 lays in discharging people from hospitals and that means that there are fewer beds available and the third reason is there is a real problem with staffing levels. Staffing levels just are not safe. A teenager is being treated in hospital after an alleged assault in Sligo. It happened at a service station on the male coach road just after 7 o'clock last night. The teenage boy was initially taken to Sligo University Hospital with serious injuries but was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where he's receiving treatment. The scene has been sealed off for a technical examination. Another Donegal business is closing its doors due to rising costs. Our drab butchers will close down this Saturday. In a public post they say the decision wasn't made lightly but their business was struggling to survive. It's one of many in the county in recent months. The government is being called on to introduce a national lung cancer screening program. The Marie Keating Foundation says less than one-third of people feel that they don't know the signs or symptoms to watch out for in relation to the disease. 1,850 people die from lung cancer in Ireland every year with more people here dying from it than any other cancer. Liz Yates, CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation says a screening program is key to increase awareness about the disease. It is so important that people go and get themselves checked because early diagnosis is absolutely key when it comes to lung cancer. And this is why the Marie Keating Foundation is also calling on the government to introduce a national lung cancer screening program just such as breast check, cervical check or bowel screen because that would really improve early diagnosis. Looking out to weather, Claudia Dull and Wett this morning a band of rain moves off to the north early but is followed by scattered showers, some heavy and squally. The showers will clear away to the north later this afternoon followed by a mix of sunshine and isolated showers. Highs of 10 to 12 degrees in a fresh and gusty southwest wind. That's all for now. Your next news update is at 10 o'clock. In the meantime, keep up to date with the latest local news on our website highlandradio.com. For myself and the news team, good morning. Why is it so hard to get a good deal on simple car home insurance? Well, getting a quote from on Pust Insurance is never this hard. For car and home insurance, that's a little more human call 0818222222 or visit on pustinsurance.ie. You feel me on the potholes, Jules? Yeah. Acceptance criteria, terms, conditions apply. One direct Ireland limited trading as on Pust Insurance is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. One direct Ireland limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of on Pust. Home insurance underwritten by a V V insurance Ireland deck. Best prices online. The county's number one talk show, the 9 till noon show on Highland radio. And a very good morning to you. This is the 9 till noon show on Highland radio with Donald Kavanaugh. Here as the name suggests, until 12 noon today, we have lots of contemporary issues to discuss lots of things to talk about. Lots of very interesting guests lined up. But of course, the most important element of this program is your perspectives on the day's news, your perspectives on what's happening in the world and indeed in the Northwest as well. Or the issues you want to hear discussed. You can text us on 086 60 25,000 WhatsApp us on the same number. Call us on 08 07491 25,000 003537491 25,000 if you're outside of the dining area. And you can of course use social media at Highland radio on X or Highland hub on Facebook comments at Highland radio. If you want to use email and of course you can watch the show unfold, a number of guests coming through on Zoom and in studio as well. And you can watch all that on our social media channels online or indeed in our YouTube channel, Highland Radio Ireland. So lots of ways to keep in touch and to communicate with the program this morning. Carla North taking your calls and producing as well. Let's look at the papers and the Finn Valley voice this morning. East Donegal is perfect location for a reg tech supercluster. Now Watson is a ethical AI advisor to Apple and president of the EU responsible AI office. And she was a natural choice to speak as an artificial intelligence regulation conference at the ATU complex in letter Kenny and indeed she was stressing East Donegal is perfect for such developments. Could there be something on the cards there would be very interesting to see Donegal post a story that Greg was highlighting very much last week. Dermatology service in utter collapse. I can't even get an examination light installed to properly examine patients after two years of trying healthcare professionals including GPs and consultants have described dermatology services in Donegal as in crisis and in utter collapse. And that story there by Siobhan McNamara available on the Donegal post this morning. Mish Times main headline in the shown man pleads guilty to historical sex charges and in the shown man has tendered a guilty plea to two historical sex offenses. The man pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault. He's now in his fifties and can't be named in order to protect the identity of the victim in the case. He appeared at letter Kenny circuit court on Tuesday and was formally arraigned before Judge John Elmer. Also pumpkin day a picture of families at the EOSS center in Muff with a number of pumpkins all in marking the fact that Halloween was last night. We were just talking actually in in the office earlier about trick or treaters and we all seem to have got quite a few of them last night actually. We had more than usual I would have said at our house between sort of started about half five and went on to about quarter to eight or thereabouts. I'd say we probably had eleven twelve groups calling and that certainly is up on previous years I think Irish independent in demand jobs to get 15% pay rises as others stay flat. Most employees salaries will remain flat next year but workers with in demand jobs could see their wages climb by as much as 15% amid the rising cost of living. Many workers will see their pay keep pace with inflation with pay hikes of around 3% some fortunate employees including tech workers builders and engineers and could see their wages rise by multiples of that according to the Morgan McKinley 2024 Ireland salary guide. I suppose it does seem in in more recent years what's happening is since really I suppose the 2008 2009 situation and the economic issues that followed we've seen a situation where previously there would have been pay bargaining across the board and there would have been social contracts and unions and employers and the government would have had all sorts of deals and there would have been across the board increases but now it's very much back to the let the market decide model and also slow uptake of free GP services for children. Less than half the number of eligible children aged six and seven have so far been registered for free GP care despite it being offered for nearly three months while thousands of eligible adults may also be missing out that's according to the Irish independent and a story on that on the inside of the paper as well and it would be interesting to see what would happen if everyone took up that because I know there are fears certainly with the pressure on GPs already that if there was a huge influx of new patients and new people using the service on the basis that it's available free to them it could put the GP service under quite serious pressure so maybe a number of people breathing a sigh of relief that there hasn't been a huge uptake on that particular offer. Irish Times this morning unprecedented flooding hits northeast aid scheme for flood hit households to be extended to counties Louth and Wexford river ban dangerously high with travel between Dublin and Belfast disrupted now we had a conversation on the show yesterday with the Irish independence environmental correspondent um Catherine O'Doherty about the whole issue of flood relief schemes and the delay and as as we said you know every couple of weeks now it seems a new area is being highlighted after there is a serious rain incident and as as we said on the program yesterday there is going to be more heavy rain of of the nature we're going to see this week with Storm Kearon um so there is more of this to come and a lot of people and a lot of communities very very worried again Paul Cullen health editor on The Times a guest on this program yesterday in a different context GP visits decline as patients embrace telemedicine patients are increasingly choosing telemedicine for medical treatment over physical visits to the GP will in for a report not having visited their GP in the past year that's up from 15 percent in 2020 that's according to research commissioned by the medical council the Irish Daily Mail this morning mother's story is not credible Molly Martin's mother claims she went back to sleep after her husband went upstairs with a baseball bat the sentencing hearing is continuing in a US court after Molly Martin's and her father chose at their retrial to plead guilty to manslaughter which is a lesser charge to the murder charge that they had previously been convicted on but that went to retrial as we know and now um it is a a sentence hearing and that hearing is likely it seems to last in the region of about two weeks the Irish Daily Mur this morning swamp shop a bridge partially collapsed in County Lowes and parts of Newry were like a as severe flooding soaked Ireland yesterday more torrential downpours around the way with six counties under start as the yellow rainfall warnings from seven o'clock tonight flood minister Patrick O'Donovan admitted Ireland was not prepared for what's to come he added no country is and that flooding issue as well as I say we discussed it yesterday and it is going to be discussed again and again and again I think in the coming weeks months and years because this kind of really heavy rain is about to become the new norm do you speak this lovely phrase of soft Irish rain soft day thank god and sadly the soft days are being replaced I think by these much heavier downpours Irish Sun this morning exclusive interview Robbie I've got Manopause aged 49 I've got a low sex drive I can't sleep I need a neck lift and new teeth and Robbie Williams there the main story on the front of the sun Martin's sentencing trial molly screams mum told cop of hearing noise relationship was abusive the mother of Molly Martin said she heard her daughter screaming on the night Jason Corbett was killed and she also told cops her daughter's marriage was abusive limit man Jason was found beaten to death at his North Carolina home in 2015 and that certainly seems to be the angle that the Martins are taking at this sentencing hearing they're pleading guilty demands loader on the basis that Molly Martins they say feared for her life because she was in an abusive relationship and certainly the Corbett family in Limerick very very unhappy at that particular situation and Irish Delhi star headline this morning we're back to the the flooding we're going to need a bigger bolt is the main headline and minister admits we cannot handle weather bombs we are not ready minister Patrick O'Donovan warned of disruption and indeed you recall Patrick O'Donovan was in Donegal not that long ago announcing that letter Kenny and Donegal town were to take part in a pilot program to try and speed up flood relief programs letter Kenny and Donegal town part of that program and Patrick O'Donovan did appear on the on the show here with Greg to discuss that so certainly these are issues which are serious now it's 13 minutes past nine it is time for a break uh do stick with us our first guest coming up after this the newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra mountaintop letter Kenny the 2022 seastore national off license of the year morning to you how are you keeping up very well uh this hello darlin hope you've started packing mom we're dying to see you this christmas the tree's up already mom i don't know how to say this what's wrong pet i can't come home this year it's it's just too expensive oh sweetheart we'll miss you sometimes life keeps us apart but at highland radio no matter where you are in the world this year we want to make christmas extra special for one lucky family we want to bring a family home for christmas you can nominate yourself or a loved one visit highland radio dot com to submit your nomination let's bring families together this christmas oh you don't leave him usual is that seesaw at visa we're proud 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support you need when you need it most you have rights you have support you have a voice find yours in the victims charter brought to you by the government of ireland highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from letek entity doblin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time at the time is approaching 16 minutes past nine o'clock a very good morning to you we were contacted by a person in the twin towns yesterday to tell us that instrument or the pedestrian crossing near the finn valley centre has been brought forward our caller says it used to be further down the road it's now nearly on the corner it's so close it's right next to a school leisure centre playground housing estate and creche and the caller concerned that this may be the wrong location and may lead to problems now joined on zoom this morning by councillor patrick mcgon patrick good morning to you morning don't um this crossing um you have been looking into to the issue over the past 24 hours are you satisfied with what's happening with this particular crossing well i have been informed by the roads office that this is part of the new design manual that uh basically crossing should should be in line with the footpath generally what happens is there at a junction and when you walk along the footpath and you want to cross the road the the crossings are set back maybe two or three meters from the actual road itself and this was the case there at the finnally swimming pool the the crossing and that was a courtesy crossing it's not it's not a pedestrian crossing um or a pelican crossing and basically the council yesterday or the weekend there Monday got the um the lining machine out and they burnt off the old white lines the black and white lines they burnt them off and they put them directly in line with the footpath that apparently the idea is that most people who walk and walk on a straight line and people work and step into one side to cross and then back again they're actually walking so but the council have done now with the road line and machine they have put the lines back in line with the footpath and apparently it's so that the the drivers have clear vision of someone walking along the footpath then they stop and they walk across the road on the on the courtesy crossings and they just continue on them away sometimes when you step around a corner across the road you look your the drivers may not see you and apparently this is the case and this is the case that all these crossings have to be now obviously that there are a number of people contacted me about it and um I'm told by the council anyway that this is national transport authority uh policy now are you satisfied that there is a clear enough line of vision for drivers to see pedestrians in time because one of the concerns our caller seems to be expressing is that it's now so close to a corner that they're afraid if a car goes around that corner at speed the driver may not see the person on the crossing quickly enough to stop yeah well this is exactly the point that the the road software saying that if you're out on the footpath uh that you will be saying that's when you step around the corner to cross the road and then come back again on your line of vision that you may not be seeing that's exactly the point they're making that if you are seeing where you're walking that's when you when you divert from that the problem is the same that the the walker will have clear vision of the car and that the car will have clear vision where if you step off that line of vision you're out of vision look it's it's a very extremely busy junction and further down the road there's a zebra crossing for the school there this is not the zebra crossing with the traffic lights are this this is that what they call the courtesy crossing you have to stop you have to wait to ensure that the traffic stops and then you cross you don't walk out in front of it it's called a courtesy crossing for that reason my biggest concern would be lighting a lot of these places within the town itself most particularly within say convoy uh parts of convoy and parts of alpine sorry have raised the time again and particularly worried about uh the lighting in the town particularly in bad weather when an awful lot of people are out running and walking and elderly and young people out at times you see nothing you know and and that's what my concerns would be that you know especially this time of year people are still out wearing dark clothes I've just got this every road you go on but on on regarding what we're talking about today as opposed to sweet and see it's that them rules have come down from the department it's not something that's done the way out of one or nothing so we'll have to keep an eye on it and obviously that will be assessed and I know we have had conversations over the course of the past year or so with regards to pedestrian crossings in Balabafe as well and and and this again is is is probably a separate issue to this but you were very concerned at these new sort of designs that were coming down and they were being piloted in certain areas where they were not necessarily using lights and they were just going to use signs and markings on the road and uh Balabafe one of the areas that this was being piloted in and you had some very strongly expressed concerns about it at a council meeting in lyford uh how is that situation going now as far as you're concerned yeah well it just checked up and that's why to check up every month on it the the different that these were piloted in limerick doblin uh and balbafe the problem here was the other two locations that put up signs just big yellow thick signs and that they put up no signs in balbafe nor would they allow the signs to come up my understanding we have signs ready to go up but we're still waiting on the national transport authority in doblin to give us permission my understanding from people talking to people contacts would have is they don't want to put up the signs in balbafe and snorra and i i would argue looking at the other locations in limerick and doblin balbafe and snorra needs to signs more than anywhere else because our our zebra markings on the roads they're in the middle of the town uh if there's a van just sitting on on the zebra crossings and you're crossing over and no one care may not see you where the ones in limerick and doblin are out in more rural areas they're just out in suburbs and there's big grass verges you can see them from the long distance off the ones in balbafe and snorra you could actually be sitting on a vehicle right beside one of them crossings and you may not see the person standing across the road opposite side particularly if there's a van or something that's actually should be sat back about as well you know but like as only as far as this week and last week that we are md meetings that i was speaking to our senior engineers they want to put up the signs but the national transport authority will not let them so we're still waiting on word back and they're ready to go up if you get permission but uh i think you know the argument now is there's been no accidents since even though one of them crossings is on the bank of iran corner which is extremely busy corner there the length on the street but we'll keep we'll keep uh lobbying awaited the department of transport they're responsible for all these road safety measures and health and safety and that and you know considering that one in five fatalities and roads now is pedestrians and with all this funding and focus now going on active travel and that at his time at least a bit like the they bring the community and the public into this because all these decisions have been made in goblin the chains and the rules of the roads and signage that and people on the ground uh it can be forgiven for not knowing because there's no education process there's no signs there's nothing stopping them a year ago but not science and neither end of balbuffet as the artist said there's a new layout a hair experiment where there's a pilot it's going to be new but that probably discussed last radio station before it was discussed anywhere else lastly it was just it was just on the bank of goblin but something we'll keep pushing that and hopefully in the meantime nobody gets injured at any end crossings and the key word there is experiment because the the the fear that was expressed by yourself and by others at a meeting in lyford uh it would have been probably late last year if i recall correctly but the fear was that effectively balbuffet was being used as an experiment so they were going to do one thing in doubling the mimic do another thing in balbuffet and sort of examine and assess the two and that balbuffet was almost like you know the control portion of an experiment that was taking place and your argument was that these are pedestrians these are people who are using the streets on a daily basis they're not cogs in an experiment they are people that need to be given every possible uh measure of safety that they can look and and the the there's always said a load design manual guide and you have seen our very qualified people that look at this thing you know what the public can be forgiven for for not knowing what's going on what these signs means you know because it's it's an any business you're in your business my business communications everything you couldn't nobody could operate without communicating to the public you know that if you're trying to bring something if you want to bring the public what they both drivers and pedestrians surely the guy you should be keeping it a secret and this this is one of the best secrets yep you know it's very few people the medical and small headline some of the papers over a year ago and then obviously we've discussed it here and this show maybe two or three times but like always simply asking us uh advanced warning science science at the drivers and like you remember bell fence lorries and national primary roads with both some lumberic always slag go through to the area this is not like a small local road uh and this is an experiment why don't they put up science to say it's an experiment to educate people if it works it works if it doesn't then uh remove them something like that and and that's something that other people sort of people maybe don't really realize that that road is a national road the dunningall county council has no say no authority and uh no part in the management of that particular road the road that goes right through balaba fe is a national road it's run by the nta it's not run by dunningall county council the council has no responsibility for us no and we'll we'll be having a delegation up to meet the tii which is just below the national transport authority the beads for national primary road will be meeting them on the 8th of december and we'll be making that point what do you know the they need to communicate and explain to them and come up with a rationale and the other thing is the call to the pilot scheme that's well over a year ago now so what is the results we were told that this has been monitored uh and uh surveys carried out that's fine what is the results of that i'm i'm not against them they actually appeared to be working very well there is the exception what they wanted to think about in corner people think that's extremely dangerous and all we're asking for is additional signings that each each one of these zebra cross and markings uh would have a sign and and they're within the design manual they're on limerick and they're on doble and i call us actually asking with regards to crossings and i take it this this comes across all crossings both the ones we're talking about uh on the the national primary road but also the one close to uh the corner there in the finn valley center um what about road crossings is there proper planning in place for moving these crossings what happens if someone is knocked down what's the situation who's responsible yeah well it's generally and it's on the road manual there that these are the loud that like you have to get something uh flexibility to the roads authority like there's a lot of changes with our national primary road for years have you seen it once they'd used big arrows on the road with a with a right turn they were all been born to off you also see solid white lines there within towns or the edge of towns people say well how can you cross that to make an entrance into it but it's in the manual there that you that you're allowed to cross a solid white line if you're entering the premises with them but it's a lot of small writing and and but the local authority i suppose between them and the national roads authority they do you have authority there's a lot of discretion on that but the one thing is they need to be consistent we're in the you all say nice knee you and i don't know and should be consistent if different markings are right this is this the government denounced this one well we and this is a scheme but you know when does the scheme end when is this scheme and when is it permanent and what are the results are we there's a lot of confusion here because you have the one at the fund valley center which is a courtesy process you have the ones on the main street then you have ones we beat them you have ones we flash and light you have ones where you press the button you know at the end of the day people don't know the important thing is anyway you always stop you nobody has the right just to walk across the road and as i say what's one and five of the alleys now the pedestrians you know the month of dark month people need to to light up go on bright clothes and just be careful and i have noticed myself and bale defense in order with someone every day people walk across the road looking at their mobile phones they're just willy nilly you know and there has to be a wee bit of sort of a self responsibility and as you know they mean like we won't keep the pressure on the national society but in the meantime we just ask people to wear bright clothes and to be careful on the roads corner asking will it take a terrible injury or even the death of a pedestrian before these invisible crossings are illuminated accidents waiting to happen terrible planning and bureaucracy from from top to bottom and again as we say it the ones and this caller expressing particular concern about that length in street one that you reference there yourself and as we say and i suppose we we may as well say it now this this is not down to dunagall county council that particular one that one is transport infrastructure ardent and has been sort of a determined in an office in dublin and councillor Patrick McGowan thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this morning take care Patrick that's a councillor Patrick McGowan there um he was joining us on zoom and to discuss those particular crossings i'm sure that will be assessed by the council on a regular basis and as councillor McGowan said there there is a council delegation going to dublin to meet with transport infrastructure ardent formerly the national roads authority and they'll be discussing those um crossings and others um a number of people asking questions being asked about the new footpath on the mill bray when his work going to start on that was certainly trying to track that down uh caller says i was driving in balaba fe for the first time in the dark and only i knew there was a crossing there i could have knocked somebody down um the cross at the bank is in the middle of a four-road junction it's so dangerous how is this allowed to happen indeed councillor McGowan himself did express concern about that predictor one himself um as we say that's one of the ones that is being determined from doubling not locally um the council would need to bring that white line machine down around carragans st johnson and newton conningham not a white line in the middle of the roads to be seen it's a joke so says a caller now we're going to take a short break and we'll be back after these watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com there you are at the counter in your local shop to pay for a coffee and a bun a little midweek treat and why not only to look up and see the display of scratch cards and you think why not treat yourself to an all cash scratch card too a win really would be the icing on the cake with millions in cash prizes to be won instantly the next time you're in store ask for any all cash scratch card the national lottery it could be you play responsibly play for fun the folger arland employer excellence program is now open to tourism businesses of every size from the smallest attraction to the largest hotel join hundreds of others already attracting top talent with the employer excellence program the 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eight p.m enjoy festive music and save 20 percent of christmas lights and artificial christmas trees on the evening mince pies and refreshments for all visit homeland dot ie for more information it's the nine to noon show on highland radio it's a 27 minutes to 10 o'clock joined in studio by a uh guest we normally have here on a tuesday so to have him here on a wednesday it's making me feel me days are all wrong it's all a bit funny uh garden i'm a goer good morning to you good morning donal how are you very well indeed a story people may well have seen in in the papers and online over the past two days a number of children uh driving tractors on the n 56 in gortha hawk last sunday yeah donal we had a massive reaction on our social media pages in relation to this uh post that we put up uh there are often tractor runs for charity and raising money for various excellent causes and it seems to be that maybe a bit of complacency has set in maybe on behalf of organizers and parents and uh also ourselves we take some responsibility for it as well donal we may have turned a blind eye at some stage but it's got the stage now where it's absolutely ridiculous what's going on and some of these tractor runs yeah particularly on sunday what i suppose what drew our attention to it was um the size of some of the young fighters that were driving the tractors and when we stopped some of them um you know turned out to are 12 years of age donal and some of them weren't able to stop the actual tractor when we asked them to stop you know because they couldn't reach the brakes yeah um it wasn't uh some of them were driving you know your typical massy ferguson little one three five tractor um and some of them were driving huge new hauling tractors you know four-wheel drive over four tons weight and you know at 12 years of age no parent no supervision maybe accompanied by another three or four 12 year olds in the tractor as well which you know there's a whole litany of things going wrong there and you know this year alone in the country i tried to grab a few figures there but it's it's very specific but just for the 10 minutes before i come on here i had a quick look at the computer you know we have had four children killed this year in ireland and tractors yeah um we've had a 13 year old boy dead a 14 year old boy dead a 17 year old female dead yeah and another 16 year old boy dead and a whole host then of serious injuries including paralysis from tractors that have overturned and you know tractors i suppose they're not as forgiven maybe as cars when it comes to the passenger safety most of them don't have seat belts fitted you know none of them have airbags fitted there's no supplementary restraining systems and tractors uh there's no crumple zones you know all the ticks um i looked at one particular fatal accident there in relation to a tractor it just went into the ditch you know it's not a big fall it didn't turn upside down or nothing it just went into the ditch and it was a hard stop for the young driver and uh he lost his life because of it you know um we're not out to spot anybody's fun don't know you know we support these tractor runs 110 percent a lot of our um uh my colleagues do get involved in them and you know our own male embosses they're they're keen that we do get involved in system traffic and stuff like that but it's just gotten in a state now don't we need to draw a line under sort of the the law and the regulations in relation to young for us driving tractors before something does go wrong uh we're joined on zoom by tom boyd who's the pro of the ifa in donnie gall uh tom a very good morning to you morning don't uh tom you've heard what a garland i mcguire has got has to say there uh what's your your response yeah look this is something ifa wouldn't do it at all now we wouldn't wouldn't agree with anybody under the age of the age the regulated age of 16 to get a license to drive in the tractor and look at the end of the day it's uh it's a major safety safety issue as the guard has said there about accidents that happen and lives have been lost so far this year but you have to consider as well that these events are often attended by big crowds and i know people think that it's uh because for charity and it should be allowed but the end of the day these tractors are very big and powerful and when you have crowds around accidents can happen especially especially on the at the excitement of your friends being there watching and things like that it's it's another danger and we don't agree with any of the under the age diving without the sufficient training or license yeah and we had a discussion yesterday with the uh the perspective the the candidates for the presidency and the vice presidency of the ifa actually they had been here for a big meeting on monday and one of the issues that came up in that conversation was farm safety and the absolute primacy of doing everything possible to ensure that people are as safe as possible on farms and crucially in this case when operating farm machinery yeah definitely great or don't sorry definitely it's a it's an issue that happens on farms as well you know a lot of the accidents that have you know that's been highlighted there have happened on farm and it's something that needs to be clamped down on really by the government and on the guard that these things don't happen and are let uh a blind eye can't be turned to them really and as i garden i'm aware said their tractor runs they've become a very important element of fundraising and we know certainly some of the runs in donnie galle uh a very successful one in support of crucially recently but but several others as well i mean and they are raising tens of thousands of euro for for charity in in the the county and beyond and they've become a very important part of the social life of of the county and in particular as opposed to social life of the farming community yeah yeah for sure donnie you know these events are fantastic and they raise a lot of money and they're it's great for younger people to get out and meet people to some of their interests but we have to look at it from another point of view that these these events are often organized by volunteers and by small clubs and if one accident happens these clubs will go to the wall and the only people they'll be affected by it is the the charities then where there won't be money raised from but i'm sure these clubs are going to have to look at some way and the organizers of these events off to regulate them and but also to have a way of entertaining the younger generation that they can take part and feel like they're contributing but because of the end of the day these things will die down if people don't attend them really now i can see you nodding there as uh tom speaks you're agreeing with everything he says there yeah tom's spot on and next we you know it's it's not all about enforcement it's about getting the message out there and i suppose that's why i'm here today and it's great to have tom's support and i know that i read a document yesterday it's a great document and i know that the ifa and chagas have endorsed the document that's the health and safety authority compiled a report it's a code of practice on preventing accidents to children and young persons in agriculture and they have that's a very extensive document and i'm sure farmers are probably well aware of this document and i looked at section seven there in it and there is a section on operating tractors and you know the the various associations and the government have agreed that children under the even on the age of 14 must not be allowed to drive or operate tractors or farm machinery even on a farm never mind on the public road donal there is a a list of recommendations to um health farmers and keeping their families and and visitors safe and i could just go through a couple of quick ones there donal you know they recommend that children if they're going to be operating farm machinery 14 and over tractors on a farm that they should have actually attended a formal training course and by a competent training provider and that they're also closely supervised by an adult and they have at least the ability to operate the controls and reach the various pedals and and be able to steer the tractor because some of these vintage tractors that we witness donal they don't have power steering in us and and when the tractors going slow it's very hard to steer the thing you know and some of these kids weren't able to actually make a turn in the tractor so you know it's all well and good until somebody meets a family in a car coming the other way and they're not able to steer out of the way you know that's what we're going to have to pick up the pieces on donal and listen hopefully it'll not happen but i would rather be here talking about it than maybe next week talking about some fatal accident involving the child the rules of the road donal are applied and you know they are going to be enforced it's 16 years old for a tractor and that's only for agricultural or forestry it doesn't include for commercial or building or nothing like that you have to be 18 to drive a tractor for a commercial so if you're towing a trailer with bricks or blocks or something like that or a digger you know you have to be 18 and you and you have to have gone through the cpc regulations and have a c a ce1 license um there they're um you know kids in relation to a seat on a tractor donal uh the kid can only have somebody beside them if there's a seat provided and that seat can only be taken up by an adult that has the held that license for at least two years and they're basically supervising the 16 year old so if you see a child and there's another child beside them in the tractor and when i say child i mean even a 16 year old that's illegal as well donal um the suggestion made by tom there that there needs to be discussions involving the organizations and the organization committees involving the gar thee involving potentially ifa as well that's something i'm sure you'd be very much interested in doing and sitting down with the groups and saying look let's figure out a way that we can all work together to make sure that we don't compromise what is a very very important part of the social fabric of agriculture and didn't go for sure donal and this particular tractor drive at the weekend you know they had events in the area for the younger cohort again you know the the the maybe the under 10 year olds but they had like toy tractors and stuff like that like i can't see why there's we can't think outside the box and maybe have an event in a closed area for the kids that are too big for the small tractors and they want to drive their dad's tractor maybe in a closed field on their supervision get a bit of instruction maybe with the various farm and organizations you know because we want to see these tractor runs go on and we want to see them operated safely donal tom it seems that from what night is saying and from what you're saying there's very much agreement between the two of you there could be some very good discussions come out of this yeah definitely looking at any any the motor club and organizations or clubs are listening you know just to get in touch with any of us and we will time work along with them and suppose it's something you could run alongside the tractor event is a good training thing for the younger younger folk you know have that running while the tractor runs on or whatever to just it has to be a positive move forward you know we can't you can't come back on here next month and give out again about it happening on another run or the fact that these tractor runs had to be cancelled because there were so many under eight drivers you know has to be positive move forward to let this continue really okay well thank you very much indeed Tom Boyd for for speaking to us this morning that's quite encouraging in terms of you know what you were saying what Naila is saying there's very much agreement across the board here and I think we probably do have a situation here where there there there can be movement forward and Naila are you you're happy obviously with what Tom has been saying you've been nodding as he's been speaking so it's clear you're both on the same page it's clear there there's agreement on what needs to happen so hopefully it can happen and this this situation can improve I'm delighted to have the support of Tom you know we've also had multiple phone calls in relation to this from other parents that were being pestered by their kids mommy mommy can I take the tractor and they said no they made the right choice and said no now unfortunately there was some parents that maybe didn't make a good decision and let their kids out so it's one rule for everybody don't let them afraid we're not out to spoil anybody's fun but at the same time we're responsible for everybody's safety on our road network okay well gardener McGuire thank you very much indeed for speaking to us Tom Boyd again thank you as well we're going to take a short break back after these ESB networks online account puts the power in your hands to learn more about your electricity usage from your smart meter regardless of who your electricity supplier is to apply for a new home or business connection to the electricity network or to discover how you can earn rewards by taking more control of your electricity usage go to ESB networks.ie to sign up for your online account ESB networks energizing your everything add on post we believe in giving you more power over how you bank that's why AIB and Bank of Ireland customers can now lodge and withdraw money at any of our 900 post offices across Ireland six days a week that's right your bank is in your post office for personal and business banking alike meaning you can bank wherever you live or work visit your local post office or on post dot com slash everyday banking on post your money for your worlds allied Irish banks plc and Bank of Ireland are regulated by the central bank of Ireland hi folks Gavin here from diverse Hyundai and Letterkenny to tell you about two grand Tuesday or one off used car sale event this Tuesday November 7th all used cars at Divers will have 2000 euro off the listed prices online yes that's two grand off every car for one day only no gimmicks no games no joke that's two grand Tuesday this coming Tuesday at Divers Hyundai Canal Road Letterkenny we're open 8 a.m to 8 p.m on the day for details see Divers Garage.ie Highland radio weather updates brought to you by Grant from condensing oil and HVO biofuel boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating you can trust Grant to heat your home visit grant.ie well the rest of the country is being hit particularly in the south and southeast by storm cairn over the next two days not as bad in the northwest but we're certainly not escaping everything cloudy dull and wet this morning a band of rain moving off to the north early that's going to be followed by scattered showers some of them heavy and squally the showers will clear to the north later this afternoon that'll be followed by a mix of sunshine and isolated showers highs of 10 to 12 degrees Celsius in a fresh and gusty southwest wind that tonight will be cloudy but it will stay mostly dry apart from some lingering isolated showers winds falling light later on that'll allow some mist and fog patches to form lost overnight temperatures one to four tomorrow a cloudy start but it will stay mostly dry with some hazy sunshine a few isolated showers for a time in the late morning and afternoon top temperatures tomorrow 8 to 11 degrees Celsius uh i was out for a bit of a walk this morning earlier on and i can tell you it was horrendously wet and it was some really heavy rain there this morning now um in and around about the um the the half six quarter to seven mark it was it was very wet out there now but it is improving somewhat um we were speaking earlier about trick or treating and uh a caller says that um yeah we had a quite an increase in in trick or treaters in in our place last night as well but uh they're commenting that um it was just people knocked on the door and shouted trick or treat and there's no poem anymore there's no songs and you know i don't want to become one of these nostalgic aunt was all better in my day when i was young but uh i mean when we were kids we went when we had to sing songs i mean there was none of this just to give us stuff we had to sing songs remember once i sang uh angelo by the brotherhood of man in front of kevin mccarty's mother and she gave me 50 pence and and that was to this day that remains one of my big halloween memories when kevin mccarty's mother gave me 50 pence for singing angelo um yeah let's move on because i have a story to tell you catlin o'connor was a craft maker but has recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration it's happening quite fast and as a result catlin is selling all her works and kits to raise money for guide dogs for the blind catlin good morning to you good morning donal catlin mac macular degeneration it's a serious eye condition that can hit us in older age you were hoping that your um progression would be gradual over a number of years instead it's happened a lot faster yes it did i was diagnosed in um 2019 at the end of the year and this said probably it would take seven or eight years to really develop by the end of about four or five months my site had deteriorated a lot and it was quite scary but um it has gradually now got worse i don't see facial features or anything like that i can't tell the difference in colors and worse still i can't drive yeah so um it's just a nuisance and and you know particularly for yourself because you were a craft maker which obviously is has now been severely compromised and as a result you've decided to embark on what i'm sure is this really difficult decision to sell all your works and your kits well it was a difficult decision it's mainly um materials for crafts donal i think i thought i was going to live to 126 for the amount of stuff i have um it's quite scary somebody said the other day use more stuff than moors and airy head so it's um time to get rid of it my son also said that if i died the first person the phone would be higher so i'm glad to be getting rid of it for that reason um and this is this is taking place in in karn it is in the westley hall in karn on friday the 10th of november from 11 to 3 and a lot of the items are one euro i just want to get rid of as much as i can for the cause now you you are still knitting and crocheting because you you can do that by touch rather than by size i can do that by touch and i have a few very good friends in the knitting that will pick up stitches for me when i drop them which is something i've never done before yeah and you have been running a knitting group in the westley hall and that's going to continue oh yeah that'll continue um it's on the monday morning from half 10 to one and parts from learning to knit and crochet uh it's a great crack yeah and the social thing is something you don't want to lose obviously oh no no i don't want to lose that um when i started crafts i could only knit and not very well and then i joined the ica in karn about 40 years ago and i now have a list of crafts i'm a qualified craft teacher and i have a list of crafts the length of your arm that i could do but as i say now just doesn't happen but in saying that it could be a lot worse so it's just a case of make the best of it and and you have you you have to travel to sligo every six weeks now to to get injections to try and slow down the progression of of of this degeneration i mean that that is a hell of a round trip it says it's quite a nuisance to be that far away but um it's good to have it and the staff are in sligo are very very good um so no it's just what people think will get an injection into your eyes that must be awful but it's one of the advantages of being nearly blind you don't see it coming yeah the injection so that that works quite well um i do miss things like reading yeah although i must admit you started me on audible books you did an interview with steve cavna oh i remember that yeah go right water steve great water oh he's terrific absolutely there he is eddie flinn was just great his person in the books but um so now i audible most of the time and it's great and thank you very much oh you're you're welcome and i still i still i just did the latest even king book on audible finished it actually at the weekend um right i i would still use auto and in fact i i would go walking i would tend to listen to audiobooks and podcasts rather than music funnily enough actually yeah i listened i listen to music at home but i tend to listen to books when i'm walking um no you know we we still read but it's yeah and it's really at least we're we're in an age where we have access to so much now online that we can get all that i mean i i remember there was a day when you know you'd hear adverts for newspapers for the blind where effectively the days at paper that was two day old we recorded on cassettes and sent out to people in the post so people got to listen people got to listen to a newspaper that was three days old on a cassette recorder so at least you know it's some bit of you know okay books and novels and so on and so forth um listen kathleen i mean you know it's great to see that you're keeping up um a positive outlook on this and that you know you're you're adapting to to the situation that that's happening to you and uh now it would be lovely if we could organize or if you could organize to actually get those injections in dairy rather than sligo and hopefully we'll eventually hopefully we'll eventually see a situation where we'll get sufficient cross-border health cooperation that people don't have to travel from car into sligo for what should be a fairly routine injection that you can eventually actually go in and get that in dairy and hopefully that that day won't be too far away um and maybe that that that's a campaign for another time but certainly it's something i'm sure that you you'd welcome yes it definitely would be what happens when you go is i would safely say 70 percent of the patients are from dunagall on the days that i go and different times i've gone in and somebody said hello and i'll look and it's maybe a neighbor three doors up that is going for the same thing you know in sligo yeah in sligo yeah um but as i say everybody's been so good the national council to the blind letter kenny they've been terrific and the been so helpful with magnifying glasses and things like that although at the stage i'm past that stage now um but no they've been very good and my friends and the family have been terrific i i'm not planning to get a guide dog anytime soon um my sister and my husband they kind of take me about so at the minute i don't need a guide dog um i had said to a friend i'm more a cat person and she very kindly sent me something on facebook um it was a guide cat and i'm missing everything on the top of the cliff with a man and it kind of nudged the man for work so let's put me off the guide kit yeah i'm i'm not sure cats are are going to ever um you know serve humanity to save my dogs do somehow no i don't think so i think i'll pass with the guide kit absolutely cat it's been lovely to speak to you thanks very much indeed for sharing your story we wish you all the best that sale is taking place as you said at the Wesley hall in caron on friday week which is the 10th of november it's between uh was it 11 and 3 yes that's right yeah kathleen uh and i'm sure there'll be people from all over will be coming to to uh please god to take part as i say most of the things are going for a euro yeah and there's everything you could imagine i don't think i've got i've knocked anything that somebody might need yeah and the craft work yeah and i have no doubt that danny and all the people involved in ncbi in donny god and further afield will be absolutely delighted uh with with that level of support that's coming from you um thank you very much indeed and we wish you all the best kathleen have a great day thank you thank you take care bye bye now that that's kathleen they're speaking to us from caron and and it's lovely to see the captainess is keeping a positive outlook on on the situation uh macular degeneration it's a difficult thing and certainly anything to do with the eyes is is a worry it's it's always going to be a concern it's always going to be something that you know we depend so much on our eyes and you know when when something goes wrong with them it is a worry it's a huge you know it is a huge worry there there is no doubt about that um this is the nine solution show on highland radio just to remind you if you want to get in touch with the program you can do so you can text us or whatsapp us on 086 60 25000 we are also available on the phone at carline taking your calls 0749125000 or if you prefer you can go online and you can contact us via um x at highland radio or highland hub on facebook it's fast approaching 10 o'clock lucy is coming up with the news and obituary notices and we'll see you after those it's important to you to know where your food comes from isn't it just as important to know where your information comes from it's not always easy to verify what you see read or hear but now this help visit www.bemediasmart.ie stop think check be media smart brought to you by media literacy arland supported by your local radio station enhance your skills with syftec's part funded training programs at syftec we provide courses including first aid roadworks people moving and handling confined spaces electrophusion and machinery training for arland and uk sites also online programs such as water hygiene construction supervisors safety reps and much more if you have a group for training syftec will go to you contact syftec today at syftec.ie and take the first step towards upskilling and safety compliance it's important to take care of yourself when you're feeling unwell and if you have symptoms of a virus flu or covid 19 the best thing to do is to rest up and stay at home because you won't just be taking care of yourself you'll be helping to protect other people too people close to you like family and friends and people you've never even met who might be at higher risk than you and don't forget to visit hsc.ie for advice on getting better from the hsc air online and on the highland radio app this is highland radio news good morning it's lucy peoples with the news at 10 o'clock irish hospitals could be in for a tough winter if something isn't done to alleviate overcrowding the irish nurses and midwives organization yesterday revealed 10,538 people including 273 children were admitted to hospital without a bed in october it flagged acute pressure along the western seaboard and said its members are not assured that their safety and that of their patients is a priority social democrats health spokesperson roshine shortall believes there are three reasons as to why overcrowding is such an issue the promised additional beds have not been delivered and there's no additional money in the budget next year for those the second reason is that we have inadequate community care services so there are delays in discharging people from hospitals and that means that there are fewer beds available and the third reason is there is a real problem with staffing levels staffing levels just are not safe residents of the twin towns have raised concerns regarding the location of a courtesy crossing beside the fin valley leisure center the crossing was moved to be in line with the junction the fear is a driver who is speeding will not get stopped in time if the crossing is being used however councillor patrick mcgoen says the change is to align with the new national transport policy it will see that the crossing will be in line with the footpath towards mill bray and will ensure drivers can't get a clear visualization of pedestrians the apparently the idea is that most people who walk and walk on a straight line and people work and step into one side to cross and then back again they're actually walking so but the council have done now with the road line and machine they have put the lines back in line with the footpath and apparently it's at so that the drivers have clear vision of someone walking along the footpath then they stop and they walk across the road on the Kurdish cross and so it emerged yesterday that children as young as 12 have been caught driving tractors during a local tractor run in West Dunnegull over the weekend Garda Niall McGuire told Donald Kavanaugh on this morning's 9 till noon show of the dangers of driving tractors at this age we have had four children killed this year in Ireland and tractors yeah we've had a 13 year old boy dead a 14 year old boy dead a 17 year old female dead yeah and another 16 year old boy dead and a whole host then of serious injuries including paralysis from tractors that have overturned and you know tractors I suppose they're not as forgiving maybe as cars when it comes to the passenger safari most of them don't have seat belts fit it's hoped Ireland will soon have closer ties with South Korea as an Irish delegation heads there this week Tisha Leo Varadkar alongside ministers Simon Coveney Charlie McConaughey and Simon Harris are traveling for talks with the president of Korea they will hold a series of meetings to open up new trade investment and education links with the world's 12th largest economy and the fourth largest economy in Asia Tisha Leo Varadkar says this week's mission will reflect what they do around St Patrick's Day we've decided that as a new approach every autumn there'll be a trade mission led by the Tshuk with a number of other ministers and we're going to focus on countries that we would maybe visit less often particularly countries outside of a side of the European Union and to bring a number of ministers and all the different agencies another Dunnegull business is closing its doors due to rising costs our drab butchers will close down this Saturday in a public post they say the decision wasn't made lightly but their business was struggling to survive it's one of many in recent months officers in Sturban are investigating after a suspected deer poaching incident on Kirlish Road in Drumquinn at the weekend a deer carcass was found in the area and reported to police at around 4 15 p.m. on Sunday afternoon two men were reportedly seen in the area where the carcass was found in a field anyone who is in the Kirlish Road area between 3 30 p.m. and 4 15 p.m. on Sunday and saw anything suspicious or out of the ordinary is asked to call police on 101 moving on to weather cloudy dull and wet this morning a band of rain moves off to the north early but is followed by scattered showers some heavy and squally the showers will clear away to the north later this afternoon followed by a mix of sunshine and isolated showers highs of 10 to 12 degrees and a fresh and gusty southwest wind that's all for now your next news update will be at 11 o'clock the obituary notices this wednesday morning november 1st the death has occurred of bridget harald knee toner glenn swilley new mills reposing at her son column and daughter-in-law sheila's residents glenn swilley new mills today and tomorrow funeral mass on friday at 11 a.m. in st. columbus church glenn swilley with burial afterwards in the family plot and kill-feek cemetery funeral mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has taken place of danny white tan frill gordon a track carry keel danny's remains are opposing at his late residence in gordon a track carry keel removal from there tomorrow morning at half past 10 going to st columbus church mass mount for 11 a.m. rakeway mass burial afterwards in the adjoining graveyard house private on the morning of the funeral danny's funeral mass can be viewed live on the macketeer funeral director's facebook page family flowers only please donations in lieu if desired to pieta house care of any family member or at pieta dot i e the death has occurred of terrence owens 26 blue cedar's ballet buffet reposing at his late residence today from 10 a.m to 10 p.m with rosary at 9 o'clock funeral from there tomorrow morning at 10 a.m for 11 o'clock rakeway and mass in st. unan's cathedral letter kenny burial is afterwards in the family plot in new lec cemetery funeral mass can be viewed live on church services dot tv family flowers only donations if desired to the danny gall hospice care of any family member or con mcdaid funeral director the death has taken place of brian lake ogara villas movill brian's remains are opposing at his home family time please from 11 o'clock tonight and on the morning of the funeral funeral mass will take place tomorrow at 12 noon in st. mary's church ballet break followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery family flowers only the death has occurred of akio donnell 13 willowbrook letter kenny and formerly of creed smith's letter kenny funeral mass today at 12 noon in st. unan's cathedral letter kenny with burial afterwards in new lec cemetery funeral mass can be viewed live on church services dot tv family only this morning before the funeral please family flowers only donations if desired to the danny gall hospice care of any family member or con mcdaid funeral directors the death has taken place of tony gillespie mulvey house draban and formerly of nine olympic drives draban rakeway and mass is currently taking place in st mary's church melmont at 10 o'clock with cremation afterwards in lec lands crematorium at one o'clock no flowers please donations in lieu to a charity of your choice the rakeway and mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has occurred of paddy mcglenn artist skin donnie gall town and formerly of garvin glim fin rakeway and mass this morning at half past 11 in st patrick's church donnie gall town with burial immediately afterwards in clare graveyard family flowers only donations in lieu to patient comfort fund letter kenny university hospital care of any family member or or falkner funeral director the death has taken place of john jared gallagher maru dunfana he funeral mass in holy cross church dunfana he this afternoon at one o'clock with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery mass can be viewed live on mcn media dot tv family time today please before the funeral family flowers only please donations in lieu to cancer research care of any family member or james harkin funeral director the death has taken place of john james mccrossan 11 tristan roadstriban funeral leaving his home this morning at 20 past 11 for rakeway and mass in the church of the immaculate conception striban at 12 nun interment afterwards in striban cemetery donations in lieu of flowers please to parkinson's oma branch care of quigley funeral directors striban the rakeway and mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has taken place of billy davis dromedone glenn mcquinn letter kenny funeral leaving samuel james and wife dorthy etan's residence glenn mcquinn at 1 15 this afternoon going to rape as peterian church manner conningham for funeral service of thanksgiving at 2 o'clock interment afterwards in the adjoining churchyard donations in lieu of flowers if desired to the alzheimer's association donnie gall branch care of any family member for more family information and details regarding lakes and funerals please go to highland radio dot com looking for the perfect gift why not send them somewhere unexpected send them to the scene of the crime where nothing is as it seems send them on a date with someone completely unsuitable send them to another land a place where no roads lead to find the shortlist for the on post irish book awards at on post dot com slash readers wanted and discover the joy of sending books from novels to nonfiction on post proud sponsor of the irish book awards the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on highland radio welcome back to the second hour of the show this morning we were speaking to garden i'm a goire and tomboyed of the ifa about young people driving tractors coder says we see this quite steadily on the roads young boys on tractors driving flat out some of them on mobile phones it's ridiculous the amount of young ones out on the roads these days go to some petrol stations at weekend evenings and you'll see many tractors they're having meet-ups if you drive a car you have to abide by the rules of the road the same needs to apply for taxi drivers another quarter says i note the garter mentioned the farming code of conduct section seven says student under 14 should not be allowed to drive a tractor if the legislation says he must be 16 to hold a tractor license how is that document acceptable what is required for a person to drive a tractor on the road my understanding and my recollection from what garter nine maguire said is that the 14 is the minimum age at which young people should be driving tractors on a field on a private farm within the confines of the farm 16 is the age at which you can hold a tractor license under certain circumstances to drive a tractor on the road but the 14 as i understood what he said the 14 referred to the minimum age at which a young person should be allowed to drive a tractor on a farm itself that was what i took up and if i'm wrong about that i apologize but that that's my understanding of what nyle nyle said um children as young as 10 are allowed to drive cars at some diffing yards how is this a light allowed to happen it's putting ideas into their heads that they can drive and handle a car uh and that needs to be addressed quarter says main street in newton cullingham has been closed today due to roadworks there is no clear diversion in place there was no modification to residents that there would be a road closure this week questions being asked by our correspondent there um going back to the crossings in balaba fae uh quarters that have to say that crossing at the bank of ireland in balaba fae is a disgrace what's wrong with the road safety authority to allow the likes now as we heard from canister mcgawn uh there was a an experimental um traffic light uh pedestrian crossing system being implemented by a transport infrastructure island which controls that road because it is a national primary road that goes through balaba fae they have implemented this experimental layout in balaba fae there are also experimental layouts in dublin and in limberick the dublin and limberick ones have signage the bala fae fae ones does not and that's part of this pilot experiment that began last year that's the situation as it stands before we go to a break just want to address an issue in dairy uh colors as we went last night to dairy for the halloween event it was fantastic until we got back to the car park in the foilside the barrier broke and no cars were allowed to leave we had to wait an hour and a half with a car full of tired children when we approached the workers and said the barrier was now off could we not just leave we were told no because they were trying to work out a way to make um to um now and they were they were trying to make a way that people who parked there could pay a brilliant night was destroyed up to this point would not address attendee a event again now we got a response from foilside and i'll just read that response to you um it says we're aware of issues last night after the halloween celebrations unfortunately with the volume of people trying to leave the city center around the same time it transpires our team at the center car parks were able to get a few hundred cars out before the entire city center gridlocked council and the ps and i were contacted by our staff unfortunately no provision had been put in place for this we had many extra staff in place but despite their best efforts city center traffic management was not um arranged and we'll be addressing the issue today with dairy city and storm industry council and the ps and i to ensure this doesn't happen for future council organized events that's the response we've had from foilside so yes there were issues yesterday in dairy after the fireworks it's wednesday morning it is quarter past ten going to take a short break back after these and if you're a highland radio ncbi bingo player uh then grab your books grab your pencils and it's time to hand you over to kevin it's time for ncbi bingo on highland radio it's wednesday november first you are playing on a blue colored sheet the reference number is s18 it's game number 44 the numbers are 54 71 11 32 75 44 67 78 69 and the number one phone your claim to 910 for it double three before 8 p.m. tonight live in your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchase your book get all your ncbi radio bingo information at highlandvideo.com with a high digital online skills course you'll feel a real difference i can listen to all the music i like the post app that's coming out and it's brilliant anything you want and all is to add their fingertips does small turns but they mean something learn essential online skills with simple accessible lessons at high digital dot ie or free phone 1 800 20 30 30 brought to you by vodafone ireland foundation and alone vodafone together we can on the farm there's always something different to do and a quad bike can be your best friend but if you're not properly protected and trained it can be your worst enemy too many quad bike incidents on farms have ended in tragedy from the 20th of november 2023 it will be compulsory for quad bike users to wear helmets and undergo appropriate training find out more at hsa.ie forward slash farm safety an initiative of the government of ireland charidan security now introducing zero wire smart alarm systems zero wire zero mess and a real peace of mind with a simple press the button your alarm can be set or on set or download the free app and control it from your phone call us today on 0 7 4 9 1 2 6 0 2 5 and get your alarm from 299 euro stay local stay safe and protect what you value most with charidan security systems it's the ninth inning show on highland radio donal cabinet with you until 12 noon now you have heard yesterday on the news and indeed on the show that there have been issues with a locum radiologist that was employed at letter kening university hospital on a short-term contract in september that contract was terminated within 10 days after serious concerns were raised regarding the standard of that locum's work we're joined on the line by professor pat nash who's the south group clinical director professor nash good morning to you good morning donal professor nash tell us the timeline as to how this issue came to light and how it was addressed yes i don't know this radiologist is employed as a locum in letter kening back in september in total the radiologist worked for seven days before the contract was terminated as it was alerted that there was concerns about reporting and a number of scans those errors were corrected and i was in light of the those concerns that the radiologist contract was was terminated we're currently reviewing all the work that was done during that period which is about 300 just over 300 x-ray scans and getting them double reviewed to be sure that there is no other cases of concern that haven't been identified that we need to follow up on if there are cases and i mean there may well be people listening who had x-rays at letter kening university hospital over the course of september and they may be wondering now you know am i one of those potentially am i someone who got a misdiagnosis the vast majority of them were identified more or less immediately in reports corrected without any delay so the ordering clinician would have got a corrected report and as a result managed the patient appropriately i suppose we're we are finishing the review to be absolutely assured that there's no other so we would hope to have that reviewed on the coming weeks and if there is any outstanding which i think is unlikely but if there is any outstanding patients that we need to contact we will be in touch with them but in the majority of cases any of the errors were corrected early and the reports amended and forwarded to the clinicians one of the questions that was raised with us when when this was discussed on the program yesterday was how could this be allowed to happen was this person's references checked uh presumably they were interviewed presumably their cv was was studied did did something happen at that stage where something was missed or were were there issues with the references i mean you know how how did someone who had issues like that managed to get to work in the hospital no and this person this person we did go we did to go through a recruitment process they are on the specialist register with the medical council we did get references from elsewhere in the country uh but it became rapidly apparent that the uh the quality of the work was not a not an appropriate standard and i think it was identified early and uh and intervened on quickly to prevent a large number of of of of x-rays being reported by that person so i think it did the recruitment did go to appropriate uh appropriate processes it is challenging to recruit locom radiologists and any locom staff that's uh particularly radiologists and we are uh letter kenny is very challenged which uh we've a low number of permanent radiologists there and the number of vacancies for a number of years and we're trying all measures both with national internationally to recruit permanent staff to lechik any hospital and you're satisfied with the timeline in terms of these discrepancies being noted and acted on and action taken to remove this person from the uh active uh working in the radiology department i am i think it was identified quickly and the response was prompt you know anybody coming in you need to observe their practice you need to be assured you know you need to be assured uh there's a nor in any x-ray reporting system there's always going to be a a discrepancy a low discrepancy ratio and so you do need to be you do need to you do need to be fair and to be assured that is this person of the appropriate caliber and uh and competency to to uh to stay working there so i i am assured i think the timeline this was identified early and intervened on very very quickly we know that over the course of the past number of weeks gps indonegaul and consultants at the hospital have both independently uh written letters to the health minister and indeed two senior officials within selva as well expressing grave concerns about situations at letter kenny university hospital it's uh to say the least unfortunate that this has happened within within weeks of those letters being sent because there's a focus and perhaps a a a headlight on letter kenny university hospital at the moment which uh you know must must make your job a little bit more difficult and and this certainly won't have helped no i mean i think it we widely acknowledge and it's acknowledged letter kenny is one of the busiest model tree hospitals in the country it is it is the busiest one date and i mean there's been a huge increase in activity in the last year there's been a 10 percent increase in the ed attendance as uh compared to it from january to august and 2023 compared to the same period last year so the activity levels are rising it and so there's a huge pressure on the hospital there is there is a two-story modular unit extension to the ed being progressed and i think that's essential because it is an extremely busy hospital with rising attendances and we need to have the infrastructure and staffing to be able to manage that volume of patience and i think by far within our region which is from the from gallway to letter kenny it's the we have four model tree hospitals it is by far the busiest model tree hospital other than model four which is gallway university hospitals but mayo sligo port yoncle it's much much busier much higher levels of activity and and there are a lot of political arguments obviously about funding and so on and so forth which i won't go into with you because that that isn't in in in your purview but certainly those those arguments are there in terms of the references again someone has asked was this person's references contacted that you've already answered that the answer is yes has letter kenny university hospital and sale to now informed other hospitals and health authorities about this person and the issues that arose i mean we are finishing the review once for once we have the exact the exact final figures on it we will be if if it seems very likely we will be referring this patient to the medical medical council for their assessment they're the regulatory body for doctors and their for their assessment of of and they will do their own processes to follow through on that and just to make sure that i i've understood what you said earlier this person was on a list which is produced by the medical council a list of people who are qualified and who are capable of doing the work necessary so this person didn't just come out of the ether this person was on a medical council list of qualified professionals yeah i mean any specialist doctor has to be a it has to go through and accreditation you know if there is if they come from outside Ireland or if they're trading our land or trained in Ireland you have to be approved by the medical council which are certificate of specialist training that you're of an appropriate competence to work and as a specialist and this consultant had that specialist certification with the medical council does there need to be review of how that is organized and how effective that certification and registration process is given what's happened here well i think we you know the medical council i can't speak for the medical council they're the regulatory body and an independent regulatory body that is a doctor and all doctors are accountable to and i suppose our you know if the concerns that are seem apparent are borne out with the final review we will be referring the referring that that person to the medical council for their assessment well we'll certainly wait to see what happens with that in the meantime professor pat nasha thanks indeed for for speaking to us this morning thank you that's professor pat mash there the south the group clinical director and you have been hearing obviously on the show yesterday and on news and elsewhere as well that the this radiologist contract was terminated they were in letterkenny on a local basis but that terminology that was terminated on the basis of the fact that a error rate of in excess of 33 percent was detected in the work that was done person worked in letterkenny for around about seven days contract was terminated 10 days after it was agreed and as professor nash said to us there they're completing their internal review and they'll be passing those details on to the medical council but it did confirm to us that this person was registered with and on an approved list of medical professionals which was presented to the hospital by the medical council earlier we spoke to kathleen who is selling off all her crafting materials as a result of macular degeneration collar says that poor lady i'm a crafter to knitting crochet embroidery painting dress making you name it i do it i really don't know how i cope if i lost my sight please tell her she is in my thoughts and prayers now the one thing i will say is kathleen did make it quite clear that she was continuing her knitting she was continuing her pro crochet on the basis that she does those by by touch rather than by sight and she is continuing to run the knitting group that she has run for several years now in cardona as well so she's not completely turning her back on the crafting issue collar asks why is there so much antisocial behavior around halloween students from an area putting fireworks in glass bottles and setting them off into crowds thinking they're funny don't they realize the injuries that could happen to themselves and to others also we have a email in and i'll just read this to you briefly um tonight at a approximately quarter to 10 a firework was deliberately thrown at my home in donnie gall there was a loud explosion of red and orange outside my kitchen window the house filled with an acrid gunpowder smoke or smell my kitchen window was open i was cooking i checked my cctv it showed someone throwing a lighted firework onto my front lawn at my gates in front of my boat it then exploded and took off hence the massive red orange explosion i called the gar thee who attended later i surveyed my property by torchlight and found the explosion crater on the front lawn and the debris cardboard far more capsule which would account for the explosion it was red peony with titanium tail there's a large debris field at the side of my house where the explosion occurred gar thee now have the cardboard tube for finger printing anti-analysis i am treating this as an attempted arson had it come in the window of my house it would have been on fire and potentially worse of fatal non-fatal burn injury could have occurred hopefully the cardboard tube will have enough evidence to catch the assailants had the firework gone in another direction it could have incinerated my fishing boat or severely damaged the vehicles parked at my home given the forensic investigation that will ensue i would encourage the assailants to come forward now fingerprints and dna are powerful tools and these people will be caught so says our email correspondent there and um there's nothing really we can add to that we're going to take a short break back in a moment when we'll be discussing the northwest energy conference watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com this is an emergency appeal from unicef for children affected by the crisis in gaza right now hundreds of thousands of children are in extreme danger they need medical supplies shelter and clean water unicef is on the ground in gaza please donate now at unicef dot ie thank you we're sorry to inform you of yet another delay no not the train this time it's john he's delayed getting his eyes tested if he's accidentally sat in your lap knocked over your suitcase or kissed you instead of his wife we can only apologize john has now been informed that i tested glasses from the 69 euro range at speck savers are free with prsi or medical card so there's no need to delay booking an appointment find out more at speck savers dot ie john can you get off my lap sin columbus college strunauer open evening for sixth class primary students their parents or guardians will take place on thursday the ninth of november at seven p.m in the school hall a copy of the student's birth certificate and ppsn are required to complete the application form test drive the susuki vitara at barry brown cars millford at their test drive weekend on saturday fourth and sunday fifth of november and avail of the zero percent finance offer that's right secure your two four one susuki vitara at zero percent interest on november fourth and fifth at barry brown cars millford your main susuki dealer in dunny gall finance subject status terms of condition supply do you currently have vacancies that need urgently filled have you tried various ways to find new staff but didn't succeed let highland radio help you source and fill your current vacancies in the most cost effective way simply sign up to our new job spot and we will tell our listeners about your vacancies both on air and online every monday wednesday and friday during our prime time shows we will broadcast the latest job opportunities across the northwest and into county's dairy and tarot all job listings will be available online at highland radio dot com for more information contact the advertising team on zero seven four nine one two five three double two or email advertising at highland radio dot com highland radio we're here for you it's the national noon show on highland radio a very good morning to you let's talk energy and energy sustainability a very important conference coming up uh in dairy in two weeks time two weeks tomorrow actually uh being co-hosted by the dairy and letter kenny chambers it's the northwest future of energy conference it takes place in the everglades hotel on thursday november 16th delighted to be joined on zoom this morning by jimmy delar game who is going to be the mc at that particular event jimmy good morning to you morning jimmy this is a very important event because the energy debate and in particular the sustainable energy debate is one which continues to rage and is going to become all the more important in in the coming years yeah that's that's exactly um i think what should be our focus uh because you know when you look at these uh business conferences and i host them you know they're important in their own way but but this uh crisis we're facing of global warming is something that we all have to address and you know we are required to uh live up to um you know our commitments and the fact of the matter is that at this time we're seeing actually there were some good news on on uh gas and electricity prices uh some tariffs are coming down today but there is the obvious chance that they could rise because we've seen you know the world bank has been warning the cost of crude oil could rise to 150 dollars a barrel um if the war in the middle east escalates so there is the prospect the possibility that we could pay in much higher prices for for energy and the more that we are able to generate energy on this island for ourselves the more potentially we can be insulated from those price shocks so that's that's one reason that's sort of a self-interest but the other thing is that um uh as i was mentioning global warming is an enormous problem and it seems i think a little bit remote because we're all focused on on the issues of the day but the reality is we have got to do our bit to save the world it says it's important as that and so that's why this conference okay it's it's one of a number of events but this conference is an important element in this whole battle to try and save our planet there's a huge debate coming down the line with regards to offshore wind energy and we know that certainly areas around lock foil areas often a shown areas of dairy indeed have been identified as being very suitable for offshore energy developments we've seen a number of very successful ones in other countries in europe there's one major one off ireland at the moment of arclough now when you get into a debate like that you are moving into a situation where on the one hand wind energy really really important on the other hand a sustainable fishing sector really really important as well so there are a lot of conversations to be had with regards to the sustainability of one sector versus the sustainability of another and can two sectors coexist side by side and conferences like this perhaps are important areas where those conversations can start they are um and and i suppose we should look into why people want to put wind turbines offshore i mean we've seen quite a number of wind farms both north and south so what is the imperative to get them offshore well it really comes down to you get more bang for your buck really if you're putting them offshore because um your wind turbines offshore um deliver more energy on a like for like basis compared with their onshore counterparts i mean you you're talking about and i don't want to get too technical here but if you look at the thing called capacity factor and that measures how much you're going to get out of your system and i potentially um if you had a 100 megawatt wind farm onshore over the period of a of a let's say a year you might expect to get that operating at 25 percent so it's equivalent to a 25 megawatt uh sort of a fossil fuel generator on all the time offshore it's 40 percent new build they're talking about much higher um levels of energy production from offshore so offshore is key why is it offshore's so much better well because the wind is steadier you don't get the same levels of eddies in the in the wind offshore and it's stronger offshore and another thing is probably you can build them higher well you drill them higher onshore as well the higher you go the bigger the wind turbines the more you're going to get so in a sense um what i mentioned was get more bang for your buck maybe you could sort of modify that in the sense you're getting more out of the system is a better there's probably a more accurate way of putting it so that's why we need to go offshore even though as you say there are issues that people are concerned about with fisheries and we have to balance our priorities but offshore offshore is the way to go there's no doubt about it yeah one of the other issues that's being discussed here is competitiveness and that's important because these these are businesses these are chambers of commerce these are representative bodies that represent business and ultimately a business needs to turn a profit so businesses absolutely want to do their bit for the environment businesses want to ensure that they have sustainable energy into the future businesses want to be sure that they're serving their communities but businesses also want to ensure that they're making money and that they're carrying out their environmental obligations in a way that's cost effective so there needs to be also discussions about how can things like decarbonisation how can things like you know improving your sustainable energy also coexist with continuing to turn a profit continuing to be able to pay their employees continuing to operate as a business well it's not just businesses that face this challenge I mean we're all going to have to install greener energy technology and for some people it's not just businesses but for front people that's going to be a real challenge given the fact that they don't have the money so a phrase that is assuming greater importance certainly here in the north is this idea and I'm sure in the south is this idea of the just transition and so households that can't afford it really need to be helped to install the heat pumps for instance that are going to be a feature in households across the country so and businesses likewise you know will need a help will need perhaps I don't know you could be talking about grants I think that's going to be an essential feature of the transition you're going to talk about maybe making money available at lower rates of interest I mean we money has been fairly cheap now that's changed and probably may not go down the interest rates may not go down to where they were so you're really going to have to help businesses who just do not have the capital do not have the resources to make the the transition but hopefully once they do they will then in due course like as households as well see lower rates lower bills and certainly won't certainly hopefully won't see the enormous fluctuations that we've seen in prices in recent years so you know there there are prospects the sunny uplands are there but where people need to have a wee bit of hand to get across to them and there have already been some success stories in the region and some of those are to be presented at the conference well I think there's going to be a number of different case studies presented which are which I'm looking forward to hearing about I think we've got an you know which will we'll we'll get the detail of that in due course I think it's important to mention we've had an excellent keynote speaker and Claire Neenan who's managing director of SSER electricity which of course supplies gas and electricity on this island too you know we have we have the excellent an excellent array of of speakers are going to appear there as you said just over two weeks from today and they'll be enlightening us on what they're doing and what the challenges they face and how they're going to be overcome and yes yes and also the success stories that have been nudged up so far so plenty to look forward to there's no doubt about that as you said it's a joint presentation by the chambers in Derry and in letter Kenny important that there is a cross-border focus on this and important that as as we look into the future that there is more and more cross-border cooperation on this because this can't be something that each individual little entlave does itself this is something that's going to have to be shared and it's going to have to be done in in as wide an area of possible and it would make no sense whatsoever for Donny Godd and Derry to be operating on different strategies well you've touched on an incredibly important point because you know if you're a developer a wind farm developer or a solar farm developer you're looking to see what what you're looking to see how difficult it is or how easy it is in terms of planning to get your site set up you're also looking at what help you might get you're also looking at what prices you might hope expect to get in in the market so yes clearly you don't want to distort things by having well it seems to me but this is a debate that has to be had you don't want to distort that market by having different arrangements north and south where people see it being more advantageous to go to one part of the island rather than the other it makes sense to have some broadly similar levels of support I very much think that that is a it is really an imperative but you know to to perfectly align them may not be it may not be possible but certainly I think that there should be strenuous efforts to try and make sure that in a sense we're all offering a similar attractive prospect to to international companies you want to come and invest their money on this island one area that is to be discussed and it's an issue that's discussed really widely all over is that of electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging and we're told time and again that more and more people would buy an electric vehicle if there was a guarantee of a better charging network now that's going to be discussed by Pierce McHenry of my energy over the course of the conference and it's an important one because particularly in this area where if you want to drive to Belfast you're talking an hour and a half to two hours if you want to drive to Dublin you're talking three and a half to four hours so you know people in this region who want to make longer journeys if they have an EV they're going to have very serious questions to ask about charging infrastructure and maybe those questions are what's stopping a lot of people from actually going down the electric route well you again you've unsurprisingly touched on a critical point here we as a family a holiday quite regularly in Malham and you know we don't have an EV but I would worry if I was getting an EV just how realistic it would be the prospect of getting there and being able to get back maybe in a hurry and how you would charge up on the way or you know what sites would offer the opportunity to do that so I think that that yes it is definitely something that is deterring people from acquiring EVs and giving up their fossil fuel driven cars so we have to do something about that we have to make people comfortable that they are not going to be stranded with a flat battery and miles from nowhere and how an earthy would sort that out so crucial and it is the case with all went with when you're changing technology you have to you have to provide people with the comfort the reassurance that if they invest their own money that they are not leaving themselves worse off than they would have been if they stuck with the old technology and that is a that's critical in terms of not just EVs but other things that you might you might want to put in so that if you have for the sake of argument you want to put in a heat pump you want to be assured that the people who are putting it in are well trained and you want to be assured that you can get the parts where you want you want all the confidence that the technology is going to serve you well it's going to be maintained there's going to be people there to do it and you're not going to be left with something that it gives you problems because we know we know whether oil boilers or gas boilers or petrol cars or diesel cars there is the backup and we'll be you know and we have to make that leap and we don't want to make a leap in the dark is is effectively what I'm saying yeah and and indeed when we speak of EVs I mean it's not just a matter of householders I mean to go back to the the business said discussion we know that for instance in the republic on post has gone electric with its fans ESB has gone largely electric with its fans and donnie goll county council is moving toward going electric I know the same goes with dairy city and strip industry council they're looking to go electric with many of their vehicles as well I'm sure many businesses across the region would like to go electric and look at a more cost effective fleet decision for them but again it's going to be down to that charging network so I mean you know it's not just a householder going on their holidays or going on a day trip we're also talking that EV charging infrastructure could be hugely important for businesses freight delivery services things like that I mean I'm sure a lot of them would would like to go electric but they're not going to go electric if they don't have that reassurance you refer to no they're not because you're talking about quite a bit of investment for a household for a business to switch over in that way they want to be assured that their vans or lorries or what have you are going to be able to be charged up now to the the obvious thing for them to do is install those charging facilities at where the the vans and the and the other vehicles are are parked at the same time they're going to be out in the road they're going to be traveling for distances they want they want that assurance so yes it it and I think that I think that obviously too the the the the cost of EVs is coming down but I think we probably it probably needs to come down to to lower levels or we need to provide more in the way of grants I'm not quite sure of the the grant situation and in this but we need we need to provide something to people to to help them make that them make that transition but but the EV but the charging network is absolutely critical and and and giving people the confidence to make the move it's the 2023 northwest future of energy conference and exhibition the road map for energy sustainability it's in the Everglades hotel on the prehen road in dairy it takes place on tomorrow fortnight Thursday 16th of November 9 30 a.m to 4 p.m a lot of exhibitors and stands of course as well and that Jamie is going to be important to give people the chance to have conversations with potential suppliers with potential partners and very often at conferences like this those conversations over coffee can be as important as listening to a presentation you know that networking I mentioned earlier that I do I host these events generally these business type events and I I often think that the networking is perhaps not quite as important as what they're hearing but is a crucial element and there are there are as you say lots of lots of organizations companies going to be represented the main sponsor is sse renewals of course which which owns wind farms and operatives from north and south so you know there is the there is the the the chance to to try and understand that whole form of energy production and greater detail but there yes getting in a one-to-one with someone and explaining to them your predicament what you think getting advice getting getting that sort of almost like a personalized type of of of discussion where you can you can put your queries and you know you're going to get you're going to get quality information as I think there's a wonderful there's a wonderful thing and conferences offer that and the coffee breaks and the lunch hour there there is it's not just about listening to the presentations and they'll be fascinating in themselves there's much more to it than that as you suggest but the networking jimmy's argue thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this morning thank you don't thank you jimmy hello darlin hope you've started packing mom we're dying to see you this christmas the trees up already mom i don't know how to say this what's wrong pet i can't come home this year it's it's just too expensive oh sweetheart we'll miss you sometimes life keeps us apart but at highland radio no matter where you are in the world this year we want to make christmas extra special for one lucky family we want to bring a family home for christmas you can nominate yourself or a loved one visit highland radio dot com to submit your nomination let's bring families together this christmas do you need a little extra help staying in your home at bluebird care we offer a wide variety of qmark-approved personalized home care services across dunny gall and our fully trained and committed staff will always meet your care needs with kindness compassion and dignity to get your personal home care assessment plan visit bluebirdcare.ie or call our care team today on 07491 29562 and bring care home the opal open road event is now on discover the incredible opal range including continental tires iris compact car of the year 2023 the opal astra and if you ordered before december 15th get a 500 euro al di voucher with your new astra corsa mocha or grindland all available with flexible payment options test drive the entire opal range now at the opal open road event now on at heron auto opal see her at opal dot ie for details highland radio weather updates brought to you by grant from condensing oil and hvo biofuel boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating you can trust grant to heat your home visit grant dot ie looking at the weather forecaster expect a bit more rain around the area this morning that'll continue into the afternoon but the shore the showers will clear later this afternoon they'll be followed by a mix of sunshine and isolated showers highs of 10 to 12 today fresh and gusty southwest winds cloud will build early this evening it'll stay dry though mostly for the night with some lingering showers winds falling light later that'll allow some mist and fog patches to form lowest temperatures tonight one to four degrees celsius tomorrow starting cloudy but staying mostly dry with some hazy sunshine developing a few isolated showers will develop for a time late morning and afternoon in top temperatures of eight to 11 degrees celsius now if you were listening to the news with donna marie earlier this morning you'll have heard councillor martin harry the care look of donningall county council discussing the issue of accommodation in our hotels and guest houses over the course of the summer because we have it seems a serious lack of accommodation and that's not going to impact on the hotel sector that's going to impact on other sectors as well that service the tourism industry at councillor martin harry good morning morning donald martin in terms of the the situation you're in the pub business yourself and obviously the more people there are staying in hotels locally the more people there are visiting your premises the less people conversely there are in hotels the less summer trade you're going to get yeah this is someone probably been on the on the national executive of the banners as well donal that's something that has come up at national level as well that i'm listened to all throughout irland but donningall with the high numbers of people that we have staying in the county like you're looking up near 10 000 people now between the ukrainians and asylum seekers so it's it's a massive amount of people and there's about two and a half thousand almost two and a half thousand which are over 50 percent of all the beds hotel beds nothing all are taken up now through no fault over on through ukrainians and asylum seekers so it's difficult it's a very difficult situation and you know it's great donald's like when we listened last week where donningall got the fourth best place in the world to visit from the lonely planet guide you know my worry is going into next year that that people try to come here that the accommodation for the people we won't have accommodation for people and that there's a knock on effect then as to say to other businesses that depend on people walking around towns that are staying hotels we don't have a cup of coffee by a paper uh going to gift shops all that knock on effect from that there even have talked to to counselors in bundonic where you have like a a fishing a fishing tackle shop that was closing because they couldn't they were depending on tourist stay in the area for for doing a bit of fishing and also and they were getting the turnout of that so yeah it's a it's a massive it's a massive issue going forward i'm just trying to think of where can we where can we leave ourselves come start of next next year summer season and the the problem of course is when you have people staying on what is supposed to be a short-term situation we don't know how the conflict in ukraine is going to pan out at the moment at this point in time it does seem to be it's going to be a stalemate for years and years to come so whatever maybe hopes there may have been of an early resolution to that conflict those hopes i think have probably at this stage faded and it's difficult to see where there is going to be a situation in the near future that refugees from ukraine can go home and rebuild their lives at home which of course is what they want to do but at this point in time the conditions for that to happen aren't there so unless we can come up with a different plan whereby people can be accommodated in in situations that are appropriate and are comfortable and are suitable and are safe it's difficult to see where we're going to find that alternative yeah and you see it's not really very fair on those people either don't because nobody wants to live out of a sick case and as i said at our meeting that we all love to go on holidays we love to go on holidays for a week somewhere maybe or a few days somewhere it's always nice to get back into your own bed as i say but you can imagine waking tomorrow morning and thinking this is this is what i'm going to be doing for the for the foreseeable future because as you say there's no i can't see an end to this over the next couple of years really and truly because even by the time of the worst up tomorrow morning by the time ukraine starts rebuilding again we're looking at at 18 months possibly at least in a way before a lot of those cities are even starting to rebuild again and the investment that will be needed from probably worldwide countries to do that so i wish i could come on the show and tell you that i have a solution to it all i don't suppose i'm just highlighting highlighting it and to see what what we can put on place and want to try and and make life comfortable for them as well but at the same time we have to try and secure a lone economy and to the future as well and the economy and for the for the people who work in all these small businesses as well secure their jobs in the future as well and obviously and and it's a discussion we have so often in so many contexts in dunigal but you know maybe in some areas the solution is going to be build more capacity build new hotels build accommodation centers build more housing we're going to have that added complication of course in dunigal and complication is the wrong phrase it's a phrase i don't like using because it makes it sound like an irritation we have the situation where there are many people in homes affected by defective blocks that over the course of the coming months and years are going to be knocked down and have to be rebuilt so so much of the building sector in dunigal is going to be focused on replacing homes affected by defective blocks and working in in that sphere that it's really difficult to see even in dunigal in particular how we could talk about rebuilding capacity in terms of hotels and accommodation centers when already we know our building sector is going to be absolutely pushed to the wall with defective blocks yeah that's the issue as well even if we had enough if we had enough money in the country tomorrow morning to replace all those houses there's not enough contractors and that's like a lot of businesses now it's very hard to get staff and the the building industry is no different to to any other industry and then see we have they had a problem as well then like whereas i mentioned that our local area meeting this week when we had a a project of 24 houses in the balba fairy that was that had been sitting on the board for now over 22 months that then after 22 months they said no it's a it's a floodplain yet yet the nighall county council granted planning for that on two occasions yet it can be then it can be turned down then for 22 months takes 22 months to make a decision that's that's not that's not positive either and it's we have to get we have to get this going and we have to get moving quickly and quicker than it is moving at the moment it's conversation that's going to have to be nationally isn't it because there's there's not going to be a local solution in donnie gall to this there's got to be conversations involving folger island the tourism authorities local authorities be it through the uh lama or whatever and and government itself at this point in time is the government talking enough to donnie gall can't can't cancel about these issues i think they're talking about it on a we hear i'll talk about it on a on a national level i know we had we had a we had a fall days meeting and donnie gall county council regarding housing and the different options that are available it's getting it's getting all these um there's a lot of projects up and coming even at our local area meeting used to be talked with new plans for a new building in and lyford st johnson astronaut or and convoy so mean there is there's plans there but it's getting these units built and getting people into them because i'm not freeze up other house the other people can rent them because that that's all part of the issue they're all overall issue uh as i say i've talked to different public instruments around the country at a national executive level and building their few weeks ago and a lot of the counties are coming up on a tourism level are talking about the same things as i say donnie gall is the third highest amount of people that that have been displaced from their own countries staying and donnie gall it and it's it seems we're one of the highest after after dublin and maybe carry as well but we're we're in the top three there and that that is a big issue for donnie gall going forward counter martin harley thanks indeed for speaking to us this morning and people can hear that on news as well of course and it's online on our news pages on highland radio dot com martin thanks very much indeed and it's an issue obviously we'll be keeping very much in close in touch with uh going to be a little bit late with the level and clock headlines going to take a short break back after these with um donna murray bryan ricormick sports and leisure supporting you at the right footwear hoca trainers have you tried the hoca sensation yet hoca provides comfort support and shock absorption which makes them a good choice for frequent runners and walkers or anyone whose job requires standing for the majority of the day for support our pronation try the orari six for maximum cushioning try hoca bond i8 check in store our shop online at bmcsports.ie step into our safe size experience at bryan ricormick sports finding a new car takes time searching researching comparing test driving short listing it doesn't happen overnight but 12 days should do it between november 1st and 12th the 12 days of ford sales event can save you up to a whopping 5000 euro on the ford guga with further offers for 2024 available on puma and focus when you finance with ford options no rush but do get a move on ford bring on tomorrow tees and sees apply at participating dealers until november 12 visit ford.ie for details patio thread lifts and skin boosters which rejuvenate the skin by improving facial contours lifting and tightening the jaws neck cheeks and eyebrows are available at janis's aesthetics and skincare clinic edore to choose the right aesthetic treatment for you contact mary ferry your aesthetic practitioner also offering fat dissolving treatments dermal fillers and laser treatments for all skin conditions hair and makeup packages also available janis's aesthetics and skincare clinic edore 07495 32575 mns christmas food to order is here with our range of succulent irish turkeys and a whole lot more spend 50 euro online with sparks now and get 10 euro off your next food shop this is not just food this is mns christmas food see marx and spencer.ie for details tommy fleming returned to the millennium forum on saturday the 17th of february join tommy and his full band for a night of contemporary folk and irish classics performed as only tommy can tickets available from millennium forum.co.uk and from the box office this is the lentil noon show on highland radio two minutes past 11 time for news headlines we say good morning to lucy peoples thanks donal good afternoon garady are investigating suspected criminal damage caused by a fire incident that occurred at a premises in dunagall town the incident occurred at approximately 8 p.m. yesterday evening the fire was extinguished by local fire services and the premises was unoccupied at the time extensive damage was caused to the interior of the building the scene is being preserved for a technical examination and investigations are continuing kelly begs will play host to this year's larentic forum which will see a visiting delegation coming not just from ireland but from canada france usa and norway the forum now in its 15th year focuses on how best to nurture and develop sustainable coastal communities in those countries and provides a unique opportunity for policy makers boncran and surrounding areas may suffer from water supply disruptions today valve failure may cause disruptions to sladrin back hill boncran and surrounding areas in the county a traffic management plan will be in place throughout the works duration works are scheduled to take place until 3 p.m. today the council recommends that you allow two to three hours after the estimated restoration time for your supply to fully return officers in stirban are investigating after a suspected deer poaching incident on kurlish road in dronkwin at the weekend a deer carcass was found in the area and reported to police at around 4 15 p.m. on sunday afternoon two men were reportedly seen in the area where the carcass was found in a field anyone who is in the kurlish road area between 3 30 p.m. and 4 15 p.m. on sunday and saw anything suspicious or out of the ordinary is asked to call police on 101 twin town residents have raised concerns regarding the location of a courtesy crossing beside the finn valley leisure center the crossing was moved to be in line with the junction they fear a driver who is speeding will not get stopped in time if the crossing is being used however cancer patrick mcgoen says the change is to align with a new national transport policy and finally there are hopes that iran will soon have closer ties with south korea as an irish delegation heads there this week tisha leah radker alongside minister simon covney charny mcconnellog and simon harris are traveling for talks with the president of korea they will hold a series of meetings to open up new trade investment and education links with the world's 12th largest economy and the fourth largest economy in asia those are the latest headlines your next news update will be at 12 o'clock if you're not with you know energy chances are you're paying more than you need to for your electricity as ireland's newest energy supplier we offer ireland's cheapest electricity rates saving our customers up to 355 euro a year so if you want to pay less for energy simply pay a visit to you know energy dot ie and sign up for big savings with smaller bills with you know energy you just know you know energy discount rate eab 1665 euro suppliers pricing may change for teas and season rates so you know energy dot ie this is the third hour of the nine till noon show our wellness wednesday spot in just a moment just want to go through one or two your comments before we go to our guest roadworks at termin flat we're left unsafe over the weekend there was a brutal rough ramp pothole near the small bridge close to termin village i went over it at speed at night as the ramp warning was less than 10 feet before the hole it didn't have enough time to slow up in time my shocks our tires could have been badly damaged as a result of the awfully bad bump experienced please warn drivers to be careful uh one mishap after another at letter kenny university hospital who's running it and to me a new set of management was set in sent in to listen to staff fears and patients fears it's ridiculous what's going on so says a caller well done to the consultants who picked it up management never answered his calls makes you wonder what's going on only knows how many god only knows i think how many other things need to be checked so says a caller so a pilot study is sacrificing the safety of people in the twin towns in favor of down the country really asks a caller uh just want to uh before we go any further uh asked to wish a very happy birthday to a very special girl who's 12 today alina duff from tully gay in letter kenny uh lots of love alina from mom and dad hope you have the very best day now let's go to our wellness wednesday spot we're joined by dr kate mccann who is a physician and creator of the social media project m doc health and we're working on a initiative called walk with a doc nope i have not misread it it's not walk with an animal with four legs and a tail it's walk with a doc dr kate mccann good morning good morning now walk with a doc it's an interesting concept uh tell us all about how this works yeah so walk with a doc was actually started in 2005 in the u.s by a cardiologist named dr slavik here and and he realized that it's one thing as a doctor to tell patients you know you need to move more um but that you really need to do a little bit more than just have these five minute conversations at the clinic so he started a program where he literally said his patients hey mind when do we all meet up come walk with me and let's talk and started in 2005 it's been and it's grown since to be 500 chapters of doctors who go walking with patients around the world um and so the irish chapter has been going since um since 2000 uh 2022 so just over um it's just coming on to two years now and um this last few months i've been taking it around uh around to a few different counties to introduce the concept to two different groups of patients you're actually speaking about a live uh real person who is taking part in the walk and conversing with the people that's there this is not on headphones over an online spotify program or something this is actually real people real people yep and the events are free they're open to everybody um and um on the one and now the one and later kind of coming up will be myself and a local GP registrar um Dr Bonner um and the two of us will be leading the walk and hopefully some other doctors will come down and join us but uh it will be and we'll do a short five minute talk on the the topic we're going to be talking about is staying active during the winter a lot of people become less active during the winter because of a lot of real barriers such as the cold and the dark and safety uh we'll talk about staying active during the winter um and then the conversations we have with patients are all those important conversations that don't always happen in a clinical space that are really important for doing things like improving health literacy now obviously some people may be looking at this as an opportunity to go and grab a quick word with a doctor without having having to go to a surgery and we know how difficult it can be to get appointments in some surgeries at the moment I mean this this isn't a matter of me going to this and speaking to you or to Dr Bonner about this problem I've been having with uh whatever part of my anatomy this this is it is something different it is something different so yeah no we can't enter a doctor-patient relationship with you and diagnose or prescribe that's that's that is one role doctors have this is when we're stepping into our other roles a doctor the doctor that because of those shortages we are increasingly not able to do with patients and that's health promotion that's where we're just giving general health advice and answering general health questions that relate to health health literacy you know the the simple questions like doctor I haven't had my blood pressure checked my GP in two years should I do that I think the answer is going to be yes but these these reassurances to patients and promoting health and giving them guidance about where to to get more resources and it is our really important conversations that are missing in the clinical setting at the moment so the idea is that people will gather at the Burnham-Midlinchittown park in letter Kenny it's taking place on Sunday the 12th of November you you and Dr Bonner will effectively address the the gathering on the importance of winter health and so on and so forth and then people go for a walk we go for we're going to keep this we're going to keep the talk really short five minutes that's that's the model we're going to it's going to be pretty short few key points and and then the whole point is to move now people who go at their own pace they we've picked a flat and flat and well paved terrain and people of all ages are available you go at your own pace and generally speaking we try to do it in a loop so people are faster and slower it's a little bit of mingling and he says and says that stays out in social oh well it's a perfect track for that then the park the track in that park is absolutely perfect there's a very slight incline at one point all right but it isn't a steep gradient by any manner of means but no you'll get a good stroll and by my own by my own measurements it's exactly 500 meters the the actual length of that track so I mean two laps is a kilometer excellent now I'm actually walking it in person for the first time yeah on the um on the 11th November I'm going up the day before I've taken um Dr. Balder's local to the areas that she knows the area well and I've taken her recommendations I'm taking this place to the walk oh no she has she has chosen well she has as the film says she has chosen wisely um in terms of um this uh and as you say I suppose because gps are under so much pressure in in their surgeries that the health promotion issue is an important one and presumably then that that's one of the the factors that sparked off this whole concept was to give gps a space within which they could move more into that sort of health promotion area because the surgery now is and I presume it's the same uh worldwide that surgeries are now so busy that people are in uh I need advice and the prescription boom boom boom in out in out because there's 30 more people sitting outside waiting so it it does provide this new space whereby the health promotion element can be addressed properly it is and I like to highlight that it's not just gps I'm not a gp and the person who founded walk with the doc because it was a cardiologist so it's these pressures are also in specialist clinics as well um and this is where we end up with with with a with a number of problems of where we're dealing with problems after they've arisen rather than maybe heading them off before they occur uh yourself and Dr. Amara Bonner will be doing this it's on Sunday the 12th of November at 11 a.m. um people are welcome to join you uh it's going to be an encouraging rather than a cajoling walk you're not going to be pushed to go faster go faster go faster come on push it push it push it push it push it this is going to be very much you're doing grand you're doing fine keep it up absolutely in fact a lot of times in consultations with patients I usually reassure them that you know you don't need to push yourself to your out of breath or in pain get the benefits of physical activity doing things at what we call modern intensity where you can still have a comfortable conversation with the person next to you absolutely all you need to do to look after your after your all those benefits of walking so 100 reasons to walk from you know from heart health lung health for mental health so for all those benefits you don't need to be suffering the benefits of physical activity and how long does the walk take and we'll be down there for usually around 30 minutes however we'll hang out down there as long as people want to keep walking you know we'll be down there I'll hang out there for at least an hour if that's people want to take their own pace or do a few laps and uh walk with a doc doc dot org is the website that let's explain to people give them a bit more perspective on what's actually happening there absolutely check out walkwiththedoc.org that's the international website gives a history um and and if you want more details on the Irish information um that I have it on my blog and that's Dr Kate McCann uh Kate thanks very much indeed for speaking to us this morning it sounds really interesting one and uh I'm sure you'll get a really good crowd there at 11 o'clock on uh Sunday week so that's uh Sunday the uh checking his date really really quickly it's the 12th of November Kate thank you very much indeed that's thanks so much that's Kate McCann uh speaking to us and walk with a doc um and that's taking place as we said on Sunday November 12th it's uh quarter past 11 time for a short break the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on Highland Radio if you've lost someone close it could help to talk why not call the bereavement support line on 1800 807077 Monday to Friday 10 a.m to 1 p.m we're here to listen managed by Irish Hospice Foundation and supported by the HSE it's a Tuesday you're off but you're not off you're in town to pick up their kit or do a big shop and you'd love a bite to eat somewhere but it's only Tuesday well there's no need to feel guilty about stopping off at Kelly's diner because the menu is packed with tasty choices and great value with fast friendly service and loads of parking you can treat yourself any day of the week at the award-winning Kelly's diner mountaintop letterkenny restx beds and furniture special offer for this month only they're giving a free pack of hotel-grade pillows for every customer when you buy a bed or mattress tease them see supply wine stocks last call into their showroom at restx beds mountaintop letterkenny come along and join the team at homeland letterkenny for a festive evening in store on thursday the second of november from six till eight p.m enjoy festive music and save 20% of christmas lights and artificial christmas trees on the evening mince pies and refreshments for all visit homeland.ie for more information the move to electric is on with kia powering ahead in electric vehicle technology take the stylish kia nero ev the multi-award winning ev6 or the all-new ev9 with space for up to seven people order your 241 model now to avail a flexible finance options a free home charger and a 500 euro super value gift card tease them see supply visit her and auto dunig all town for your 241 kia highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from letterkenny to doblin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time at and the time is 17 minutes past 11 o'clock just a few of your comments caller says why would people change to electric cars with the price being charged in this country another caller says are we all away mad bottom line is the problem in many people in ireland is lock the gates and send them home the problem with overcrowding in hospitals is the same with hotels overcrowding on the roads give ireland back to the Irish and we will manage the best that's the perspective of a caller if dunig all county council's planning department approved planning permission for builds on a floodplain how can we have any confidence in them to make planning decisions which will not result in homes being flooded in the future it seems incredible that it takes onboard plenola to keep us safe so says a caller i think that's a reference to a comments that councillor martin harney made earlier went to dairy last night as i have been doing for years the festival itself was fantastic the car park nearest the foil itself we got our tickets just before nine exited the car park more than 90 minutes later there were people around us with new war babies no formula we discussed this situation earlier actually and had a basic we had a response from the fall side shopping centre which told us that basically the situation was that there was gridlock in the city centre and nothing moved for about an hour and a half and this caller says look i feel very sorry for the organizers of the festival as those who were stuck in that parking situation last night will think very hard before their return i can absolutely understand that now yesterday was halloween we've had two individual texts one says i'm not from karn i'm from karn i don't live there but last night halloween people were throwing bricks at cars one car had a window broken then they proceeded to set the diamond delight and break ceramic flower pots at the chapel that were there for years then another road by malin there was a lighting going on there it's halloween trick-or-treat but we should not be attacking people in property another caller saying we had a fartage in the middle of the town close to shops have anyone would think this funny is beyond me and that again is from a caller in karn dunna so i would join this morning by dirja bradley who's the chair of karn dunna traders and we spoke to dirja not that long ago on the program in a different context at dirja sadly the context we're speaking today is a slightly more serious one hello donal how are you yes unfortunately um it's nothing to be proud of and it's very embarrassing and um i just can't understand the thinking behind it uh there's a lot of damage done to the town um there was a lot of people i actually was talking to someone today who had visitors drive through the town last night to go to her airbnb and it was very terrifying they had left very all buzzed up had a lovely lovely evening and got to karn dunna and it was like a war zone uh there was pallets and bins on fire now i didn't see this myself i'm only watching footage um but i see the damage when i came to open my own business this morning um the debris outside the shop was uh like firework coming up and through the car park with the mess bricks pulled out of a lady's um hedging all scattered through the the walkway the pedestrian walkway and to the town there was bins damaged as you said there was um pots that have been up at the church for many years i haven't seen it myself but i've heard about it um and i mean the the videos i saw there was like loads of children but i want to say this now and everybody say where was the guards and where was the guards the guards could not handle it there were so many guards here there was a paddy wagon there was um three or four um patrol cars there was unmarked guards and they just were so um determined to do so much damage they were pulling them in different direction i got a video today of them turning over transit van i mean there was a whole pile of them now is there any need for that construction and where and where does the parents think that these children are going i've seen the videos awesome balaclavas on um petal bombs like bottles with petal and that's the the fabric hanging out of them um it was very frightening and i was only watching it so imagine our residents here in the town that are elderly there's not that many but there is a few and um and the guards were trying to catch them and the language and some of the videos for endless and as you say these are very young people in many cases children is is the correct word for us yeah well i mean from the summits of the videos i've seen i would say 14 15 and around babies and around that age might have been younger um you know i mean parents were dropping them off in the town all leaving where did the things that were going and and like jumping into cars with balaclavas on them and they weren't coming from saying their prayers running down from the chapel's gateway um i just think you know what the guards and everybody's blamed the guards were here so that was resources taken up that may have been needed somewhere else fire brigades were here without fires may have been needed someone else the council had to come out through the night and clean up the mess i mean i take my hat off and as a chairperson on traitors position i have to say this is no one's fault but unruly children that were just think it gives them a god given right on halloween night to terrorize and vandalize which doesn't people like myself and all around the town that are constantly painting and cleaning and picking up plants and to make sure that when visitors come into the town that it's a nice warm welcome so anybody coming through that town last night would have thought mother of divine where have we been landed um uh just disgraceful absolutely burning wheelie bumps i mean the amount of businesses that have lost their wheelie bumps they're going to have to recoup they're going to have to buy new bins it was a bar in town i don't know man i did lost and i mean watching the videos and the language like i will petal from your house you know that's kind of thing i mean it's just unbelievable and i think that from the footage and it should be made public although we don't want to say that oh my god don't come to cardona it's like a mad place altogether i mean that car that's got the window put on last night there's a brand new baby in my car and it doesn't matter if there was a 70 year old or brand new baby it's that you should be able to drive through your own time and not have your car banned left um and i and i do think parents need to start asking questions were you in that crowd last night and watch the videos and see if they are and and and they do need to be reprimanded we don't want this happening again like we were all four warned last night you just because it was halloween put down your shutter and all um like there was a fire working down from the chapel entrance it got stuck in my shutter now if i hadn't had my shutter down and i mean the fire was only just across the road to me i could have had smoke damage this morning and i'm not just on here to talk about me i'm on about people that uh wouldn't feel safe to come into the town i'm thinking maybe tonight well no i'm not bothered because the current's awful rough it's not it was one night incident but um but i just wanted to say that you know the guards were there last night there was a big presence of them but there was just so many so many have there been issues on previous halloween's or is this an aberration is this the ones off years ago there used to be a bit of a bit in one area in the town and it would be throwing off apples and they'd be throwing off eggs but this and there might have been a few wee smaller incidents but this was horrendous i mean this was correct me i mean there was a bond to the whole street in front of the shop i'm just looking out here there's all this is like the burnt holes in the street and i mean when i was watching the videos last night um you could see all the youngsters running around um and like the language their their their aggression their determination to cause damage was just unbelievable i was shocked now i am shocked but as i say i didn't see it first hand i'm only getting it from people who sent me videos and different things like that because they were worried that the shop and businesses would have been damaged one this would have been cracked you know as you said gar thee were there i mean you'd be hopeful i'm sure if gar thee identified any of them if gar thee knows what any of these young people were that perhaps they'll be going and having words with their parents over the coming days yeah and i hope so and i would appeal to parents to sit your kids down if they wear out last night and say where are you involved in this you know what were you at because this is only the start of their journey and if they get away with doing this on a halloween night and think it was great crack and sure it was best to fund them we damaged the van and we broke pots at the church and we lit a fire and you know and we scared a few people what will be the next thing that they would be wanting to do so it needs to be nipped in the bud very very fast but i mean a lot of people say or no guards around none of this none but there was nothing more they could at my husband even rang the guards last night and he says look we have three patrol cars extra coming and we have this happening and you know there but the crowds of them it was very intimidating i just watching us so i wouldn't like to have been a resident here in town last night um i'm sure it was very frightening wondering was your car going to be was it going to be burned out or was it going to be and i mean these are children they are not they're not adults these are children um you know they might they might be ten year olds but they're children yeah the sad thing is the last conversation we had was when the the card was being launched and we were speaking about the community spirit in karn and how karn pulls together as a town and as a community and this this is is the direct opposite of that and it's it's sad to see this but as you say hopefully a conversation will be had in in the coming days at family level and and those conversations will ensure that this doesn't happen again yeah and i would appeal i would appeal to parents and my parents myself and i haven't raised four angels i know that um um but sit down with your kids tonight at the tea table and ask them where were they last night what were they doing because do you really want that for your child do you want that that do you want the next step that the guards going to fall onto your street to say that they've damaged a car wrecked a car because do you know what everybody's struggling financially as it is and like even businesses to to to go and get bins again and to go and start over again and and that you know but it's just the thought that our youngsters coming up in this locality and that's what they think of the work that all of us have done to put karn on a better a better place making it more pretty uh more accessible that people are going to enjoy it feel safe here i mean you're supposed to feel safe in your own community and i would say anybody last night that went through the time we're definitely not feeling very safe dear dr uh thanks for speaking to us this morning and as we said already we're there they're looking into it and yeah and hopefully we'll get some responsibility and i want people to to realize that the guards were here they were doing their job the firemen were doing their job council did an amazing job and a cleanup so that we didn't have to open our doors tomorrow to us that mess so i just want to thank them on behalf of the traders association for everything that they did do but i think the conversations need to be have this evening yeah well we we're we're getting messages saying callers as i witnessed students in another town setting off fireworks at cars in a car park behind a library and broad daylight they just looked at me and laughed and other callers it's so sickening to hear this i'm from ton mani myself but karn has done such a lot to make the town so beautiful to see this happening it's terrible uh a fire was lit last night at the railway bridge in kitty gordon it's pure and simple anti social behavior again caller asking where the parents of the caller again the same thing happened last night in kaly kitty gordon and it's been getting worse every year so it's not limited to karn sadly uh dear dr thanks indeed for speaking to us today not at all don't have a good day thank you very much you too that's uh dear dr buddy they're the chair of current on a traders just a few comments and perspectives before we go to a break and business matters of course coming up very shortly because it is a wednesday morning last october callers is a this is an email we got i fell downstairs and landed awkwardly within two days i had to give in and get an x-ray i was told i'd pull muscles on the rotator cuff i was told take pain relief i was still working as a home care assistant pain was unreal with mobility minimal i was due to fly to australia in november i couldn't take a second annual leave in a short space of time my shoulder did click whilst at work and it freed up a little with a pop and pain i went to australia on a holiday first stop a chiropractor to discover my shoulder was dislocated another kenny hospital have sent me a bill for a hundred euro for the x-ray which i didn't pay as my doctor had emailed my details to the emergency department they said they had no record of this but now it's been passed on to a debt collection agency the pain i was in due to the fall but how was the dislocation missed in the x-ray how can this happen should i make a written complaint or am i just wasting my time so asks the caller now i think you are if you feel that you are not being treated properly absolutely you should make that known and if there is there is a complaints process as i understand it at the hospital and yes absolutely if you think the hospital isn't treating you properly yes you should bring it to their attention callers is leo and the boy is heading off on yet another annual junket another caller says i'm so angry this evening figures released by the irish nurses and the middle east organization have shown a notable decrease in overcrowding numbers at letter kenny university hospital in october what an absolutely ridiculous statement to issue anyone who isn't done they go knows the figures they publish are not reflective of the real situation in the hospital why in this world would gps and consultants be writing to the minister for health if the figures were down can anyone ask the inam to explain this and the regards from a caller who sat in the emergency department for 36 hours surrounded by an over full waiting room waiting to be seen there have always been issues with the numbers on trolleys in the emergency department go up and down every year and letter kenny hospitals figures this year are not as bad as they were last year that's been consistent every month that's not to say it's not happening and there has i cannot think when it was last today when there weren't people waiting on trolleys in the emergency department at letter kenny university hospital the other issue is those figures that are produced they're not the figures for people who are waiting in the emergency department to be seen they are the figures for people who have been seen assessed admitted to the hospital but there is no bed for them to go into so the inam of figures in fairness it this and this does have to be said the inam of figures are not the figures for the numbers of people waiting in the emergency department to be seen those figures are people who have been seen who have been admitted to the hospital but they are without a bed they're the figures that inam or publishing so it's not to say the situation you were in uh color you would you would not have been included in those figures because the inam of figures as i say are admitted patients they're admitted to the hospital they need a hospital bed and there is no bed in the hospital for them they are the figures that the inam or are publishing watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com go full needle and watch the savings come alive find wickedly good prices on carlsberg 18 bottle packs worth 15 euro now 12 29 and sink your soul into our mr chalk range like caramel chocolate bars from 119 go on have a halloween without compromise go full needle today get the where is the drink away 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four million euro play responsibly in store in apre at lottery.ie the national lottery it could be you mary here from the cosmetic department at mcgay's pharmacy to let you know that long have a great beauty gift available this week by two long come products one of them to be skincare and you will get a free eight piece gift containing the full size galette comfort cleanser renors day and eye travel size creams and more iconic long come products this is available until saturday the 11th of november or by stock slash some teas and seas apply remember for any skincare advice you can always talk to jama or myself here at mcgay's pharmacy on main street letter kenny are you ready for dealer day november erwin expert electrical are bringing you mega savings this november on your favorite brands like lg samsung dyson and fitbit shop smart save big and stay tuned to erwin expert electrical on social media for the exciting daily deals all eligible for the christmas layaway service it's the 90s on new show on highland radio it's 24 minutes to 12 noon it's a wednesday morning and that means it's time for this business matters in association with the faculty of business at atu dunig all for a career in financial governance consider the level nine m a in governance and it in financial services starting in january contact the exec ed coordinator on 91 86 206 or email donal dot hanigan at atu.ie today well it's all change on business matters this morning because we have a new presenter chris ashmore good morning good morning donal chris is the new presenter of business matters chris uh it's been a busy few days for you getting this one together and uh we're starting off this morning with some really interesting news from ida ireland yes indeed ida ireland has been given planning permission subject to a number of conditions for the construction of a new advanced technology unit for use as offices or manufacturing purposes at the ida business and technological park here in letter kenny now the new building they used to call them advanced factories years ago well the plans are to construct it in a field which is just below the the ceta building which people may know on the business park road and opposite the tata premises so it's in that new area that's been developed and many will see this as a real vote of confidence in letter kenny construction likely to start next year but it'll mean when they're trying to attract in new investors that there will be a building there that can be tweaked and used for whatever purposes required so that's a very positive bit of news and of course that tata premises is what would have been the primarica building that big big big one yes the blue one uh that's there so yeah that that's that's really good to see um because that that is a buzzing area i mean between you've got ceta you've got tata you've got the one is it an omni omni belt it's called or something that wouldn't just blow us yeah used to be uh kershkoff or something yeah that's right so yeah there's a lot happening because for years that that was for years they just had three plots and there was very little happening in there so it's really good to see that that area really pick up um new home plans as well some housing developments planned for the wider letter kenny area yeah now if we cast our mind back to the Celtic tiger era and there seem to be houses and apartments going up left right and center not too much building activity in in recent times but plans are in the pipeline for a new development in the arderore and kiltoy area of letter kenny cr renaissance properties limited is looking to develop eight three story duplex units which would each have a four apartments as such and uh what is known as a pre-validation planning application has been lodged essentially this is the first step to see if the the proposals tie in with criteria and local requirements but uh might be a little bit down the road before it's actually built but again good to see uh development uh because as we all know there is a shortage of housing in letter kenny and throughout dunigol absolutely um it literacy is hugely important and an interesting uh development coming on stream with the library service and the dunigol etb yes they're joining forces to deliver what is essentially digital hubs in libraries so if you want to know how to use a laptop or a tablet or maybe you need help with school apps or your mobile phone or filling in online forms well your local library could now be the place to go and find out how to do this in essence the digital hub is a free service and you can receive support for your digital needs now initially it's going to be at a number of libraries uh for about a six week period uh on tuesdays in the central library in letter kenny from two to five that will start from the seventh of november on thursdays in the dunigol town a central library from two to four from the ninth of november and also from the ninth of november in cardona library on thursdays from two to four o'clock so it's a free service and um you don't need to book you can just go along uh feel free to bring along a laptop or a phone or anything and there'd be a tutor there to help you out so that's a great initiative and uh hopefully it'll lead to uh further developments in the future absolutely um artificial intelligence uh and i just see i think the column's dictionary has now named it their word of the year a AI artificial intelligence and letter kenny chamber in dunigol women in business are now looking into artificial intelligence and and how it can be utilized yes this is going to be huge already is huge and they're holding an event to help business owners understand the tools prompts and examples of artificial intelligence and of course this can all help drive business growth the event is called marketing artificial intelligence a new supercharger small business and it'll focus mainly on the areas of marketing and communication while maintaining the essence of real human connection now there's going to be a number of guest speakers there'll be a panel of local small business owners there who'll share their experiences and provide invaluable uh device and it'll all take place at the silver tassie hotel and that's on november the 22nd from seven to nine p.m the event is free for uh members of the dunigol women in business network and letter kenny chamber members and non-members it's 20 euro as you say donal it's like years ago when the word app sort of first surface you know people were wondering what was you can hardly turn on your radio or television now without hearing about ai and uh even just simple things people can do it themselves and their laptop and put into chat and binging things and it's uh unbelievable what comes up yeah and and we're told our jobs are going to be overtaken by chat gpt within a couple of years as well which i don't believe for a moment i don't think so no i think we still need that that human touch we still need that personality and you know artificial intelligence it's it's great for and i think really what what this is it's a matter of utilizing the benefits of artificial intelligence without losing the human touch it's it's good to see that they actually do say here that maintaining the essence of a real human connection is important and it is i mean you know a computer can never replace a person um it can hugely help and let's face that our jobs got changed utterly when i look at the the technology that we use in in in the job here on highland i mean the technology is utterly different to what it was when i started here um because back then we were just sort of using sticks and stones but but yeah but i mean you know there there will always be the need for that human touch as well and it's finding that balance between the two let's talk about the podcast because you'll be launching your maiden podcast this week and a very interesting first guest yes um i guess this week is uh sarah marie mcdevitt from anagree who runs the pine hill studios in letter kenny her business dates back to uh 2013 when she began her journey to bring what she terms fun fitness to letter kenny and since then there's been a range of classes with hip hop proving to be particularly popular a lot of dance related classes and what was once a warehouse at the premises at the pine hill business park at the mountaintop has been developed from two studios to five in a bright modern atmosphere and it's also become a hub for independent operators as well and this all helps have everything under the one roof as sarah marie began with adult classes and foon soon found great reaction to the hip hop classes for children and they really have gone from strength to strength and there have been lots of awards won and one of the things we looked at branding colours and graphics are are important in her business and as a fluent irish speaker she's also keen to promote irish in her studios and branding is very important and we do a lot of work with a leaner letter cannon as well so we bring obviously with me coming from a gale tucked area and being fluent in irish it's very important for me to bring the irish element into the studio as well so we have named our studios with they're all as gale again and we include irish words throughout all our classes and to bring a couple of focal go letter cannon and the full interview with sarah marie mcdevitt is available to download now at highlandradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts business matters goes out on air on sunday evening after the six o'clock news and if you'd like to get in touch with the program you can drop an email to me at businessmatters at highlandradio.com excellent chris thank you very much indeed a great start as the man said and it'll be as we say it's it's online now so you can listen to the program with with with ceremony on our website and if you'd like to listen to it on air you can do so on sunday evening after the news at six a chris thanks very much indeed thank you an exciting range of highland events and trips are at your fingertips and booking a place is now easier than ever on the outlet at highlandradio.com the outlet also has highland radio merchandise ready for purchase bingo players order your books through the outlet and have them delivered to your door currently there's a great selection of concerts and shows to choose from including brian adams michael mackentire sister act wicked and hamilton there's also package deals for our concert nights or the ticket on the option and get details of an amazing country music trip to spain next september all this and more by clicking on the outlet now at highland radio.com it's the great autumn of savings at supervalue with over a thousand price cuts on all the big brands you love like super queen sausages 12 pack was 449 now 399 white leaf toilet tissue nine roll was 379 now 299 and money off vouchers every week on the app too so pop in for great savings in store online this autumn at supervalue exciting news kiya at i motors are thrilled to introduce our stellar offers for 2024 enjoy peace of mind with a complimentary service for the first two years plus an additional one year if you're a kia customer already 1.9 finance on av cars 3.9 pcp providing flexible and affordable payment options and receive a 500 euro super value voucher when you purchase a kia these offers are designed with you in mind don't miss out visit i motors today in letter kenny and malin highland radio weather updates brought to you by grant from condensing oil and hfo biofuel boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating you can trust grant to heat your home visit grant dot ie this is the rental noon show on highland radio donal cavern with you uh four of the next uh 14 minutes or they're about now i want to go to mary t sweeney who chairs the letter kenny hospital campaign group mary t is online one mary good morning good morning donal you have to excuse me i've had an awful dose of alarm jay to see her right i won't keep you too long but uh we've had a lot of discussion obviously about the hospital we've had the letters from the gps and the consultants in recent weeks and we've had the latest revelation with regards to the radiology department uh you believe now that it's imperative that health minister steven donnelly come to letter kenny and not only meet with hospitals and management and doctors but meets with yourselves and with patients as well of course because we represent a cross section of the community both staff previous staff and patients and the general donnelly gong community and for mr mr class through the hse chief executive to say he would he would deploy a performance management team that's not good enough we need confidence in the team that would come in what happened the scottish team that were independent i think the key word here is an independent team for the betterment of our hospital for the for the incompetence in the community and the staff we need to be able to stand up to external review by an external competent body to come in and tell us okay we think you need changes here here and here to improve your hospital but the orient thing about yesterday's uh uh information coming out about the radiography uh really uh the x-ray reading the x-rays was who vetted this person coming in how were they vetted how many times has he worked in letter kenny hospital is this his first stint or was there previous stints where he did welcome so should there be other people identified as well that need to review their x-ray their scan their ultrasound because this could be ultimately terminal for somebody that has had a tumor or has had something significant that could affect their overall health so we need more accountability and openness to know how long this person or has this person been allowed to now go and look them at other hospitals we have to have a moral duty of care for patients to know that the department is going to follow through and identify the weaknesses and how this person ended up progressing to be a consultant in letter kenny hospital well perhaps he didn't hear we had a professor pat ward who's still this clinical director on on the program uh in in the previous hour now he has told us that this particular locum was registered with and on the approved list of the irish medical council and that's where they actually got the contact was through the irish medical council uh they had references which they checked uh the the the locum was subsequently as we know that contract was terminated and the hospital is going back to the medical council with its findings so as he said it's it's the medical council who ultimately is responsible for vetting and registering these particular locums so they got this locum through the medical council and they are reporting back to the medical council with regards to their review of the work that was done and the issues and it'll be up to the medical council he said then to ensure the other hospitals are aware of the situation so that's just that we have to answer that one as best he could that's that's the response we were given by sales of this morning but my point is a bigger point than the sense that the vetting process has failed it has failed miserably so how many other people have got through the system we need to review the full vetting process and the agency that's been used my understanding is that they use an external agency that are paid to vet so the whole vetting process needs to be immediately reviewed to prevent other people getting through in the system you know yeah and the minister we still haven't heard when minister donnelly will come to donnie gall he has said he will do so you obviously want that to be sooner rather than later well we at our meeting last night we held an emergency meeting last night impacted by the events in letter candy hospital that this is a crisis this is an emergency and people need confidence in our hospital and if the minister doesn't come then we have no choice but in january which is the year after the original street protests campaign that we will go to dublin and demand that the minister comes to donnie gall we have to do all we can to support the doctors the nurses and the health care staff that are working that are hard working in the hospital and what is this not doing to their morale and their confidence it's terrible that they're being put through this on top of all the crisis with the overcrowding and the a&e and the lack of beds you know there's so many like you know our doctors haven't actually traveled off site to go down to an outpatient facility away from the hospital there are so many wrongs up there that need addressed you know we need our hospital on site on campus and the amount of money being spent on taxis taking patients to go to outpatients to go to clinic since and carmel's the management needs to review revamp and restock and reassess the way it's been run and the local basis and on a national basis we need to review policies and procedures to get the best hospital for the people of donnie gall i think and that's what the message came out of our meeting last night and that's the message you and we will assist we will assist the doc we're trying to currently write to the gps that the 80 i believe it's up to 89 gps and to the consultants we're having a bit of difficulty with bounce back from the emails the health service emails so believe we have been writing to all the gps to try and offer our support to do whatever we can to support them if they want a day of action or if they want to go we need to make sure the minister meets our doctors and our consultants and gives them proper reassurance and a proper external review to come in to identify their needs but we can have a better hospital mary t sweeney thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this morning and we will wait with interest the ministers visit and we look forward to to speaking to yourself and to others once once that happens but in the meantime look after that throat mary t and have a great day okay thank you thank you that's mary t sweeney there who chairs the letter kenny um hospital campaign group and is also of course served as representative in this area not served excuse me enthuse representative in this area as well excuse that slip of the tongue just want to mention a few things before we go and we're coming close to the end uh the letter kenny one act festival takes place in ungraded theater uh over this coming weekend it's on friday the third uh uh and saturday the fourth and sunday the fifth of november a three place per night it's a part of the national um festival with nominations to the all-arland finals admission is 12 euro nightly or you can get tickets to all three nights for 25 euro through ungraded theater uh the first night we have plays from litrum sloygo and carlo the second night plays from cork antrim and cork and the third night it's antrim claire and wexford uh and a variety of drama groups and plays being presented more details of course on ungraded theater's website so the letter kenny one act festival taking place this coming weekend um color expressing interest and we've been speaking quite a bit about health at the moment um over the past two days cork says letter kenny hospital crisis is now impacting directly on st joseph's hospital in sternor those people who are used to st joseph's are being sent to private nursing homes when it's their week for respite this is unfair uh people should not have to be farmed out to places they're not used to going just because there are issues in a hospital st joseph's is now accepting over 65 year olds from the overflow in letter kenny that's exactly what happened in new york during covid when ill patients were brought into nursing homes uh how many other contagious illnesses apart from covid that can be dangerous to elderly people are potentially going to be transmitted can we make this a discussion steven donnelly the minister needs to become involved and that's uh a call from a caller there um who has a parent uh in st joseph's at the moment now another comment uh raymond says bolivia in south america has become the first country to break diplomatic relations with israel over what's happening at the moment in gaza it's past time that ireland did likewise and break diplomatic relations with israel uh another caller says why can't they make evs 100 percent self-charging it can be done but not enforcement then we wouldn't need charging points i guess it's all about money um i know you can certainly get self-charging hybrids whether you get a self-charge that will be able to because the self-charging hybrids they charge off the brake and the engine uh if there is not an engine in the car i'm not sure an ev can be 100 percent self-charging uh because the hybrids at the moment use the engine as well as the braking system uh certainly it would be very interesting if that could be done um i am someone in business i saw this coming uh the downturn in tourism we discussed this with counselor martin harley uh these counselors are now crying about the downturn yet they're the people who created the problem there is a mathematical certainty that this downturn in tourism will happen and our counselors are the people responsible for it happening so claims a caller there are commercial artificial intelligence products out there that are much more accurate in reading x-rays than any radiologist so why is lu h not using artificial intelligence so asks a caller and um good morning uh tell that man it takes 50 years for windmills to pay for themselves so we won't be seeing cheap energy anytime soon uh windmills kill whales and on offshore windmills kill whales onshore they kill birds aren't we supposed to be saving wildlife that's the discussion we had on the energy conference um i think the point that was being made wasn't necessary that energy is going to be cheap it's that energy is going to be sustainable and finally uh we've had a caller asking can you give a big shout out to all the businesses throughout the county who continue to sponsor activities in their locality i was in letter kenny yesterday for the trick-and-treat trail i'm proud to call at home a list of businesses that were giving out treats that provided and online shopping may well be handy which had missed the human contact and the crack um another caller saying i was out shopping on monday and a shop had two coffins and skeletons in them as someone who just buried someone very close i found it distasteful surely these shops should think better about their displays and that's the end of the national noon show for this morning john brazil is up next around the northwest uh thank you to carlin or for producing and for taking your calls thanks to all our contributors most importantly thanks to you for listening we're back tomorrow in the meantime have a very good day who's your man i don't know with the constant interruptions wouldn't get them with ireland's best broadband from virgin media i meant you and it's gone we