 Director of Roads and Transportation with Donegal County cancelling is with us now. Good morning to you, Brian. Hopefully you can hear me OK. Yeah, good morning, Greg, to you and to your listeners. Right, OK. I think it was clear, wasn't it, in the days leading up to yesterday that this was going to be a proper storm, a proper sort of red alert. And it turned out that way, didn't it? Absolutely, absolutely, Greg. And one thing in particular, too, is that even in advance of the red warning coming into effect at 9 p.m. yesterday evening, there was still a large impact right across the county, both from a surface water flooding perspective earlier in the afternoon, then right through to quite a lot of trees down in the period from 6 o'clock right through to 9 o'clock yesterday evening. And what exactly, I mean, how extensive is the damage? Is it easy to say? Right across, right across the county, Greg, I've lost track of the number of map alert or notices we've issued in relation to trees down. It was 38 about an hour ago. It's probably over 15 out this stage. And that's the ones that notifications have gone out on. I'm sure there's plenty of back roads that still have trees on them that we haven't got to or haven't been informed yet by the locals. But right across the road network, but some of it was dealt with yesterday afternoon or yesterday evening in advance of the red alert coming into effect. At that point, our crews would have went back home because it just wasn't safe to be out during the red alert. And then they remobilized again this morning and have cleared quite a lot of the main and priority routes and are working their way down through the other roads in order to make them passable. But right across the network, right across from initial one down to South Donegal, out to West Donegal, down the Fun and Deal valleys and then around Lederkenny in particular. Yeah, indeed. And of course, the work of your teams complicated by the fact that sometimes there could be power lines involved or what have you. So having to liaise, I presume quite a bit with the ASB, et cetera. Absolutely. And we know that their teams have been out on the ground primarily as well and working with our crews generally on a priority basis. And that's one of the, I suppose, the real hazards when it comes to storm recovery and in particular why it isn't really safe to be out through the hours of darkness unless there's a threat to life in relation to an issue because you never know when you're approaching the three if there's a power line entangled in that three and it really presents a real hazard to life both of workers or a member of the public. So we would advise members of the public just not to try and take these jobs on themselves just in case of the hidden hazards out there and let the council and the ASB crews, et cetera, to clear these issues. Yeah, because as far as I'm aware at this point, we seem to have avoided serious injury in the Northwest certainly in Donegal and we just want it to remain that way, don't we, Brian? Absolutely. Absolutely. Unfortunately, we're hearing of some tragic incident further down the country but in Donegal we've been lucky to touch wood but one of the things, I suppose, Greg, for your listeners is that we've got further yellow wind warnings, one in effect today from up until 7 p.m. And then tomorrow from noon right through until 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning there's a further yellow wind warning and I know we tend to seem to get yellow warnings on a very, very regular basis but in particular after this storm there may be trees that may not have fallen during this but may well be looked at as part of it and it might just take this yellow wind warning. So again, we'll be on standby for further trees to come down over the coming days and again just for householders, I suppose, and looking around their own properties and farmers and other landowners on their properties where there may be trees adjoining the road network is to take a look around, check if there is any noticeable damage, any noticeable change in those locations and maybe some action now might prevent a tragedy down the lane. Yeah, a really important point you make there, Brian, because of course, even just a subtle change in wind direction could be enough to dislodge something that's just hanging there by the edge of its roots. So, Brian, just to recap then, teams have been out as soon as it was safe to do so everyone has a different definition, I suppose, of main roads and what have you but as best as we can determine, Brian, the main roads or the main routes, I think that's how you describe them, are clear, work ongoing to clear up and tidy up and make safe all the stuff around the region. Yeah, I suppose the main routes was route that was trees down across our national primary and our national secondary network generally have been removed and roads would be open. The largest ongoing impact that I'm seeing at the moment is the Remelton Road out of Latter-Kinney, past Arena 7 heading towards Tarra Court Direction with multiple trees down just on that stretch of road. There's diversions in place since yesterday evening and it's likely that that road will remain closed into the afternoon, into after 2 p.m. at least. We've got the AirCom and the SB lines as part of that and we know we've got their crews responding to assist in getting them obstacles moved. Look, this is a once-off, but I suppose we have to prepare for once-off. Is there any argument at all, Brian, or maybe this is not really in your remit that maybe to do an audit of what's along our roads, you know, whether that's the responsibility of landowners or the councillors, I say, I'm not, it's not about attributing blame or anything like that, Brian, but I just wonder if the various agencies, be it ESB, AirCom, you know, anyone that's sort of involved in this side of things, if we need to be working a bit closer together to see if there are, if we need to be pre-emptive in terms of taking trees down. Yeah, it's a good point, Greg, and I suppose from every incident, one of the most important parts is what is the learning to take from it and then whether that indicates that there are preventative actions going forward. When it comes to trees along the roadside in particular, the department has published a guidance note for landowners about checking their trees on a regular basis because trees can change, they can be impacted by storms, but also they can be impacted by disease, et cetera, and landowners with trees along the public road should be checking them maybe once or twice a year just for any noticeable change. And I suppose that's one of the points, but in relation to liaison with other colleagues in the utilities, et cetera, it's a valid point. Unfortunately, I suppose out there, the alongside roads tend to be corridors for services as well, and when the two intermingle with the trees, it might be part of the hedgerow, et cetera, it can lead to a choose like this, but it's definitely a good point, well made, Greg. No, Brian, listen, thanks very much for your time. I do appreciate it and hopefully all your crews, they're out there doing brilliant work and I'm sure they'll all return home safely, given the training and seal sets they have, but we wish them well nonetheless, and that has gained a big shout out to the SB crews out there as well. Anyone involved in getting our infrastructure back up and running, of course, we ourselves have had issues with transmission masks and power, and we've got people working to keep us on air, and we appreciate them doing so, but also, as I say, there's an awful lot of stuff to be fixed over a period of time. I'm just going to give you the Vision Ireland radio bingo numbers. We're catching up a little bit. I know this is not the most important thing, but it is quite important to some people out there, so just to give you the Vision Ireland radio bingo numbers, we're playing on a green coloured sheet. The reference number is S16, and it's game number four. The numbers are seven, 51, 81, 27, 19, 15, 55, 41, 45, and 73. I'll give you those numbers again in a moment. If you wish to claim for today's prize, leave your name and contact number before 8 p.m. this evening. We'll call you back the next working day. You call us an 07491 25,000. It's those numbers once again. I'm being a DJ today. I'm doing the bingo. It's all hands on decks, folks. Seven, 51, 81, 27, 19, 15, 55, 41, 45, and 73. So good luck if you're playing the bingo today and supporting Vision Ireland in the process. Okay, you are tuned to The 9th Uncle Noon Show. It is a little bit up in the air at the moment as we get everything sorted here. Everyone affected this. I mentioned it a little earlier on by the storms. A thank you coming in from a listener. I'm from Kaleo. I was walking across the road in the bad weather. I was going to the chapel. A lovely young man helped me cross the road. There was a group of about six of them, and they were just so lovely. It made my day. They told me that if it was their own granny that they'd want someone to help her. It just melted my heart. I'm an older lady, and it made me feel less alone. I'd just like you to highlight this and say a big thank you to those boys. People always give out about the young people, but there are still good ones out there. No doubt about it. So, all right, let's go to Aaron Quinn. Good morning, Aaron. Hi. Hi, Greg. How are you? I'm okay. You are in Edinburgh, and you were caught up travelling in this storm. So, tell us, where did you leave from? What time and then what happened to you? Yeah, so, yeah, the story is we left Cyprus, just a few of my friends. Yeah, we had a flight booked for half-twelve, so we were in the plane by half-twelve in Cyprus time. It'd be 10 a.m. in Irish town. But, yeah, so, we took off anyway. There was no problem. But then, I think it was just an hour left into the flight. A few of us started to notice that we were kind of going the wrong way, but there was nothing said yet. But then, I think it was a wee bit before we made a descent anyway, that we were told that we would not be landing into Dublin. We'd be landing into Edinburgh for the night. And what was the flight itself like? Was it disruptive? Was it okay? Was it, you know, could you get a sense of the weather? Yeah, it wasn't great. No, it wasn't great now. We had a very, very rocky landing. I just want to say welcome to the pilot for that, because it was a very, very shaky landing. But, no, we got down no problem. But the problem wasn't getting down. It was getting out of the plane. How long were we on board for? We were on board since we landed at five, and we didn't get out of the plane till the four, eight o'clock. My word, that's a long sit. It was food and water okay, or what was the story there? No, you still had to pay for food. But they after, I think it was after two hours anyway, they started to hand out limited water bottles. All right, for free. And what about getting home? Now, what's the story? So the story is now that, yeah, so they've issued you with flights anyway. There is, yeah, so there's a flight for this evening. But there was three of my friends who wanted to get an earlier flight. But the flight was registered, the flight was for half nine. Yeah. But they didn't get their flight now till half 10 because there was no crew and no pilots for the flight. My words, okay. Yeah. Yeah, they issued us with flights for this evening. But for accommodation, it was a free for all. All right, okay. Listen, hopefully you get home safe, Aaron. Thank you very much for your time. We're going now to Siobhan Wine or win a big pardon Siobhan, if I've got your surname incorrect. Regional Manager with Central Region at ESB Networks. Good morning to you. How are you keeping? Good morning. We're good. Thank you. I'm looking here at the map of Ireland and I can't recall ever seeing so many outages that you and your crews that your crews are having to deal with. What is the situation, I suppose, nationwide, Siobhan, at this point? So the situation at the moment is that we have just over 190,000 customers without power. The west, the northwest obviously has been the worst affected. So that's mainly Donegal, Sligo, that's common, Galway, and parts of South Kerry have been affected. But as you said, the whole country has been impacted by the storm. So we have power outages across the country at this stage. Yeah, and when you look at Mapa, sorry, when you look at Mapa, Donegal, and you sort of know the areas that aren't populated, pretty much there seems to be faults in everywhere. There is a population. There is, yes. So yes, all parts, particularly now Donegal, have been impacted by the storm. We do have crews out though. So we, with crews out since first light this morning, they're out assessing the damage on the ground and they're making safe any emergency or safety issues on site. And as the day progresses, then we'd be restoring power to as many people as we can over the course of the day. So we would say to your customers, because I know people are now out and about this morning, you know, if you're out walking or you come across a line on the ground or a conductor, just, you know, as usual, make sure that you stay well clear. Well, please contact us and register the fault on our partcheck.ie site, or alternatively, if it's an emergency and you think there's a danger there, please call us on our emergency number at 1-800-372-999. And in terms of getting the network back up and running, some of it, is it, you know, being at the ground? Is there some sort of, you know, networking rerouting that can be done as well to try and fix issues? Or are the problems so extensive with the actual infrastructure that that's more complicated? It's a combination of both. So yes, the first point to call is to resectionize the network and to feed if we can in an alternative arrangement. So that's what we do, first of all, and we can do that from our control center. But then in addition to that, then as we've been out this morning assessing the damage, there is quite extensive damage to the network. So there are cases when you just can't do that. We have a large number of poles now, broken poles on the network and trees on our lines. So there will be, you know, a large restoration effort and repair effort required. Have we seen anything of this scale in recent memory? Not in the last, I suppose, year or two. Like, I suppose everybody remembers Storm Orphelia and Storm Darwin. They're a number of years ago at this stage. So yeah, this is the most significant storm that we would have had in recent memory. And in terms of the manpower and inverted commas, how many teams, men and women, I'm sure, do you have out in Donegal? I mean, you could never have enough staff, could you, on standby, to be able to spread, send them out to so many different places? No, so while we have everybody out on site this morning, so all of our network technicians have been deployed across the country. Now, in addition to that, we do have access to contracting resources with our partners. So we've called them in also, and they've been deployed to the worst affected areas. So primarily, they've been deployed to the northwest to assist with the effort there. Yeah, and I mean, obviously, everyone wants to know, when I think you sort of put out a blanket, 6pm Monday on the Power Check website, which I would say had enormous traffic over the last while, is there any sort of hope as to when you'll have the majority back with power? And I would say like overnight, we had 230,000 customers without power. So like that is a really significant number of customers. So realistically, we are looking at a multi-day event here. We will obviously try to get as many people back tonight, but inevitably there will be customers out without power tomorrow and possibly for another day after that again. All right, okay. Well, listen, hopefully everyone stays safe out there. Any, do not approach any fallen electricity infrastructure or don't believe it to be a telephone line or whatever you call the ESB, that's the tip. That's the advice you want to give people. Absolutely, listen, that's the most important point. And you check powercheck.ie is kept constantly update. So if you're looking for updates there, that's the best place to go. Okay, listen, thank you very much for your time. I know you're all very busy. Right, we're going to take a very short break and we'll be back with our next guest just after these. Let's around how we use electricity at home is more important than ever. And if the first change is a switch to a flow gas smart meter tariff, you're off to a great start. With smart energy decisions, like avoiding peak usage hours between 5 and 7 p.m., the savings can make it really worthwhile. I'm Avin Garry and I'm changing my habits. See how I get on and discover more useful tips at flowgas.ie, flowgas. Energy for everyone. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, that was as much to check that everything is working as it should be and indeed is. We'll have a few full news update for you at 11 o'clock and the obituary notices as well. So stay tuned for that. Clodas with me now. Clodas, sorry for holding you there. Good morning to you. Good morning, Greg. How are you? I'm doing okay. You're living at the mountaintop here in letter Kenny and a real sense of a lucky escape through the storms last night. Absolutely, yeah. We had a 90 foot tree come down through the garage last night and destroy it. Yeah, so feel very lucky that nobody was in the garage at the time. So yeah, absolutely lucky escape. This is a garage attached to a house. It's like a private garage in Clodas. It's just behind the house. Just behind the house. Yeah, yeah. What did you hear just as it... What did you hear as it was happening? Nothing. We didn't actually hear it. Thanks to double glazing. We were actually just getting into our bed. One of the kids was quite obsessed with the wind and everything and we were just getting into bed. And our neighbour who has CCTV rang us and said, your tree is down. And we ran out and, yeah, surely the tree had come down through the garage and trampoline and everything that's destroyed. But like I say, look at least nobody has been hurt. And that's the main thing. Yeah, indeed, indeed. But still, in the back of your head, you're like, well, thank God, it could have been very, very different. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I suppose the thing is that we've moved here three years ago and we've three very big trees at the back of the house here. And at the last storm, one of them came down. It just narrowly missed the ESB line when it did. And we called out the ESB at the time and said, look, this is an accident. The reason it happened is two more trees here which are going to come down in the next storm. And we had the most three different occasions and they refused to do anything about it. And now the line is down, the fibre is gone and our garage is gone. So, perfect. We're just looking at the picture you sent in here, too. It's a significant garage. That's going to, you know what I mean? Just in case, it's hard to sometimes imagine it, but that could be a granny flat type of a building as well. It's a significant part of the building. Absolutely, yeah, it's a very big garage. And those trees, that tree that came down, I think they're quite narrow-rooted as well, low-rooted. It's almost sometimes a case of, and you related this, it's when they come down or if they come down. Exactly, exactly. And we knew that once one of them had come down, the other ones had come down, and our neighbours had even said to us themselves, they've been watching those trees for the last 20 years waiting for them to come down. So, you know, I think this firefighting that the ESB are doing is really not, you know, we need to be kind of looking at things that are at risk and to dealing with them before things happen and not after things happen, you know? Yeah, I think so. Listen, it's one of those, thankfully no one was injured, but it's a nightmare for you, because you're going to have to deal with it now. Nightmare. All right, closing this, and thanks for joining us, and I'm sorry about that. No worries. Take care of yourself, 0860, 25,000. Keep us updated. Declan, Jay Cassidy's with me now. Declan, good morning to you. Good morning, Greg. How are you? I'm all right. You're another person affected by the storm through international travel. What's your situation? Well, we were coming back from a funeral in Manchester yesterday, so our flight was due to take off around 1.30, and we had seen that there was a storm, obviously, and we saw a lot of flights canceled, but our flight got the green light to go ahead. So the first thing was we were an hour and a half before late taking off, and we had a gate change, and it was an Irish flight, so we had one guy playing the case of Asra on the mouth organ, you know, so I think that set the tone for the bathroom. I'm not sure I'd be a big fan of that, but anyway, it seems to always happen when we're flying places. Yeah, well, at least it wasn't nearer my god to be, you know. So we got into the air about an hour and a half late, and then it wasn't so bad coming across, because, you know, we would have been above our ice bones, but as soon as we started to descend into Dublin, things got very ropey. I remembered having travel sickness in cars when I was a little kid, and I'd forgotten about it, and it all suddenly came back for the first time after many, many flights. You know, it was really, really bumpy, and we could also see other planes. We went into a holding pattern, so we were up there for a long, long time, and we could see other planes outside, and then when we got a glimpse of the Irish sea, I'd never seen anything like it. It was really, really whipped up, you know. So finally, then, we came in on final approach, and the plane was going from side to side into air pockets and up and down, and just as we lined up to the airport, and everyone holding their breath, they beat the pilots, just aborted, and went back up again. So we were told then we were heading back to Manchester, because nothing was available in Ireland, and then we were told that Manchester was full with the version of aircraft, so we were going to East Midlands, and a big groan went up, and then we were told, no, East Midlands can't take us either, so we're going to Paris, and a big cheer went up. I think people were thinking, forget the wine, you know. So we landed actually in Beauvais, and I was up getting the coat ready to get off, but nothing was happening, and then it turned out that the pilot was waiting to see whether we could fly back to Dublin and have another go at landing. So we ended up for five hours on the tarmac in Paris. People were told they could get off if they wanted to, and three people did, and then we were told that there were no more flights out of Paris until next Wednesday, so if you did get off, you were under your own steam. So everyone just sat in, I think people were surprisingly good natured about us, and the crew were incredible, because they'd been gone since very early, but we were waiting for a time slot and waiting for updates and that, and there was one poor couple who had a child who was running out of formula, so it was really, I think, particularly tough on the little ones, but then finally we took off again, and it was a very somber flight back toward, because we'd been all on our phones and being told, look, stay where you are, it's getting worse, if anything, in Dublin. But I suppose the first bit of positive news came when on the way over, the pilots had to wind to shift the direction, so we felt we had a better chance, but we were told that if we didn't make the landing in Dublin, the only other alternative backstage was Cologne in Germany. So on final approach again, it was really, really rough, but the sea looked less chopped up, and then it was quite funny as we came in and people suddenly suddenly went, go on, and then everyone was kind of starting so the pilot was going, go on, go on, you know, as we saw the runway lights, and then we got down, and it was probably the dodgiest landing I've ever experienced, but it was probably my favourite, because it got itself. Touchdown, and the fellow with the math walking at that point, he was still going, was he or he retired at that point? Well, yeah, I think it was a general chorus at the end, but we were 11 hours really from the moment we boarded and the three got off in Paris because they said, I just can't, I'm not flying, you know what I mean? Do you think they got off out of here? I imagine so, because we were five hours on the tarmac, but I think the reason that people were not too agitated about not going is because the thought of going back into what we've been through was not pleasant, I'd say. So yeah, you're kind of torn between getting up and being stuck in France or staying with us and going through that again, you know? So, you know, you're trying to decide the lesser of two evils. Well, back on Terraformer, Declan, I'm glad you're home safe anyway, but it's amazing stuff. All right, thanks so very much indeed. That's Declan Cassidy there with his experience. So, okay, Patsy McGonagall joins us now of the Finn Valley Centre. Patsy, are you there? Sorry for holding you. Good morning to you. No bother, no bother, Greg, no bother. Right, okay, exactly, it's a bit calmer now. Yesterday evening, it became clear that there was some structural damage to the Finn Valley Centre. What was the situation? The situation was in and around nine o'clock, we had to get called. We had closed early, obviously, you know, because of the conditions and basically at nine o'clock, you know, the rift, portions of the rift were on the move, so there was a danger of the traffic, there was a danger of the people, you know, that kind of sheeting that's on part of our new build would be seriously, seriously, and there's two roads running in there into the junction, you know, so that was our concern. So, we got the guards on the case to get the thing at the road close. So, basically, we lost a bit of the roof there at that end. And interesting as well, Greg, you know, the ferocity of the bloody one was that Astrotorf, which would have a heavy covering of stuff, you know, to keep it down, obviously, it was on the move as well, you know, down the car park area. So, you know, it just goes to show you the nature of the actual degree of the one quality, you know. So, that's it. So, our situation at the moment is that the swimming pool is closed, but the athletic centre is still going, it's still going, but we're waiting for the insurance people, but we're kind of fingers crossed, you know, there's no internal damage and it's just limited to the roof, really. And I think, as you said, Patsy, the concern was at the time, if any of this material would injure or what have you. So, once we've got past that, we can patch the building back up. Thankfully, no one was injured through the process of the loss of some of this external sheeting. Exactly, exactly. That's it. Somebody said on numerous occasions, there's nobody hurt, so that's what really was the underlining thing. Yeah, that's it. So, the swimming pool, just to repeat for people, the swimming pool is closed today. I just keep watching the Facebook and see if regarding, hopefully, hopefully we'll get it open up good and quick again, but the other side of the centre is open for normal business. All right, good stuff. Thanks very much, Patsy. Thanks for the update. Patsy McGonagall there from the Finn Valley Centre. So, that's a bit of good news. Right, we're going to have to take a quick break. Stay with us. We're going to be chatting to Dominic about his experience flying again after these. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. It's time for Vision Ireland Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Friday the 19th of January. You're playing on the yellow sheet. The reference number is S15. It's game number three. The numbers are... Make five dinners for under 25 euro with done stores. Savin' the aisle with everything you need for sausage pasta bake, chicken burrito bowl, Thai red curry veg soup, tasty pizza wrap and a fresh cod tray bake. All for just 24 euros 73 cents when you save with a five of 25 grocery voucher. Download the app and get your voucher today. Done stores. Always better value. Terms in addition supply voucher can be used on extents or grocery shop with 25 euro or more. Lower your food bills with own brand offers at Kelly Centre in Iterkenny. Save up to 50% on the branded options. Many often from the same producer or supplier. You'll find own brand products in almost every department. So why not seek out the savings? At Kelly Centre, Mountaintop, Iterkenny. When it's time for confirmation, it's time for a trip to Watson Men's Wear. Choose from the great selection of top label, casual and formal wear. Blazers, jackets and shirts. Also denims, chinos and footwear from big names like diesel, 1880 club and Tommy Bow. At Watson Men's Wear, open seven days a week on Main Street, Iterkenny. And at WatsonMen's Wear dot com. The digital noon show is brought to you by Iterkenny Credit Union. Digital loans now available. Apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account. OK, Dominic, good morning to you. Good morning, Craig. You were flying from Amsterdam. What was your experience? Craig, yesterday we were flying from Amsterdam to Dublin. And originally our flight time was five to three, leaving Amsterdam. That was delayed then to five past four. So I know we started the board to get and we're put on the plane a quarter past three. The flight leaves just before four, I believe. Then when we're going to land on to Dublin, the landing was boarded because obviously the nature of the storm. So we go back into the air we were then told after within the 10 minutes we're told we're going to go to Shannon Airport. Which, fair enough, Grant. Then another 10, 15 minutes made a pass. Then when we're told that the pilot got the wrong information that the storm is obviously bad there as well. So we're now diverting to Stanstead Airport in London. So we head the Stanstead Airport. We land the Stanstead Airport and we are kept off the runway for about four hours on the plane, not right off the plane. No fresh air, no water, no food. We were told that we couldn't purchase anything because the water or any of the food, they can't say how once the plane is grounded or landed on the airport. So we were kept in the plane for about four hours, Greg. Some updates maybe an hour, an hour and a half of the time. Maybe three hours made a pass. The pilot comes on board and says, listen, we are now going to refuel go back to Dublin Airport. Now, the majority of the people on that plane did not want to fly. Like when we were sitting off the runway the plane was literally shaking with the force of the ones. So like the majority of people were even happy to get off the plane, pay for the whole accommodation, wait until the day until things settled and then pay for another flight. But you weren't allowed to get off. The majority of people were happy to do that. I don't like. What's that, Greg? You weren't allowed to get off. We weren't allowed to get off. Wow. We were not allowed to get off. No fresh air. There was one or two young kids and everything in the plane. We weren't even told why we weren't allowed off. Like even if we had a good amount of fresh air, food, a bit of water, and then maybe boarded the game. Yeah. But we weren't even allowed to do that. And then eventually you did get back on the plane, landed in Dublin, but that was in the end of it. You were still stuck on the plane? Absolutely. It just seemed to get worse and worse and worse. So we landed just after, I think it was 20 past 11 on Dublin Airport. And very strangely as we all know, when we land on the airport, we go to a gate. We land on the airport and we just literally roll off the runway and park up away from Terminal 1 or Terminal 2, just away from it. Very strangely. So we park up. Within 10 minutes, we're told that we're within a tug truck. That sounds like a tug truck. So apparently they thought the plane was landing and was empty. That's what we're told. And they went in the tug truck then to take us to one of the gates. That there, from landing 20 past 11 to eventually getting to a gate and getting off the plane was 20 past 1. Unbelievable stuff. And just finally, would it put you offline the actual experience? Absolutely. Like we're regular enough, no travellers and get on a plane or whatever. That there was the worst I've ever seen. I wouldn't even say incompetency. I don't even know what it was or really don't know. All right, Dominic, listen to that terrible story, but glad you're down safe. Thank you very much for coming on to the programme. Right, the European Parliament Petitions Committee has published its draft report on the fact finding field trip to Donegal, which took place in October. The findings will be discussed at the Petitions Committee in Brussels tomorrow. It contains, the draft report contains six recommendations to local, regional and national authorities of Ireland and the European Commission, one of which relates to the defective concrete block redress scheme. Okay, with a number of guests to join us on this, I'm going to start with Joe Morgan, if that's okay, lead on EU engagement for the defective block campaign. Firstly, the wheels have moved remarkably quick on this. It feels like that to me. Anyway, Joe, but just give us a brief synopsis as how this issue ended up in Europe. Sure, Greg, and thanks for taking the time to have us on. So, Greg, there's been conversations since Thursday last week in terms of complaints and reports and the Commission and the Parliament. So, let me just put that in context and try and line that up for people. So, within the EU institutions, we have two major institutions, the Commission and the Parliament. And the Commission are responsible for penning or proposing EU law, whereas the Parliament then adapt them right and Member States then implement EU law. So, the crucial piece here in terms of our objective is the Commission has the legal authority to infringe Member States. If they fail to introduce EU law, right? So, they've always been our target. But you can't just rock up to the EU Commission locked the door and expect it to open and be invited. You need an introduction, and that's where the EU Parliament and particularly this report comes into play. So, we've been working with the Parliament and through Luke and his team have been educated and supported in terms of navigating the corridors of the Parliament. And ultimately, the Parliament have now engaged their highest level of escalation in terms of what they can do for us in the form of this report. And we're now... I'm actually immediately after this interview, I'm on my way to Brussels. I've been meeting up with Luke. And when that report is being presented to the Commission, we are also going to be presenting a direct complaint from homeowners to the Commission. And the idea there is to keep the report and the complaint in lockstep because the report itself is an independent objective opinion on the crisis here in Ireland from an EU institution and that therefore has a lot of credibility. So, we're going to lend or borrow, if you like, some of that credibility for our complaint by making sure that both documents and both records of the crisis are presented to the Commission in lockstep. Luke Ming-Flanagan, you mentioned his Midlands Northwest MAP. Luke, good morning to you. Thanks for joining us. And with the weather and all, we're on a little bit delayed. Good morning to you all. So, was it terrible tonight? It was indeed, Luke. So, put this into context too, was like, I mean, this is really, you know, quite a damning indictment of the handling of this crisis here. Can you talk to us about how regular this is, the significance of it? Sort of put frame it for us as to what the EU's doing and its commentary on this crisis. Well, I'll put it in context for myself and I may be put it in context for a lot of people in Johnny Gull, the majority who vote against referenda on the European Union. I have to say, when we went into this at first, I would have been a bit skeptical about how far we could go with it. I did say to Joe and Paul and Eileen a bit of expectation management that who knows how far they'll take it. But I have to say, they basically, they pull no punches in this report. They have stated exactly what was stated to them on the mission. When it comes to the grand scheme, they're very, very clear. And this is really important that it is not good enough. It needs to be beefed up. It needs to take into account people's foundations. It needs to take into account all costs. And what I was a little bit worried about was because people can be politically partisan and the chair of the committee is from the EPP group, which is the same group that the government are in. I have to say, when the report was being put together, I was worried that it might be a bit of a whitewash, but it certainly isn't. They're very, very, very clear. They're clear in many areas from the point of view of the impact that it's had on people financial from a health point of view. They're very, very clear about the fact that the Irish government and the Irish state needs to be proactive rather than reactive in the future. And I'm very happy to see that in there because I think I said that about 20 times on the mission. And one thing that's really impressed me with this group and it's a very unselfish thing. Myself and my office had discussed this. One of their biggest goals is that this will never happen again. And that doesn't necessarily help them immediately. They are seeing that potentially this could happen again and that they don't want it to ever happen again. So if we follow what's said in this report and we are proactive rather than reactive, then this will not happen again. One of the most important things that they say though is that we've got to find out what this has happened. We need a national inquiry into it and we need to find out who is responsible. And while I feel 100% of the money that this cost people should be paid back to them wherever it comes from, obviously there are taxpayers out there saying, well, who are the people responsible for this? And they have to be followed. And that's one thing I'm pleased about. This report is very clear that people who are responsible must be followed. But the big thing that comes out of it is that if the Irish government hasn't done what it's meant to do, then infringement procedures can be taken against them. And I know all about this as a turf cutter and as a European citizen. I had thrown at me for years that we were breaking some law, the habitats directed by cutting turf in certain places and we were told that Europe will come after us and we've got a cop on and how me and my turf cutters were going to cost the country a fortune. Well, the shoe is on the other foot now and this report makes it quite clear we're not doing something we signed up to do and if we don't follow through on it the European Union will come after us. All right, Eileen Doherty is a homeowner and defective block campaigner and it's with us as well, Eileen. I mean, from what I've seen of it and it's just been a busy couple of days, it seems to catch pretty much everything. Not that the homeowners need vindication but this sort of indicates every single position, the red tape, the foundations, the level of compensation, so on and so forth, Eileen. Absolutely, Greg. Yeah, I mean, for years we've been saying all of this stuff and I think particularly over the last year so we have been painted as complainers and as if nothing is good enough. So this is a really good and excellent report which as Luke has said, is objective or as Joe has said, is an objective report. It shows that we're not the only people who are saying that there are major issues here. I mean, it covers so many different things. I mean, just picking out a couple of things, I think particularly maybe recommendation five is one of the key ones that I think homeowners will be interested in which when they talk about the enhanced scheme, not just the original scheme that the enhanced effective block scheme needs improved and scope needs widened. In other words, it's not just covering all of the people that are affected like businesses are excluded, farmers are excluded, you know, other buildings, public buildings are excluded. They talk about the need to reduce red tape, that the progress is far too slow which we've been saying as well and also the fact that there's no involvement from financial institutions. It also talks about the fact that those people who are not in a position to actually avail of the scheme, of which by the way, Greg, we know there are far, far too many of those. They said that there has to be arrangements put in place to support homeowners who are not in a position to advance because of cost. So there are not awful of a specific sometimes you get these reports and they're very generic and there's not very much specific information or recommendations in there. There is absolutely, we're delighted with the report and also they talk about the need to engage the EU and the commission themselves going forward and awful of very good stuff. And I think an absolute credit to Joe Morgan and Luke's team, particularly who have driven this for the last few years. Yeah, and I'm going to introduce Paul Donlop into this as well. But just a word back to you, Luke, in that this is really a very significant report but I think it's imperative that, I mean, obviously we're going to discuss it extensively on this program and on this radio station as we have. But I just also get the feeling this could be another one of those stories that's ignored nationally and it really does require, I think, the national media to do the role that the national media should be doing and to highlight, expose this and to hold ministers and the government to account. Well, the one thing that I've been saying about this is like the report is very clear and people have been saying back to me, how long will it take for something to come out of this? The government can look at this objective report now and they can finally admit that they're not doing what they were meant to do and they can follow all the recommendations. So today, absolutely everything can change. And as someone who is a proud Irish person, it kind of embarrasses me that we had to go to Europe on it. But now that we have, I think the best thing for our credibility as a country is that we get on ahead of this. We don't wait for a vote. We don't wait for it to go to the European Parliament. We don't, as this happens in many cases, wait till it gets to the steps of the court before something is done because the longer it goes on and the longer the lessons are learned, the more mental health problems it causes for people, the more trauma it causes for people. And like, look, I have a family and I tell you, I have three daughters and they're great but I tell you, it's damned hard work and it's, life can be a challenge but I tell you, when you walk through some of these people's houses, it would, and I think it's why Dolores Montserrat broke through the political wall and didn't care who was in government here. It broke everyone's hearts and okay, maybe the government will try to ignore it but we're, I tell you, the government are at the most responsive when the people are going to the polls and they're going to be going to the polls next June. So the timing is perfect. Yeah, but you see, this is the point I'm making you see because the PRK campaign is already being waged and this would only be a critical voting matter. I mean, it's fine if people want to change the deck chairs around in Donagall but this is only becomes a critical voting matter if it's framed by the national press to the people in a certain way. Anyway, that's my hubby horse. Not, I don't expect anyone to agree but for me, it only becomes an issue when it is framed as such to some extent as well. I do agree, Greg. Unfortunately, you're right. And in fairness, RT did cover it but I think it's... No, I'm not slacking them off but this is a really significant piece of news coming out of Europe. I'll be the first to slag them off but anyway. All right. Okay, we'll do that together later. Come here, Luke. Thanks very much for joining us and thanks for moving things around for us, okay? So Paul, I mean, they take into consideration the human element of it, the financial element of it, and the science side of it as well. I don't want to always label you as the science guy. Don't get me wrong but what is it that jumps out for you about this report? The context of why the petition... They were here in the first place was because regional petitions went across based on the fact that they had a mica problem, okay? So as we know, the science has been updated. So I was invited down to sort of represent the sort of science community and present details of the latest findings on the research that we've been doing because we know we don't have a solely a mica problem here in Donegal. We know mica has an issue in concrete but it's not the thing that's causing the destruction of the concrete. So I was brought on, they basically update the science to the delegation and let them understand that actually what we have is that we've got really harmful iron sulfide minerals, mainly pyrite in the aggregates in Donegal and that that is creating a process that we now know is happening called internal sulfide attack which causes concrete expansion and then concrete disintegration. So it was really important for them to understand that because there isn't an EU derogation for mica but there is for pyrite and for sulfur levels. So a guy was really there sharing the science to let them know that actually they have a stake in this because actually EU regulations are clearly being broken by quarries and concrete manufacturers across all of Ireland because you know it's not just Donegal. We know we have the same process internal sulfide attack happening in Mayo, county Claire, Limerick because it's all either pyrite or pyrite that's causing the problem. And listen, there's a bit of praise in the government for this as well. Very ambitious and comprehensive plan, the mica redress scheme as it's described. So listen, there is a positivity there if you wanted to submit it and say, look we accept that the EU has said this is an ambitious and comprehensive plan and we also accept that we need to jig it up a little bit so it can be spun either which way. I mean a two part question before we take a break and we're going to go to a news bulletin then. What do you think will happen? What do you think should happen? A, B, what do you think will happen off the back of this? Good questions. Well, I mean, well, first of all, I mean that the recommendations were clear, you know, there's not that many, it's not like peaches and peaches are almost six or seven of them. So the government should implement those recommendations because they do reflect what people have been saying about the scheme. It's very lots of red tape. It's hard to get in. It's completely inflexible. There's still not enough grant income there to cover people's costs. You know, and in the mix of all this people do forget at times in the public that we didn't cause this and this was caused on us. So, you know, there's responsibility for government to act on those recommendations. They make the scheme completely fair, completely accessible and make it work. That's the first thing. What will happen is a very different matter. I mean, all I can go is on the track record or this government at the minute is that they seem to have been reluctant to do anything without dragged kicking and screaming on this. I think it's really important that the European Union came across here with fresh eyes, not connected to the whole thing at all, with no real understanding of what's happening. And they've come out with a bunch of recommendations that reflect what people are feeling on the ground. So they should really, as what Luke was saying, get ahead of the game and actually just do this and make the scheme work. Everybody wants to get their houses fixed. Everyone's second with us at this stage. Okay. I hope I haven't fallen out with Eileen and Joe. They've cleared off, but... No, I do want to get a flight to Brussels and Eileen and I don't know our meeting. No, I know that. I know that, Paul. Listen, Camille, thanks very much for that. We'll return to this, but we appreciate the team assembling to give us some initial reaction. Take care of yourself. 08, 6, 60, 25,000 is the WhatsApp and text number. It's been a funny old morning affected by the weather and things are running late and what have you. But what we're going to do for you now is going to take a short break, and then Donald's going to be in with a news update for you. We'll have the obituary notices for you as well. So thank you so much for bearing with us on this peculiar Monday morning, post-or-my-share or e-share or whatever way you want to go with that. 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 letterkennycu.ie At Electric Ireland, we're here to make your world brighter. All of our 1.1 million customers will see that come to life this winter, with a second price decrease across all residential electricity, gas and fuel fuel bills. Good news for you, even better news for your bill. Electric Ireland, making your bills smaller and your world brighter. Second decrease effective from 1st March 2024 applies to standard unit rate and standing charges. Visit electricarland.ie for further details. Hi, Mark here from Highland Motors at the Mountain Top in Letter Kenny. What would you look for in a new car? Maybe a reversing camera with reversing sensors, bright LED headlights or maybe around to your tech, like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Wireless, of course. If you also like great comfort and want all of this at a really good price, the new Citroen C4X U-Edition is the car for you. Call in to me at Highland Motors at the Mountain Top in Letter Kenny. Oh, and that really good price? $2,999 on the road. Steer Housing Association in Letter Kenny is seeking expressions of interest for voluntary company director roles. Managing 216 properties as an approved housing body, Steer Housing addresses general housing needs with board members overseeing governance, finance and compliance. The association aims to enhance board membership with skills in governance, finance, property management and risk assessment. Interested individuals can contact hr at SteerHousing.com or by phone to Elizabeth Doherty CEO on 0861038973 by January 26th. This is Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer for the HSE. Right now, COVID-19, flu and RSV are circulating widely in our communities. These can cause severe illness for many people. That's why older people, young children, healthcare workers and people who are pregnant or have a long-term health condition are recommended to get flu and COVID-19 vaccines. It's not too late to get vaccinated to help protect you and the people around you. To check which vaccines are recommended for you, visit hse.ie or talk to a participating GP or pharmacist today. Thank you from the HSE. Sailor Bill returns to the Ballart Theatre on Saturday the third of February and night of music and crack with special guest Chelsea Evans. Tickets are 15 euro are available on the Ballart website at ballartcenter.com or by calling to the Ballart Theatre front desk. Good morning at six minutes past 11, Donald Kavanaugh at the news desk with a special bulletin. Over 40,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power in Donegal after storm Asia brought down trees and power lines overnight. Red and orange wind warnings are now over but Yellow Alerts are main in place in Claire Donegal, Lytrim, Galway, Mayo and Sligo. The project website is showing indicative restoration times of six o'clock this evening for most areas but Siobhan Nguyen of the ESP told Grecus on this morning's Lentil Nuncho it'll take more than 24 hours to restore power everywhere. Overnight we had 230,000 customers without power so like that is a really significant number of customers so realistically we are looking at a multi-day event here. We will obviously try to get as many people back tonight but inevitably there will be customers out without power tomorrow and possibly for another day after that again. Meanwhile a massive cleanup operation is continuing across the county after thousands of trees fell overnight. Other structural damage was experienced at several buildings across the county. On Gorda Siakona in Donegal say few roads were spared as trees fell. Donegal County Council's Director of Service for Roads and Transportation is Brian Cannon. He says the cleanup operation continues and the county was badly hit. Some of it was dealt with yesterday afternoon or yesterday evening in advance of the red alert coming into effect. At that point our crews would have went back home because it just wasn't safe to be out during the red alert and then they remobilized again this morning and have cleared quite a lot of the main and priority routes and are working their way down through the other roads in order to make them passable but right across the network, right across from initial one down to South Donegal out to West Donegal down the Fun and Deal valleys and in and around Lederkinny in particular. And the message from Donegal County Council is that there is still a yellow wind warning in place. It can still be dangerous out there and please be careful, please keep an eye on the roads and always assume that there's a tree down around the next corner. Will Milford Garden Station took the social media this morning to warn the public of issues with their phone lines in the case of an emergency called 999 or 112 for non-emergency incidents. Anyone wishing to contact Milford can do so via letter Kenny Garden Station. They can be contacted on 0749167100. Two people have been killed in separate road crashes overnight in County's Louth and Mayo. A woman in her twenties died when the van in which she was a passenger hit a tree at Carnalogue in County Louth just before two this morning. A man in his twenties who was also a passenger was hurt and treated for non-life threatening injuries in hospital. In County Mayo, a man in his forties was killed in a single vehicle collision in Clare Morris last evening. Forensic collision investigations are underway at both scenes and Guardi are appealing for witnesses. The government says it's fulfilling its commitment to supporting growing and sustaining third level education in regional areas. The higher education minister, Simon Harris, has today announced 4.5 million euro for colleges that have multiple campuses in remote locations. Atlantic Technological University is the main beneficiary receiving over 2.6 million. The funding would assist with the delivery of services across multiple sites, travel costs between campuses and help compensate for lower staff to student ratios. Minister Harris says the money will help those regional locations reach their full potential. I really believe when it comes to education it's so important that we support access to education in the regions and that means providing additional funding to our higher education institutions to support campuses that might be based in more remote locations and to support them with the additional costs that might be associated with running those campuses. All of our campuses have individual strengths and whether you're a campus in Killy Beggs or in Perlis or many other locations right across the country we need to support you we need to sustain you and this direct investment of 4.5 million euro in regional campuses will help make that a reality. PS9 detectives in Derry have issued an appeal for information to establish how a man sustained facial injuries on New Year's Eve. The man in his 40s was helped by two members of the public between 10 and half past 10. They found him on the ground bleeding his injury required hospital treatment. Police are asking anyone with information as well as those who helped the man to get in touch. And it's expected the Burn Foot Flood Relief Scheme will come before on Borplanala in March. The area was devastated by unprecedented flooding in August 2017 with residents of Park Nagrenja forced to leave their homes as a result they have been unable to return with more. Here's McKellet Lark. The Office of Public Works has confirmed that the Burn Foot Flood Relief Scheme is currently at stage 2 of the five stages of its implementation. The body expects the exhibition at public engagement stage to be completed by July 2024. In response to an update requested by the initial municipal district the OPW says the consultant or PS Belfast is currently working on issuing the EIA or report for Burn Foot and finalizing the Natura Impact Statement. The letter to the initial MD concludes by stating that the Scheme is programmed to be submitted to in Borplanala for planning consent in March this year. Well the forecast now and it'll be breezy and blustery today with some sunny spells and scattered showers some of those showers heavy with a chance of hail the showers will become isolated this evening top temperatures today six to nine degrees celsius in a fresh to strong westerly wind with some very strong gusts at times and just a reminder that there is a yellow wind warning in place in Donegal until seven this evening. Well that's Highland Radio News we're back with headlines again at 12 noon until then from the news team have a very good morning. The death has occurred of Patrick Patsy Collins Carmel Howe's Salah Hagrain letter Kenny his remains are opposing at his residence. We're at Glamemast tomorrow afternoon in St. Union's Cathedral letter Kenny at 1pm with burial afterwards in Cornwall Cemetery funeral mass can be viewed at the St. Union's webcam donations in lieu of flowers to Donegal hospice care of any family member house private please in the morning of the funeral. The death has taken place of Marlene McShane and Econnelly 21 Columban Terrace Straban reposing at her home from 12 noon today. Funeral from there on Wednesday morning at 9.20 for Rayquiem Mass in St. Mary's Church Melmont at 10 o'clock followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery donations in lieu of flowers please to the western help and social care trust care quickly funeral directors family time please from 11pm to 11am the Rayquiem Mass can be viewed live at melmont parish.com The death has taken place of Hugh MacMenneman half town castle fin Rayquiem Mass at St. Columban's Church done a lift today at 12 noon and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery donations in lieu of flowers please to Donegal hospice care of quickly funeral directors the Rayquiem Mass can be viewed live via the Ernie Castle Fin parish facebook page The death has taken place of George McDermott Baladeric mountaintop letter Kenny funeral mass is ongoing at St. Unan's cathedral letter Kenny burial afterwards in Ulex Cemetery funeral mass can be viewed on church services Dot TV The death has taken place of Maggie McCafferty New Ferry one Elm Court remelton formerly of Auckland Wrath Mullin remains reposing at her home funeral mass this afternoon at 1pm in St. Joseph's Church Wrath Mullin burial afterwards in Wrath Mullin Cemetery funeral mass can be viewed on mcnmedia.tv family time before the funeral this morning family flowers only donations if desired to dunigull hospice care of any family member or Patrick Sweeney funeral directors The death has taken place of Margaret Boyle in a low-rate Cara Doan Wrath Mullin funeral mass is ongoing in St. Catherine's Church Auckland burial afterwards in Wrath Mullin Cemetery The death has taken place of Theresa McCue 22 the Orchard Doncaberry Tavola Hunt County Litrum and formerly of Drmarid Frost's County Dunigull funeral mass is ongoing in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Frost's followed by Cremation in Lakeland's Crematorium Cavern Theresa's funeral mass can be viewed live on mcn.live family flowers only donations in Lou Tislaigo oncology unit care of any family member or John McGowan funeral directors for family information and more details regarding lakes and funerals please go to HighlandRadio.com The 9-Til Noon Show is brought to you by letter Kenny Credit Union with monster loans available up to 60,000 Euro for all occasions Visit letterkennycu.ie Enter the Virgin Media Playhouse for unbelievable value from Ireland's best broadband Get 500 meg super-fast reliable broadband for just 35 Euro a month for 12 months and no activation fee when you act now Switch in store or at virginmedia.ie Virgin Media It's Playtime Tees and Z's apply see virginmedia.ie subject to location and availability new customers only 12 month contract 500 meg broadband 70 Euro thereafter Ireland's best broadband award by Umlaut see virginmedia.ie forward slash proof Personal improvement deserves recognition That's progress you can feel and the very definition of the Audi 241 range from the striking style and comfort of the enhanced Audi A6 to the era defining iconic Audi A4 with competition edition and the quietly efficient Audi Q4 e-tron electrified driving with no compromise test drive the Audi 241 range at an Audi dealer near you today The Euro millions mega draw is back and it's pretty big it's actually massive This Friday the 26th of January the Euro millions jackpot will be a guaranteed 130 million Euro It's just too big to miss The National Lottery It could be you Play responsibly Play for fun There's bingo every Monday night at Halfway House Burnford Doors open at 7.30 with eyes down at 8.30 2,500 Euro must go The snowball is now 2,350 Euro on 45 numbers or less If you're not in you can't win That's Halfway House Bingo tonight at 8.30 Don't miss the BAFTA award winning comedian Michael McIntyre's brand new show magnificent at the SSZ Arena Belfast on Friday the 31st of May 2024 As always Highland radio make it easy for you as we look after all your needs We will provide luxury transfers overnight stay at the Clinton Hotel Belfast on a B&B basis your ticket to the show shopping time in Belfast City Centre For more information go to the outlet at highlandradio.com or give us a call on 07491 25,000 Michael McIntyre in Belfast Highland radio weather updates brought to you by Grant Building a new home choose grants A triple plus rated air owner air to water heat pump and you flex under floor heating visit grant.ie Okay there's another named storm due to hit the country tomorrow it's an orange warning at this point I'll give you more details about that a little later on but the weather now today will be breezy and blustery with sunny spells and scattered showers some heavy with a chance of hail showers will become isolated this evening highest temperatures of 69 degrees and a fresh to strong westerly wind with some very strong gusts at time so continue please to stay safe out there Declan Means a community campaigner and a recently declared candidate in the local elections and he joins him now Declan good morning to you Good morning Greg Thanks so much for joining us Right okay so a video appeared online at the weekend claiming 17 houses in Milford were being given out by the department as an eyepass centre effectively or for refugees or asylum seekers and quite understandably myself and I'm sure you and others were contacted by people who were really quite concerned about this so before we get to the claims contained within can you just give us a bit of a background to these 17 houses because it has been somewhat controversial Declan please Yeah so the 17 houses were originally planned as a term key acquisition from Donegal County Council to provide social housing in the Milford area so 17 houses obviously will go a long way to addressing the local housing waiting list so it was very welcome development at the time the nature of term key acquisitions pre-COVID were that contracts weren't signed as a matter of course so that either party could walk away for whatever reason that I understand is different now that when a term key acquisition is underway then contracts are signed but this particular development contracts weren't signed and when the houses were completed the contractor who had constructed them was looking for an increase because of the increase in costs associated with delivery of houses and that proved difficult in negotiations with Donegal County Council and so the houses were not acquired by the council as per the original agreement what happened since then was a third party entered into negotiations which is an approved housing body called Cooperative Housing Ireland they're an approved housing body which has delivered about 5,000 social houses across Ireland over the past number of years the approved approved housing body structure acquiring or building social housing is a really important part of social housing delivery and for housing policy generally in Ireland initially the council were supportive of Cooperative Housing Ireland purchasing those houses of the contractor acquiring them for the purposes of social housing and that was confirmed in June 2023 so the process was put in place then for the housing body to secure finance through what's called the Capital Advanced Leasing Facility or CAF-CALF the council is needed I suppose the council support is needed for that to proceed then in November just past November 2023 the Cooperative Housing Ireland received an indication from the council that they would no longer be supportive of the application to CAF and so what should be now for two opportunities these 17 houses coming into the social housing stock locally in the Milford area have been missed and it seems that we need clarity from the county council as to why that has happened because there are families waiting on these 17 houses they've been waiting for a number of years and these houses are currently lying vacant obviously at a great cost the contractor as well who has delivered them but they're lying empty at Lochfern Heights in Milford and we need to know what the story is with the CAF application why has the county council withdrawn its support which has ultimately resulted in 17 houses not now becoming social housing which is crazy in a housing crisis with so much need so again I suppose it's another situation where there is a vacuum where there's a gap where there's misinformation or there's confusion and often that can get filled with other information and as I say a video appeared online purporting that these 17 houses were for foreigners and inverted commas not the word I would use but I suppose that's a catch all you wanted to see clarification on this or what the situation was so what did you do and what have you found out? Yeah so the video appeared on Saturday evening at a number of local residents in Lochfern Heights had also contacted me about I suppose inquiring as to whether or not I had heard anything I hadn't heard anything at that point so I contacted the minister Robert Gorman directly who was speaking to a number of times over the weekend he confirmed that there was no contract in place nor was there any application or indication of anyone seeking a contract for an outpass centre at Lochfern Heights so that's categorically from the department side I then was speaking to the contractor P.J. Doherty directly yesterday and he had around the same time that we were chatting was issuing a statement to the residents of Lochfern Heights confirming the exact same there was absolutely no intention for the 17 houses to be used as an outpass centre of the accommodation of refugees what he did say was that he was losing hope that the houses could be sold on for the purposes of social housing because of the two opportunities that the council have had to support that process and that not going forward at the minute and that what he was considering was putting the houses up for private rental on the public rental market so I guess the situation is that the misinformation that was I suppose put out about being used as an outpass centre was just that misinformation completely untrue but I suppose it speaks to the fact that in Milford this is a burning issue the 17 vacant houses are a burning issue it is something that people are very and rightly annoyed about this opportunity to provide 17 homes to people on housing waiting lists being missed two different iterations those houses are lying vacant while people are waiting for housing and so misinformation will always creep in and around that and fears and concerns about it yeah and I got some contacts from people too that once this information was put out there that they wanted extra security in the area because what we have seen unfortunately is around the country and here in Donegal as well that when something has been earmarked or suggested or flagged whether it's true or false for the accommodation to be made available as an outpass or for outpass applicants or whatever it might be that the fires can start damage can be caused did you hear any similar concerns? Yeah absolutely it was a concern I had myself which is why I wanted to I suppose clarify what the situation was in relation to the 17 houses and that was something that I had expressed to the minister Robert Gorman as well was that you know we need to know either way what the plan is for these houses if there was one from the department's point of view so that we can either quash the rumours in order to protect the safety of the buildings or that we can prepare for any potential fallout from being used as an outpass centre so that correct information and that clarity for me is extremely important and is crucial but what I would like to say is well Greg is the residents who had contacted me in relation to this were concerned exactly about that potential arson attacks on the buildings but also they weren't necessarily concerned about the houses actually being used for accommodating anyone but there is always going to be ill feeling around these houses if they are not used for what they were originally intended social housing which was social housing and I think that's very valid anger and annoyance and again we need clarity from the county council why that support for the application for care funding was withdrawn in November in 2023 yeah it's multi-layered the issues here indeed okay listen thank you very much Declan Meakin I do appreciate your time today that is Declan Meakin there 08 660 25000 is the WhatsApp and text number or give us a call on 07491 25000 right so I mean obviously all of us across the northwest or wherever you're listening to us today if you're impacted by the storm you know we had our concerns about you know what the roof if something might happen to the roof if something might blow off if the power would go out if the broadband would go down you know and in all of those situations in time hopefully things could be overcome but there's thousands of people across this county and many more across this country that there's a different emotion when they hear a storm coming because they're living in a defective concrete home and the storm can have a much different impact on that the wind whistling right through the property and so on one listener Joy gives us an insight into what it was like for her what families had to endure last night was horrendous for those who have properties built with defective concrete the wind howling around our houses in fear of our lives and our children's lives was disgusting this is the way we've been abandoned how many storms is it going to tech before someone is maimed or worse that's my biggest fear I'm just so pleased this time that everyone seems to have made it through but are we going to be as lucky next time the scheme does not work the government need to revise the scheme they need to abolish IS465 and they need to start respecting homeowners that are living this day in day out last night having to endure that was absolute terror all right that's listener Joy there and by the way just to invite you that if you want to send voice messages to the program and have you'll say that way please feel free to do so 08 660 25000 is the WhatsApp number in that regard all right Brendan Daveney's back after these the county's number one talk show the 9 till noon show on Highland radio the 9 till noon show with letterkenny credit union simplify your debts with a debt consolidation loan from letterkenny credit union call us on 074 910 2126 or apply online via our app or in office today boots best for less here to help you save more on the products you love whether you're flirting with a new look ooh look at you practicing a little self-care or blushing over new beauty we're with you for getting the best and nothing less shop the products you love at prices you love even more and get the best for less at boots boots with you for life see boots.ie for details go full-little with these exclusive Lidl plus offers like board B approved Irish Angus lean steak mince was $5.99 now for $79 have a side of microwavable baby potatoes 50% off only 49 cent and Irish grated mature white cheddar cheese was $2.19 now $1.64 scan your Lidl plus app and go full Lidl today if you're starting a new business in 2024 let bizprint help with all your printing needs logo design invoice books business cards and promotional products call bizprint in letter Kenny today on 911 7995 or visit bizprint.ie are you worried about trees on your property Northwest Forestry Services Bully Buffet are fully insured and have over 40 years experience in dangerous tree removal tree felling surgery and stump grinding for peace of mind call Northwest Forest Services Bully Buffet for no obligation quotation on 9132033 a new year and a promise to eat better at Kelly Centra you'll find everything you'll need to cook simple and delicious dinners with a great variety of protein choices and vegetarian options all the ingredients to cook something tasty and a great range of healthy ready meals make the right choice this January at Kelly Centra mountaintop letter Kenny Highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from letter Kenny to Dublin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time us okay the time is 11 31 and he's back Brendan of any presenter of the deal debate that means the deal debates back good morning to you Brendan good morning Greg all right I see the the storms blowing your beard off yes you gave in in the end I didn't know yeah I just got about a chee honoured I was like ah let's was it your own decision it was yeah it was yeah I'm a I'm a charge of my own face I'll hurry up right okay um big guest this week you have a sit down chat with Jim McGinnis yeah and I think it comes at a really good time here because he settled in we had the highs and some might see the lows of the mechanic cop it's all business we're heading to play cork at the end of this month I think you're getting him at a really good time because if it was before those games it'd be a different type of an interview yeah but there's an old flop for you to dig in here with him that's it I mean it's a huge story I was kind of thinking about opening remarks you know Jim already has a book out at this stage what he's done this last number of years there's probably definite room for another one in there such I mean he's been on an amazing trip between after the phenomenal four years of Donny Gossum the greatest times ever taking us from you know maybe ranked about 14-15 to number one in the country one in the all-air and the oyster championships and and of course the second final and then you know he has the Celtic performance takes up his coaching badges ends up as a system manager in China and then head coach in Charlotte in America and now he's back with us so it's it's a huge story but of course listen this is all about the GA really but I'm interested to get a few words to him on that but definitely you know it's all about his how open will he be in in relation to that or is he the type that will hold his his cars close to his chest because he could frame it as he had a look at the soccer it didn't work for him he's back to GA he had a look at the soccer he's going to go back to it you know what I mean there's lots of it'll be interesting to see what his assessment of that path is whether he whether you think he's given up on the soccer or whether he'll go back yeah yeah yeah it's interesting because he went on as I say you know we keep talking about this journey but I mean to be in the to be around the world that he's that he's done and always experienced them and I'm just wondering how much he can take from that experience back into Donegal because then the day we're all about Donegal now and he's still been analyzing GA and his time off and that and he's obviously very in depth in terms of his attitude towards the game so now with the change because he changed the game he didn't just have this phenomenal four years with Donegal he changed the game and if you look at the best football team that ever played a game which was a Dublin team his tactics beat them and changed their whole mindset so he come up against his own game to some extent in the Saturday I think yeah well he's changed now yeah a lot of us casual sort of a lot of us casual fans you know the first couple of games you know scoring freely lots of goals high pressing you know winning winning the kickouts pressing up all that kind of stuff looked fantastic on paper and for those less informed a little bit like myself it was kind of a reality check coming up against a top team in Derry and it kind of felt well is that on Donegal you know what I'm on about now you've played the game at the highest level you commentate the game you study the game you saw it is different I mean you would have gone into that game saying hold on your second this Derry outfit we're about to take on is very different to what we've come up to so far in the McKenna Cup yeah they were top class I suppose there's a whole lot in this guy particularly you know it's January Derry Mickey Hart's in there now he has to hit the ground rolling division one Derry are up so Derry were way ahead those other teams we played they weren't at the races you know experimental sides we had the training camp as well so I think our legs were a good bit ahead our togetherness was a good bit ahead so that Derry said we played last day I thought particularly second half they were brilliant first half there wasn't much in it like we it was an incident here at Donald just just down at the end there should have got a free we probably should have went on a level at halftime not two down everything Derry had I think one way second half they were really ruthless second half but they were also very hard to break down now I would go back to the fact that you know our core players are midfield you know particularly like Sri Lankan McGee you know Omban McCool where you build your team around you know the core that wasn't there now people will say the few players were missing from Glenn from the Derry side but as a Derry team probably should have been no learning final last year you know the back-to-back also champion so maybe we would early for the Dunnegal team to match up to them that good I mean Jim but what do we have to do to match up to that Derry well I think still Jim's still bedding in you know I was at Jimmy Dade's doing Friday night and funny a lot of Dunnegal fans they were talking you get up to the game and they were like they were like we should beat Derry we should beat Derry you know we probably could maybe we better hit ourselves because the quality opposition wasn't that good we were playing but in many ways like there's a reality check for Gem and his lads you know the save right there we've been ahead of us in terms of setting the bar that's what we need to get to and look what happened in that game but that's what the mechanic hopes about yeah and that's how mid commentary if I picked it up quite correctly you and us we're down at the game of course that's how you were you were gauging it you were you were this it wasn't as if you were you were comparing and correct me if I'm wrong Dunnegal and Derry on the same level you were you were sort of critiquing Dunnegal against a team that you believe were way far and ahead of of Dunnegal if that makes sense yeah yeah and and this thing like I suppose last year if you look at from from the championship and and don't forget you know it's mechanic copper caution even reading too much under a league Greg is about time point to one everything and we're looking forward to them well yeah well it's it's it's all built up we can't just all be about the championship well I think it's really important doesn't it in terms of what you're based on as you know I mean let's say if I asked you to name this last four leagues winners in division one go on yeah struggle whereas you know championship but so listen it's it's all about build up if you look at that last year when we are missing maybe six or seven players and maybe as much as eight or nine in terms of new players and we give that their side of game for about 45 minutes in Balbuffet so it's hard to gauge I think that Mickey Hart is looking at this and he always he loves him mechanic copies one or two many times I think with the bit of question mark over him he knows that this league they play to run play or Derry play to run and carry in their opening games huge matches and I think would Hart get off to a bad start would put a wild pressure on him from the get go so I think Derry are really really flying at this stage as well so I think that probably had an impact in the game but as I say second half they were they were streets ahead of us and a lot of our players didn't perform well again it's genuinely I don't mind that are you in any sense of of the Derry fans reaction to Mickey Hart if that makes sense because I mean obviously you know there's a lot of history there are they warm into him I think funny coming off the pitch if you come up to him and I was like I got the sense from Mickey straight away because obviously we had all the stuff and you had the Brawley comments and that but you were completely out of order I mean at the end of the day Derry asked Mickey Hart to be mad and he's a very normal nice guy as well he didn't go after Derry no he is but this thing of not wanting them I mean if the county board going that's their job to go and get him once he's in there either support him or you don't put out a margin results will dictate a lot of that it'll probably be awkward for Mickey out of margin should he play Tarone in particular but I really got the sense from him the last night that you know he's there he's a manager and maybe maybe this in many ways like I was just thinking about is a turning point because I could never have seen something like that happen before particularly with the history he had with one county that's a big rival county so maybe in years to come that won't be such a big thing that a manager can go and meet me see him cross the water we're always looking across the soccer to say the X Arsenal manager going to Spurs or something like that happening thinking God could that could could this ever happen and some people will break down the barrier so I think hard going the Tarone was completely unexpected or hard going to Derry was completely unexpected but it looks like he's going to make a good job yeah and as you say maybe it's just the new norm right listen there was a quite a bit of action across the weekend but tonight's show is about a sit down with Jim McGinnis yeah we'll see that going I'm going to talk to Jim now down in his his his Chris at home and we'll get a good chat and we're going to of course review the league final Donagall ladies won the opening league fixture too against Leish at the weekend so listen we have a good bit of stuff to wrap up but I think everybody in Donagall is very intrigued to hear Jim's words and just his plans and how he sees the game how it's changed really at this time it's going to be really really interesting okay I know you've got all the good questions that's we can look forward to listen to those there'll be headlines coming out of it there's just no doubt about that it's Brendan Daveney on the deal debate tonight the star of the show Jim McGinnis Brendan about to go down and have that sit down interview with him and of course he'll keep me up to date with whatever else has been happening Brendan it's on after surfing it's not I haven't forgot that that's I'm correct yeah you're right dude you're right yeah it's it's on Brian's working well dude yeah all right great to have you back watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com the 90 noon show is brought to you by letter candy credit union digital loans now available apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account make five dinners for under 25 euro with done stores save on the aisle with everything you need for sausage pasta bake chicken burrito bowl tie red curry veg soup tasty pizza wrap and fresh cod tray bake all for just 24 euros 73 cents when you save with a five of 25 grocery voucher download the app and get your voucher today done stores always better value terms and additions supply voucher can be used on extents or grocery shop with 25 euro or more well grace how are you today I'm good I've just been down to the need to measure fireplaces showroom in Chrysler they have an incredible selection of over 40 colors for kitchen workshops and guess what for a limited time they're offering a 40% discount on any electric fire when you purchase a worktop there 40% that's an amazing deal grace absolutely and trust me if the discount alone doesn't sway you they're a huge selection of fireplaces stoves wood pellet burners beams and stone 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teams at Villa Rose and Jackson's Ballet Buffet you're very welcome back to the program and our Monday focus today is on stammering and we've got two guests in studio with us today we've got Sam Anderson from Rathmullen good morning Sam thanks so much for joining us agree it's good and it's great to have you in and also Shannon McEwen from letter Kenny who's a primary coach on the McGuire program good morning to you Shannon thanks so much for calling and I'll start with you Sam you're challenged with a stammer that's the correct terminology that's used as an it so how has this developed or emerged in your life was it from a very young age or well Greg I have always had a stammer and I think through primary and especially into secondary school is where it really kicked in and that's where the whole physical and psychological fear of it really kicked in where you're you're holding back so often and are there certain situations where your stammer might be worse or or less or is it consistent with you Sam comes and goes it depends on the situation in general so this is kind of a stressful situation here because you're not on the radio would this make it a little bit more difficult for you or do you have the tools now that you can cope in more stressful situations I have the tools but this is still quite a nerve-wracking situation but I'm also quite confident also brilliant okay so how how did it impact you well how do you want to phrase etc I know the obvious things like about you know in school and all that but I want it in your words Sam you know as a as a younger person yes with a stammer how was it how did it affect you socially socially big time you really held back from you couldn't really be you you're okay around your family and friends and close friends but in the general sense in class you're holding back from speaking you aren't speaking out you aren't ordering food you're getting your family and friends to order the food for you and to order drinks and even speaking on the phone was a big no no of my house phone rang I would always get my parents to answer it I would always text rather than call just the small things that people who don't have a stammer don't think about and it's more the psychological aspect of it that really kicks in that the people can't see it's the fear the nerves the anxiety the holding back the overthinking that's just everything and is it physically draining as well as emotionally draining yes yes well more emotionally more so you can see there's two different types of stammer there's covert and there's overt I am very much overt whereas you can see physical blocking you can see the stammering you can see the effect that it has but you can't see the psychological impact that it has and then you've got the covert people where they may seem that they're a fluent speaker but they're able to substitute words in their head that the sentence still makes sense so the person that they're talking to hasn't a clue that they even have a stammer they're a bit more cute on it or whatever way exactly whatever way you might want but they still have the same psychological effect on them also and I'll come back to you because you've benefited from the Maguire program and I'm kind of interested as to when that kicked into you Shannon but the Maguire program is something we've been talking about for quite some time but really being properly established as a program and its effects being proven it's relatively recent is it yes so this year is actually the 30th anniversary of the program it was set up in 1994 by an American guy called Dave Maguire and then it eventually made its way to Ireland in 1998 I think so it's been established here since then and thousands of people have gone through the Maguire program in Ireland like myself and Sam and I can safely say for the two of us it's just completely changed our lives even for me to be here live on air with you Greg speaking about this I joined eight years ago and if you told me then that I'd even be speaking about my stammer for me it was very much something that I brushed under the carpet it wasn't there elephant in the room as such and now I'm very open and honest about it and I'm really happy that we can be on here to just raise a bit of awareness for it and was your younger years your childhood very similar to Sam's? yeah definitely um I've had a stammer since I was three so pretty much my whole life but for me as a child it would tend to come and go until I was around eight years old and then it stuck with a vengeance and I just I noticed that I was like Sam said just different to other people and made me very self-conscious so I didn't really want to speak to people I was very lucky in school I had a great group of friends that I stuck to I would get them to maybe ask a question in class for me rather than me having to put up my hand like Sam if I was out for food I would get them to order something or I'd order something that I could actually say as opposed to what I wanted just because my fear level was that high and I'd be that embarrassed to stammer in front of somebody and sorry go ahead Sam yeah different tricks to help you cope to help you speak some people could be slapping their thigh some people could be doing other things everybody has a or had or has a trick of some sort that helps them speak to survival mode is it really not that it's like life and death but you say well how can I operate in this world in a food situation yeah yes it can be almost and Sam in terms of the Maguire program and it's really two and these are two perfect examples to why people listening should engage are you consciously actively employing that program as we speak now or after you've done it for a while is it sort of on autopilot or what way is it for you at the moment both both if you've got a feared situation like here coming up or a challenging situation then you really practice it you've really drilled it and hired to get your speech to a strong point for it but I think the key to this program is that the program itself is run by people who stammer so everyone on the program has come through it and only for people who stammer it's only them who really know how it feels to have a stammer yes your family and friends are really hurting for you whenever you're blocking and pushing out them words and sounds uncontrollably and you know that they're hurting for you but only you as a stammer really know how it feels the others are only scratching the surface when they think that they know they're having a clue to be honest Shannon was it hard for you to sort of you know trust that this might work like I'm kind of curious as to when you make that call or when you make that initial contact how quickly you know the Maguire program a program can be seen to be working if you know what I mean yeah so Greg I actually had speech therapy as a child I had it twice and it would work for a while with me but sooner or later I'd find myself back at square one again so I just started to think then this is going to be my life now there's no cure I'll be like this forever and then one night one was searching for something to help me and she came across the Maguire program so I got signed up and I went down to Galway for a few days not really expecting anything as I say speech therapy hadn't helped so I thought this course is going to be exactly the same but I've a waste of time but sure I'll give it a go and well the program it's a three day course on Wednesday I went in with no expectations and Saturday when the program ended I was a changed person wow I didn't realize it was done sort of almost in a you know what a three day session like that was that your experience as well Sam yes I actually found out about the program whenever I was 16 from a secondary school teacher Dan McCarthy and they asked me to stay behind after class one day and well to be honest Greg I thought that I had actually did something wrong but it turns out that Dan was a customer of Joe O'Donnell and Joe ran a butcher shop in the town and Joe had a very severe stammer Joe joined the program in 98 I think it was 99 I'm sorry 99 I think 1999 so Dan seen the Joe before the program and the Joe after so Dan got in touch with my parents I had a clue so I asked for their okay to speak to to myself about it so he kept me back after class and explained everything to me so I went home spoke to my parents oh we got in touch with Joe they had an open evening here in the hotel in the town shortly after so I went along to that and I signed up I joined in May 2001 in the Action in Hotel in Dublin and ever since I haven't have not looked back now it's important to state that this isn't a cure this is not a cure this gives you the tools and teaches you new breathing ways on how to overcome but we're three of us sitting here having you know perfectly I don't use the word normal but you know what I mean that it's what how else do you describe it without the McGuire program this simply wouldn't be happening not a chance you know so I mean it is not a chance it's pretty significant isn't it the change in such a short space of time as Shannon says he joined the program on the Wednesday evening properly kicks in the Thursday morning and by the Saturday after noon when you're going home or the Saturday evening you really are a changed person so do you think the greatest challenge really is is getting the information out that that people know this is here Shannon I have some contacts here is there spaces available or like you mentioned Joe I have his number here and there's an email address www.stammering.ie or the email address is joe at maguireprogramme.com Shannon is it can people make contact and try and enroll or enroll the young people in this is that how it works yeah of course and we have a website as well it's just called maguireprogramme.com so if you google that you can click in the Maguire program is worldwide and you can click into the Irish section you can read a bit about different members and there's also contact information there for Joe and I'm actually instructing my very first course for the Maguire program next month it's on from the 21st to the 24th of February down in the Salt Hill Hotel in Galway so if you're listening out there and maybe you have a stutter or maybe a friend family member who has a stutter please get in touch with us Joe's information is there so make contact you don't have to sit there and suffer in silence there is help out there yeah Sam and as I say you know it's not a silver bullet it requires work and it's not a a cure role you know but there there is a something there that has been proven to help and that's significant I think the key to the success of this program is the after support you've got coaches like myself and Shannon we're on a phone list and we're there to help everyone I'd say you've got your Irish phone list and I think you've also got your international phone list so as Shannon said it is a worldwide thing we're there whenever you join up you're given your own coach every student's got their own coach and that coaches their new best friend okay well uh Sam I beg your pardon Sam I didn't mean to cut across you but we're right out of time Sam Anderson from Rethmoreland it's been wonderful speaking to you and Shannon McEwen from letter Kenny a primary coach now as well on the Maguire program both of you thank you very much indeed and we're already getting calls in about the contact details and all which we will give to anyone that rings us and we'll also post them on our social media both of you thank you very much we'll be back with you tomorrow morning at nine hopefully things back to a bit of normal