 for the removal of old furniture. One member of the island's committee, John McCafferty, believes designated waste collection days would lessen the cost burden on people. He's calling on the local authority to introduce provisions to assist islanders. That's a very high cost for getting rid of, you know, something that we should be able to do quite easily. We can, on the mainland, go to these centres. There's one on Dunlow, but it's getting out. Not everybody has access to a van or to getting this kind of stuff off the island. So we need to have a bit of help from the council there. That would be fantastic. The Vatican has announced that Monsignor Emma McLaughlin from Donegal has been appointed by Pope Francis to the position of Adjunct and Undersecretary of the Formation Office to the Dicastry of the Clergy. This means he's third in command, responsible for seminaries around the world. Monsignor McLaughlin, a native of Downings, served in Raffault Diocese as a curate in Finntown, Letter Mac Award and Duhuri, and as a curate in St. Unans Cathedral, Letter Kenny. This week marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of Bunkrana woman, Danielle McLaughlin. The 28-year-old was killed while on a backpacking trip in India in March of 2017. Vigit Baghat was later charged with her murder, however, his trial has faced many delays. A GoFundMe has been set up to see Danielle's mother and sister attend a sentencing, which is hoped to take place in June. The threat of compulsory renovations under a new EU energy conservation law has been removed. That's according to Finnegales' Sean Kelly, who says an agreement has been reached with safeguards millions of homeowners and tenants. The MAP says the EU's energy performance of buildings directive will now help people to renovate their homes instead of forcing them to retrofit energy saving changes. The key here is that it will not be compulsory, but there will be incentives there through by way of grants and by way of loans and this signal to the financial institutions, the I.B., et cetera, that this is the way to go. So now I think all goons blazing will be able to retrofit both presidential and non-residential houses at a much faster rate and at a better rate than otherwise would be the case. In terms of weather, drier weather will develop in many areas later this morning and throughout the afternoon, highest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees with light to moderate west or south-west winds. Unusually high tides may cause coastal wave overtopping. That's all for now from Highland Radio News. We'll be back again at 10 o'clock. At Energia we know the best way to use greilge is lechela. So whether you're at work, it's a fool, I'm on post-shop or at play, you're at home, at home, or at a bar, stick or a leash, or away. Why not add a couple of focal to your day? Shacht in the greilge le energia, visit snog.ie to find out more. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, the 9th and Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, a very good morning to you. It's three minutes past nine on this Wednesday the 13th of March, 2024. How are you all keeping out there? I do hope you're very well indeed. If you're listening to us across the northwest of Ireland on air or around the world online, it's fantastic to have you on board. And when you're taking part in the show as well, our lines are open for you right now for you to comment as the morning progresses are indeed to raise your own comments, sending your requests, whatever you want to do. 08, 660, 25,000. That's the WhatsApp and text number 08, 660, 25,000. You can also send your WhatsApp voice notes to that number if that suits you. You can give us a call on 07491 25,000. Caroline taking your calls as always. And also you can email comments at highlandradio.com. If you choose to watch the show across our social media, please feel free to say hello. Tell us where you're watching from. We are on the Twitter stroke. Well, it's not Twitter stroke. It's ex formerly Twitter app, of course, Highland Radio. We're on YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland. And you can watch us on YouTube on your smart TV or your forest to give that suit to you. And across your mobile devices and all those apps, including Facebook, Highland Hub, Highland News and Sport. And if that were not enough, if you go onto our website, highlandradio.com, there's a little Watch Live button and you click that and you're in as well. So, and I'm good to have you on board wherever or however you're consuming us today. Lots coming up on the show, including a little later on. We're going to be speaking to Senator Lisa Chambers. Of course, she's found herself thrust into the centre of the referendum's debate. We'll talk about that as we go through the newspapers, because actually I'm really quite interested to pull your points of view on that and on her position and also the calls from within politics for her to step down, which to me, and as I say, I'll talk about in a little moment, and this is regardless of whichever party or non-someone's a member of, again, I'm getting the sense that politicians calling for her to resign is another example, maybe, of politicians being out of touch with the electorate. But anyway, listen, I'll propose that to you a little later on. OK, well, Miss Chambers has now cancelled. Actually, she's not available. Anyway, we're still going to talk about it. All right, OK, Finn Valley Voice this morning. We'll go through the newspapers. I'll tell you more about that in a moment. Live radio is very fluid. One minute it's on, then it's off. Ballerbefe's newest destination for live music in cocktails, Gallon's Bar, Navany Street has formally... The former He Needs You Drop In is officially open, boasting an impressive array of amenities the bar offers, as it says in the newspaper, an unparalleled entertainment experience. On to the Irish Daily Mail, and we'll start with the front-page story here. Pressure now on Lisa Chambers to resign over vote. Finaful Senator Lisa Chambers advocated to take the word mother out of the Constitution last year, despite saying this week that she could never vote to do so. In an interview in RTE's Drive Time programme in March 2023 about the proposed changes, Miss Chambers said it was time for the Constitution to reflect the modern Ireland that did not believe the inclusion of mother was necessary. Several Finaful and FinaGales Senators told the Irish Daily Mail privately last night they believed Miss Chambers should resign as leader of the Shannon. Now, I don't know about you, but throughout the course of the referendum from when they were first announced... Well, first got sight of the Citizens' Assembly wording. I had a view of what way I might go. And then, as the campaign went on, my position changed and then it hardened into which way I would vote. A politician's not allowed to do that as well, and I'm not all about Senator Chambers or whoever it might be, but our politicians... Because I put it to, and I'll put it to Deputy Power of MacLachlan yesterday, that, you know, she and Fein obviously initially advocated a yes-yes. Then they started to have concerns about it. Well, come out and say no, no, then at that point. That's effectively in saying they got it wrong, they got the mood of the people wrong, that's what they're saying. And yet now we have Senator Lisa Chambers, who's not part of a cult, she's part of Feina Fall. She's saying initially she said yes-yes, initially she thought the word mother should be taken out of the Constitution. A couple of weeks ago she did campaign for a yes-yes, but now she's advocating a no-no. What I'm interested in, in your view, do you respect the Senator more for that and being honest and coming out and speaking publicly about it and admitting that her position had changed, or do you think she should go? Because the sense is now that if you're a member of a party and you sort of speak outside, you know, what the party is saying, then that's cause enough for you to be sacked from your position. So what do you think? Should she, do you think the treatment of Lisa Chambers or anyone else actually who's now advocating a no-no from whichever party you're on, they're part of? Not advocating but suggesting that they voted no-no. Do you think, do you have more respect for Lisa Chambers? Because of the stance she's taken, or do you agree with Senators, elected politicians and such, that she now, her position is somewhat untenable? And if we could park our political allegiances out there, it would be interesting. But she canvassed for a yes-yes a couple of weeks ago. Then she said she read up on it, did a bit of research and paraphrasing it here and changed her mind to vote no-no. What do you think? Do you respect her more for being honest now or do you think that her position is untenable, as some seemingly do, because of her shift in position? As I say, I'd be very interested, to sort of gauge the mood of the great North West public and beyond to see what you guys think out there. The Irish Times this morning, T. Shockley of Radkar has said he will ask US President Joe Biden to follow the lead of past President Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and become involved in the push for peace in Gaza when he meets him later this week in the White House. Speaking in Boston during the second day of his trip to the US, Mr. Radkar said he would have been very keen to push the case for a ceasefire when he meets the President for the traditional shamrock bowl ceremony in the old vault room in Sunday. Or on Sunday, more importantly, I'll ask America to get involved once again in the drive for peace. It happened before with President Carter. It happened before with President Clinton. I think hopefully President Biden can take the lead on this. Now, I'm going to ask you another question because I'm going to... And it's really actually to sort out a little bit of confusion I have in my mind and I mean this in earnest. What is happening? And we've discussed it extensively on this programme. So there's absolutely no doubt that it is horrendous what is happening in Gaza. And I think particularly, I think particularly, well, not particularly what is horrendous is the slaughter of innocent children and women and men for that matter. And I think, you know, Ireland, while some might feel we've not gone far enough and when I say we, I mean the leaders of the country, those elected or those appointed after the election, certainly we are one of the most vocal countries opposing what's happening in Palestine. What I don't understand is, and maybe you might be able to explain this to me, for a long time on this programme, we've been saying that we should be using our neutral voice to actually also campaign and lobby for a peaceful solution the end of the war in the Ukraine. Why aren't, why would, and as I say, pardon my ignorance, but why would the likes of Leo Veradkar not go and meet people with influence like, you know, China, Turkey and others, or even America for that matter and implore those leaders also to try and find a peaceful outcome to the war in Ukraine. I understand that T-shirt Leo Veradkar is using his platform and that meeting to campaign for an end to the atrocity in the Middle East. I think we could all get on board with that. Too little, too late, some might say. But where is the same language in relation to what's happening in Ukraine? I don't believe that obviously it's not having the same devastating impact on the population, but still hundreds of thousands of primarily young men have died and many more will die. Why, and again, I'm asking this from a position of ignorance, why are we not using our voice or the same type of language to try and resolve the situation over there? Not to say back down to Russia or not to say, you know, but actually just say, lads, lassies, get around the table and sort this out. We're not calling for that, but we are as it relates. And I'm going to say we, you know what I mean by that. Yet we are in the Middle East. And I haven't seen that addressed publicly as to why that is. But I know the good listeners of Highland Radio will educate me, please, if you can, on 08.60.25.000. The Independent tells us that the HSC suffered an IT glitch that weakened security around the vaccination details of more than one million people the agency has admitted. The organization misconfigured a COVID-related database in December of 21, as spokesperson said, opening the details of more than a million people to potential exploitation. In a statement, the health body said no personal data was accessed by hackers or malicious parties. However, it did not report the issue to the Data Protection Commissioner, which was made aware of the data lapse this week by the Irish Independent and is now examining the issue. Right, they didn't notify the Data Protection Commissioner. Remarkable. On to the Irish Daily Star now on 08.50. The HSC reports of councillors revealed they have suffered damage to their property, arson, racial abuse and threats of death and physical and sexual violence. Ireland's 929 councillors were asked to detail the shocking catalogue of intimidation and harassment between 2021 and 2023. 64% of the 226 respondents revealed they have been a victim of threats, harassment and intimidation over the past two years. On social media, almost 33% faced face-to-face encounters, including physical attacks and racial abuse. A breakdown shows that almost 36% of threats made were of violence towards councillors. Some 17% of threats related to damage to property and over 5% were threats of violence towards a councillor's family and almost 5% were death threats. Two thirds have received threats, intimidation or abuse over those two years 21 to 23. A lot of you out there would have been fans of Paul O'Grady. He passed away, but details of his estate have been revealed today. Paul O'Grady left €585,000 for Battersea dogs and cats home in his 17.5 million-euro willow. I didn't realise he was really that quite successful. The sanctuary featured in his ITV series for the love of dogs. Paul, 67, who died of cardiac arrhythmia last March, left 907,000 in total to good causes, including 58,500 euro each to elephant and orangutan charities in India and Borneo out of his 17.5 million-euro that he had accrued through his career. And finally, good news if you want to stay, want to be positive for your health, but some of the targets are a little bit too high. Apparently exercising two and a half hours a week for health is good for you. Exercising for just two hours and 30 minutes spread across the week will improve your health boffins, as the described here have said. Most adults in Ireland spend at least five hours a day being sedentary, that's just sitting doing nothing, sitting at a desk, driving, watching TV. Professor Breida Smith, chief medical officer at the Department of Health said, even relatively small increases in moderate physical activity can contribute to improved health and equality of life. And the reason I read that is because sometimes we think, oh, what's the point? I can't do what they say I need to do, so I'll just sit here and it's not worth even trying. Well, it is because even just a relatively small amount to exercise across the week can improve your health. And who's to say it couldn't be a foundation for bigger and better things? The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra Mountaintop Lederkenny, the C-store national large four court of the year for 2022. The Ninetal Noon Show is brought to you by Lederkenny Credit Union. Digital loans now available. Apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account. So, what do you want to watch tonight? Oh, what about... Can't find something to watch? Introducing Skystream, the new way to get Sky. It takes all your shows out of all your apps and channels and puts them in one place. So you can end the... Oh, that looks good. Lederkenny and Donegal Town, their expert team offer orthodontics, teeth whitening, implants and composite bonding all in-house. Start your journey by calling 074-97-40404 or easily book your appointment online at a time that suits you through their user-friendly patient portal available anytime, anywhere at bluepopiedental.com. Blue Poppy Dental and Orthodontics Lederkenny and Donegal Town give vouchers available. An amazing bank holiday we can sale at Easy Living Furniture. For this weekend only, absolutely everything's reduced across sofa, dining, bedroom, mattress and accessories. Get the 3-seater dark grey Harper's Sofa for only $429, Donut 240cm dining table for only $249 and much more. Don't miss out on these lucky savings at Easy Living Furniture. Present Link retail part. Look no further than iMotors for your next car. With a vast selection of top quality used vehicles to choose from, we have something for every budget and lifestyle. Whether you're searching for a reliable starter car, a spacious SUV or a sleek sports car, our friendly team is here to help you find the perfect match. Visit iMotors.ie and discover why we are a go-to destination for used cars in the North West. Right, European movement Ireland has launched the can-vote-will-vote campaign to encourage Irish people to vote in the upcoming European Parliament elections. The elections will take place across the EU between the 6th and 9th of June this year. MEP candidates elected to the European Parliament will shape and influence the direction of the European Union for the next five years. Novello Connolly, CEO of the European Movement Ireland. Good morning to you. Good morning Greg, how are you? I'm doing good. Tell us a little bit about the European movement Ireland. I presume it's an independent body. What's its role? Well, our role and we're celebrating 70 years young this year, Greg, of working to develop the connection between Ireland and Europe. So we're an after-profit voluntary membership organisation that works in the areas of engagement, education, communications and we're really about encouraging people to get involved and have their say on Ireland's relationship with the EU and also tacked as a conduit of putting forward and bringing that Irish perspective at all levels in Europe. Yeah, indeed and obviously we've seen in the referendum last Friday a turnout of less than 50% people having the right to vote and not using it. I'm sure you're encouraging as many people that do have the vote to use it as possible. Absolutely, Greg. I think we saw was a turnout of about 44% at the referendums on Friday and obviously, as you said over, you know, 450 million citizens in the EU will be going to the polls from the 6th to the 9th of June and in Ireland it's going to be Friday the 7th of June and we really want people and that's what we're encouraging about. That's what our can vote will vote campaign is for people to check the register make sure they're on it and to go out and have their say on who we elect is really important and who represents us in Brussels and Strasbourg is really really important for us as a country and that's why we're encouraging people to get out and to have their say and in fairness Midlands Northwest is a really large constituency lots of counties there and you'll have five MEPs so we really want people to go out to check our website and have a look at who's running obviously with the health warning that it's to Claire, we'll continue to update our website so we really encourage people who are standing for election to get in touch with us we want to make sure we've everybody on the website so that people can see who's running and can inform themselves and get an idea of who's going to be on their ballot papers on the 7th of June. How do you think we're doing in terms of the public getting a sense of Europe's role in their life and what role an MEP might play in relation to that? We regularly speak to MEPs in this radio station but I've been told we're a bit of an outlier in that regard. You know what I mean? Is there a general sense I wonder across the population as to what role the EU plays in their lives and what role the MEPs have in that? Yeah, I think you've touched on a really good point there the work that our MEPs do is hugely important and we will be voting on 14 MEPs and the European Parliament is the democratically elected institution looking at everything from budgets, Europe's role in the world when we're seeing what's going on in Ukraine common agricultural policy the role of AI misinformation, disinformation so a huge amount of debate and discussion takes place in the European Parliament that directly affects all of our lives in terms of Irish engagement and support for the EU really interesting to see that Greg because every year since 2013 we in European movement Ireland have commissioned an independent poll so we've got in touch with an independent polling company to carry out a survey on people's views across Ireland and also last year we included Northern Ireland for the first time and we're going to be doing the fieldwork again in 2020 and we're seeing really high levels of support with over 88% of people saying they want Ireland to remain an active member of the EU we got to engage and have our say but interestingly the figure of that dropped to 58% feeling that the EU was going in the right direction so that's really telling us that there's a lot more work to be done and in fairness to our MEPs they have a crucial role to play in that and I think it's really important that our MEPs voices are heard across the radio but that being said it can be difficult because what you have is it's politics right and I'll try and separate as much as I can but what you have is on popular decisions being made in Europe a convoluted sort of a voting system and then you will have maybe ministers responsible for certain departments where those rules have to be applied here sort of distancing themselves or criticising the decisions made so often then it feels like it's national governments against EU we know that's not really the case but because politics is the way it is that's how it's presented so in a way sometimes I think it can actually be the elected politicians that damage the reputation of the EU and its processes yeah we've a great saying that we tend to use a lot here Greg we tend to nationalise success in European eyes failure and that's an easy one sometimes for politicians to blame Brussels but you know you're absolutely right and let's not forget at every council ministerial meeting either Artisac or Tonesta all the various ministers are there so if it's something on justice our minister for justice will be there if it's something on education the minister for education will take part in those meetings and that's important I suppose the EU it is hard as you well know and as we all know with God knows it's hard enough to get compromise within groups or families or friends so trying to get a consensus amongst 27 different countries and member states and often with different priorities that consensus and that compromise you know can be hard for but I think it is important and I think that's really something kind of in these upcoming European elections we're really seeing such a focus and the impact that the EU has in our everyday lives in terms of everything from and you know I don't have to tell your listeners of course and you know and Donny Gall data roaming free travel the ability to study live work abroad and you know we can probably take those for granted a little bit but I think it's we should never lose sight of the benefits and equally conversely and I have to say this because but obviously then you have fishing you're farming you know if the nature restoration which effectively could set out to rewet most of the county that I'm sitting but I get you you know I do understand exactly where you're coming from and it's up to the MEPs to articulate their points of view how they can influence or shape things it's not either your right role Noel in that regard but I suppose it is good as much as possible people get out and exercise their vote and educate themselves as to what the role of the EU is I mean the you know one of the biggest developments in humanity I think at the moment is artificial intelligence and at the moment there's there's decisions being made in relation to AI not just how it will affect our lives but how it will affect our businesses and what have you I would love to see MEPs sort of try and articulate some of that to us I don't think it's you know my job you know you can't just take the cash and sit in Brussels I'm not saying that's what they do right but you know where are they if we have five we've fought them on where are the MEPs sort of articulating the importance of this discussion about AI in Europe and its implications for us and business as well but anyway that says to say not your job or ours in a while it's up to us to talk to them at the doorsteps and and and I like the people we think might be able to articulate that best to us going forward yeah absolutely and and you know the whole issue of AI and that impact on our lives is certainly something that's occupying the agenda of the commission the various ministers and of course the European Parliament and obviously there's you know a working group looking at that we have the AI Act which are you're absolutely 100% right and listen as a as the daughter of a farmer from Cork I'm well aware of the challenges facing you know agriculture and equally how do we balance that with our responsibilities in terms of climate change you know the the economic migration that we're seeing the climate change migration from Africa in the Middle East these are huge huge pitch huge challenges I think that is facing all of us and as a small island on the very periphery of Europe and sometimes we can seem a little bit geographically removed to what's what's happening you know when I talk to my colleagues in Greece or or in Italy you know the some of the challenges they're facing are very different to what we we are we have here in Ireland but I think that's that's the I suppose we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that's the importance of the EU and by pooling our sovereignty and by working together I think that that's something that we really hope for in the European Parliament Elections so we really want to encourage people in Donegal everyone in Midlands Northwest to go out to have your say and check out our website EuropeanMovement.ie we're trying to get all the information is there and we'd encourage people to as you said exactly that Greg have those conversations with with all the MEP candidates and and pose the questions and see see where they stand on all these issues that's really how we're going to inform ourselves All right listen thank you so much for your time Noelle O'Connell CEO of the European Movement Ireland I mean also to you know all the decisions and Noel's left us now big decisions that affect us are made at EU how do we feed into those also as a public you know how do we sort of influence it will say enough is enough you know this does seem to be structures where if you wanted to really make change in this country you know you could probably find a pathway and some would say change perhaps is coming but on an European level where all the big decisions really it seems are actually made how do we feed into that or how do we if at all influence that two things I want to mention before I go to a break we are going to do a ring around tomorrow in relation to St Patrick's Day parades or celebrations that are happening so if you want yours included 08 660 25000 we want to give everyone a fair shout so wherever no matter where you are across the region if you're planning anything for the St Patrick's Day we can get in touch with us and we'll give it a plug on the radio tomorrow FOC of course here on this program because there are big ones which rightly so get an awful lot of attention what I want to make sure that your efforts out in your communities you organizing whatever you're organizing also gets a bit of a plug as well so if you want to be involved in that ideally coming on the radio to plug it 08 660 25000 whatsapps or texts or give Caroline a call on 07491 25000 right Breed joins me on the program now Hi Breed Hello Greg Lisa Chambers campaign for yes yes in the referendum a couple of weeks ago said after the fact that she actually had wobbled a bit and was favouring no no and voted no no do you respect her for being honest and coming out or do you believe it weakens her position as a politician I just feel hypocritical I feel if she felt uncomfortable as she said about the word woman being removed from the constitution why did she stand on Grafton Street giving out yes you know if she had come out a couple of days beforehand and said look I'm not comfortable with this I'm sorry but I'm going to vote no that would have been okay but to come out afterwards and to say that it was the leak to document from the Attorney General that made up her mind well that was very convenient because it wasn't leaked until late on Thursday night you know so that was very convenient and I just wonder if we had all voted yes in the referendum would she have come out and said no I voted no no I don't think so so do you feel there's some extent that maybe Breed it's kind of like trying to ride two horses you know in other words looking she's standing yeah she's standing in the European elections for this area for the Midlands Northwest she has looked at the figures and every single constituency in that area voted an overwhelming no so she's thinking to herself the people are Egypt I'll just say I voted no no and they say oh God isn't she great maybe we'll give her a vote in the European elections and another person who voted who canvassed for yes and voted no was the chairperson of the media committee who had all the RTE people interrogating them looking for truth and honesty and she has said that she campaigned for yes yes but voted yes no so how can we respect politicians when this is the kind of thing they're doing well let me ask you too though yesterday the politician Fein was on they advocated the yes yes and he said look they got it wrong as well are you would you it doesn't matter which way you vote I'm just asking you was someone who follows politics obviously would you say the same of them that if you were if you thought it was no no as the data approached you should have said actually we've changed our mind and gone no no or yes no or whatever it might have been well you know I wonder like but worries me is that all the political parties bar into and some independence advocated a yes yes vote I would have thought the job of the opposition is to interrogate the government and hold them to account regardless of what view you know they had themselves like you on the radio you're a devil's advocate I feel the job of the opposition is to tease out matters so people are clear about what they're voting on you know and then they could have come out and said you know now they did say they voted yes yes reluctantly what the constitution has to be clear on everything it has to be it can't be open to ten different types of interpretation do you know what I mean so the wording wasn't clear and the people are not stupid like they're trying to tell us now it wasn't progressive enough or it wasn't we knew exactly what we were voting for especially on international women's day and mother's day you know I mean I wonder are they all in this little bubble up in Lenster House you know a lot of the leaders of the political parties Mary Lou included all and and people before profit Richard Boyd Barrett and Palmer they all went to private schools the National Women's Council where are they from South Dublin there's no travellers there's no single parent there's no low income women on that those councils and they're all in that little bubble and also to one thing that really jumps out at me in this whole thing is that we people have their views on the citizens assembly but it is supposed to be a broad representation of all the groups that you talked of there and more they came up with a wording I'm not saying it was perfect either but what's the function of the citizens assembly if then a government in situ changes that wording because you have the citizens assembly because it's supposed to be reflective of Irish society that's what perplexes me as well who decided and why did opposition parties think it's all right not to go with what the citizens assembly themselves recommended but you know what is the purpose of the citizens assembly but have we not elected directly elected our politicians to tease out these problems for us why do they abdicate responsibility to a citizens assembly no matter how broad would say you know they're chosen how broadly they're chosen why do we need a citizens assembly we have a directly elected parliament a democratically elected parliament but they're defining democracy by by you know throwing out the responsibility to NGOs like non-government and to citizens assemblies I don't agree with citizens assemblies at all we elect our politicians they're answerable to us the citizens assemblies aren't answerable to us the people who elected the politicians read a lot of people in agreements with you thank you very much for your time today I really do appreciate it thank you very much Anna you're very pleased with the no no tell me why are you there Anna Anna no Anna's just not there at the moment I'll come back to that issue obviously women's prerogative to change her mind I respect Lisa more for going with her choice she's more in touch with people than her party though breed questioning her motives there Lisa chambers definitely should stand down and should have told the electorate and advocated for a novel before Friday if she changed her mind now quite I'm not saying conveniently Lisa chambers obviously heard the attorney generals read the literature from the attorney general which the government didn't release but it conveniently was released after the moratorium kicked in so we couldn't we couldn't report it now the ditch did online and fair play to them but we couldn't legally so you know Anna sorry you're back there now good morning to you morning no just that dollar was what you were talking about earlier all you wanted to bring mother out of the constitution I I said had she no mother was she born under mushroom 3 hmm you know you're looking forward to politicians landing at your door tell me why what would you be saying to them Anna they are what I'll be saying to some of them but what are the big issues to you what do you want to see politicians acting on now at the moment you know what I mean or are you going to say that's not a problem I have three granddaughters and the three of them done three years and the college and had to pay 3,008 four fees and then one of the wee garages doing nursing and she had to work three years without a single penny of wages she's going on to her fourth year now and she might get a few shallots not get much but I think it's a disgrace that we insist to pay that and then they don't get a penny of wages for work then for three years without pay you know I think it's a bloody disgrace the politicians are doing nothing for them can the students I mean I'll get through my life I hope but no the students I feel so sorry for them and I presume you would fear that they will look at other other opportunities outside of Ireland there's a whole the last road out and as soon as they come to the door God help them because I have a road out for them really okay fast night Nana listen get back in touch with us after they start calling I want to hear the reaction take care and best wishes to everybody thank you very much indeed is totally right but if our politicians vote yes against their beliefs they are no good to us true words from breed another that call a breed is a smart lady isn't she indeed Greg how do we really know what Lisa chambers voltage she's talking out of two sides of her mouth a requirement as a politician another delighted to hear breed on she's 100% right had the vote of gone the other way we would have heard from them we would we have heard from them Lisa chambers definitely should stand down she should have told the electorate and advocated for a no vote before Friday if she changed her mind another there's no excuse for going to Washington this St. Patrick's Day not in our name sorry that's just about the these trips back to Lisa chambers hi Greg miss chambers voted yes with her party found out the possible consequences and voted no brilliant however if she publicly promoted no then she's okay but if she kept her true feelings hidden and still went with the flow then how can we trust anything they do in other words another she should have gone public before the election and informed the public that she changed her mind no credibility now very interesting comments and I'm gonna lie to you not exactly what I was expecting but that's why I love this show because I can see my own I'm not saying what my views were or are but it's really actually quite interesting to hear people's points of view I actually think we can keep going with those I just can't know I can't actually because I didn't take the half past break so I do have to quickly take that then I'll be back with more of your comments and guests as well do the 90 noon show with letter Kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102 127 new this week in home store and more all Pyrex kitchen where is all half price that's right half price but better because when all the half price Pyrex kitchen where is gone it's gone also all wall mirrors and clocks and all garden plant pots are still all half price but when all the half price wall mirrors and clocks and all the half price garden plant pots are gone they're definitely gone drop by your local home store and more visit us online at homestoreandmore.ie new store now open in frascati center black rock home store and more a happy home do you suffer from high cholesterol men of all symptoms digestive issues anxiety aches and pains or a lack of energy the highly trained team at the natural way letter Kenny can provide advice on natural remedies for a number of individual health issues the natural way also has its own brand of herbal treatments to help fight fatigue relieve digestive discomfort maintain a healthy immune system and alleviate common menopause symptoms the natural way letter Kenny shopping center your one stop health shop still dealing with frustratingly slow broadband don't wait any longer switch to imagine's high speed broadband today act fast sign up before the 31st of March and get our hero package for just 49.99 visit imagine.ie or free phone us on 1-800-938-407 to upgrade to faster broadband faster imagine broadband is subject to location and availability with a minimum 18 month contract activation fees and annual price change of CPI plus 3% applies see imagine.ie for full TNCs a great breakfast not just a great breakfast but mouth watering burgers delicious chicken succulent steaks and so much more for kids it's not just about pancakes but a full children's menu to choose from first communion and confirmation celebrations also catered for great food and great service every time a kelly's diner letter Kenny winner of best family dining at the Highland Radio Hospitality Awards now more of your comments here surely in Lisa Chambers position of responsibility and her influence as a politician it is her responsibility to do her due diligence before publicly declaring her position and if the politicians who advocated publicly for a yes-yes and now said they voted no-no should take a long look at themselves and why they were spineless. Brad Carr and Finnegell have been lining us up to sell our neutrality to NATO and bankrupt us by buying America's jets we don't need I'm not sure about that but thanks for the comment Hi Greg had me or Martin gagged Lisa Chambers or how she decided to stop digging a bigger hole for herself she promoted and canvassed yes-yes but that side lost big time shortly she will be looking for our votes for MEP position was added only because Maria Walsh said the lineup in the constituency was male pale and stale it's obvious she's not popular in her party Finneville so she's appealing to us the voters when she saw the result of the referendum yesterday's honest interview with TD Padre McLaughlin was the breath of fresh air she and Finne have backed a yes vote in every government referendum for the past 20 years Greg you can't be part of a team and support the other team says the listener last one just before we move on Lisa Chambers guillotine de Bill in the Senate this should be picked up on your show well let me dig into that a little further thank you very much for that keep them coming we're going to return to that in a moment but we're going to talk now to Brenda Donahoe who's network manager with Rural Enterprise Skillnet good morning to you good morning Greg thanks for having me thank you so much for calling in Rural Enterprise Skillnet has a women in construction program for 2024 we've got a bit of notice here because it runs from April the 2nd but not a ton of notice so talk to me about the I think I'm working on it this program why now yeah so I suppose it was roughly about two years ago we kind of recognised that there was skills shortages and as the construction industry themselves have identified and again we looked at women that who would be very much interested in this sector and for different challenges and barriers that were there they just never really embraced that as a career option so we are based in Ballishanon and we are funded through Skillnet Ireland a support agency of the Government of Ireland and we put in an application to offer this course and we're delighted to have received funding through the Government of Ireland in the European Union to run this fully funded program here in Letterkenny as you said starting on the 2nd of April do you think some people see it some women see construction as a male dominated area or but that doesn't mean they're not interested in getting involved in it but they probably see a pathway to what they want to do more difficult absolutely it is predominantly been a male dominated area and there are some great stories coming out recently on females embracing that as a career choice and that's where we saw this as an opportunity after speaking to companies who are looking to hire and looking to hire women because at the end of the day women bring a different skill set to any position and with the add on of the construction essentials that they would get from this program we have worked with industry to ensure that the content would make them job ready at the end of this program so it's a 10 week program 6 weeks in class and 4 weeks work placement all placements have already been secured that is how anxious companies specifically in the north west region are to hire on the back end of this program just one other thing too I mean obviously we need more workers in construction I mean that's a fact there is a shortage and it is having an impact on delivery as well so being a male or female there's great opportunities in the construction sector and with the way things are going there will be for quite some time and a lot of opportunities locally as well for those who want to maintain their lifestyle here in the north west that's right and that's why we were fortunate enough to be able to work with our training partners here in Dunnegal specifically and roll this program out in letter Kenny and like I said most of the stakeholders involved the training providers and companies and people on work placement and I'm very confident at the end of this 10 week program will offer them a position because as you said there's just skill shortages we are crying out for workers we have our ministers shouting out to people living abroad to move back home to work in the construction sector so for me when I was putting this program together it was about how can we engage with a part of the working group that maybe as you said see this as a barrier and women in construction is going to be a new career path for a lot of people and I think based on the content that they have and what funny enough some of the companies have told us some of these participants at the end of this program are going to be more qualified than some of the people already working on site so that's what's great the program has two elements one is the construction essentials where they will be trained on new entry programs for excavators, site dumpers working at heights, location of underground services, the safe path all necessary to work in the construction sector but also the opportunity is going to be there to qualify in health and safety so there's going to be avenues that they can explore it's not necessarily to go into a construction site there's going to be options at the end of this and there's two parts of this because we've taken a very holistic approach to this program we also are going to be offering a work skills development where the participants will work with our trainer and coach for one-to-one career development including CV prep, interview prep and it's really going to be a relaxed fun, confidential journey that these participants are going to come on to a number of women in construction for the most part outside of Ireland and they find it a fantastic experience and they themselves are a member asking them, you know, were they not nervous but did they think they were entering an environment that might be more difficult for them and the general consensus has been no this is a great opportunity because as you mentioned it's a 10 weeks course that you're asking people to dedicate, they have to attend for the 10 weeks full time. There's full certification there's no experience required so that opens the options up for a lot of people a work placement is secured you can't give any guarantees about jobs at the end of this but I think you can confidently say through your conversations that if the candidate is of a certain ability level the jobs will be there it is locally based and it is fully funded so what kind of commitment because we're already getting messages from people that are employed in different work okay nine to five so whatever it might be and they can't attend if it's daytime. So what ways the course run over the 10 weeks? So the course is open to women who are currently unemployed and looking for a new career option. We don't want to displace another job that's another company that's going to have to go looking out so it is for people who are women who are currently unemployed and there's no like I just said no experience required and we have secured everything for them so what we're looking for is a commitment to these 10 weeks and a commitment to accept a job at the end of the 10 weeks and I think that's important to say because this is a big investment so we want to ensure that at the end of this program that we have genuine people who will be accountable for themselves in proving themselves in the placement, in the course that they are going to be a reliable employee and worth the investment from the company on the back end of this program so it is really about just embracing this opportunity you know they're not already available and like I said they're going to be having qualifications that a lot of people currently in employment would give anything to have this opportunity for. In terms of the criteria that you're looking at so say for instance I don't know how many positions you have available but if it's over subscribed how do you determine then who gets the position? So we are going to be holding an interview process and there is an application form because again we want to ensure that we are giving this opportunity to people who are who are committed to participating full time but also committed to get back into the workplace so the criteria is really you know employed female committing to the full 10 weeks and a potential job hire at the end of it they will be fully supported throughout the whole process even beyond the 10 weeks like you know my door will always be open to them to have any kind of conversation discuss any challenge that they've met either in work placement or beyond and like I said the training providers that we have involved in this we're working locally with Safe Tech Training and we are working with one of our top trainers and coaches Brenda Crowley in CMD group you know so it's like I said very much a holistic approach very supported throughout the whole journey and no fear about what's going to happen is needed because you're going to be fully supported. Alright rural enterprise skillnet.ie is where people couldn't go there's a telephone number here as well there's no point in me reading it out there's no R number and we'll pass on that telephone number and an email address if you're interested in it's kind of a quick turnaround isn't it because it starts April 2nd so we're looking at two and a half weeks. It is we started promoting the program and I suppose by the time we got notified on the funding and one thing or another it was and it takes time and then we had to get everything in place so look it's a quick turnaround but it's a great opportunity and the process for this especially around one side of the training which is the new entry for heavy machine operation it is actually a six month process before you get your final certification so I suppose this is where we were thinking let's get the ball rolling and the reason that why I didn't want to delay rolling out the program is again because of the amount of companies looking to hire. Also you push it into winter and you know what sometimes you have to pit look it off the bottom. Okay now so listen it's a full-time program Monday to Friday's times will vary between training and placement. The location of the training plus the placement of course safe tech training unit in Neil T. Blaney Road or Neil T. Blaney Road in letter Kenny. You need to be available from the 2nd of April 10 week course full time you're expected to attend in full of course but you come out of it with full certification a work placement secured and really strong prospects of a full-time job. Are you divulging how many spaces are available? At this time we have 12 places available. And we do plan and run this program we have secured funding over three years so this is kind of like a pilot for this year to see what interest is there. We know we have interest from the business community we know we have interest so now it's just about getting bums and seats like you know so come on if you're female this is a fantastic opportunity it's fully funded you know we've worked closely with a lot of close partners and it's a really good opportunity. And it's 18 plus? Yeah again based on the fact of having a full drivers license to get to and from work and possibly driving on-site and stuff. Okay well you can go to ruralenterpriceskillnet.ie or contact us we'll pass on the mobile numbers or the OperAge limit Caroline what would you make me ask that? I mean we've skirted over that 18 plus is there an OperAge limit? No. Thanks Caroline. She can whisper in my ear you see. You're not leaving me Caroline are you? Be careful now. Don't talk to me earlier on. Don't worry I'm very, very careful Brenda I know which side my bread is buttered on. Brenda Donahere, Network Manager with ruralenterpriceskillnet thank you for joining us. And if you are really out there working in construction and maybe you want to give a sister a bit of encouragement so to speak get in touch with us and tell us what your experience is like if you are a woman working in construction. 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Highland Radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport. You don't visit Liverpool for the weather but it does rain goals at Anfield. Fly to Liverpool daily with Ryanair. Ireland West Airport, don't just take off take it easy. OK dog dryer weather will develop in many areas later this morning and during the afternoon highest temperatures 8 to 10 degrees with light to moderate west or south west winds unusually high tides remain so that may cause some coastal wave rain. All right back with more after the news and the bituary notices. The 9 till noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny Credit Union offering low rate car loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. Your smartphone is a wonderful tool opening amazing ways to connect with friends family and even businesses all over Ireland and across the world whether it's chatting to your family and friends on WhatsApp grab in a bargain or even doing all your daily banking needs through an app your phone or tablet can help you do it all if you wanted to learn how to use all these features on your device now you can with high digital a free online skills course designed with older people in mind available in person and online so if you're ready to unlock your smartphone's potential or know someone who's always wanted to learn more online skills go to highdigital.ie or call 1800 20 30 30 for more information brought to you by Vodafone Foundation and alone are you ready for massive savings with AEG at Irwin expert electrical purchase from now until the 14th of April and claim your cash back at AEG-offords.com experience top notch appliances and enjoy the added perk of cash back delivered straight to 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is Highland Radio news good morning it's Donna Marie Doherty with the news at 10 o'clock Donegal County Council has been urged to do more to support the removal of bulky waste items from the county's islands it's emerged one Islander was charged 300 euro for the removal of old furniture one member of the island's committee John McCaffrey believes designated with collection days would lessen the cost burden on people he's calling on the local authority to introduce provisions to assist Islanders that's a very high cost for getting rid of you know something that we should be able to do quite easily we can on the mainland go to the centres there's one on Donegal but it's getting out not everybody has access to a van or to getting this so we need to have a bit of help from the council that would be fantastic the Vatican has announced that Monsignor Eamon McLaughlin from Donegal has been appointed by Pope Francis to the position of adjunct undersecretary of the formation office to the Dicastery for the clergy this means he's third in command responsible for seminaries around the world Monsignor McLaughlin a native of Downings served in Ruffaud Diocese as a curate in Fintown letter Mac award in Duhry as well as a curate in St. Kenny the HSE continues to appeal to passengers on a Dublin bound flight from Abu Dhabi last weekend to contact them after issuing a measles alert it's the third case of the disease in Ireland so far this year it was confirmed following the arrival of flight EY452 Dublin at 6.30 last Saturday morning any pregnant women babies under 12 months or immunocompromised people who were on board are asked to get in touch with Monsignor McLaughlin editor and owner of Travel Extra Owen Corey says passengers on the flight should watch out for the symptoms of measles if you have any symptoms and if you have been on that flight to contact your GP contact them remotely because you could be infectious don't arrive in the waiting room and the HSE website is burgeoning with lots of great advice on that this week marks the 7th anniversary of the murder of Buncarana woman who was killed while on a backpacking trip in India in March 2017 Vacate Bagcat was later charged with her murder wherever his trial has faced countless delays a go fund me has been set up to see Danielle's mother and sister attend a sentencing which is hoped to take place in June the threat of compulsory renovations under an EU energy conservation law has been removed that's according to Fina Gales Sean Kelly who says an agreement has been reached which the EU's energy performance of building directive will now help people renovate their homes instead of forcing them to retrofit energy saving changes the key here is that it will not be compulsory but there will be incentives there through by way of grants and by way of loans and this thing signal to the finance institutions the idea that this is the way to go so now I think all guns blazing will be able to retrofit both and non-residential houses at a much faster rate and the better way than otherwise would be the case Looking now to weather, drier weather will develop in many areas throughout this morning and the 8th afternoon highest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees with light to moderate west or south west winds on usually high tides may cause coastal wave overtopping that's all from now from Highland Radio news back again with the headlines at 11 o'clock The obituary notices this Wednesday morning March 13th The depth has taken place of Kathleen Hewitt Ney Lynch 12 Holybush Park Port Hall Lifford and formerly of Mullinagong Lifford funeral leaving her home this morning at 10.20 for Rayquian Mass in St Patrick's Church Murlock Lifford at 11am and herment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery the Rayquian Mass can be viewed at clonleyparish.com The depth has taken place of Davey Robb Main Street Newton Cunningham funeral from his late residents this morning at half past 10 going to All Saints Church Newton Cunningham for 11am Rayquian Mass which can be viewed live on churchservices.tv and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery family time please before the funeral today family flowers only please Donations in lieu of flowers if desired to the orthopedic ward letter Kenney University Hospital Kiervenny family member The depth has taken place of William Dunn Middleton 12 Heather Road Upper Creva a service of thanksgiving for his life will take place at his late home this afternoon at 1pm followed by burial in Monterey Presbyterian Church burial ground family time please before the funeral today family flowers only please if desired to foil hospice care of Mrs Ruth Hay funeral director for family information and more details regarding wakes and funerals please visit Highlandradio.com Live score bet would like to welcome you to Cheltenham nestled against the cotswolds it is the perfect place to unwind and refresh your mind body and soul a regency town that's intimate and friendly a civilized place of culture and learning of peace and quiet except for four days of the year no matter who you're backing this Cheltenham festival celebrate with great offers from Live Score Bet T's and C's in account terms apply bet responsibly 18plusgamblingcare.ie and now in rose 2023 best local original news program the voice of the north west the 9 till noon show with Greg Hughes you very welcome back to the program good morning if you're after joining us you managed to miss an interesting first hour I think but it's good to have you on board lots and lots of people messaging texting in as we head towards the bingo numbers I'll read some of those what we need from our representatives in the EU is someone who will put Ireland and her need first no point in sending someone out who is just going to do or go with the EU flow I find myself starting to get annoyed when I see the EU flag flying outside our national schools instead of our own Irish flag it's like programming our kids to be a European rather than Irish and it's interesting I think I can't remember off the top of my head which state it is but there is a state in the US which I'll look up which has banned all flags except the national flag I think it might be public buildings it might be extended beyond that again sorry to bring you bits of information but I'll have a look at that is it just me but every time I hear of new rules or directions or directives from the EU I get a little sense of dread we don't know how it will eventually end up affecting us yeah I suppose it's it depends on what we signed up for as a country and how it will be implemented hi Greg what young person would want to come back to this country to work they are leaving Ireland in their droves not a hope would my son come back from Australia he's living like a king there thank you okay that's I'm glad for him and if you listening or living in Australia want to tell us what life is like please give us an insight 08 660 25000 a call assess if the government all disagree in everything how will anything ever work good question can anyone explain to me what law sanatalecia chambers broke by changing her mind again I expected more of that to be honest with you but I think listeners kind of are seeing through what they believe they're seeing through removing the word mother was the most ridiculous thing ever mother is one of the oldest words in our vocabulary there are plenty of people out there who consider themselves a mother the mother who adopted their child the mother who married someone who already had children so if this amendment had gone through what would these people be called our government should be utterly ashamed of themselves I wonder what Leo and me holds mother thought of their sons trying to rush this through and although why in this day and age are we still using national schools as polling stations most towns have community centers and resource centers why are they not used such a waste of the children's school time and a bit of a pain in the back sides for parents and guardians as well too presumably have to organize childcare or take a day off of annual leave I'm sure some of you out there had to do that Greg all the politicians local and national should be ashamed of themselves and resigned they're all a bunch of traitors to the Irish people hi Greg regarding Lisa chambers is this the misinformation disinformation that the government are accusing the public of doing as far as I see they're the only ones that are giving out the misinformation and disinformation and the media run with it and try and censor everyone else I think shame on them all that wanted to delete woman and mother from our constitution Greg not hard for an experienced tally person to find out what way you were I voted in rural areas out of a poll box not sure in the cities but if some of these flip flops could be worried yeah but there was no thanks for that the reality is is there was only a handful of a couple of tallies people at the camp centre in letter Kenny and certainly couldn't have covered all the boxes so listen I think the reality is everyone knows the majority of people that went in there voted no I agree 100% with what breed said in the first hour Greg breed you had on talking he's saying what we are all thinking that is the voice of the Irish people I think to a great extent a caller says I hear the Sinn Fein party arguing with the government about their bad policy every day it is like hitting a brick wall with your head the tropartheid government just do what they want people keep voting the same parties into power let me see I think Mary Lou has more to answer for thank God Lisa chambers she went out promoting yes when she had her doubts how can a leader of the opposition who had doubt sighed with the government parties we cannot trust anyone anymore vote independence or aim to only option I think the independent Ireland is it is that what the new rural parties called I think they also advocated no no vote again I suppose you know you could only like Lisa chambers came out and voted no no people now are questioning why she did that but we heard from a major political party that backed the government again on an issue and there they are not getting the same level of criticism these politicians who say that they voted no no are probably all not telling the truth they voted yes it's just a canvas for votes that comes in from James Lisa chambers part of McLaughlin and like all the main political parties have very strong principles and if you don't like them then they can happily change their principles for you Greg listening to Highland this past few weeks and every news bulletin there's a counselor or TD on patting themselves on the back calling for this asking for that every time I rolled his resurface they're on social media claiming they got it don't know lobbied for it and every newspaper you lived there are at least half a dozen of them in it must be coming up you never hear them on saying a lobbied for something but I couldn't get it done sick to the teeth of them says a listener okay thank you very much for that one that's a nice comment I'll come back to that in a moment okay yesterday we were speaking to a gentleman and hopefully actually hopefully something might be changing in the background on this we spoke to a person yesterday who is a victim of the defective concrete and they were demolishing the house rebuilding the property and they had a planning application up I don't have the images with me but the freely available on my ex-account or on our website but anyway what it was is effectively the planning application was up the sign that has to go up on site right and there's water damage at the bottom everything is legible you can read absolutely everything except there's a part of a signature missing in a date everything else is there and he was told that that voided or invalidated the planning application and he would have to go back and reapply which could take up to if not more than nine weeks obviously a lot of people say this is bureaucracy gone mad so I think there are the powers that be looking into that with a view to maybe not putting that family and it is a family through another a further nine weeks this caller says though a local man applied for planning permission in my area the planning notice was very very small and almost invisible I rang the planning office and was told that it was only a procedure and of no real relevance another that planning refusal is typical of the whole horror of the process faced by defective block victims nobody's making things easier listening to victims there seems to be a deliberate plan to make things difficult and delay things as well I think that awards are falling well short of real costs we need a complete change of attitude from both officials and politicians that comes in from Liam Mulligan right okay just before the news I want to play a couple of requests if that's okay Patricia Devlin in Altala, Clon Mani 90 today happy birthday to you Patricia from Joe and all the staff at Central Clon Mani Patricia Devlin in Clon Mani I hope you have a lovely day hi Greg could you I wish Katie Gallagher from Church Hill a safe trip to New York Katie is the 2023 Little Miss Mary Katie and is going to represent Dunlowe in New York is she gone yet? I wouldn't mind if we chat to her with mum or dad or granny or granddad's can we find out how excited she is and what she's doing get back in touch with us if she hasn't already departed 08 660 25000 whatsapps and texts and voice notes to that number it's time for Vision Ireland bingo on Highland Radio it's Wednesday the 13th of March you're playing on the blue sheet the reference number is s13 it's game number 11 the numbers are 20 87 46 26 60 18 40 85 86 and finally 6 phone your claim to 9104833 before it's night leave in your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your Vision Ireland bingo information at HighlandRidio.com connect hearing is open for free hearing tests our audiologist is available Monday to Friday for wax removal services at our letter clinic in the courtyards shopping centre we also offer a home visit for those unable to visit us our hearing is our social sense are you finding 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we're having a charity day on Friday I'll tell you a bit more about that in a moment but we're supporting three charities the Irish wheelchair association Donegal, Jigsaw and also the Breast Centre North West and just to educate us a little bit more about the services provided by Breast Centre North West we're joined in studio by Mr Manvidas Valgales who's a consultant breast cancer and general surgeon at lettercanny general hospital good morning to you thank you so much for joining us and Katrina Diver who's been on this programme before Katrina was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and used centre thank you so much for joining us both of you how are you Katrina I'm keeping really well Greg that's good to hear I suppose talk to us about obviously you had the diagnosis and what one has to go through that as much of that as you want to talk about or maybe focusing on the benefits of having access to the Breast Centre North West yeah so it was in March 2021 I was diagnosed with breast cancer but I suppose the really important thing about the centre for me is there was only a two week time lapse from when I first presented to my GP Dr Gill with the lump and being actually told by Mr Sugri that I had breast cancer so at the time that was very scary and overwhelming and I felt my world was being torn apart very very quickly within two weeks but it's only now I suppose that I'm out the other side thank god that I can appreciate how lucky I was to have that quick diagnosis and how blessed we are to have this amazing service on our doorstep here at lettercanny and although it happened so quickly it really was a blessing amazing service that we have here and your life changed in two weeks and in four weeks because your situation was even more unique I suppose but not unique but different to what a lot of women's experiences is because then you discovered you were pregnant yeah that's correct Greg so I had a mastectomy again two weeks following after I was told I had breast cancer two weeks after that I had my mastectomy which is really very quickly but then two weeks after that I found out that I was actually in fact eight weeks pregnant so yeah that brought a lot of I suppose worry and concern with it as well and the service were you know, nursed early in there was just amazing the support in that regard because you had a big call to make was it a decision in terms of putting off the putting off the treatment well I suppose it had never really come to that Greg because it was there were Mr. Sugru and Dr. Duffy were working together you know to give me my my options and it was always a case of you know we'd just delay it it was never it was never put to me that I would have to have my treatment you know you did defer it somewhat so it was deferred for five weeks until I was week 13 of pregnancy but like that there was always somebody there to talk to me and you know help me through and I suppose console me at the time because it was a very extremely stressful and worrying time because you know that this cancer has been grown in your body but you also know that there's a baby and they're growing as well thank God and you know you're just very anxious but you know the support that I received was just incredible and you need that support on you because there's so much going on and really no definitive answers in any of what you were going through with such so really all people can do is you know manage expectations or what have you but also just care for you and how you're feeling because you had lots and lots of questions but really no one could hand on heart give you all the answers yeah that's true Greg and you know I think a lot of it went on the research that had you know the women that had gone before me and you know that they were doing that for me and coming back to me with the answers to my questions and you know I'll be forever grateful as I said for the care and you know the treatment that I received in that centre and you know I'll never forget how good they were to me and it was amazing so you went through treatment and then you had a baby, baby girl your second daughter on the 26th of November 2021 yeah she was born quite small yeah she was 4.10 at the time and then back to treatment for mum yeah so she was 10 days old and she was in the neonatal in Nitter County General Hospital and I was downstairs on the chemo ward back at it and I had 6 more rounds of chemotherapy to receive after she was born so yeah I always think when I passed the hospital now how lucky we were that that service was there within the same hospital that I went up to her for cuddles that morning and that afternoon I was sitting on the chemo ward getting my treatment and you know that is really quite astonishing really isn't it? It really is and then you went on to St Luke's and had 3 weeks of radiotherapy and had a lot back since all's good with you now thank god all is great and you wee baby girl doing good yeah she's brilliant she was 2 in November and she's very much the 2 year old the tantrums, the smiles I was going to say she an absolute nightmare she's absolutely beautiful so it's just me then so it's just my house she's very much the she's beautiful and her older sister Dorothy very blessed and you know I'm grateful to be able to be here today to make people aware of the amazing service that we have because obviously you've got your family network but it's a major thing having a baby and there is a process of recovery whilst you're carrying for the baby as well throwing on top of that everything else that you have to deal with you know I think it's really quite clear how you can speak so highly of this service because you really needed it at that time and you know I often think that I drove past the sign for that breast care centre so many times going to letter kenny coming from letter kenny and when I actually had to go to my appointment I actually had to google where the centre was you know I think we tend to look away it's human nature to look away until you need these things so I think you know it's just very important now to look at this amazing service that we have here and show our support Mr Vargas, I mean this we will add but there's not an awful amount to what Katrina's experience was that's first hand that really just points out the importance of it and two for you I suppose it's you know it's pleasing for you after you have done your work and you continue your involvement with the patient but there is this service there to support them as well yeah no it's a great like to see and to hear the success stories and you see the unit provides a triple assessment service a triple assessment means that every patient with the symptoms they then to have a symptom with trigio-symptoms they have for example a lump they are seen in the breast unit in two weeks and then they have already mammogram ultrasound if needed a biopsy and we preliminary already warned the patient for example if we expect or that results gonna show biopsy it will show that patient has a cancer but overall the patient joining is in a breast unit but it's a teamwork it's not only surgeons you have pathologist, radiologist oncologist, radioncologist and all work as a team and most of the treatment actually could be done here in later Kenny radiotherapy is done in DERI occasionally in Dublin and if a patient needs a reconstruction majority of reconstructions could be done in here as well but one of the reconstructions which is called DIAP flap and the patients we taking a tomi-fat and transferring to the breast that's done together with plastic surgeon so it means we go to Galway to do mastectomy and plastic surgeons do a DIAP reconstruction but if a patient is a candidate for implant based reconstruction it could be done in here if a patient needs to have an oncoplastic procedure which is oncoplastic procedure type of procedure we actually take about 50% of breast volume and we're still shaping the breast and patients still to remain our own breast so this could be done in here as well so a lot of procedures those complex procedures could be done in here in later Kenny locally and are routinely done here locally because it is as we heard from Katrina there it can all happen so quickly but in terms of of course as much as you can catching things early and getting as much done as quickly as possible exactly, so we have our key performance indicators how soon patient should have surgery how soon patient have a chemotherapy or radiotherapy and we try to keep within those key performance indicators sometimes as I mentioned to the patients breast cancer treatment is complex it's not like appendix to take appendix out problem solved so if you have a surgery it's only half of the battle because there's a tendency for cancer to come back so for example adding treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy reduces at risk we make a decision when to give chemotherapy sometimes actually give before surgery and sometimes after surgery so these decisions are made but we're trying to keep within our key performance indicators which are closely monitored by national cancer care program yes and of course there's the physical support but also the emotional and mental support which is an important factor as well yes exactly so it's not as the surgeons talk very much about technicality and the patient journey but the patient have a support from the breast scan nurses we have a cancer care west so a lot of support in terms of information how patient are given information so we always advise patients not to google anything because you can be misleading by google and I think every information you need is provided it's professional most important thing is professional information yes because you know and I know this from experiences in my family Katrina as well you know when the news is given that the cancer is you know I don't know if they still say the old clear or it's an remission or whatever the phrase geology is you know and those around you everyone breathes sigh or leave and all that thank god that's over almost and every individual is different right but you know for the person affected by it some might feel that way and then others I know have great anxiety about cancer returning and what have you so it just doesn't all end as soon as you have that meeting where the surgeon or your medical team are telling you that right we've got it at the moment yeah that's true Greg I suppose my experience is unique I suppose to others that I had a very small baby that needed to be minded and I had you know Dorothy she was just turned three at the time and I suppose I was kept very busy so it was probably couple of months after when it was all over that I kind of went you know what happened there you know and it only really sinks in so I did use the service as of the cancer care west and they were amazing support for me and you know you had someone to talk to there and you know put your worries to ease and you know I suppose the main thing is to try and just keep it in the rear view mirror as much as possible and just try and look forward sometimes it is easier said than done but you know I think I'm very lucky that I have a young family and you know my focus is on them I suppose but of course too you only get to where you need to be in your own mind often through conversation and I find personally sometimes you know with the best will in the world you don't want to maybe burden those closest to you or you don't want to start worrying them and it's nice then to have a other people that sort of you know you can talk things out with the filters off and just get to the bottom of how you're feeling and moving forward so obviously Mr. Bygallas you would see this any funds that can be raised for this center are much needed and will help to maintain and enhance the services exactly thanks for opportunity to speak and thanks for supporting our breast unit and so a lot of funds goes to research we have some research students producer publications open access publications is actually this kind of costly as well our unit have we always need a new equipment there's always something new in the market and I could say that we have let's say a lot of how to find the breast cancer during surgery actually at the moment they're using a special thing called radio tech which is very helpful so we basically put a small clip to the patient for example to the cancer patient have a chemotherapy after chemotherapy I can't feel the cancer so how can locate that we have a special equipment called radar technology localizer we're using interoperative ultrasound in the breast unit they have a tomosynthesis some called a 3D mammogram so basically we're not behind and actually something is even forward to comparing to other hostels in Ireland to what equipment you have and what can you offer to the patients okay listen it's been lovely speaking to you it's great to see you again Katrina and it's been lovely having you in and hopefully now people are really generous and help our three chosen charities because they all service the local area and do amazing things the Irish wheelchair association Donegal, Jigsaw Donegal or the breast cancer centre north west but for now thank you both very much indeed and I'll tell you a little bit more about what's coming up on Friday after these questions brought to you by letter Kenny credit union digital loans now available apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account Foy and company belly buffet in letter Kenny are the largest docus of interior and exterior paint in the north west if you're planning a painting project 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Watson menswear open 7 days a week on main street letter Kenny and Watson menswear.com OK so if you want to help us raise funds for Breast centre north west the Irish wheelchair association and jigsaw please feel free to go on to our website HighlandRadio.com we have a donation page which is up and running for you right now and you can click in there and donate whatever you can afford we really appreciate it and it checks for all three charities and as I say I'll tell you more about what's actually coming up on Friday in a moment but if you wanted to donate whatever you can afford if you can afford something then go on to our website HighlandRadio.com and you will see where you can donate there right OK so lots of people looking forward to this weekend's celebrations including the team at Elevate 55 Elaine Begley is a youth worker at Elevate 55 it's a Donegal Youth Service initiative good morning to you Elaine thanks so much for calling in and Laura Byrne Youth Worker at Elevate 55 at a Donegal Youth Services too Laura how are you good morning thanks for having us it's good to have the dream duo in studio with us yeah the dream team that's it indeed right you know I mean unfortunately culturally not unfortunately it was a reality culturally you know a lot of what we do here's associated with alcohol and St Patrick's Day it can be the same as well but there is a drug and alcohol free event again at Fort St Patrick's Day taking place on Sunday at the loft in Letcher Kennecks formerly the loft it's now Elevate 55 it runs from 12 to 4 very exciting and needed too Laura isn't it that people have an option away from from drugs and alcohol oh well needed we want it as a family event there families to come in meters and take part in all the activities we've got planned we've got a lot organised for the day face painting live music from loads of our local young musicians and we've got food we've got arts and crafts we've got a lot in and just to have a really safe space and a really good fun place because safe doesn't mean not fun exactly just away from booze and drugs you know because not everyone as I say you know it can be quite exclusive the way we celebrate things Elaine talk to me a little bit more about what's coming up then put the F into fun I think that's Donegal use service to a tea though as Laura said it's about creating a safe environment for young people and families to come and enjoy the day as you say culturally we're very set in an alcohol inclusive environment and that's just not something that we want to have in Donegal use service we want to provide a space it's an alternative for drinking alcohol as a young person that used to go to Donegal use service it was my favourite day of the year you know there was no pressure to engage in anything you didn't want to you had somewhere to go and at the end of the day it was just great crack with your friends for sure because more young people don't drink than do there is this presumption that all young people all young people drink which they simply don't but also too it's an opportunity for them and their families to see their peers performing as well it's a great music element of this I think it's great Laura to give of fantastic local musicians an opportunity to play in front of a crowd as well many have already used to it but you know what I mean our music scene is really hopping in the service at the moment we're running the Irish Youth Music Awards and we've got a fantastic cohort of incredibly talented young people and a few of them are going to be performing throughout the day on Sunday so please do pop in to hear them and you'll hear some just great talent yeah and maybe the slightly older children and the teens might enjoy that more but for the younger children too plenty going on Elaine yes loads so as Laura mentioned at the start we have hair braiding face painting arts and crafts t-shirt making and we have lots of nice food for everyone to come and enjoy and there's a great view of the parade just from our second story view so for anybody that wants to come in and potentially escape the rain hopefully we'll get the good weather sunshine and showers so normally if we get bad weather in the morning it clears for the afternoon so I'm pretty optimistic but be that as it may sun rain or hail it sounds like it's going to be a great event what's this about the Irish Youth Music Awards this is a national programme that we're part of we're the Dony Gawel Hub we have 20 young people signed up and throughout the year they have been performing in our monthly gig night it is on a Friday of the month from 6pm we start and they've also been having workshops with our local musician Maria McCormack they've been learning about song writing and then in May they are actually going to perform in the RDS so this come in week no 26th we have a live selection and young people are going to be performing their own compositions and for the chance to perform at the RDS in May as part of the Irish Youth Music Awards brilliant and Elaine you said you were a Dony Gawel Youth Service user in the past and now you're a youth worker so you've seen it from both sides you attended some of these events on St Patrick's Day absolutely so it was set the same for us why was it fun why was it enjoyable as a younger person when you're younger there's a lot of pressure to be drinking and to be out on the streets essentially and to have somewhere to go that you know that you're going to be warm safe and happy and you're going to be around your friends and you know not everybody was lucky enough maybe to be in Littery Kenny Town I didn't grow up in the town so I had to bust it in if I wanted to come and see my friends so it's not like people could just call around to the house so you had a home away from home essentially and that's kind of what you want the young people to feel when they walk in they can come in and get a cup of tea and sit down on the sofa and have a chat and I think that's a huge important part of what we do is having that positive engagement and happiness as well happiness and contentment and all and you know Elaine even in the short period and I presume it's a short period between Laura was you know attending these events and now being a youth worker drugs have become you know more readily available I think you know and being seen as an alternative and an option so you know we have to that is also another thing that young people who aren't interested in that are feeling pressure to get involved in and this is a space where they don't you know they know they're not going to face those challenges yeah exactly it's that supportive environment and if we do have a concern of any young people that we work with then you know it's a really safe environment to talk to them to talk about anything that they might be engaging with any behaviours that might be putting them at risk we really get a chance to form those good solid relationships through that home from home environment that then we can have those conversations and them be meaningful and have some impact on the young people that we work with so that's part of you know coming in the door coming to these events can be a first experience of being part of the youth service that hopefully then young people can grow up through the service as well and be supported and see there's alternatives too because sometimes actually you don't realise or some people may not realise there are alternatives to you know what society it seems expects of us right it's going to be a great day as always because I know it's a huge success in the past and will be going forward it's at Elevate 55 Dave if you haven't been there for a while it's formally the Laught in Letterkenny it's this coming Sunday the 17th 16th to 18th Port Road Letterkenny and it runs from 12 noon to 4pm lots of stuff for the whole family and you're encouraging families to go as a unit aren't you face painting hair braiding t-shirt painting crown making nice food and great live music as well too which as I said it's a great opportunity for young people to perform in front of their peers as well we haven't had that experience yet and is it just turn up drop-in sort of a thing is it yeah yeah our drop-in service is available during the week as well so we're open 12 to 6 how does that work by the way so say I'm a teen or I'm the parent of a teen and I'm saying you know what you might enjoy you might enjoy what they're doing there at the Donegal Youth Service you know and I'm on my own so I don't have a group of friends how does that work so I'm a member of staff on arriving in the building how are you getting on I heard about this place just wondering what's the story yeah and they'll usually be given a tour of the place and we'll just sit down and have a little chat and see maybe are there any groups that they're particularly interested in joining we have loads of groups going on in Donegal Youth Service there's an art group world wide voices a fit for life healthy hacks a gaming group so we've got loads of stuff going on in the evenings they would be closed groups that they would have to get a consent form to sign up to but other than that our drop-in service is Monday to Thursday 12 to 6pm and then on a Friday we're 12 to 9 and Saturday is 2 to 6 and both you Elaine and you Laura I'm sure you see the change in people you know maybe someone not everyone's the same some people come up with confidence for days but you know a person coming in how they are at that moment because it probably is a big deal a couple of weeks down the line it must be lovely to see that progression of a young person yeah like we see young people come in and you just see something clicking them they've found their people and there's some young ones that I know that came into a summer camp and might have been struggling with friendships initially and now they come regularly to a couple of our groups and they've built themselves a really core strong group of friends that they've met through our service and they continue to build throughout the service they couldn't keep Elaine away and honestly I think it's so important for people to hear this that I had that I met through Donegalia Services as a teenager I have now gone into my 30s you know it's lifelong connections that you're building there so if there's anyone out there that is maybe feeling a bit alone or feeling that they don't have their circle please come and talk about it do you know what sometimes and I think particularly young people but then you know people as adults can feel it but you kind of learn that it's not really the cases you get older like you think you're on your own you can think you're on your own that no one understands you that people don't get you that there's no one like you and really you know we are all different but there's an awful lot in an awful lot of ways we actually really are quite the same you just have to you just have to find those people and what better way to do it at Elevate 55 part of the Donegalia Services services all right Elaine Laura both of you thank you very much enjoy Sunday as we'll be working away of course but also get to enjoy the music I'm sure it's on Sunday March 17th it's at Elevate 55 on the Port Road in Lethercanny 16 to 18 everybody's welcome families of all ages as well both you Elaine Begley and Laura Byrne thanks so very much back with more shortly Wifiers are advised to cut back or remove any vegetation or other combustible material in the vicinity of their house, building or oil tank to prevent wildfires damaging or destroying their property cleared areas should be maintained free of vegetation and combustible material Donegal County Council would also like to remind landowners and members of the public that under the Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000 it's an offence to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated between the first day of March and the 31st day of August in any year landowners are also reminded that the burning of agricultural waste at any time of the year is an offence under the waste management regulations 2022 Donegal County Council protecting your environment 165 euro muckbar 10 compartment feeder now 179 euro newtrius ovigold and bovigold mineral range by 2.5 litre get 1 litre free and there's 10% off the plexi thin classic waterproof jacket and trousers in store and online at homeland.ie nationwide delivery available offers available until March 31st thinking of changing your floors why not see what Florid Letter Kenny has to offer Florid have a large selection of solid carbonate click vinyl wood flooring together with a fantastic choice of parquet herringbone flooring all at incredible value don't delay call Florid today on 087 161 7 008 a highland radio weather updates with Ireland West airport time to book that business trip to London fly daily to London Stansted and Luton with Ryanair and London Heathrow with Erlingas Ireland West airport don't just take off take it easy right let's look at that weather forecast for today and I can tell you that I'm cloudy in damp this morning with patchy rain and drizzle though that is easing to leave a drier weather for the afternoon in most areas temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees right Seamus joins us on the program now Seamus thank you for your time today I am doing good Seamus and this is a conversation isn't it about the positive experience you had with the health service the story goes back down goes back to 2020 you had an operation for cancer isn't that correct I had an operation for cancer and some teams in Dublin in 2020 and then Seamus in six in 2020 and I got out of hospital and started with 21 again okay and it was a tough old journey I hope you're doing well did the operation that you have leave you more prone to choking or difficulty with digesting Seamus yeah well how's that as a treatment on the most and on the neck and it's hard enough almost as I'm still working on both speech and language well see and improve but I have to believe in everything I can also see you just as well but sometimes maybe some of the stuff doesn't get very well and I would talk occasionally you know and experience but you get read the way so we pop and go after we panic too much so tell us what happened to you on Sunday then because that's the start of your experience the most recent experience yeah well I was just having a bit of dinner and I ended up with my bed and then I used peas and some peas is very hard to blend even though it's hard to get another bed so I used some frozen peas and I but I think that's probably what it was you know I don't know coffee and spotting to try and get rid of it but blood come into the stage and then I painted the chest and stuff so it was scary and you know so I was going to drive into the canyon and I thought no well should I should I not so I decided I would phone and out of and they put back to me and talk me through it and then put me on to on to the humble service so at that point Seamus are you coughing or is it just that you know something's there and it's discomfort like when the food stuck there is it difficult for you to communicate or I know you mentioned about a tightness in your chest and what have you but would I know that you were choking is it like choking in traditional sense and well it would be but I would be choking anyway as well now you're here coming up for missiles like you know I tried to drink a bit of water but I have to be careful because a bit of food would go down and so long would you know the food won't go down either so it's choking and choking and so it speeds out again when you try to talk I've no experience like you've experienced but I have had that situation where by food was stuck and drank water and the water sat on top of the food and then started coming up so I know exactly what you I don't know exactly what you're talking I have an understanding I think of what that must be like I don't know so then the ambulance came off to hospital is it obviously well there's a guy who's just talking before we had to go away there was a big supporter as well at the same time and then the ambulance came and it was squared up in the back ambulance while the pipes the person and stuff like that and then the ambulance there was no explanation by the way on top of that again and when I'm there and so they I can't remember but I was there and I've seen it by different anesthetists by different doctors and stuff and I tried to put this thing during this sort of involvement but it didn't go up either and so what eventually freed what eventually freed the blockage because it was Monday until such time early hours of Monday did it just free itself or how did the blockage end up being freed I freed myself I had my own life and during that I was in my bed and I was 19 I was on ward and then in the night I was in the bed and I think I was in the house so I just started going I always know when it goes and there's a bit pop out of it so I kind of get here and pop it and it goes and it's clear so I took myself a lot out of it and you've gone, that's easier that must have been a great relief and I suppose even being in hospital alone there were medical professionals around you was a bit of comfort time as it relieved itself to thank everyone who was involved in your care for what they did for you yeah, definitely yeah, because it was 100% something that they can I guess bad publicity and stuff like that you know and I was waiting but after a week and an hour it didn't take that long at the same time you know it was enough for two seconds and thank them all very much for all of them now they'll have dramas for me and for them to staff in the hospital and get them back in the suits and have something else in the morning before their home nap you know okay, well listen I'm glad you're doing all right now a horrible experience for you Seamus but as I say made tolerable by the great care that you got important as you say to highlight the positives as well as highlighting negatives where they might exist glad to hear you're doing okay Seamus, I'm lovely to talk to you okay, great thank you very much indeed right can you find out why there's nothing on in the Twin Tans for St. Patrick's Day please we have to take our kids out of town wow okay normally there is I didn't know and I don't know what it means but I hope I haven't done anyone a disservice but if there isn't anything on in the Twin Tans why not could you mention about the charity Breakfast Brunch happening in Wilkins Bar Church Hill it's on St. Patrick's Day from 10am to 1.30pm and it's in aid of the three guided charities off the 10k the only thing Senator Lisa Chambers did was prove she has a personal life another I was this is actually really quite important it's a horrible situation so listen up because maybe you weren't aware that you might have been involved in this I was at the mission service in Creasley yesterday morning that's Sister Breed she was in with us she attended that but anyway after the mass this listener came discovered that her car was damaged and the person who did it left no message to say they did it so this person a lady drives a blue Nissan Micra they want to know did anyone see this happening I need a new back bunker I need a new back bumper which could be expensive now it's very possible that the person did this damage and maybe didn't quite realise it so if you believe you may have been in collision with a blue Nissan Micra I'm sure you don't want to be responsible for this lady having to spend the money through no fault of her own or maybe you saw what happened and you can offer this lady a bit of advice or help it was a blue Nissan Micra it was damaged during the mission service in Creasley yesterday they only discovered the damage when they come out afterwards alright so can you help with that please we were talking earlier on about a course to get women into construction Jade sorry Jude says why is it only open for females because there's obviously a gender imbalance in construction and it's a particular it's in a particular not survey project to try and address that I presume is it a full time course or is there an evening option I'd be interested in working in construction but I work full time at the minute I just don't have time before 11 but I work I'll read this again I'd be interested in working in construction but I work full time at the minute can't afford to give up my job but I'd be willing to learn part time I evening weekends to get a qualification plumbing electric that sort of a thing it is a full time course it's a 10 week fully dedicated during the day situation there is no other options and also to they don't want to displace someone from another job either but it's funny you should say about looking to get a qualification in plumbing electrics etc because we were speaking at when we were up in car and Donna last week and I think it was the I think it was the local co-op or the local one of the local groups anyway it just escapes me at the moment that they started doing it wasn't that I'll tell you who it was in a minute they started doing DIY courses and for women particularly because they work with women and we were talking about them ahead of international women's day and there was a massive demand for it they announced it and there was like 40 places all of a sudden from women applications from women who wanted to learn skills such as you know plumbing and electrics and what have you so there's a huge demand out there for it seems for women to upskill in that regard Dear Highland please accept my gratitude for airing the interview yesterday morning and allowing people to speak freely I particularly wish to thank Greg for speaking clearly and truthfully about the situation in Gaza God bless you and God help us all that comes in from Liz in letter Kenny alright if you see you have to call it out the 90 noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union with monster loans available up to 60,000 euro for all occasions visit letter Kenny see you dot IE the lotto jackpot is an estimated 4.5 million euros play responsibly in-store in-app or at lottery dot IE the national lottery it could be you return Arland's deposit return scheme is now live and we're bringing it back in addition to a refundable deposit on return logo plastic bottles and cans during the transition period there may be a deposit on drinks containers that don't have a return logo but remember if you pay a deposit you'll get it back when returned to reverse vending machines in participating shops nationwide let's get returning together and ensure better recycling for Arland for more visit return dot IE it's time to visit Arland's newest Lexus dealership Lexus letter Kenny with 50 years of experience 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good morning the T-Shuck is questioning why some the Fianna Falls politicians only announced they were on the winning side of the recent referendums after the votes were counted Fianna Falls Senator Lisa Chambers and TD Willi O'Day says they went against the government's campaign and voted no in last Friday's vote Lee Overadker says he doesn't expect the issue will affect Fianna Gale's relationship with its coalition partners funding support of 4 million euro the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund it's in a bid to tackle long term vacancy and dereliction in the Kennetown Centre 44 vacant or derelict properties have been identified as having the potential to be brought back into use as homes the Vatican has announced that Monsignor Eamon McLaughlin from Downing's has been appointed by Pope Francis to the position of the Adjunct Undersecretary of the Fermanition Office of the Dicastery for the Clergy it means he is now one of the leaders of the community around the world he's also the Vatican official responsible for seminaries and the formation of priests around the world this week marks the 7th anniversary of the murder of Bunkrana woman Danielle McLaughlin the 28 year old was killed while on a backpacking trip in India in March 2017 the get baguette was later charged with her murder however his trial has faced countless delays a GoFundMe has been set up to see Danielle's mother and her sister the Gardie are continuing to question a man after issuing a nationwide alert over alleged false imprisonment of a woman an appeal for information was made on the whereabouts of a yellow van in Dublin city centre yesterday afternoon following a public order incident in Wicklow within the hour the van was located in Mayo and a man in his 40s was arrested while a woman in her 30s was found safe and well that's all for now from hiding video news back again at 12 9 live score bet would like to welcome you to Cheltenham nestled against the Cotswolds it is the perfect place to unwind and refresh your mind body and soul a Regency town that's intimate and friendly a civilized place of culture and learning of peace and quiet except for four days of the year no matter who you're backing this Cheltenham festival celebrate with great offers from live score bet T's and C's in account terms apply bet responsibly 18 plus gambling care dot IE okay we were speaking earlier on about the rural enterprise skill net women in construction program for 2024 it's running from April 2nd into June this year it's six weeks plus four weeks work placement it runs during the day there's 12 spaces left we've had a number of calls for people looking to get involved in it it is for women of course and there is certification through the whole process and then very likely job opportunities which is all very exciting and then I put the call out there I put the call out there for anyone working in the industry to maybe get in contact with us Dervula Walsh joins me now by Zoom Dervula did your mother throw you under the bus or have I found myself speaking to you this morning Hi Greg, how are you? Yeah definitely it was mum I was all native stew she was listening she was in work this morning she had given me the call and says Greg is looking for females in construction get on it because this is something you're actually really quite passionate of and you point out at the moment only 7% of those working in construction are women but that is a percentage that's increasing is it Dervula? I think so Greg I only heard these stats because obviously it was international women's day last week so I worked for Turner Townsend at the moment I'm a company based in Dublin and we went to the international women's day it was a seminar that was held in the Castlemaw Hotel and it was just it was very interesting to hear that it's only 7% of the workforce in Ireland at the moment is female it is obviously a stat there that has risen over the years because there was a time that there was no females really in the construction industry so obviously we're going in the right direction but it takes myself and other females that are in this industry to try and promote it and put it out there that it is very much so a career for a female and there's so many opportunities and so many different paths that you can go down so I think this here program that's being held is really really appealing for young females or females of any age to go in and see there as apprenticeship and learn and perhaps even go even further from that well this wasn't necessarily if I had asked you when you were 13 what do you want to be when you grow up you know I want to be a quantity surveyor to some extent you stumbled into this industry talk to me a little bit about that I definitely did so obviously there's no one in my family that's in the construction industry so very much so fell into it it was actually just from the ATU Kenny it was an open day and obviously there's stands and there's all different sectors there and I actually met the head of engineering so I kind of bumped into whenever I was there and she was like have you gone through all the stands today have you gone over if anything stands out to you and I said no not really to be honest I don't have a clue what I'm doing as a 16 year old girl stand there being like what do I want to do for the rest of my life so she just said to me why don't you try the engineering sector she goes there's an awful lot of careers so she was like there shouldn't start naming out civil engineering, mechanical engineering quantity surveying so she's named out all these different career paths and I was like alright okay this is a female and she's obviously doing amazing she's the head of engineering here in the ATU in letter Kenny and I was like right okay let's give this a go so I just kind of went and I talked to the lecturers that was on the stand, past students that was on the stand and you know it was just okay I don't really know what else to do but this sounds good and there's plenty of career opportunities at the end of it so let's give it a go and here I am I've graduated in 2017 I went to London for a few years I worked for a company called Linesight over there and got really invaluable experience while I worked there and now I move back returned home to Ireland working for Turner Townsend and yeah it's been fantastic and I've really enjoyed the career today now it's quite clear obviously this is a male dominated workspace 93% are males okay but I don't think we should presume why that is it might have come up actually during conversation on International Women's Day why do so few women I want to choose because I don't think we should we should presume because we could be presuming the wrong things I mean you obviously would have your insight but are there any other insights as to why so few women choose this option I think it is just obviously I don't want to say obviously we've come from Ireland it's quite rural and I suppose those conversations aren't necessarily had I know it has improved an awful lot over the last couple of years but in previous times I suppose as a female it's very much so no no that's a male career you don't go down that route and it's just trying to open up the eyes of females of it shouldn't be just this is for this is the male root and this is the female root because it's just the career options I do think obviously we are very much so male dominated in this industry but it is changing and it is a career for a female and it's very appealing for a female but yeah it's just if me and you were twins as unlikely as that might seem for anyone watching the program because I'm way better looking than you if me and you were twins and we had different parents it wasn't your mom and dad or my mom and dad I don't want to personalise it like if we were at 10 I wonder if for Christmas or birthday might you be bought a feminine toy and I'd be bought a digger and a dumper truck do you know what I mean I have no issue with that and I'm not getting into the gender roles debate because it's a bloody mind field but it does plant seeds early on really as to what might be expected from a girl growing up versus what might be expected from a boy growing up I think so it definitely is and that's a big thing of hopefully it's trying to convince people and trying to, the International Women's Day it was all about inspiring inclusion and that was the theme of 2024 but it's just trying to get that word out there like aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters if it is these young like as whenever I was younger it wasn't a career that I would have even thought about so it's trying to get the older people to have try and convince the younger generation and try not to put those roles based on you as you said get the dumper truck or get the this is not about feminising boys or making girls more masculine it's just accepting that a girl can be a girl or a boy can be a boy or whatever it might be but still have an interest in you know construction or the equal opposite in the other direction from your experience in the construction industry right start on the bottom working your way up in all different areas of it though did you have to, do you feel that you were treated fairly the whole way did you have to sort of prove yourself a little bit more maybe than other guys that came in at the same time or did you feel you were treated equally because you've had a great experience in different areas as well Yeah, do you know it's kind of perception on myself like I would have felt myself going into the work environment like I remember being in London majority of my meetings I was always going in and it was just there was a room full of men so obviously it is intimidating as a girl who is 24, 25 years old coming out of college and just stepping into that world but it was very much so in my head I was like right I need to have a voice I need to step up and be seen and be heard here so that I am taken seriously just purely because of the fact that I was in her room full of men and I don't know if that is the way it's meant to be or not but I suppose whenever you are in this industry and there are so few women you want to be known and heard and you want your voice to be heard and you want to be taken quite seriously so obviously yes it is different I suppose it's normal because you know whether it's real or not we are sort of conditioned to sort of establish our own limitations but you know of what other expectations are of us so we have to work through that you would then obviously encourage women to take up the option of these 12 spaces listen they are going to sell out anyway but I think D'Arville it's been really insightful to actually you know especially I think the timing is perfect because international women say you are attending events along those lines and this coming up it's like it's worked out well congratulations to your mom and she'll never most definitely and see for the gears that are applying for the apprenticeship I think it's fantastic and do you know if there is anyone out there that does want to reach out to me at any point just I'm on LinkedIn I do get messages quite a lot and it's great to see because I try to reach out to all these younger people that do reach out to me and ask for advice so if anyone does want to reach out they can reach me on LinkedIn and obviously my name is just Derfle Walsh to see this. It's been great chatting to you. Thanks so much for spending the time and continued success in your career. Thank you so much. Take care. Thank you. That's Durvala Walsh, a quantity surveyor who's doing really well. If you feel inspired by Durvala's comments, or if you maybe want a young person in your family to hear that interview, it'll be on our podcast in the third hour, right at the start of the third hour on our website, HighlandRadio.com, from about one o'clock. And also if you want them to watch it back, you can see it again on YouTube or Facebook a little later on. If you want more information about that Rural Enterprise Skillnet course, Rural Enterprise Skillnet.ie, or we've got telephone numbers and email addresses that you can contact us on here. Right, so on Friday, this charity day that we have, it's Highland's birthday. We've got the birthday concert coming up on Tuesday, I believe. Tickets gone really fast for that. If you do want to go to that, it's going to be a wonderful night of entertainment and celebration. Give us a call here or go on to theoutlet.com. But on Friday, we're mixing things up in terms of programming. In the morning, we're kicking things off with Jimmy and Paul. They've got a naughty Friday morning sessions. Loads of great music, live music as well, loads of interesting guests. From nine to ten, I don't actually have the list Caroline, so I'm doing this off the top of my head. John Bresen is in the hot seat and he has comedians in and they're going to have a Friday panel with a difference. It's not called the Friday panel, but that's the kind of buzz. Ten to eleven, Lee Gooch and myself will be presenting a live interactive auction and we have some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including, well, I can't go through them right now because I don't have them in front of me and I don't want to, I don't want to mislead anyone, but we're already having bids on them, but there's some brilliant prizes and hopefully we'll have a bit of fun between ten and eleven. Between eleven and twelve of them, we have Finula Rabbit on this side of the desk. She's going to be hosting that's entertainment, that's entertainment from Finula Rabbit. I could be gone by the time all these people come into this slot and it's better than me, I could get the sack, but anyway, you know what, I might take construction, it sounds fantastic. Then from twelve to one, there's a wonderful nostalgia hour for you to look forward to where we'll look back on the rich 34-year history of Highland Radio, Catastonal involved in that and others as well. And then it goes on and on, there's some great programme, there's a loose women's style programme coming up then as well. After that we're down to the Latter-Kennys Shopping Centre. Oshin Kelly's Country Jamboree, really looking forward to that. He is actually going to be singing live, by the way, if you're interested. Oshin Kelly, thanks to a 200 euro donation, he's going to be singing Las Vegas and the Hills of Donegal live at Latter-Kennys Shopping Centre. How exciting, call down and see that as well. Brendan Devaney, if you want him to sing a song, donate, we'll get that sorted as well. And then after that, David James has a special jukebox style show where you can make small donations and get a song played. It's not contrary as such, it might be contrary. It's a mixture of whatever it is. If you pay fire, you can pick whatever it is. And then there's a lovely show then in the evening where we've got a group of DJs who work across our programme and coming together. It's a DJ mash-up, quite literally, not the music, the actual DJs. They'll be reminiscing, chatting and a bit of a quiz in there as well. And we'll be encouraging you if you can. And I know things are tight and I know we're trying to stretch our money as best we can, but some of us do have a little bit to spare. And if you can, we'll be asking you to donate and you can donate right now and support our charities, which are Cancer Care North West. Of course, we also are supporting Jigsaw, the Mental Health Charity and the Irish Wheelchair Association, who are always doing amazing work. So please tune in Friday and dig deep where you can. The county's number one talk show, The Ninetal Noon Show on Highland Radio. The Ninetal Noon Show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union, offering low-rate car loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. Charlie McLeafordy Funeral Directors, serving Letter Kenny in the surrounding areas for over 100 years. Charlie McLeafordy Funeral Directors and our family take care of your family and guide you through a difficult time. After a long, hard day, treat yourself to something luxurious. Your drive home. The sleek new Nissan X-Trail has a dreamy, luxurious interior and is now available with e-power, Nissan's unique hybrid driving system that lets you experience the pleasure of electric driving without the need to plug in. And it's available in five or seven seats, so even the school run feels like a spa break. The all-new Nissan X-Trail with e-power, drive it to believe it. Book your test drive today at your local Nissan dealer. Nissan, innovation that excites. It's time to laugh out loud. Tommy Marin here, my new Irish comedy play, Matches and All Flames, comes to Letter Kenny. And she said one was longer than the other. Daisy, how will I spell other? U-D-D-E-R. Matches and All Flames on Grain On Letter Kenny, Friday, March 29th and Saturday 30th. Book now at ongrainon.com. Make more meals for less with Dunn Stores, where you'll save in the aisle with ingredients for a traditional full Irish. That's eight pork sausages, just one euro. A pack of unsmoked rashers, one euro, 99. Six fresh eggs, only one euro, 40. And all your other breakfast favorites, all from the Dunn Stores range. Plus, you can save at the till with a five of 25 grocery voucher. Dunn Stores, always better value. Terms and conditions apply, voucher can be used on Nixon Store grocery shop of 25 euro or more. The Highland Radio Birthday Bash featuring Margot and Special Guests. Tickets are 30 euro each and are now available at Highland Radio, the Mount Terrigal Hotel, Letter Kenny, Alexander's Bali Buffet, Simpsons Bar, Cardona and the Coupe Dunlow. For further information, call the station on 9125,000 or check out the outlet at HighlandRadio.com. Now it's time for our regular feature, Wellness Wednesday, when we focus on health matter, be it mental health, physical health or anything around that. Today, we are joined by Gronja Byrne, who is a woman's health advocate and founder of NORMA, an education platform for intimacy education. Good morning to you, Gronja. Thank you for your time today. Hi, Greg. How are you? Thank you so much for coming on. I'm doing really good and it's nice to speak to you. Right, today, we're going to focus on vaginismus. Yes, it's quite a difficult one to pronounce, isn't it? Yes, yes, it is. Yes, so vaginismus, Greg, is really how I describe it is that it's a pelvic floor dysfunction, but there's also a psychological element to it, right? So our pelvic floor, it controls a lot of things, right? So we go to the loo, also sexual functioning, bladder, bowel, all that jazz, so a lot of it is going on. And what vaginismus primarily is, is a difficulty or it feeling impossible to actually insert something vaginally. So that could be, you know, from your finger, a tampon. It can also be when you're trying to get a medical exam. And a lot of people find trouble when they are trying to be intimate with a partner or try to, yeah, try to actually do penetration in that way. Is it always physical and mental, if that's the right way to describe it? Is it always a combination of both or can it also be one or other? So there can be actually loads of reasons, Greg, as to why vaginismus gets triggered. So it can be primary, which means that, you know, you felt like you've always had it or it can be secondary as well. So something might have happened, such as it can be from having an infection and it can be from, you know, postpartum or menopause. You know, you might have a dryness as well. And basically, a lot of people actually jumped to the conclusion that there must have been some sort of trauma or sexual trauma to have occurred. And this can be true, but by no means is it the only thing that actually triggers it. And it's actually kind of a lot of the time down to a lack of proper sex education. Yeah, and also a lot of just general information and conversation. I would imagine for the majority listening today, vaginismus, they've heard that phrase for the first time, but that doesn't mean it is rare. It just means we're only really being able to. So I think we're only really talking about these things more now, but also there's people like you that are advocating and speaking publicly as well. So as I say, whilst knowledge of it might be rare enough, it is quite a relatively common experience for women. Absolutely, absolutely. And as you said, it's not it's not. People actually consider it also that when there is pain or discomfort down there, especially if it's during sex or during any type of exam, that it's actually normal or to be expected, whereas it's not normal. But it is very, very common. So we know that one in five females experience this during intimacy, like pain and discomfort when they're trying to insert something. There's going to be very many, many other females that are putting this down to something else, I presume, as well. Or not getting it diagnosed. You know, it's just the way I am. It's really what I was trying to say. Absolutely. And with Norma, the platform that we have, we've done a lot of research interviewing women about this and what is stopping women actually about 25 percent of women that we've spoken with. They actually fear that when they go to, if they do go to a medical profession, such as a GP, that they won't get the answers they need. And also, of course, it is quite a taboo area, right? A lot of the time when we go into GPs and especially as women, we might think that our issue will be dismissed. So that kind of that there's that element that does come into as well. And it is, I suppose it's when those sexual well-being issues are not addressed in a GP office. It's not because they shouldn't be. It really is because they should be. It's just that we are actually not used to those issues being talked about openly as well. But that is changing. Yeah. And like, I mean, we you've touched on an awful lot and how it can impact on someone's life, but really quite worrying. I would imagine is that women, we know the importance of smear tests and what have you. And often we're looking for excuses not to go and get ourselves checked out. I just would worry that there could be quite a proportion of the population with vaginismus who actually perhaps either don't go to or put off going for something as vital as a smear test, which is makes potentially much more serious as an already serious condition is. Absolutely, Greg. Yes. No, even it's it's really around that kind of fear element. So it's it actually from a lot of women who we spoken with, people actually forego getting their smear test done because of that as well. So it is a massive factor and it does make it a lot more serious. Because I suppose when we look at another type of we call them, I suppose, in a medical sense, sexual dysfunctions. I just think in terms of vaginismus, it's actually your body protecting you in terms of your pelvic floor muscles tensing. So I would look at it in that way. But when we look at other types of sexual problems, such as erectile dysfunction, that kind of industry has been there for quite a while around that. So we know the likes of Viagra. We have lots of solutions around that that we can do. Whereas with vaginismus, because it's a lot more multifaceted, it can be hormonally related. It can be physical trauma or it could be psychological as well. I hate to say this, right, but also it affects women. And I just wonder, in terms of a research perspective, if this was fellas that were being interrupted, perhaps in their sex lives, we'd have come up with what we already have, wouldn't we? We'd have already come up with a solution. And like, I know people might go, here he goes again, but sometimes you just have to look at the evidence and facts and you can't help but wonder, is that a factor? Absolutely, no. And to that point as well, Greg, about five times more research exists on erectile dysfunction than it does on sexual pain and vaginismus. So that just shows you around the kind of it's been, perhaps, not an area of focus within women's health research and health research overall, and it does get a lot less funding in terms of research. So if this, in terms of treatment, I presume it depends on what the trigger is. You know, if it is something that's psychosexual in nature, perhaps maybe it can work through through a counsellor or what have you or working or engaging with your partner or just with yourself. If this is a solely physical response, has anything been figured out yet in terms of addressing that? Absolutely, yeah. So actually, to go back a bit, what I would recommend to somebody if they are experiencing anything like this is obviously the first port of call would be their GP, right? Because what you want to do is rule out if there's any physical obstructions or physical problems that, you know, are actually triggering this. Yeah. And so that would be the first thing that I would recommend to anybody. The second thing is you hit the nail on the head there. If you are experiencing emotional problems around around intimacy or it could be around fears, around penetration and the sex therapist is phenomenal for that and they can help you explore those fears and understand why it's happening. And what I think it is as well as a pelvic floor physiotherapist is someone else also who has the key to really helping people who have vaginismus. I wish that I was referred to one when I had when I was diagnosed initially with vaginismus and what they can do is really help you to like to actually assess your pelvic floor and looking at the tension. We know a lot of the time that people go to pelvic health physiotherapists because they've had a baby and but people are kind of that's people kind of assume that that's the only time you'd actually go to a pelvic health physiotherapist and a pelvic health physiotherapist can help you also all throughout life with all different types of problems as well. But so that's what I would recommend if when you do go to your GP, hopefully they will they will refer you on to a gynecologist, which would be able to rule out anything in terms of the ripples of this, you know, could be quite great. It can have quite an impact in people's lives because it can have an impact on people's relationships. And then, you know, who's to say it wouldn't be like us, but a fellow could start getting insecure. You know, let's take let's make this our problem. You know what I mean? And I just but you know, it's a reality, you know, that that's the next thing, you know, and it's self-perpetuating, isn't it? Because if there's a psychosexual element to it, I presume that the more of an issue it becomes that the more worse it could get, whether at least it could be harder to deal with. So it's certainly something worth talking about. Are our GPs well educated in this area? Granja, do you know, I'm just wondering are a lot of women going to the GP and and talking about this or are there alternative sort of pathways to getting a diagnosis, stroke treatment or maybe our GP's are fantastic and have a great understanding of it. Yeah, no, definitely. I work with a lot of medical professionals as well, both from advisors as well. What we find is that that GPs don't get the training that they deserve on these types of psychosexual issues across the board. And even to the point that gynecologists in the UK, in Ireland, they basically don't get the training either. So you're going and doing your masters, which is specialising in gynecology and you're only getting part of a lecture on psychosexual issues. Whereas people come into the clinic in the gynecology every single day and are presenting with these problems. It's one of the top three concerns that actually gynecologists face when they when they get clients in the door. So we said one in five diagnosed diagnosed cases anecdotally and maybe it's it's unethical. But I don't think it is how prevalent you actually think it is, you know, be in, you know, like slightly impacting on people's lives versus, you know, the extreme where it causes great difficulty. So it's one in five officially. Where would you put that figure anecdotally, I wonder? So I would, in terms of like the severity of the condition, so it is an absolute spectrum. So you might be able to actually have, you know, when we look at intimacy, you might be able to have a successful, you know, penetration, penetrative sex. However, it might be really painful or you might have to stop and to the point where on the other hand, this side of the spectrum it might be just impossible even at the thought of it. So you might, I mean, but what actually, and this is this month is actually endometriosis awareness month. And I think it's also it just goes to show as well that from all of our and from all of our qualitative research speaking with people, and we know that one of the main reasons that, you know, people with endometriosis, their quality of life is impacted is because of the the sexual problems they actually experience. And that is painful sex and vaginismus. So eight out of 10 women who have endometriosis also experienced pain during sex and people with endometriosis are probably make up about 10 percent of the female population. Yes, I'll say where you go with that. Yeah, indeed. OK. Right. It's it's been very interesting and educational for an awful lot of people out there. I would say there's there's going to be people saying, what are you talking about that stuff on the radio for? But anyway, that's fine. We have to do we don't have to do these things. It's the right thing to do. But also, I think for there's going to be people listening that have got a name on something they've lived with. Yeah. You know, and I presume to dependent on the triggers or the cause, you're going to have people that this will come and go in their life. Yes, I'd imagine that so they'd have periods of it being, you know, encroaching on the life and others where things seem to be. Right. OK. Thanks for that, Grania. Is there sort of like a go to place with more info? Is it normal, generally speaking, and it has subsections or where would you direct listeners who want more info? Obviously, we're directing them to GPs, right? But I'm on about like if they want more information just to read up a bit more. Yeah, absolutely. So I can point you to our socials, which are the handle is at fail norma and the website is www.failnorma.com. So can you spell that for me just to make sure we can do. So F double E L and then Norma is N O or M A. Fill normal and drop the L. That's what you have to do. That's it. That's it. Exactly. Listen, thanks, Grania. I enjoyed that conversation because when you're learning, it's good. So thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thanks, Greg. Bye bye. Take care. That's Grania Buran, woman, health advocate and founder of Norma. If you want more information, go to feelnorma.com. So it is actually feel normal, but no well at the end. I hope that's actually simplifying and not making it more complicated. All right, that was Wellness Wednesday. All right, hopefully that's helped someone out there. That's all it needs one person to hear that and go right. OK, and it sets them on a path and we get those calls back all the time. You know, you're chatting to someone two or three years down the line in relation to something and they say, you know, I was actually listening to your show or whichever show is this is not about me. But I was actually listening to your show when I heard this person on and then this happened and their lives are improved. And that is incredibly satisfying because that's what we're here for. Watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com. Business Matters in association with the Faculty of Business at ATU Donegal. For a career in financial governance, consider the Level 9 MA in governance and IT and financial services. Call 911 86 206 or email Donald Hanigan at atu.ie today. OK, next up on the show for business matters. And we're joined in studio today as usual, of course, by Chris Ashmore. Very good morning to you, Chris. Good morning to you, Greg. Right, the podcast is live for you right now. We'll tell you a little bit more about that later on. But first, let's get some business news and a funding boost for business in the Gailtuk. Yes, funding of almost two million Euro has been approved for Udras and the Gailtuk to boost the Irish language in Gailtuk businesses. Now, this is geared towards the service, retail and hospitality sectors. And it's likely that some of this will be drawn down by companies in Donegal, so more signage, just encouraging people to use the Irish language. And it's going to be a number of people appointed in each region to help promote that. So nice little positive story to start off on. Yes, super stuff. Further development at Harvey's Point Hotel. Yes, they've got planning permission for a couple of extra bedrooms and more car parking space and also they have plans and a pipeline for a new spa and wellness centre. So we will watch with interest. Yeah, indeed. OK. Now, big news for a Donegal shellfish firm. Yes, Erigal Bay Ltd, which is the largest processor of wild Atlantic shellfish. Now, they've been granted planning permission for a new building down at Minaniri just outside Carrick and this ties in with their long term plans and also to protect existing employment and they have plans to expand in the future. So again, that's a nice positive story, Greg. Yeah, for sure. Little going green, further green, I'm sure they would say. Now, this is something we're going to see a lot more of the little premises, the retailer on the Port Road in Lettercanny. They've got planning permission for solar panels on their roof. And we are going to see a lot more. You do need planning permission for that, do you? Yeah, and quite an extensive. So we're going to see, you know, this will be common on the roof. It'll be interesting to see if we ever find out how much of their power in service by. Well, no doubt they will market that well. I have no doubt. All right, OK, so you say we're going to see much more of that going forward. A survey out on the local economy. Yeah, no, I know you were speaking during the week with Dahi Ramsey. Wasn't it? It was it was on with John. Yeah. And now the value of a theater to a local area, they've done a study on the local economy and how it's affected by the Millennium Forum in Derry. And they found out that in 2023 it contributed some 16 million to the Northwest economy. So if you've a sell out show, people are going maybe for a meal beforehand or going for a few drinks. Some people may have come to the to stay the night in the in the city. And the same would apply to other theaters in the Northwest. So it just shows that they did this survey and they found out that for every 35 every 100 euro that was put in in terms of a grant, 35 euro comes back straight away. So, you know, it's it's just that back to this circular economy. If you spend money and it goes around locally. Yeah, one euro or one pound spent there, it ripples out. The next story here is what I don't think sometimes a lot of people in authority get if something is a good idea, if something makes sense. And if something is relatively affordable, you don't have to shove it down the public's throat. They will auto adapt. It's kind of like a quasi just transition. And that's exactly what we have seen with e-bikes. Obviously, you know, talk of electric cars, solar panels, all that kind of stuff. It's being pushed really, really hard. People are slow to adapt, but people see the sense in the e-bikes and they don't need to be convinced of the benefits of them. I don't think absolutely. Now, there's some figures out the confederation of the European bicycle industry. It's estimating that the way the growth in e-bikes is going in terms of sales that by 2030 in Europe, we could have more e-bikes been sold than cars. Now, that's quite a quite a change here in Ireland. The sales are it looks as if they could approach 20,000 sales in this year or thereabouts. Annual car sales in Republic of Ireland are about 120,000 a year. So there's a gap to go, but there's no doubt about it. We'll all probably have e-bikes in 10, 15 years. But also to really this talks to you will see, I would say, and I have no clue on this, but my instincts would tell me, common sense would tell me that where the cycling infrastructure is better, you will see more sales. It's a ticking and egg situation. You know, infrastructure can't follow the the product as such. I don't think. But anyway, we'll watch it with interest. Nothing about that story surprises me. And warnings for business over this bank holiday. Oh, I said bank holiday. I really try and avoid that. The public holiday weekend, St Patrick's Day and Sunday, of course. And the public holiday Monday. Yeah, network or NetWatch Ireland, which is a company based in Carlo in the security sector. Just warning, you know, there is an increase in breakings and security breaches during the St Patrick's Day weekend period. Some premises could be closed for four days. And it's not often that you have four days in the calendar year closed. So just a little bit more vigilance and maybe put extra measures in place. OK, now on to the podcast itself. Business Martyr has released every Wednesday. Chris, you guessed this week, this week, looking at Kinnegar Brewing, a real Dunnegal success story and started off in Rathmullen. And it's now one of the leading independent craft beer breweries. They moved to letter Kenny and in recent weeks, they've been commissioning a new bottling line that will increase efficiency and capacity. And I've been speaking with the co-founder and co-owner Libby Carton about their continued expansion and also challenges around things, including recycling. So in 2017, we moved our brewery from Rathmullen to letter Kenny. And in 2018, we bought our own canning line so that we could can in house. And since then, we've debated, I suppose, whether we would switch exclusively to canning and whether we would keep bottling because it was much less efficient, more expensive in many ways. And canning seemed to be the way of the future. So over the past 18 months, we spent a lot of time making up our minds, doing the maths and also deciding just what we would like for the business, whether we would keep bottling. And we reached the conclusion that we would like to keep bottling, but that meant we had to invest in our bottling. We couldn't keep doing it in the same incredibly labour-intensive way that we had been doing it. We were in the position of being able to pursue both markets. And we thought it was a strength of caniggers that we have both bottling and canning. So we decided to commit to it rather than streamlining things in order to get the size and the quality of machine that we wanted. We had to go the second-hand route, but it's a good time to buy second-hand equipment because so many breweries are getting out of bottling and committing so late canning. We found a very good used bottling line near Vancouver in Western Canada. So it's an Italian make. It's a guy bottling line. So it went from Italy to Western Canada. And the brewery that had it there bought it just at the wrong time. They invested in the bottling line just when the bottle market was completely dying there. So they bought a very expensive piece of equipment, got perhaps two years' use out of it and then gave up bottling. So we were able to get it at an affordable price. OK, interesting stuff. You can hear that full interview, of course, in the podcast. And a real success story, Kennegrove, growing all the while. Yeah, they've arranged of 12 core products. They also do a number of seasonal specialties and as well as cans and bottles, the keg, the draft beer side of the business, that's growing a lot. And they've started to run tours of the brewery. And these have proved to be very popular three different types of tour and offer. So a lot happening down there and a great success story. Business matters on after the six o'clock news on Sunday. And if you want to contact me, you can email me businessmatters at HighlandRadio.com. OK, go to the website right now. If you want to hear it in advance, it's a digital first programme and it's in the listen back section there of our website. All right, Chris, thank you very much. As always, we'll be back with more in the Ninetal Noon Show after this quick break. The Ninetal Noon Show with Letterkenny Credit Union, now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Letterkenny Credit Union 9102127. The big kahoon is back for the bank holiday weekend. The Euro millions mega draw will be a guaranteed jackpot of 130 million euro on Friday, March 15th. 130 million euro. Time to dream big. So don't forget to get your ticket. The National Lottery. It could be you. Play responsibly. Play for fun. Nutrious Milk Replacer Range, which includes Nutri Start and Nutri Start Plus, offers the best start to your cows this spring season. With 23% and 25% crude proteins ideal for calf to beef and heifers' raring systems. Give your calves the best possible start available in your local homeland store. Visit Nutrious.ie for full nutritional information. I've just had the Eclipse cinemas experience. Wow, they truly have taken a night at the movies to a whole new level. Amazing recliner chairs, director's lounge VIP room, pizza and hot food served to your seat. Have a glass of wine and enjoy the film on the big screen. Try it for yourself at Eclipse cinemas Lefford Strabane, where the stars shine brighter. By the way, the pizzas are amazing. You can book your seat any time at Eclipse cinemas.ie. Get ready for an amazing bank holiday weekend sale at Easy Living Furniture. For this weekend only, absolutely everything's reduced across sofa, dining, bedroom, mattress and accessories. Get the three-seater dark grey Harper's sofa for only 429. Donut 240 centimetre dining table for only 249 and much more. Don't miss out on these lucky savings at Easy Living Furniture. Present Link retail park. Dunnegal County Council invites you to an information evening on initiatives shaping the future of sustainable living, including the Community Climate Action Fund, vacant and derelict properties refurbishment grant scheme and insights into SEAI grants. The event will take place in the Letterkenny Public Services Centre on 30, 14th of March from 5.30pm until 8pm. Attendees are advised to bring along a recent electricity bill. Join us and share experiences and insights from industry leaders, booking not essential. For new perspectives and a fresh vision, join me, Greg Hughes on the 9th till noon show every Thursday at 10.15pm for Your Voice, Your Community. And it's me, Greg Hughes on the 9th till noon show. You're very welcome back. Greg, we have a young girl in our construction company. Her attitude to work is put her head down and keep going. She's put a lot of young lads to shame and is only 18. Congratulations to Monsignor Amy McLaughlin on his new appointment. We have not forgotten you in Letterkenny, so he's a listener. Right, St Patrick's was a migrant to Ireland, and a single male undocumented one. Oh, that's T Shockley of Radcus Comments. He said it in a speech to the Irish-American community in Boston. How out of touch is this man, asks a listener. Back to this course, getting women into construction. If the course is for women, considering that women normally have childcare working during the day, it's not really practical for a lot of women who would like to train, or is it to train young women to enable them to emigrate with the ticket? Well, the whole idea is that there's a job hopefully waiting for them at the end of it, not out far and but here. And I get it that everything in life, there's always sort of flip sides or negatives. The way I see is this is an opportunity for a group of women to get brilliant training and get into an area of work where they're underrepresented. And yes, I get it where you could sort of talk about sexism or favoritism, or you could talk about emigration. But just basically, it's good. It's positive that there's an opportunity for a group of women to get educated, to get trained in construction and go into work in that area and no doubt bring different perspectives to it. Right, but anyway, this now I understand, but not everything, there's not an angle in everything, but maybe there is. All right, Adrian Gallher is the IFA National Sheep Chair. He joins us now. Good morning to you, Adrian. Thanks for your time today. Good morning, Greg. Right, now the IFA has launched No Dogs Allowed campaign. It was launched back in 2021. Talk to us about the campaign, and of course it's relaunched every year from since I take it. Yeah, that's correct, Greg, actually. Yeah, it's something that they have taken on board. Actually, I'm pretty much taken on board from ownership around this to try and inform the public that I suppose in certain places, and particularly on farms and on open communities, that we would prefer to see if people didn't bring their dog when they go for a walk in these areas, you know, and purely down to the fact that we're seeing too many sheep killed and sheep warding and since happening, which causes a lot of havoc and a lot of stress on the sheep, and of course, on the farmer himself, you know. So yeah, we've relaunched the campaign again this year. So yeah. And I think to... I think too, if we look at, if we asked a lot of people what they believe, you know, the damage the dog can do to a sheep, they're going to be in their heads, I suppose, the dog slipping off at night, running through the field, chasing the sheep down, and what have you, but that's not actually required really for a sheep to be startled or to be worried or to abort their lambs or what have you. It can be far more innocent in inverted commas than what we might perceive a dog bothering sheep is. Yeah, that's true. Actually, we have a couple of different scenarios here. We have, I suppose, dogs being unattended, actually, and going off, as you say, in the evening time or night time, and mating up another dog and going off and killing sheep. And then we have the scenario where, we'll say, pedestrians tend to believe they have the right to roam in farmland and they bring their dog and they don't have the dog on a leash. And the dogs running, you know, it could be at their thought that they have them under control, but in most sense, there are a lot of occasions and some occasions, anyway, the dog does be an obsession for it. He has, he visually can see the sheep and can cause constant stress to them. Actually, I am an upset to hold. Now, you know, you can appeal every year, Adrian, with respect to ask people to do the right thing or to be responsible. That will only get you so far. For a lot of people, it's falling on deaf ears and it's the farmer that has to pick up the pieces Do you need to be backed up now by, you know, stronger regulation in relation to dog ownership and the responsibility of dog ownership? And if you do, what does that look like? Yeah, that's true, Greg. I see we can only go on from watching people. It's up to people to take their own responsibility. So for those end that don't take full responsibility of which there are blades to do, as well as our campaign also includes some rigorous controls and rigorous enforcement to the existing laws and maybe even some changes and change the legislation and changing to the enforcement of the legislation, you know. So yeah, we are loving to ensure that there's a single national database where all dogs that are deemed or meant to be make or shipped are recorded on. So we do have a single database of legal ownership of all dogs in Ireland. I suppose we're also looking to increase some of the fines that exist there at the moment because the fine is very low at the moment. If we do manage to bring some into court, we have caused significant damage to our flock. And we're also looking to try and we'll say, increase some of the, we'll say, powers through the dog wardens and the local guidee, we'll say where and this off the occasional rate arises then that the guidee or the dog warden have the rights to seize dogs and remove them from the premises and she may need to put them in the car. And there's more Adrian, but there's one that there's one that actually jumps out at me as well. And it's suggestion number eight, authority to apply the legislation obligations to dogs in border regions owned by persons not resident in the state. Now, I'm not saying it is dogs, visitors, dogs that are causing the issues, but in terms of, and it's not just in this area, it's in terms of the blue flag, the rules. There's a lot of people from outside the Republic of Ireland that holiday and visit and explore Donegal with their dogs. At the moment, really there's no, the legal powers not extend to them. They don't actually know. No, and Donegal being a border country as all the other border countries long, all sterling. Yeah, we do have a scenario where dogs can roam across and we don't have the authority to, what we do have the authority to put them down if they were caught in the act, but we don't have the authority to go across and find cross border. So yeah, there is a very gray area there that needs to be looked at and needs to be re-legislated their own, you know. Right, some sheep have already lambed, others are with lamb and will be lambing over the next few weeks or so. It's a tough fall time for people keeping an eye on it all without them having to worry about dogs out of control or actually even the owner thinking they are under control when they're not they're still causing anxiety and stress to sheep and that can have real strong ramifications and so much of a farmer's time through the winter and what have you's put into this time of the year. A lot of effort and time and concern for the animal, of course, but a lot of effort and time and money can go down the chute very quickly. Adrian, thank you very much for your time. Adrian Gallagher, IFA National Sheep Chair, weather on the way. The Night on Noon Show is brought to you by Letterkenny Credit Union with monster loans available up to 60,000 euro for all occasions. Visit letterkennycu.ie From family feasts to cosy date nights and everything in between, discover the Curry Cottage Indian Restaurant and Takeaway Instant Order. Indulge in award-winning, top-quality food, whether you dine in or order online for takeaway convenience at thecurrycottage.ie. With our doors open seven days a week with tasty food and a warm welcome, taste the excellence at the Curry Cottage today. At Kumi's home interiors, we pride ourselves on offering you the very best in choice, quality and value on all home furnishings. 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Highland Radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport. Time to book the family's summer holiday. Fly to Barcelona, Faro, Milan, Mallorca and much more for a perfect family getaway. Ireland West Airport, don't just take off, take it easy. OK, drier weather we're developing as the morning turns to the afternoon. Temperatures 8 to 10 degrees this afternoon. We'd like to moderate West or Southwest winds. Right, now, we're joined on the programme by Andrea McLaughlin-Banningham. Thank you very much for joining us. I really do appreciate your time today. And what's it been like, I suppose, recently for you, Andrea? You had that emotional rollercoaster of the prime suspect in your daughter's murder being granted bail and then not using that bail. And then, of course, a lot of the nationalised on Danielle's story. It's never ending ups and downs and rounds and arounds for you, Andrea. Well, I tried to seven years today but a seven years tomorrow that I actually found out that Danielle had passed away. So it's been a tough week. I'm sure it has. And tough still whilst the person responsible has yet to be convicted. Well, we can, also, the family can't really grieve and her friends, well, we can't really grieve until it's over. We need it over. We need closure. What's your latest information as it relates to when this trial might come to a conclusion? They are chatting about July this year. Last July, he took at the High Court looking for bail and it was rejected for his behaviour in the jail. And the judge decided then that they needed a new female judge because the judge has no jury and goer. So it's a judge who decided to final verdict. So it's now a female judge and we have a female public prosecutor. And, of course, the reason I wanted to speak to you, Andrea, is to let people know that as well as dealing with everything else that you're dealing with, of course, you want to be out there for sentencing. And there's a huge cost in relation to that. You're asking people to support you any way they can to that end so you can go out there and see. Oh, Daniel's best friend decided last night to set it up because we have outstanding lawyers' fees as well. And she thought it'd be nice if I could go over there and try to give my own victim impact statement in person rather than emailing it over. As you're aware, I've never seen the court and she thought it'd be nice for me to see the court from me and Julie. I think too, as part of your life going forward to Andrea, I think it's important that you go over and let them hear exactly the loss that you've been through, not the loss, your loss and what you've been through. And for you to be able to see, it seems likely this person convicted of this crime, I think that's going to be really important for you, Andrea, on your journey through life to have that. It's just to finally get my voice heard and for the judge to understand what loss Danielle been taking from us has caused their family. Mm-hmm. Okay. And I know... So much grief and loss. Yeah, and I know Andrea's, sorry, I know Danielle's friend is behind this as well and sometimes, you know, we can be embarrassed by looking for a little bit of help, but she started this and it will help you get over there and I'm sure people will be really generous. That is a girl. Yeah. Louise is actually a girl and actually told me Danielle passed away. Oh, no, right, okay. So there's that extra connection there. She would be her best friend. We've a really close bond. That's lovely. Okay. Brilliant. I'm glad she's doing this for you. If you can support Andrea in any way, please go to the Truth for Danielle McLaughlin Facebook page. Andrea, we'll talk again into the future. I hope you're getting all the strength that you need to get through this impossible week for you. But thanks very much as always for having a quick chat with us. And Greg, could I ask your viewers for plenty of press because court is back on tomorrow, which is also the day I found out you passed away. Oh, my word. Okay. Our big day tomorrow. Court back tomorrow and that's the actual anniversary of beautiful Danielle's passing. Thank you, Andrea. Take care of yourself. And that's where we have to leave it on the shoulder.