring power of attorney now that depends on the level I suppose of forgetfulness who judges that is it a doctor it's a GP so the first protocol is the GP for these EPAs they have to confirm that the individual has the capacity and the understanding and the knowledge to understand the document they're signing at the moment so if that level of forgetfulness is something in the lines of Alzheimer's dementia then it's too late and as we say it's too late when it's too late these documents need to be put in place when you're well we're not going to be able to get to an answer to this as such is it possible to discuss the rules and laws around inheritance in Ireland I live in the north but I have a property in Donegal but I want to leave it to a niece in Donegal now is that particularly complicated as I say I'm going to be able to get through it now but it's doable it's doable the best practice and we always tell people is you do a will in the jurisdiction in which you own the asset so that person needs to come out here and make a will specifically with the asset in the Republic of Ireland only so that's what that we made a will as a couple but we've got separate bank accounts as well as separate credit union accounts we have two children which everything will be divided between equally would we be better putting those accounts into one joint account and the error but is it needed well what the joint accounts do joint assets do they automatically pass to the survivor so it takes those assets out of the need so yes it is beneficial I feel it's very beneficial is it possible to add an adult child onto the deeds of their house while they're still alive yes it is yes that's a voluntary transfer again and so it's obviously a parent considering a transfer in the asset yes you can is there a tax implication for that? there may well be but that would depend on the value of the house well come here listen it's been really really interesting and we kind of only scratched the surface so we'll have to do it again I think and we've done a lot of work so we can maybe even just get straight into other stuff Gillian anyone with any further questions can contact Gillian McGough Associate's Lister at McElhenney's and Associate's Stronola or any solicitors can I just mention please do go ahead if anyone is interested in our estate planning service we have we have a brochure uploaded onto our website on McElhenneyassociates.com there's also a will instruction sheet which is a very good start point for anyone considering making a will I would just advise log on fill out the sheet three or four words what's your view on people going online and doing wills themselves no it's a no no homemade wills solicitors don't like homemade wills they are particularly difficult to get through the probate office unless you know what you're doing I wouldn't advise on homemade wills Gillian have a lovely day thank you for your time alright that's where we have to leave it back with you tomorrow morning at nine any comments and queries we didn't get to we'll