 I was told to breathe in, I didn't think I could breathe in as much as I could. Did you make that noise in real life or was that for a dramatic effect? No, that's dramatic, but a motion, you know, but a sound effects. Which is why I kept breathing in and breathing in and I went, ooh, it's going to ouch. Did you feel it? I just weeped. It was all in the head, because the last time I had that. Everything's in the head. Yeah, it was just we in our voice chatting to me, you know. Yeah, all right, well, good. You controlled it and you didn't faint. That's all I wanted to know. But I was so happy. It was like I won the Olympics when I came out. You know what I mean? I went and bought myself a scone and a cup of tea. And a lollipop. I know I spent money afterwards. Jeez, he must have been happy. I know after paying me 60 euros, I know it was great. All right, good luck, Gucci. Good luck. All right, that's Lee Gooch. Back with you tomorrow morning at 6.30, the 9 till noon show on its way after a news update now from Michaela Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. Questions continue to be raised over the proposed Bridgette bypass. The project aims to improve connectivity between letter Kenny and Dary as part of the National Development Plan. A recent public consultation revealed the preferred route option. However, there are fears the project would be detrimental to businesses in the locality. Councillor Nicholas Crossen says it's vital that the concerns voiced are taken on board. We have petrol stations there, a gauge, restrooms, pubs. So there's an awful lot of business and there's an awful lot of rates paid in that strip of maybe a couple of hundred metres. And it's probably one of the most lucrative spots that Donegal County Council has regarding rates. So I think that the business people have to be listened to and we have to go back and rethink about the bypass of Bridgette because on the Dary side, it has stopped. So there's not much point in Donegal County Council carrying on. An initial answer believes the peninsula is being ignored when raising questions over possible gaps in the fire service. Councillor Martin McDermott asked for clarity in the number of times the Northern Ireland Fire Service responded to call outs in Donegal last year. However, no response has been forthcoming to date while previously there were repeated calls for a water tanker to be located in Anishoan which has not yet been delivered. Councillor McDermott says there are very serious issues which warned a valid response. The Northern Ireland Fire Service was taken out so many times last year and this year and we're just asking, is there a gap? Is there a reason why it needs to be deployed to so many times? I think that's a very fair question because it's vitally important that we have a service that facilitates not just Anishoan but the whole of the county and if there's a gap there we need to know that and we need to be able to do something about it. Proposals being brought to cabinet by Justice Minister Simon Hares would increase the maximum yield term for assaulting or obstructing a guard from 7 to 12 years. The measure would also apply to other emergency service staff including hospital staff, prison workers, members of the Defence Forces, fire brigade or ambulance staff. The Guard of Representative Association feels the plans are full short of what Guardi have called for. TRA President N'Golbea Skarda, Brandon O'Connor says maximum sentencing is rarely applied. We don't believe it's enough. We have always called for a mandatory custodial sentence of such a text. It's welcomed and it's that the Governor acknowledges the problem but it's not what we would have asked for. It's whether it's applied or not, we'll have to wait and see but our experience and experience in relation to any term, legislation and punishment is that maximum sentencing is not a feature of most sentencing. Whether or not I dry with a mix of Clyde and Hazy Sunshine highest temperatures today on 14 to 16 degrees in light and north-westerly breezes. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with news again at 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. Every year about 2,600 people in Ireland get bowel cancer. Bowel screening helps to reduce your risk of developing it. If you're aged 60 to 69, you can register today for a free Bowel Screen Test Kit. Once you've done the test at home, you'll be sent by free post and we'll test your sample for levels of blood. If you need any more tests, we'll let you know. Register today at hse.ie forward slash Bowel Screen or free phone 1-800-4545-55 from the HSE. The county's number one talk show, the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio and now it's time for the talk of the Northwest the 9 till noon show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Good morning to you. It's just coming up to five minutes past nine on this Tuesday, the 23rd of May, 2023 and you're very welcome along to another edition of the 9 till noon show. Not coming up on the program today. We're going to be hearing concerns about the prevalence of drugs in our communities and I think from a lot of the texts that come in, many of you will agree in that regard so we want your views on that. Community Guard information is on just after 10 o'clock of course where you hear for the first time appeals and information from on Goddess Yukana and that and so much more besides if you want to comment on any of today's topics or raise your own, you WhatsApp or text us to 08 660 25000, 08 660 25000 your calls into us on 07 491 25000 and your emails, well that's comments at HighlandRadio.com All right, let's see what's making the front and inside some of the papers today. The Donegal Democrat, this is a horrific story a man who attacked an 86-year-old woman by putting her inside a wheelie bin after the victim had got lost on route to her home late at night has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The court heard that Alex Bailey, 30 of Clara Remalton was experiencing induced psychosis due to his level of intoxication and was under the disillusioned belief that the victim was a predatory pedophile. Bailey met Marie McGowan in a Dublin suburb around 2 a.m. and CCTV footage from the night shows that he remained in her company for over an hour. The footage shows Bailey assaulting the woman sporadically for 42 minutes including knocking her to the ground putting her head first into a wheelie bin and applying pressure to lid off that bin. Two and a half years for that sustained assault there and of course the wheelie bin element too that the Derry Journal focuses on the very sad passing of Rebecca Brown. Tributes have been paid to beautiful Rebecca Brown the 21-year-old Derry woman killed in a road traffic collision in Bonkranagh on Sunday morning. Father Michael McCauhey of the three patrons Parish revealed that the young woman's family were heartbroken. The Irish Times this morning tells us that the far right has failed to grow in Ireland booking trends seen in other European countries and Guardi will not fall into the trap of its playbook. Guardi Commissioner Drew Harris has said he added that robust policing tactics such as those called for from some quarters to clear anti-immigration roadblocks had been used by European police forces and had not been successful. New figures obtained by the Irish Times show the number of anti-immigration protests being held in Dublin where the majority of such events take place has halved in recent months from about nine events per week at their peak early in 2023 in the near eight-week period to February 23 some 73 anti-immigration protests were held in Dublin according to the Guard of Data. However, in the three months since then 54 protests have been held. Guardi believe members of the far right as he's describing them are hijacking anti-immigration protests in some areas and what he's probably seeing or talking to here is something that you probably see in the past that something is the big issue of the day and there is an awful lot of activity and then it dies down seemingly and people tend then to move on to the next issue going from one issue to another. Releasing the figures which contradict the narrative that protests were increasing Guarda HQ said there was a constitutional right to the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech subject to statutory provision any Guarda response to protest events was in keeping with a community policing model and graduated policing response taking into account public safety legislation and human rights so what is your view do you believe that if people are blocking roads or blocking access to certain people are they within their rights or do you think that the Guardi should be a bit more heavy-handed in terms of disrupting such protests so wait 60, 25,000 WhatsApps and texts that number or give us a call in 07491 25,000 in the start today the family of Jasmine McGonagall who was strangled by her on-off partner have described him as evil and someone who has ruined all of their lives Richard Burke 32 of Killy Gordon Donagall who had previously threatened to kill Jasmine before strangling her to death during a psychotic episode after taking unprescribed drugs has been jailed for 14 years at the central criminal court who was Paul Burns yesterday passed sentence on Burke who was found not guilty of murdering Jasmine but guilty of her manslaughter earlier this year the court heard that his responsibility for the killing was substantially diminished by a mental disorder one of the doctors noted the disorder may have been triggered or exacerbated by drug use Jasmine's family issued a statement which read nothing will bring back our beautiful Jasmine and all we can do now is make sure she is never forgotten and this seems to be a trend in cases that diminished responsibility seems to be a successful defence it's the second story today and one of many that you do hear on to the Irish Independent now and a really significant development I think in relation to the disappearance of Madeline McCann because German police looking for Madeline McCann and we'll have more on this later on in the programme German police looking for Madeline McCann's body to begin a major search of a remote Algarve Reservoir that suspect Christian Bruckner used to visit Portuguese police have closed off roads leading to the man-made dam near the town of Sills ahead of the official start of the search Scotland Yard Detectives are understood to have travelled in the area but only with a watching brief the search is set to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found and this is interesting because it's German police who are leading the investigation now it seems into her disappearance they have that chief suspect in custody he is known to have frequented this area his mobile phone was in the location of where Madeline McCann disappeared at the time of her disappearance and this is a reservoir that was searched a couple of times before privately funded privately but this is the first time as far as I understand that police and particularly the German police have triggered this search and they'll have access to all the very latest technology and equipment don't you know it'll be the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to carry out digs in the Portuguese a resort of prayer to lose that involves sniffer dogs trained to detect bodies and ground penetrating radar they also had that as well so as to say we'll have more on that later on in the programme we'll feel a little bit more significant than previous developments on to the Irish Daily Mail and what do you think the solution to our health crisis might be more doctors more money for our doctors well perhaps it's going to be advances in artificial intelligence it could tackle shortages and improve Ireland's ailing health service that's according to the leader of the government the T-Shock Leo Varadkar said advances in AI are delivering x-rays and pathology results quicker at lower cost and with less error than is done by doctors and scientists the Finnegale leader said developments in AI have been absolutely fascinating and will be more positive than negative he believes on to the Irish Daily Mirror and if you are a new parent and you're buying baby formula you will have noticed it's gone through the roof in terms of cost the price of baby formula is rocketed by over half making it a target for black market gangs and hustlers it is claimed now I'm not sure it depends I suppose how desperate you might be but would you buy baby formula off the back of a lorry I don't think many people might that being said desperate situations can lead to desperate decisions Concerned Mothers described the soaring prices as absolutely nuts they complained costs jumped by 6 euro from 1150 to 1750 that's a 52% hike in just 18 months one said I have two children one who's just turning two and one who is five months old it would be the same baby formula for both of them it's a huge increase it's absolutely nuts going from having one to having two kids as well and what's it about a week they would go through a top of baby formula is that something that you've noticed is that something that's affecting you give us a text 08 660 25000 08 660 25000 or call us on 07 491 25000 and I think lastly we're going to go to the just as a tidy this paper we'll go to the sun lastly and Facebook has been hit with a big fine the Irish data watchdog has slapped Facebook owner Metta with a record 1.2 billion euro fine for breaches in relation to users personal details the fine which relates to the transfer of EU user data to the United States is the largest privacy penalty ever handed out in the EU exceeding the previous record of 746 million which was imposed on Amazon in 21 the Irish data protection commission said the European data protection board had ordered to collect an administrative fine in the amount of 1.2 billion so it was how your data was being transferred from Europe to America and what was done with it there after all right as I say the text number 08 660 25000 you can give us a call to on 07 491 25000 the newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Santra mountaintop letter Kenny the 2022 C store national off license of the year okay we're going to go straight to breeder burns member of letter mac award health center action group good morning to you breeder good morning Greg I'm good I know you're very busy so I won't keep you long okay right well listen hey you can join me for the rest of the show breeder maybe not we can co-present we can co-present okay come here what is the status at the moment because we spoke to you in March didn't we about a petition you had to save the future of the letter mac award health center what's the up-to-date position breeder well the up to date thanks for having us on firstly and the up-to-date position is that we have received confirmation through deputy pier store hoodie now that the remedial works will be carried out at letter mac award health center and that it will be as the letter states it will be open and available to the local community which is just absolutely fantastic news for us because last time we spoke to Highland radio and when we started the petition and status was under review which had no deadline or you know we didn't know when the was it going to open or when the works might be carried out so that has that this letter has just brought it's the first step in a very long ladder but we're absolutely delighted and we're delighted that the HSE are keeping letter mac award on the radio and that they will carry out the remedial works and reopen the center yeah that seems to and you know we know how quickly things can change but hopefully it is putting to bed concerns that the center would be lost altogether well that's at the start of the bedtime routine anyway about you know that we know it probably will be long road and as they stated they cannot be specific with the date but they said that the HSE will endeavor to have these works carried out as timely as manner as possible and we would hope that that will be within a reasonable time frame as when I spoke to Donald in March and the petition I just started the petition was hugely successful it kind of identifies the hunger that there is in the area for the health center to be reopened and not to go back over what we covered that day but you know it is a vehicle service for letter mac award and there is a GP service being provided in Gentes by Dr Charlie McManus for letter mac award a fantastic service but obviously our hope and our aim is to get that service back into the community in letter mac award so yeah we're absolutely delighted Chris Dougherty has been very active on this as I have a number of public representatives my trace counter councillor there's been a number of public representatives making representations on our behalf and for that we are eternally grateful because this is a vehicle service to a small rural community and we need it to be restored yeah but finally it does also again highlight the importance of local people sort of trying to take control of issues doesn't it Breda to to organize and to let your voice be heard to the point whereby be it government or opposition politicians want to get behind these campaigns and that's the I think that's a good piece of advice for other areas with their concerns too well yeah I think it takes like you have started with just a public meeting in the local hall but I mean there was a need identified it was the small rural communities it's really important that we retain all our services you know there's the GP service and as I say we had to fight also to keep our post office nine ten years ago so you know it's important for the social fabric that this is a vehicle medical service but also it is a social social the social fabric of community needs to be preserved as well and yes local communities need to stand up of services withdrawn from them and you know they're not happy in that they feel that this is a vehicle service then yes we have to to work together with the organization in question here the HSE work with them to re-establish and reopen the community center in this or the health center in this case but in general yes we can't you know we moving you know centres of excellence and primary care and all that that is fantastic and fantastic services are being offered but we need this in our own community where it's been for as long as I can remember 50 years nearly but as long as I can remember there's been a health center and letter back awards recessions and dark times so we we're extremely delighted with this letter and we look forward now to pushing on with the remedial work and the HSE carrying out the remedial work that is required and getting the center reopened for the community but yes rural communities and any community we need you know somebody we need to get there's a starting point and services withdrawn or if we feel that something is right then we need to speak up yes absolutely all right as much as I'd like to keep you to 12 I'm going to have to let you go Greg thanks for many and thank you we'll talk again take care Breida Burn there member of letter mac award health center action group good news it seems but obviously everything has to be taken with a pinch of salt that the HSE seems to indicate the future of letter mac award health center is somewhat secure because remedial work all being planned remedial works all being planned for that with a high digital online skills course you'll feel a real difference I can listen to all the music I like the boss app that's coming out and it's brilliant anything you want and all is to add their fingertips does small turns but they mean something learn essential online skills with simple accessible lessons at high digital dot ie or free phone one eight hundred thirty thirty brought to you by Vodafone Ireland foundation and alone Vodafone together we can Hi Paddy here at Shane Connick cars in Donegall town are you looking to upgrade your car with Shane Connick cars you'll find mix and models for every budget great finance options and they also accept radiance check out Shane Connick cars dot com or call on to us at Shane Connick cars from London Road Donegall town if you're 70 or over or have a weak immune system it's time for your spring COVID-19 booster vaccine your spring booster will top up your immunity against COVID-19 for the months ahead protecting you from serious illness or needing to go to hospital you will be invited for another booster in the autumn to top up your protection for the winter months spring boosters are available until the end of May so don't delay contact your local participating GP or pharmacy call or call our team in HSC live on 1800 700 700 or visit HSC dot IE to make an appointment at a HSC vaccination centre from the HSC planning on renovating your garden this summer then look no further than Dalesite garden furniture with a full range of sizes and garden sheds wooden and steel summer houses playhouses outdoor canopies fencing and much more find us on social media made to measure and one-off designs and quality call today on 087 double one two four seven double six highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from let it Kennedy Dublin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time ask okay 22 minutes past nine we're joined on the programme by chair of the regional health forum West cancer Jerry McMillan gold thanks very much for joining us again on a different issue this morning of course but that's just the way the that's just the way events fell Jerry thanks very much for joining us. Right okay concern at the southern southern resignation by doctors in let it Kennedy University hospital and this of course has been felt by the local diabetes community what exactly has happened well as you say I was contacted by Paul and other concerned diabetic patients last week and I made enquiries in relation to their fears and concerns that and doctor now just at the hospital were leaving so I put in a question to John Murphy's office via office here in let it Kennedy and also I emailed calls great who's the senior operation officer and silver I got a response back from calls grave on Monday outlining the position and was very stark and it was concerning we have lost two endocrinologists at the hospital one through his offer to resignation and retirement and another one looking left after just a number of weeks in the job and that's obviously very concerning for those with diabetes we now have one looking a general physician for an interest in diabetes who supports the service consultant at the hospital and we have a proof consultant that I'll just post share between and and while that's a new post it's shared between the hospital and the hub across the road so it's very concerning because we already have long waiting lists for people to be with diabetes to be seen the norm is every six months but this is not the case it's a lot longer than that and maybe up to two years before you can be seen and this is worrying if you have a diagnosis of diabetes so unless that was raised by the Diabetes Association we wouldn't be aware of it the concern I would have it's very hard to recruit endocrinologists especially as we have already an RUH I'm very anxious I'll be raising it today at the regional health forum as to what steps are going to be taken to fill these posts yes but I think it would be very insightful to find out why one has left why one came in and didn't hang about because obviously that might give us some indication as to you know how long we might have to wait to fill these positions if they are filled to tall I mean these are personal decisions and it might be hard to find out that information but is it because of the working environments is it the conditions is it because they fill their hands are tied or is it just happenstance in their own personal lives are they important things if they could be found out to sort of find out yeah and that's the line of question will be coming from because it has been and I mean you've heard it yourself Greg and this show many times concerns raised by staff and staff representatives about the pressures that staff at the hospital are under we have a growing number of wait people awaiting treatment and appointments there's appointments regularly being cancelled the emergency department is overrun on a daily basis there's a shortage of beds there's a shortage of staff as was pointed out by the INNO and you know this with the drill down to see exactly why we are not keeping these very very important posts and why these people are resigning and why are leaving after a few short weeks and I think the hospital management and SEALTA have to be up front about this and they need to tell us the truth and we need the and we've always offered our help and assistance and support in any way that we can to help SEALTA and indeed the management of the Kennedy hospital to get the resources that they need to offer and provide a proper health care service here in Donegal for the people of Donegal Thanks for your time this morning Councillor Jerry McMunnigal there also joined on the programme now by Paul Gillespie who is chairman of the Donegal Diabetes Association we had a call into the HSE from yesterday they effectively confirmed what Councillor Jerry McMunnigal has just said Paul talked to me about the impact of the staffing levels in this area in LUH on patients with diabetes Thanks for having me on and as you know we've spoke about similar topic before but it's really it's just shocking that two endocrinologists could depart within a couple of weeks we're now left with no endocrinology now whenever as the letter from Sean Murphy says that the current and long-serving endocrinologist will shortly he's given in his notice so he's working his notice but as Jerry rightly says serious questions have to be asked now of letter Kenny management what is so badly wrong that they cannot hold endocrinology staff you may recall I was trying to go back through my notes but it's at least four or five years since letter Kenny was finally approved for a second endocrinologist post because we have the worst witness in Ireland we've terribly under resourced and it's took them over three years to actually fill the post and now whenever the new endocrinologist arrived he was only in work three weeks and whatever he was handed a massive case load but inadequate resources like even in the statement there from the Jerry Gott from it it says that the consultant was only employed as a local whether they get supposed to be a permanent full-time job so the questions have to be asked we'd love to see the resignation letter to Sean Murphy because the question has to be asked like once he put in with a full team a registrar, secretary support nursing support like you can't expect one man to come into a hospital to try and get like the target is to get the waiting list down from 24 months to what they should be it should only be every six months review for type 1 diabetic which is a critical life-threatening condition and yet it's the management in Litter County has to answer some serious questions until such time as that explained I have it in my head imagine this person landing into the hospital seeing first hand what's there seeing the case loads seeing the fact that there are one or two other consultants positions not filled as you then talk about maybe are the support staff there or not we don't know and then seeing the same person seeing a job advertised in a hospital in Dublin where he or she might be the fifth person in a five person team and that can just walk into a completely different working environment like I don't know that to be the case but it would be very interesting to find out because if it is the case that people consultants come to Litter County and they go well I'm not getting paid for this I'm not getting paid enough for this and leave you know we need to know that we need to know that and if the hospital management need our support in backing them in this regard let us know if that's the case but in the absence of them telling us that sounds like the most probable reason as to why they can't retain the staff in this area I would totally agree like there has to be serious concerns exactly what facilities if he walks into a job anywhere else down south like he would have the full supports but Litter County is still under resource because even like the current endocrinologist like he has been begging and pleading at every meeting we've ever been at for the last ten years to say he needs another endocrinologist so now whenever the new guy has departed he's just like he just can't cope anymore it's just the frustration and the stress of trying to run a service with totally inadequate resources it's happening we have had the approval of effectively three consultant endocrinologist posts that was confirmed as you say following a battle at the moment we've got one consultant endocrinologist who is leaving a second locum came in to cover the second position he lasted a couple of weeks and left so what we have is one person who's on their way out and we have a consultant general physician with an interest in diabetes who supports the service that is it that's the extent of it so we're going backwards significantly with all due respect to the people probably working very hard in these services yeah well there's one just slight amendment to that is that the hub which is the community care which is what slouchy care and they're throwing loads of money and it's great to see the advancement they're doing now in community care has finally got an endocrinologist and on the statement there from the hospital they say that the new endocrinologist in the hub will be 50% of time in the hub and 50% in the hospital so Sean Murphy and his letter there it's as if he said oh she's going to carry the can now to cover everything when there is no endocrinology but the fact is I've been at several of the meetings of the hub and my understanding was that the hub looks after community look after type 2 diabetes only and on the days that this consultant was to be working in the hospital she was coming in to look after type 2 in patients who anybody that's type 2 in the community that's been admitted she would look after the type 2 in the hospital so this is still there's no cover whatsoever for type 1 diabetes right so just and perhaps we should have done it at the start just so the wider population understands so what is the consequences of all of this for someone with type 1 diabetes in other words how is their condition likely to affect them and what are the consequences of them waiting 24 months to see a consultant it's quite it's like no diabetes type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening condition and if you don't keep in control of your blood shakers and get regular visits and regular support then it can be critical like if you're left for 2 years and your HPA1C has gone up it can affect your eyesight it can affect your blood circulation like it really is a serious case and like Latter-Canning Hospital need to take it more serious and we need to find out why they cannot hold staff there's serious questions have to be asked of the management now in Latter-Canning and we also need to ask and even to a point demand okay here in the west why should someone with type 1 diabetes in Donegal the north west but particularly Donegal potentially end up with dying or end up with damage to their eyesight or other consequences of not being properly assessed on a timely basis why should we live in a part of the world where your outcomes in this area and so many others would just be significantly worse than if you were in Dublin Galway Cork simply just because you happen to live in Donegal that is completely and utterly unacceptable we really should not be tolerating this no no people of Donegal we need to be more alert because like we have serious concerns like even cancer care and everything at the minute like Donegal is really being neglected totally so like and I think we need to go past the Letter-Canning hospital and go to the CELTA and to the HSE and to Charlie McConn-Logan Joe McHugh or setting TGs and why is Letter-Canning so badly underfunded I've heard from people who are well informed in this area and their ease of health that believe that CELTA are too Galway focused that they you know we talk about how far we are from Dublin now with health is well how far are we from Galway because there is a genuine concern that CELTA you know won all the belts down in Galway at the expense of what's happening in Donegal and if we want treatment well you're going to have to travel forward so it's not actually as much nowadays it's an equal concern perhaps our concern from Dublin in terms of decision making but in terms of health our distance from Galway is starting to really impact negatively I think on the health services and it's people's well-being in lives as well this is not just an annoyance that we talk about that we'll get over right this is the conversations we've been having on this program Paul if you'll indulge me for a moment over the last couple of weeks in terms of cancer care far worse cases but also outcomes now we're hearing in terms of diabetes people waiting an incredibly long time with type 1 diabetes their outcomes are worse this is all simply because of decisions that are being made and because of where we live it's it's we can't keep tolerating this Paul if we are I know you're not because you're a very strong voice in this area but I think you understand the point I'm trying to make generally about our health care here 100% yeah because I do know from several patients that have been in there up whenever the new endocrinologist has started and he was young vibrant enthusiastic and apparently he was very knowledgeable on pump therapy pump therapy for type 1 diabetes is now gold standard he cannot get it in Donegal any adult Donegal they have to travel to Cork or Dublin and then when they come back to Donegal they can't get appointments to go on to keep the care so governance and the hospital recently appointed a new man to do with governance so where's he in all this and how can the now so if you think about like all the nursing staff in the hospital work under the endocrinologist and whenever he go when he goes what are they going to do how can they provide a safe service if they don't have an endocrinologist so we need to find out from the HSE and actually minister Stephen Donnelly what immediate are they going to do to continue care in the hospital they say are they going to continue care because the last we put a question into them this is the last paragraph of it letter can a university hospital is actively working to recruit an endocrinologist to sorry is actively working to recruit to the endocrinologist vacancies in the interim we are also exploring options to maximize the level of cover that we can provide for diabetic patients so there's no certainty there that's just to say you know doesn't say anything really if the truth be told it doesn't say anything at all yet so I mean so I've actually spoken to a charity this morning and we're demanded like we need Stephen Donnelly we need the heads of the HSE need the heads of HSElcha all in letter can a to see what has gone wrong that they cannot retain staff why hasn't the endocrinologist left after only three weeks it's just a shock especially a local especially a local because they probably were coming in on better terms than a full-time consultant last time I had an opportunity to interview Stephen Donnelly I it was not necessarily on this specific issue but I tried to ask him you know what's going on at letter can a university hospital and he said well we've just pumped 30 million euro extra into letter can a university hospital blah blah blah blah and I don't mean that disrespectful okay but we're still talking about where's that money going then we did hear that it's probably going mostly on wages and wage increases and that's fine if that's there's a huge there's a huge staff down there and they have to get paid I've no issue with that don't get me wrong but we were told effectively that this 30 million was you know to make things better it's not we're going backwards and particularly in type 1 diabetes care you know this is this is life and death this is good versus bad outcomes this is not something that a platitudes will sort out we need action or we need explanations and if there's a campaign that the hospital needs us to get behind let us know what it is oh yeah the word constantly telling the hospital like whatever will shout from the rooftops whatever they need we will push to get it but like they're they're they're saying okay everything is going well and as you said their 30 million was additional money has gone in but letter can a I believe still remains the sixth busiest hospital in Ireland but it's not funded to that event it's like we have less funding than majority we're way down the pecan order for funding per head of population and the population of Donegal has dramatically increased now with with everything that's going on so and even like just to diversify but like pediatric care we've been pushing for years to get the shared centre of excellence like the centres of excellence down south for all children and they were talking about to open it in Sligo but because of the geography we've been pushing it has to be a shared centre of excellence between the better can you in Sligo which nobody in the room has ever objected they all think it's a good idea but it hasn't happened this is five years we're pushing to try and get the share centre of excellence so that's not happening either for the children so now we were hoping that once it was put in place that the adult one would follow on but the adult one is just falling off a cliff who are who have money are they able to privately see a consultant you know what I mean like the public waiting list we hear is 24 months but are people who have resources able to pay private to see a consultant yeah I've already had cost a couple of thousand I believe just for the consultation and get set up for pump therapy but they have to go to other car or Dublin there's nothing in the whole northwest if someone just happens to have a lot of money they can actually get this done privately again which I find a wee bit sickening I'm delighted for them if they can don't get me wrong and everyone has to look out for themselves they're so worried and concerned about their health they're willing to save up to pay that money so that they can get better care and get on to pump therapy which is a gold standard so it's not that they have money to spend it's that they can see it's a life-threatening condition for them so they're saving up the money to try and get on to pump therapy and Leonard Kenny just cannot offer that. Right Paul listen keep us in the loop we'll use in terms of where this goes next and we'll continue to ask our questions and put the pressure on and we'll put in a call for the health minister see if you'll come on and discuss this with us but it's not something we can let go and there's a lot of questions right across health care and it's provision here in Donegal that we really need to start getting some answers to and hold people's feet to the fire to give us explanations. Yeah like we have two certain TDS on the government and one such the cabinet table so I think we need to get hung on to everyone to the media urgently there might be a problem with that on this programme but that's not my fault okay Paul I wish I could and I think it would be really important if we could have access to the minister but I've said on the show before he refuses to come on this programme with me so there's not much I can do about that but Paul listen thank you very much indeed we can still make contact with offices and all that type of stuff take care of yourself that's Paul Gillespie who's a fantastic advocate as chairman of the Donegal Diabetes Association 086625000 if you want to get involved in the conversation 086625000 give us a call at 0749121 25000 watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com it's the right price tiles and wood flooring biggest ever sale 10 million euros worth of stock in store and ready to take home all tiles, wood 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the last 12 months suspended for the manslaughter of his on-off partner Jasmine McMonagall Owen Reynolds reporter with Ireland international news agency joins us on the program now good morning Owen thank you very much for your time today good morning how are you I am good okay go ahead Owen well just to just say you just said there a bit of sentencing and there's various reports actually it was he was sentenced to 15 years with the final with those final 12 months suspended so usually I mean I know where the confusion is because often where the way it's written is that he was sentenced to 14 years and then it's usually explained later on and further down what that actually means but those 12 months that are suspended are suspended for a period of five years and that was because the judge in the case of Mr. Justice Paul Burns in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin wanted to impose conditions on Richard Burke post his release that he would have to adhere to and if he doesn't adhere to those conditions he will serve that remaining 12 months of a sentence and those conditions include things like he must before he leaves prison he must have a undergo a psychiatric assessment and then he must you know he must take his medication or whatever medication his medication is required at that point and he must also comply with whatever guideline to sit down by his doctors but also by the probation services after that period so it's quite a lengthy sentence that he has been subject to Indeed and before we just one more question on the sentence Owen and thanks so much for the clarity there will he serve 14 years or can you could you get out earlier you know on good behavior or some other criteria Yeah well he has already served I think it's about two years so he'll be his sentence will be backdated by whatever time he has served already in custody and then there is always the opportunity for every prisoner to gain one court to have one quarter of their sentence knocked off for that is for good behavior and essentially every every prisoner starts off with that 25% reduction and that can only be taken away for bad behavior in prison so presuming that he you know he will have another 25% reduced from that 14 year period Okay and the case itself Owen it was a harrowing case but particularly of course for Jasmine's family can you give us a brief outline of the case Yeah well without going into the details of what happened to Jasmine she was beaten to death and strangled in her own home by Richard Burke and he also had with him various weapons including a neat cleaver when Gertie entered the house and they described the very bloody scene and you know terrible things that had happened to Jasmine that caused her death she as I say her two children were in the house as well and that was there was a standoff between Gertie and Richard Burke for some hours before you know involving negotiation negotiators and so on before they were able to enter the house and the reason they did enter the house all of a sudden was because they realized there was at least one child present there and so you know that was the scene that confronted Gertie when they entered there and Mr Burke Richard Burke appears to have been undergoing a psychotic episode at that time which was you know there was a couple of psychiatrists who gave evidence that that may was brought on by a delusional disorder but also that drugs and alcohol may have been a factor and may have exacerbated his problems and may have even triggered the psychosis that he was undergoing but nevertheless as a result of that psychosis and his responsibility for that killing was substantially diminished is what the doctor said and was that sorry before we get to that you have been accepted by the prosecution did they oppose that defence no they didn't because their own experts who they called whenever a defence raises mental health in this way either for diminished responsibility or for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and there is the prosecution will have the opportunity to have their own experts go in and assess the person and decide whether or not they are going to oppose that in this case the expert that was called on by the prosecution that is a consultant psychiatrist and agreed with the largely agreed with the diagnosis of the other psychiatrist and therefore there was no challenge to that and so even though it went to trial and you might think it's a bit of a strange idea to have a person going on trial who are both prosecution and the defence agree but it is something that in our legal system these decisions where it's diminished responsibility where it's not guilty by reason of insanity a jury has to make that finding it can't just be made by lawyers and by judges so that's why there was a trial in the first place but the jury was given they were told essentially that there was no real option there was no argument here the only correct outcome they were told is to find this man not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter due to his diminished responsibility because of a mental disorder and just finally in terms of the range of the judge for this type of verdict well anything up to a life sentence actually the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life and the judge did mention that he said that if it were not for the mental disorder in this case he would have been convicted of murder and in those circumstances he would have been sentenced to life and it was open to the judge to sentence him to life in this instance he did say that before he considered any mitigating factors in the case he would have set the headline sentence at 17 years there was a very very high sentence even for manslaughter cases but it was the opinion of the director of public prosecutions that this offense lay at the highest end because of the nature of it it was a defenseless person who was the victim there were weapons involved there was a certain amount of premeditation and there was such a high degree of violence there were a lot of factors that aggravated this offense that brought it into the most serious category but in the mitigating factors that he took into account obviously the mental disorder played some role there and besides that was what the judge said was a genuine expression of remorse and grief and self-loathing even in fact at what he had done and that early guilty that guilty plea to manslaughter did enter at his trial it also would benefit because it means that there's no you know there's only for a very lengthy trial there was a trial that only lasted I think three days so it just meant that these things you know it makes it much easier on I suppose the families etc although of course judgment Monaco's family can't take a huge amount of comfort from that and they have spoken in court and they have made a brief statement to the media in which they've expressed you know their grief and I suppose anger towards Richard Burkham and who they described as being evil in their eyes okay Owen thanks for your time this morning I appreciate it greatly have a good day Owen Reynolds reporter with Ireland international news agency and worth listening to me reading the words of Jacqueline McMonagall who spoke at the sentencing hearing in April she said that January 4th 2019 was the day my world fell apart when Jasmine's life and future were horrifically taken from her by Burk Jasmine's mother understandably became emotional she told the court the family had all been given a life sentence of suffering in pain she said that Jasmine was a kind and generous person who adored and lived for her two girls she told the court Jasmine had always loved spending time with her family and Christmas was a special time for them but the holiday means nothing to me anymore now Jasmine's daughters spend Christmas at their mother's grave and those were the words in April from Jacqueline McMonagall 08 660 25000 is the number if you wish to WhatsApp and text us just some of your comments coming in as it relates to the story we covered there in the first hour of the loss of consultants and diabetes services at Kenny University Hospital caller says they must be waiting for United Ireland where Donegal will be closer than to getting treatment across in Northern Ireland another listening to Sean Murphy on Highland since before COVID his story each time has been the same no change on anything new fresh management is needed there is the feeling though and as I say I'm not here to advocate on behalf of anyone else but it's the structures decisions that are being made in Galway and elsewhere too that perhaps are also impacting on us and I just don't think we should maybe refocus our attentions in that regard as well to make sure that we're banging at the right doors morning Greg a man is a diabetic and from the town was evicted by the landlord after renting the house for 15 years this happened last week a few councillors were contacted Jerry being one none of so far been in touch even the council did not want to know that's what the local TDs voted for shame on them I think Mr Murphy and management at LUH should have been out a long time ago the state of our hospital is appalling Mr Murphy always painting a rosy picture and look where we have ended up with a non-functioning hospital time for a change as I say though we have to also focus on where else decisions are being made that are impacting our services I met a consultant recently and he told me that he was getting a lot of abuse the worst he's ever had that was two months ago well if there's a story there too let us know hi Greg every week we hear about letter Kenny hospital staff leaving the service last Mr McMonagall is chair of the north west forum I think it's about time he flexes his muscles and his board and they go higher than this forum it's become a joke another I spoke to a consultant and he told me he was getting huge abuse outside of the hospital setting and he feared for his children's life and couldn't wait to leave Ireland I know nothing of these two consultants nor any idea of where they are from but it's something we need to think about okay that's two separate callers contacting us suggesting that they've spoken to consultants who've reported an increase in racial abuse now I'm not saying that's the case per se across the board or if it was just the experience of those two listeners but as I say it's two listeners after the news and obituary notes to stay right where you are spring is here and so too are the new arrivals at Green Shoes shop in store or online now from best selling brands like Doc Martens, Una Healy and Echo also Riker Kate Appleby, Tommy Bow and many more shop LK and one for all gift cards accepted in store visit Green Shoes and discover the perfect footwear to compliment your style at Market Square, Leta Kenny Shopping Center Fulcara and online at greenshoes.com Tommy Marin here, writer of It's The Real McCoy and Three Hail Marys join me at On Grain On Letter Kenny for my new show Celebration Ireland Saturday May 27th hilarious sketches sing songs and so much more Celebration Ireland On Grain On Letter Kenny Saturday May 27th book on 07491 2077 or ongrainon.com Who said electrification can't spark excitement? From introducing Ireland's first EV to redefining the family car Nissan has always led from the front and now we're breaking new ground once more with e-power, Nissan's unique hybrid driving system fueled by petrol, driven by electric no need to recharge giving you the pleasure of electric driving without the need to plug in new Nissan Qashqai and Xtrail with e-power, drive it to believe it at your nearest Nissan dealer Donations are sought for a unique auction in aid of Mary's Meals to be held this Saturday the 27th of May in Convoy Any new, vintage or antique items will be gratefully accepted Items can be dropped into Mary's Meals at Greens Market Centre, Letter Kenny to Thursday the 25th from 12 to 4 daily or to Convoy Hall this Friday the 26th from 12 Your surplus can help Mary's Meals to continue to feed almost two and a half million hungry children in 18 third world countries For more info see Mary's Meals on Facebook The sad is kindly sponsored by Grow Furnishings, this name in Letter Kenny The number of times the Northern Ireland First Service responded to callouts in Donegal last year however no response has been forthcoming to date while previously there were repeated calls for a water tanker to be located in Inishon that has not yet been delivered Councillor McDermott says these are very serious issues which warrant a valid response Your service was taken out so many times last year and this year and we're just asking is there a gap is there a reason why it needs to be deployed to so many times I think that's a very fair question because it's vitally important that we have a service that facilitates not just Inishon but the whole of the county and if there's a gap there we need to know that and we need to be able to do something about it People who assault Garthee and other emergency service workers could be spending 12 years behind bars the cabinet is this morning discussing proposals to increase the maximum jail term for assaulting or obstructing a gartha The legal changes would also be applied to the ramming of garthee vehicles for example staff, prison workers members of the Defence Forces Fire Brigade or Ambulance Crews Donagol based Garthee Brendan O'Connor as President of the Garthee Representative Association he says the ramming of garthee cars is a growing problem That's very welcome that that's acknowledged as a phenomenon and that it's going to be acknowledged that going forward so certainly we would welcome that and recognition that that's a very serious and life-threatening situation that our members find themselves and the members of the community when people like this are on the roads and towards the members Army bomb experts are currently at the scene of a security alert at sports pitches in East Belfast each Belfast GAA club which uses Henry Jones playing fields in Castle Ray says it's disheartened and saddened by those who threatened to disrupt the peace The alert is causing disruption in the area this morning Lockview Integrated Primary School and Nursery has been closed as a result the playing fields remain closed this morning as searches continue Remedial works are to be carried out at Lechemic Award Health Centre The HSE has confirmed the facility will be open and available to the local community A petition was launched earlier this year in a bid to retain GP services in the area Breda Burns a member of the Lechemic Award Health Centre Action Group says it's a huge step in the right direction We didn't know was it going to open or when the works might be carried out This letter has just brought it's the first step in a very long ladder but we're absolutely delighted and we're delighted that the HSE are keeping Lechemic Award on the radar and that they will carry out the remedial works and reopen the centre Europe's top court will hear an appeal on the controversial case of Apple Tax Affairs in Ireland today The Irish government is accused of letting the tech giant away with a 13.1 billion euro tax underpayment A court ruled in 2020 it was a lawful arrangement but the European Commission has brought an appeal to the European Court of Justice The thesis consists there was never a special deal between the Irish government and Apple but Rutgers says he looks forward to the appeal being unsuccessful If that were true it would have been very wrong but it wasn't true and not only do we not say it's true Apple says it's not true and the European Court that heard the case says it's not true and I look forward to that appeal being unsuccessful and the higher European Court confirming the factual positions that there never was a special deal with Apple or any other company Questions continue to be raised to improve connectivity between letter Kenny and Derry as part of the National Development Plan the recent public consultation revealed the preferred route option however there are fears the project would be detrimental to businesses in the locality while in Derry work on the development of the Derry side of the project has been halted Well, Councilor Nicholas Crossland says it's vital that the concerns voiced by local businesses are taken on board We have petrol stations there so there's an awful lot of business and there's an awful lot of rates paid in that strip of maybe a couple of hundred meters and it's probably one of the most lucrative spots that Donegal County Council has regarding rates so I think that the business people have to be listened to and we have to go back and rethink about the bypass of Bridget and because on the Derry side it has stopped so there's not much point in Donegal County Council carrying on 38 groups in Donegal are to receive €12,800 in funding to fund physical activity for older people the monies are being distributed by age and opportunity with support from Sport Ireland more details and a list of the successful Donegal groups available on our website highlandradio.com and in the north the industrial court has confirmed it will hear an application for trade union recognition at Seagate the decision marks a major step forward in the ongoing union drive at the spring town based manufacturer of semiconductors which employs 1,600 people on site fears have been raised locally the job losses and wage cuts could be on the horizon for the company the forecast and met Aaron tell us to expect whether to be dry today with a mix of cloud and hazy sunshine top temperatures 14 to 16 degrees celsius in light northwesterly breezes and that's Highland Radio News we're back with news headlines again at 11 until then from the news team have a very good morning the Upituri notice is for this Tuesday morning the 22nd the death has taken place of Michael or 132 the cottage's red castle Michael's remains will leave Liam Collins his funeral premises this evening at 6 o'clock going to his home where you're welcome to pay your respects until 10 o'clock and tomorrow from 11 o'clock until 10 o'clock Michael's funeral mass will take place on Thursday morning at 11 o'clock in St Columbus Church Drone Quigley's Point followed by burial in the morning cemetery family flowers only please donations if desired to the patient comfort fund at Nazareth House Vaughn at care of any family member or Liam Collins funeral director Michael's funeral mass can be viewed live on St Columbus Drone dot net the death has taken place of John Eddie McGlynn for art column kill Fintine Donegal John is reposing at his home recreation mass at 11 o'clock to more morning in St. Colm kills chapel Fintine burial afterwards in the adjoining church yard rosary tonight at 9 o'clock the recreation mass can be viewed on the parish at Facebook page the death has taken place of Barry Gately of Sullivan Carolina Blackfarm Bunkranna removal from McLaughlin and Loughlin funeral directors Bunkranna this morning going to St. Mary's Church Cock Hill for 11 o'clock recreation mass with cremation afterwards in Lake Ladder Crematorium large only please donations if desired to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member or McLaughlin and Loughlin funeral directors the funeral mass can be viewed online at church services dot TV the death has taken place of Ann McBride named McGill Woodhouse Ardra reposing at her home removal from her home to the church of the Holy Family Ardra this afternoon at half past 12 for funeral mass at 1 o'clock burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery house private before the funeral today family flowers only Ann's funeral mass can be viewed live on mcmedia.tv the death has occurred of John McGonigal Tirawee Glenealy funeral leaving from his late residence this morning at half past 10 for recreation mass in St. Mary's Church at Bougain Caldough at 11 o'clock interment in the adjoining churchyard family flowers only donations in lieu of flowers if so desired to Ard Eavine Alzheimer's unit Cardona hospital, Curvelliam Collins or any family member John's funeral mass can be viewed live on caldoughparish.com the death has taken place of Barbara Grimes, Ney Heritage the Gleeb Letter Kenny funeral mass in the church of the Irish martyrs Ballyrian Letter Kenny this morning at 11 o'clock for by burial in the family plot in New Lex Cemetery these donations in lieu of flowers if desired to the friends of Letter Kenny University Hospital house private police at the request of the deceased to family and close friends and the death has occurred of Kathleen Cassie Milloy Mahrabeg Burnfoot Kathleen is reposing at her home removal this morning at quarter past 10 to St. Mary's Church Fawn for recreation mass at 11 o'clock for by interment in the adjoining cemetery Cassie's recreation mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv for more details including any family house guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highlandvideo.com hi did you know that your Irish life pension could help the planet? by investing less in companies that harm the environment and more in those trying to help it while always aiming to give you the strongest possible return see irishlife.ie for pension funds that have a responsible approach and a broad advisor Irish life insurance PLC is regulated by the central bank of Ireland OK, you're very welcome back to the 9 till noon show it's 10 minutes past 10 we're going to take a quick break now to get you the bingo numbers because right afterwards we're joined in studio by God of Sergeant Union Walsh for this Tuesday's edition of community guarder information so stay right where you are the county's number one talk show the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio it's time for NCBI bingo Highland Radio it's Tuesday the 23rd of May you're playing on the brown sheet the reference number is s2 it's game number 21 the numbers are 33 48 81 78 24 88 83 77 79 and finally 13 phone your claim to 9 1048 before 8 tonight leaving your name, contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your NCBI bingo information at HighlandRadio.com to day creams and night creams McGee's have the top brands you know and love like Longcom, Clarence and La Roche-Posay also Elizabeth Arton Vichy, Nukes and many more all at McGee's Chemist Main Street Let it Kenny and online at McGee's.ie for the best cost less with 21 colors to choose from we'll even take your old garage door away book your free survey today called 1800 827 515 or visit garola.ie and get your zero wire alarm system from 299 euro Sheridan security 911 26025 OK Tuesday morning 12 minutes past 10 the 23rd of May we're joined in studio now by Garter Sergeant Union Walsh from Letter Kenny Garter Station Union thanks so much for joining us Morning Greg how are you? I'm good and we've quite a bit to get through so we'll start with the guard investigation into a fatal road traffic collision in London. Yes Greg Garda in Moncrana are investigating a fatal road traffic collision which occurred in the town of London Moncrana just outside Moncrana on the main Moncrana to Derry Road it occurred on the early hours of Sunday morning the 21st of May so Saturday night Sunday morning at approximately 3.15 a.m a female pedestrian aged 21 years named as Rebecca Brown from Derry was struck by a Garda patrol car at the scene no other persons were injured during the collision and are taught some prayers are Rebecca's family and friends so we're appealing for anyone with information to contact us at Moncrana Garda Station 07493 20540 or again at the confidential line 1800 611 or any Garda Station so anybody in the area time anybody who was passing who may have dash cam footage to make it available to Garda at Moncrana so that's the accident last Sunday morning at 3.15 a.m OK and Gartie also investigating a road traffic collision in Remelton yes this is a hit and run accident which occurred last Friday morning shortly before 9.30 a.m Friday the 19th Gartie and Milford received a report of a two vehicle road traffic collision at Bridge Street Remelton the driver of one of the vehicles was a Silver Opel Astra and had been travelling along Bridge Street when a red Mitsubishi Shogun partial red LLZ collided with the passenger side door of the other car causing extensive damage unfortunately the driver of the red Shogun did not remain at the scene to exchange details but continued on in the direction of Rotmullen so a fairly distinctive vehicle there a red Mitsubishi Shogun partial red LLZ so we're paling with any road users who were in the area at the time and who may have dash cam to make the footage available to Garda and again if anybody observed the incident contact the Gartie at Milford 0749153060 Yeah and to us suppose the driver should take note that there's a good description partial red at least and probably in their best interest to come forward at this point too now investigations into criminal damage in Dukeri Village Yes this is a criminal damage incident which occurred in Dukeri Village between 10 p.m. last Wednesday the 17th and to 20 p.m. so sometime after sometime Wednesday night and in the early hours Thursday morning the large welcome stone which was situated at the top of the Corkscrew and Dewary were broken into pieces between these times so Gardie and Milford are anxious to hear from anybody who has relevant information in relation to the damage and again Milford Garda Station contacted 0749153060 and this is not the first instance in Dukeri Village you're not the first kind of incident we hear of it could be park benches it could be trees just might worth reminding people and those responsible this is criminal activity that they're engaging in this is damage to property which has been rigorously investigated Yes and it's all property that money is raised to charity or having events to finance these pieces of to welcome people to areas and park benches to make the areas more attractive and again it's not nice to hear about these things Greg. Yeah okay we have a few appeals as it relates to criminal damage we'll start in Latter-Canary Union Yes this is a recent number instance which occurred in the James Larkin Court area of the old town of Latter-Canary the first occurred last Thursday at approximately 8.05pm Thursday the 18th a brick was thrown thrown through the front window of a house causing it to smash and a few hours later in the early hours of Friday morning the 19th a number of other windows at the same property were smashed by rocks so again we're appealing for any residents in the area to make contact with charity if they heard or seen anything suspicious and again we're appealing for road users who were travelled in the area at the time and who have dashcam to make it available we're particularly interested in any sightings or dashcam footage of a dark blue BMW with Northern Ireland registration plates which was seen acting suspiciously in the area around those times so that's a dark blue BMW Northern Ireland registration plates sometimes from 8pm Thursday night the 18th of May until 1.15pm Friday the 19th of May and people might have video doorbells and security cameras if you have a checked and make it available to us please security cameras have never become more affordable now and easy to locate right okay St Johnston now criminal damage appeal again this is substantial damage caused to a car in the Cosh Avings in Johnston area at approximately 4.10am on Friday the 19th of May two youths were observed at the location causing substantial damage to a car we believe that they were wearing grey hoodies and dark trousers windscreen of the car was smashed as was the rear window and again the wing mirror on the driver's side was knocked off and the rear light and the passenger side also broken we believe following the two youths head off on foot towards the main Lyford to Derry Road we're as believed that they got into a dark coloured car so again we're appealing to anybody and repealed anybody who travels along the main road past Cosh Avings around that time and who has dashcam to make it available to Gardy at Lether Kenny 0749167100 so that's in the Cosh Avings area of St Johnston sometime last Thursday night Friday morning the 19th of May okay a Presbyterian church in Convoy targeted yes this is the Presbyterian church on the letter Kenny Road in Convoy damage was caused to the roof of a porta cabin to the rear of the church between midday last Saturday the 20th of May and 9am on Monday morning sometime after sometime after midday on last Saturday would appear that the roof may have been jumped on a number of occasions causing it to collapse in parts so again this may be more what we would consider antisocial behaviour causing damage to a property so we're anxious to further this investigation due to the criminal aspect of it and to the safety aspect behaviour such as this criminal nature was also highly dangerous so appealing for anybody who have observed any suspicious activity around the church grounds over the weekend to be in contact with the Gardy Lether Kenny 0749167100 or again the Confidential Line 1800611 now we are talking about a potential attempted theft of a vehicle in Lether Kenny yes this is a possible attempted theft in the woods area of Lether Kenny so sometime last Wednesday the 17th last Wednesday between 12.30pm and 7.30pm window on the driver's side was smashed in the attempt to have the vehicle stolen we believe and the ignition was tampered with so fortunately the current question was fitted with an immobiliser and the attempt was unsuccessful so appealing for anybody who have may have observed any suspicious in the Balian McCool woods area again this happened in broad daylight so we are hopeful that somebody may have some information for us to help our investigation Greg let's move on now National Community Engagement Week which includes property marking events yes this is a corridor this week events will take place across the Dundigold division until this Friday 26th it's a great opportunity to meet with your local Gardy and community reps discuss what is important to you details of all these events may be on the Facebook page and a number of property marking events which are becoming very popular are taking place this week and details of these are also listed on the Facebook page Greg okay now some important information for business owners I think particularly those in rural areas because this is intelligence led warning here of course based on information and experience so what is the warning being issued Sergeant Wallace your friend there our divisional crime prevention officer he's probably your old friend than mine well he's everybody's friend he's issued a warning in relation to local rural businesses in County Dundigold so we have our OCG's something that you might associate with a TV program but we have them in our country as well and the information that we have is that they have made their way up to the north western region and some premises in our region have been targeted by these organized crime groups the owners operators particularly in rural areas of shops and filling stations are urged to be aware of the current crime trends where filling stations have been targeted so the information is that these organized crime books will conduct surveillance on your property and a visit the same prior to attacking same so again Sergeant Wallace has requested that business owners review their security arrangements and take the necessary steps again the information on this will be provided on our guard of Facebook page I'm not going to go into too much detail Greg but how they operate but I'll tell you what we can do from quick read through is they do come up they do scout and they're professionals and that is not to give them any credit whatsoever they will block alarm signals they'll you know they'll try and access wiring outside the premises and all that type of stuff so they really know what they're at like they'll access CCTV hard drives they'll remove the CCTV they'll also be targeted so the crime prevention advice in relation to how you secure a premise will be put up on our Facebook page and it is extensive and don't keep your hard drive on the premises Yes Sergeant Wallace can be contacted at paul.wallaceatguard.ie for any advice and he has indicated that if necessary he will visit your premises for you. Okay great stuff and it is a very good service indeed Right we had the pleasure yesterday of speaking to pretty much all by one of the overall winners from the Donegal Guard of Youth Awards and I say with a smile on my face because I mean it like amazing young people I love this competition we talk about it pretty much for 12 months a year and do you know what fair play because it's such an important thing. Yeah we want to congratulate them all the youth awards the winners were announced last Thursday in the Green Untater so the overall award winners were the Vigil Award, Dara O'Shocknessy from Mulroy College, the Special Achievement Award went to Adam Locke from Columbus Comprehensive School in Glenties, the group award went to the student body from Mulroy College and the Community Safety Award went to Donegal Youth Diversion Project so the winners now go forward to be considered for a national award and we wish them all the very best with that not putting them under pressure but we had winners at the national award every year so far and we're hopeful that that will continue so well done for the young people who are nominated for an award this year and as always it was very difficult to choose over winners each and every one of them should feel very proud of themselves and wish them all the best in the future Greg. Yeah and that applies to each and every one of them that were even nominated because every nomination is recognised and I'm sure over the course of the next wee while we'll announce the opening of the awards for 2024 but Garda Sergeant Union Awards thank you very much indeed. Thank you Greg. Okay that was Community Garda Wednesday the 23rd of May we'll be back with that item on the program after the 10 o'clock news next Tuesday we'll be back with more on the program today after this break Watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com You can set currency rate alerts and we'll tell you when your target rate is reached Power your travel money with OnPust money search OnPust travel money or visit your local post office T's and C's apply. OnPust money currency card is issued by PPSEUSA pursuant to license by Mastercard International PPSEUSA is authorised by the National Bank of Belgium and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules OnPust is authorised by the Minister for Finance to provide foreign currency cash With Shea and Connolly cars you'll find mix and models for every budget Great finance options and may also accept trade-ins Check out SheaAndConnollyCars.com or call into us at Shea and Connolly cars from London Road, Doneg Old Town Doneg Old Town Centre are celebrating 35 years in business under holding a massive 3-day sale this Thursday, Friday and Saturday during which they're offering 35% discount of selected items Wall tiles are reduced from 16.95 a square yard to 11 Euro with timber effect floor tiles reduced from 22.95 a square yard to 14.90 There's vanity units down from 460 Euro to 2.99 and freestanding baths reduced from 1,230 Euro to 7.99 Stock is limited so don't delay for these genuine bargains Get along this week to Doneg Old Town Centre where we'll ask few business park letter Kenny just off the poor star-owned about. Alright, thanks for your comments keep them coming into us, they will be read 08 60 25,000 WhatsApps and texts to that number and as you know you can also give Caroline O'Neill for call on 07 4 9 1 25,000 We're joined on the program now by Doneg Old County Councillor Gary Doherty Gary, thanks for your time, good morning to you Good morning, Greg, are you? I am good, I'm good, right now talks are underway to find a cross-border accommodation for the Youth Reach program in Lifford because of course efforts are now in full swing to keep this facility in the local area. What has raised question marks about it? Well, as you know, Greg Youth Reach is a program that's been operating for well over 30 years and we're very lucky to have had a Youth Reach Centre in Lifford since around about the year 2000 which has been operating very well. It's been offering that accommodation an alternative education source for young people between 15 and 20 and it's been a great successory Lifford Youth Reach that centre down there but unfortunately it became apparent over the last number of months that the contract for or the lease on the premises that the current Youth Reach is in was expiring and also that the centre wasn't really fit for purpose anymore that really they needed a different space for Youth Reach in Lifford so as far as I'm aware a process was entered into where Lifford DTB in cooperation with Lifford Youth Reach were looking for alternative accommodation in Lifford and unfortunately at this stage I haven't been able to find any. The plan is at this time to amalgamate the service with Lettercanny but presumably that creates a lot of difficulties for getting people to and from the Youth Reach services I mean Lettercanny from Lifford is a tight run and you know you have to get there and you have to get back. Yeah absolutely and look we have to think about this in the context of what Youth Reach is Youth Reach is aimed at people who have left formal secondary education without any real formal qualifications either so really what Youth Reach is to try and get those people back into an environment where they feel comfortable attending something every day and learning and getting qualifications and gaining experience that are going to help them then when they come to enter the workplace after they leave the Youth Reach programme and I think part of that that's really important that you keep these people in their own communities because for example if you say to someone or Castle Fund or St. Johnson look there's a Youth Reach programme we want to send you to it we think it's a good fit for you but you're going to have to get a bus to Lettercanny over and back every day It's not going to happen If I was in Donegal Town and there was a service in Bondoran you know it might as well be a million miles away you're not going to go to and from that and it's a barrier to access and there should be no barriers to access there's a possibility we'll talk about your proposals in a moment I'm not sure how regularised the times are is there a possibility that if we can't your alternative if it can't be put into place that there is a dedicated bus that people get on in Lifford go to Youth Reach and it picks them up and brings them back rather than sort of using scheduled services is that a possibility on the table at all? Yeah I think it is in that regard I wouldn't have any criticisms of Donegal ETB for what they've done to try and accommodate the students because they have been actively seeking alternative accommodation and they are putting contingency measures in place and I think the bus is going to be operational to take the students to Lettercanny so while I would commend Donegal ETB for the work in that regard and getting the bus sorted we'll have to get a bus from Castlefan, Killigard and Lifford then all the way around to Lettercanny over and back each day which look as you said I don't think it's practical and I don't think anybody could agree that it is Yeah again it feels like a barrier to access Your proposal is that very close to Lifford of course is Straban just across the bridge and a suitable accommodation has been identified there so this is that this service be provided in Straban now I don't know what precedent there would be for an ETB service to be operated in what effectively is a different jurisdiction has it been done before can it be done? Well the answer to has it been done before as far as I'm aware no I don't think there is precedent for this but when I raised this that I don't call ETB board meeting last Monday I did acknowledge that this is thinking outside the box a wee bit and it probably is without precedent but I think we need to be doing and thinking about all solutions to this issue that we can for example if we were to find a suitable accommodation in Straban it would have the potential to take numerous boxes with the only caveat being that it would be in a different jurisdiction albeit one that's just across the border from Lifford and Straban for Lifford youth streets to carry out its function outside its geographical boundary I don't see any reason why Straban shouldn't be on the table because if we think about Lifford Straban as an urban area it's really one large urban area it may be split down the middle with a county boundary and with the river but to all intents and purposes the people in Lifford Straban coexist perfectly happily and they cross the border numerous times every day to do their business whatever it is so on a short term basis I don't see why there should be any barrier that if a suitable accommodation was found in Straban to just keep the service in the area for the time being that we can't look at that and finally have the ETB responded to that proposal yet to you well again I want to commend the chief executive of Donegal ETB raised us at the meeting last Monday I was expecting a wee bit of blowback that they make through various hurdles in the way but no the chief executive was completely open to it and in fact she said that it was something that she herself had considered and that they were looking at the possibility of how we could go about leasing a short term premises in Straban and thankfully the chief executive has come back to me and given that last week was very busy with the local elections we are now in the process of setting up meetings for two weeks time to discuss a number of potential premises where we could house Levered Youth Reach which I think would be an incredible victory for us in the short term just to keep the service in the area Interesting we'll watch with interest OK listen thank you very much indeed Councillor Gary Doherty there A caller says I've got a home insurance quote for 2023 it was 1,044 euro in 2022 it was 667 and in 2021 it was 510 this is increased by 100% is anyone else experiencing this increase Greg I would be really interested to know well yes I can tell you one person that did me and we all said contact from someone yesterday and I can't remember the exact figures but I think theirs went from 600 to 900 they got a quote for 500 and that was within increased value in terms of rebuild costs and please whenever you are getting a quote for your home insurance you might think well how much could I get it on the open market 150,000 you don't insure it for 150,000 to rebuild that house would probably cost you to 300,000 maybe even a little bit more so whenever you get in your house insurance please make sure it for the rebuild and not its current value but anyway be that as it may shop around there are websites online that you can put in your details once and it will tell you the cheapest and I saved a couple of hundred quid the listener yesterday I think they saved 300 or 400 euro as well but please don't be brand loyal shop around it's very very easy to switch I insured my house in about 5 minutes with a company sitting in a car park halfway to work I wasn't actually coming to work in the morning but I was on my way up here and it was really incredibly simple it was all done on the telephone in a matter of moments so it's not complicated to shop around and to switch so please do some reaction to the piece we did earlier on in relation to the conviction of Richard I'll come back to that in a second the justice system is completely is a complete joke says this caller someone can go into a house kill a young woman in front of her children and will probably only serve eight years another this was horrific murder if you take drugs or drink it will be manslaughter totally repugnant sentence if this happened in any other country this depraved person would never get out you want to talk about him and not her family or her children yeah I would just and particularly for people who have you know mental health issues and many many people do and they live their lives and they would never dream of harming anyone else it just always and I'm not talking about this specific case I'm talking generally speaking I think it almost does them a disservice sometimes when you read certain articles in that it is some sort of an excuse now I know there is various levels of mental illness one can have but it seems to be a very useful defence let's see in relation to the topic being discussed about the tragic events in Killy Gordon is there a question to be asked of the God as to how they handled the hostage situation could they have acted differently resulting in a different outcome I'm a retired member myself I don't want to go the ins and outs of it but I remember it at the time and I suppose you would as a former member yourself would understand that you I don't want to discuss it because it's outside of the trial now but listen you're a former member of the Guardi and you would know more than I perhaps I'm a type one diabetic for over 40 years the diabetes character can a hospital is worse now than it ever was okay Greg your comment if you have money you can get hospital appointments these comments annoy me so much as someone who has been told just over the threshold for a medical card what options do we have and as Paul said these people save up I don't have near the lifestyle of people around me who have a medical card because we have to save so just don't think because you have health insurance means you have lots of money it means with what money you have you have to budget and go without a lot of things I think you might have misheard what I said and this is with absolute respect what I'm saying it was nothing to do with medical cards I was saying that there are many illnesses out there that people need a quick diagnosis with and the system is chock a block it seems and you can go and get a private pay to see a private consultant and you can get a quicker diagnosis it's nothing to do with medical health for how much money you have it's a two-tier health system if you have money you can access private health care this is not insurance you can just say you can just go and see a consultant if you wish like for instance a perfect example and we are in May which is line disease month and this will make my point better so forget about medical cards you could have someone who is going in and out of their GP they can't get a diagnosis they're being told it's absolutely this that and the other they're taking different medicines it's not working they and then they hear an article on this program or somewhere else that says well could it be line disease now you can't you have to go and pay Professor Lambert Dan and Dublin to go and see him to go and get your bloods tested in Germany and get a diagnosis and if you have lines we put an antibiotic that's nothing to do with that's nothing to do with medical cards that's to do with the way the health system works that if you have money you can and I and as I said also in my comments fair play I don't begrudge that whatsoever but I just wanted to highlight the fact that sometimes in this country sometimes in this country you get better services if you've got more money I understand exactly what you're saying in terms of people being guilted for having private health insurance Jenna McGonagall is the sister of Jasmine McGonagall and is on the program with me now Jenna thank you very much for joining us how are you and your mom and the family keeping hi Greg thanks for having me on this morning yeah we're doing okay it's been such a long journey over four years and it's just kind of unbelievable today that it's over you know and it was in stages wasn't it Jenna I mean obviously you had the the terrible loss of your sister and the circumstances which is incredibly difficult to very difficult to sort of to work through but then you've got this period in between it and then a trial and you must feel like sometimes you're in some sort of a no man's land trying to process all that grief but at the same time knowing that it all has to be revisited through a trial yeah it's definitely like a bit of a limbo you know and you kind of get yourself psyched up to go to something related to the court or go to speak to the guards about something and then you kind of bring yourself back again and then before you know it you're away again so it's just a real roller coaster for sure but it's yeah as I said it's just very hard to believe that it's kind of come to an end of this part of the journey but yeah it's just been so long so long and I mean obviously the trial was very very difficult what's your reaction to the outcome of that trial this person will serve 14 years has already served a couple of those and that sentence also to automatically has 25% for good behaviour now of course the judge said a number of conditions for his release and for that last year being suspended but what's your reaction to that sentence Jenna yeah over the past four years if I've learned anything that the law is very very strange we've kind of been prepared for this outcome you know it was a very strange way it went with the jury the jury kind of basically had one option but as far as the diminished responsibility it's just very hard to wrap your head around the fact that you know somebody that had kind of said this on several different occasions that he you know expressed that he would like to do this to my sister and then actually did it and that you know it was a drug related alcohol related you know could have affected his mental health at the time and like these are things that he chose to do himself yet you know if it was our way he would never see the light of day again but it's you know just tricky with this diminished responsibility aspect but you know we're never going to be happy with the outcome of course not and we were just speaking a little earlier on I mean obviously the prosecution they themselves had their own witness to assess his his responsibility and effectively the reason why you say the jury ended up with just one choice was because effectively they were for the most part in agreeance with the defence witnesses did your heart sink at that point yeah we kind of knew this a little bit earlier than that time that this was probably going to be the case so we were a little bit prepared when we went in there but yeah whenever I found out that this side agreed that at the time that it happened he did have a psychosis or whatever it was yeah it did but I have to say like the prosecution she did you know say that during interviews and things like although he had this whatever at the time it happened he was very prone to exaggerating his symptoms and things like this during interviews and just you know and a psychosis as they say can last a few minutes and then afterwards fine again it's just oh it's just very hard to accept the fact that somebody who knows that maybe taking drugs or drinking alcohol is going to affect him badly or you know somebody who has basically to a level premeditated something like this can you know be walking free again and so many years and a bit off for good behaviour because there's thousands of people out there many listen to this programme that realise that drink or drugs doesn't agree with them that they go into white hoax or somewhere else or seek support or help in general society if people feel that they have a problem often they go and seek help they don't go on to rub two beautiful children and a family of another beautiful person in Jasmine and in terms of the future Jenna are you just sort of trying to process this verdict and sentencing and the sentencing yesterday or is your mind already turning to the fact that is this person going to be out in seven or eight years am I going to bump into him in the street you know yeah as soon as it as soon as the verdict is kind of read that's the first thing that you're thinking about like this person is going to be out and how old am I going to be then how older the children involved going to be then you know what am I going to be protected what's what's he going to be thinking when he gets out what's he going to want to who's he going to want to see this type of thing it's just all running through your head you know yeah go ahead to be honest I wouldn't want to be in a room with him in ten years time whatever Jasmine was a beautiful person inside and we're all familiar with her pictures and her smile and her infectious smile can you talk to me a little bit about Jasmine can we remember Jasmine and yeah there's so it's it's so hard to even like summarise her in a short few words and we share lots about her on mum's page smile for Jasmine like we share pictures and things like this but to actually like the essence of Jasmine she was so funny she was she was just such a great girl she was so smart and so so kind to her family and you know I think this mum had said before like she sponsored a child from another country and she you know at Christmas time she'd be the person that you just have a mountain of presents from Jasmine and maybe on like Friday the 13th and things she'd be the one playing pranks she was just a real character her mother mentioned how much she loved Christmas as well oh she loved Christmas she loved Christmas yeah she really did and I know we lost so much yeah and I know it's really important and that's why I wanted to ask about Jasmine and I'm glad you got to mention that the Facebook page because it's really important that for the family and for everyone and for the children that she's not forgotten either and that her stories and pictures are out there for people to remember her that is important to your mum particularly isn't it Jenna it's very important to mum whenever all this trial is happening and ever since everybody gets to hear the horrible details and it's so difficult to imagine what she went through when this happened and even for the family you just want to be able to remember in a way that isn't so horrific you know so it's so important so important and I'm not sure if it's helpful or not Jenna but I know exactly what you're talking about because even I and I'm sure many people listening do you know even when you at the time and in the weeks after and we had your mum I'm not sure if you were with her up here in the years afterwards beautiful people but you do find yourself where you still find yourself thinking about things that you don't want to think of and it's really difficult we maybe just don't consider that Jenna do you just the family feel or do you feel that all the questions that you had have been answered now if that makes sense obviously in terms of you're not going to be satisfied with the verdict but that is what it is but do you feel that all the questions the family have been answered now I don't think every question is ever going to be answered and maybe now after the trial is finished and everything's finished we might have some more time to think about you know the lingering questions and things that we want to get answered and hopefully maybe we can get those answers okay well listen Jenna thanks very much for speaking to us you know I mean the entire county has been thinking on us and supporting us in this awful journey and that awful time between the terrible events and the trial and hopefully now you can move forward with the next stage of the grieving process now that this is behind you and best wishes to you to your mom and particularly to Jasmine's beautiful children and we just wish you all the strength that you need but you know that we are thinking on you and praying for you at this difficult time thank you so much your thoughts and all your messages and kindness doesn't go unnoticed and it really really helps so much so thank you to everybody bye bye Jenna thanks very much indeed that's Jenna McGonagall there Jasmine's sister and seaside sun then they began at the till with our five of 25 grocery vouchers shrink your bill with a basket of summer favorites worth 25 euro 87 cent for just 20 87 love summer with double sabers at done stores always better value terms and conditions apply voucher can be used in an extensor grocery shop of 25 euro or more free call in today terms and conditions apply join us for the Hyundai 232 celebration week May 22nd to 28th celebrating Ionic 6 winner of world car design of the year world electric car of the year and overall world car of the year 2023 and the Ionic 5 winner of the same awards in 2022 visit the Hyundai 232 celebration week order your new Hyundai from our multi award winning range including Ireland's best selling car the Tucson Hyundai a class apart the 232 celebration week is now on at Diverse Hyundai Canal Road Leather Canning until Sunday the 28th Bali Shannon and Kili Beg's Credit Union just got better our new current account comes with Mastercard debit card for use in store online and contactless payments all with lower transparent fees and with the same trusted personal service you are used to open your Bali Shannon Kili Beg's Credit Union current account today drop into branch or join online terms and conditions apply visit BKCreditUnion.ie for details Bali Shannon and Kili Beg's Credit Union Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland lots and lots of support coming in for Jasmine's family as you can imagine and we'll pass them on God bless the Montego family may God give them strength and courage especially her beautiful children we are all thinking and praying for you all says a listener there if you're planning to commit a crime remember to first form a drug habit to affect your mental capabilities thus giving you a perfect defense alternatively accumulate 10,000 euro to offer as compensation to your victim seems to be the way to beat justice today in this country feels a listener there bring back ward sisters hospitals will run much better than they are now so that comes in every time we talk health I understand where it comes from with respect there is no point discussing the budgets and running a value H with counter-cancelers they have no power though councillor Jack Montego is on the regional health forum so he does get to question Sialta representatives directly so I take your point but in this instance we were speaking to him in the context of him being on the regional health forum but this caller goes on to say they have no power without councillor executive permission let alone Department of Health issues they simply waffle about the issues to higher level wafflers in the eructus the neglect of Donagol for health services particularly heart and cancer services is disgraceful renting prefabs that are permanent to dig for floods and allowing the money raised from car parks make no economic sense money that could be used to pay for necessary consultants let me see is there more on that issue so I'm not skipping from one issue to another went to Rathmollen beach yesterday went to the toilet and when I was finished there was no toilet paper in either toilet had to ask a lady to get me paper from the ladies toilets no toilet paper in the men's we definitely are noticing a huge difference in bringing up our youngest child compared to our older children we bought five items that we consider necessary items this week it cost us just under 50 euro the cost of child raring is worrying I'm very worried we had to pay 240 euro for a private consultant for health condition on another child but we can't afford the medication for him at the moment so obviously this must be a working family and unable to apply for a medical card if that's all you've been unsuccessful in applying for medical card but maybe it's worth checking out to see if you do fall under certain criteria there are government services which do support people at times when they can prove that they don't have the resources I might try and dig them out when communities express concerns about mass immigration educated elites call them small minded and racist but communities have lost a lot they've lost their sense of control over their society another hopefully that I'll have to wait so long or too long for remedial works but we all know be chatting about this a year from now but we'll keep on it and you heard from our guest it's taken for what it is a positive step in the right direction but certainly not the whole journey so it's one little battle one and then you keep at it and hopefully you chip away a caller says I had a young boy in hospital last night via ED I was seen to immediately and he got the best of treatment and I want to thank them immensely for everything seen and treated within no time so I want to say thank you all at the emergency department at University Hospital and as I say and I hope it's very very clear more than happy and we often do if people have positive experiences or any praise of staff or services get them into us because I am not on some sort of a hobby horse or a campaign here we want to support and help the hospital and that's what we've tried to do and we've tried to do in recent years on this program having to get a cardiac scan done going private and paying over 500 euro I don't really have the spare cash for it but don't want to wait God knows how long it would take to get it in the public system and that's a perfect example of what I was trying to say a little earlier on so thank you for helping me sort of articulate that a little bit better it's 15 miles from Lifford to letter Kenny but the problem is those children who first have to travel to Lifford from other areas like Castlefin and St Johnston does youth reach not have its own transport and I got the impression from the conversation with Councillor Doherty that transport would be provided as you say from Lifford but the young people would have already have had to go to the centre and Lifford in any case so hopefully a bus is put on from that centre where people were already getting to and to and from letter Kenny but it seems the ETB are looking favourably at the proposition of getting those services in Straban quite a good reaction to an Instagram poll we put up on the programme yesterday or on our Instagram yesterday we asked should restaurants still apply a service charge because that was off the back of a chat with Brian who said that he had a 10% service charge put on his bill so we asked you the great public to have you all say 12% of you voted yes restaurants should still apply a service charge 88% of you though voted no Agnes said no food no food in restaurants in this country is dear enough without having to pay a service charge and most restaurants expecting tips too Rebecca she had her say and said with the times that are in it people are struggling enough I do appreciate all the hospitality staff it's one of the hardest jobs especially during the summer sadly these services charges make me stressed about going places as I don't think I can afford it and that's the key you see it's at your discretion right okay coming up after 11 we've got a lot coming up on the show but we're going to be speaking to Martin McFadden he's an addiction counsellor and we're going to be talking again about a topic we've discussed on this programme before and it's an important one and that is the huge increase in cocaine use across the region and he's got some interesting views on it I don't believe drugs are here to say so what's he suggesting we do I don't know wait and see Martin McFadden is coming up after the news at 11 o'clock and I do feel and I maintain it that the availability of alcohol the cost alcohol and the availability of drugs such as cocaine that that is helping to drive younger people to that drug which we're told is as easy to get us a kebab obviously this caller says the government are more concerned about the revenue from the sale and use of alcohol over the health and well-being of society imagine an addictive drug that through abuse and overuse can be so damaging it's completely legal and freely available to everyone I heard the health minister commenting on this yesterday he says what they want what the government want interested in your views on this he says we're not going to tell people how to live their lives but whichever way you choose to live your life you should have the knowledge of what damage it could be doing to you which I thought was quite interesting comment shoes and bags in pastel shades bling or classic neutrals sarento shoes available in all leading shoe stores itchy eyes running nose wheezy and a mean hay fever is back on the attack as pharmacists, Brennan's have a wide range of allergy remedies to come to your rescue and we can advise you on how to lessen those hay fever attacks so come in for a chat and we can talk through your options and private if you like you'll be back to enjoying summer in no time for expert hay fever advice advice you can trust without the weight we're always here for you just ask at your local Brennan's pharmacy it's the world's greatest award winning Atlantic travel to guide your next adventure step through our doorway to the world Atlantic travel letter Kenny watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at highlandradio.com it is 11 o'clock it's time for a news update and this good morning to Michaela Clark thanks Greg good morning the sister of Jonsman McMonagle says it's hard to comprehend the sentence handed down to you Richard Burke yesterday the 32 year old from Killy Gordon has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with the last 12 months suspended for the manslaughter of Miss McMonagle in 2019 he was fined guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in March Guardian Munkrana have renewed their appeal for information in relation to your road fatality at quarter past three on Sunday morning 21 year old Rebecca Brown from Derry lost her life when she was struck by a garter car a red Mitsubishi show gone with a partial registration of LLZ collided with another car but the driver left the scene Guardian are seeking information and dashcam footage remedial works are set to be carried out at Lettermark award health centre the HSE house confirmed the facility will be open and available to the local community a petition was launched earlier this year in a bid to retain GP services in the area an initial cancer believes the peninsula is being ignored when raising questions over possible gaps in the fire service cancer Marta McDermott asked for clarity on the number of times the Northern Ireland fire service responded to collides in Donegal last year however no response has been forthcoming to date the search of a reservoir in Portugal by police investigating the disappearance of Madeline McCann is underway divers were seen entering the water at the end of the river and it is expected that the water will be removed from the reservoir this morning Guardian I believe that the smashing of a welcome stone in Duhuri is an act of criminal damage it emerged last week that the stone at the top of the corkscrew had been significantly damaged and it was initially thought it had been hit by a vehicle meanwhile Guardian are appealing for information after damage was caused on Saturday last and 9 o'clock yesterday morning causing it to collapse and finally Guardian are on the hunt for two youths in connection with damage caused to a car in the St Johnston area in the early hours of Friday morning they are believed to have fled on foot towards the main Lyford Dairy Road where they then got into a dark coloured car those are the latest headlines we'll be back with an update at 12 noon OK Mikaela thank you very much indeed and we'll be back in just about 30 seconds stay right where you are let's join Steve live for the buildup what's your prediction? I've been watching this team for a very long time Guardian I could tell you now the score will be 3-1 there will be our annoying corners and the French lad will score a header very specific Steve it's Bet Builder from LiveScoreBetPull you can combine markets from thousands of options to create your own bet or if you can't make up your mind choose from the pre-built QuickBet options which is exactly what you did isn't it Bet Builder from LiveScoreBet building a bet just got easier full account terms apply 18plusgamblingcare.ie OK you don't need those on Martin your grand take them off OK it's more comfortable don't ruin your hair one of us has hair we want to maintain we want to maintain your good looks OK Martin McFadden is an addiction cancer and joins us in the programme Martin thanks very much for coming up for a chat no problem at all Greg it's great to see you man yeah what's the role of an addiction cancer obviously it's talking with people with an addiction do people refer to you yeah I mean addiction would probably be my speciality but I'm a general therapist as well I work with everything around mental health not just but I'm probably best known for my work with addiction yeah people would be self-referred referred through GPs family resource centres people like that you know so I'm open to referred to coming in from anywhere have you seen any changes over the years in terms of what people are addicted to how addicted they are yeah I mean I've kind of obviously when you're in the kind of area I've followed the evolution if you like of drugs particularly over the last kind of ten years and there have been significant changes in terms of there's been increased usage there's more options and more ways there's more distractions there's more things to become addicted to you know I've kind of been making the point that social media hasn't really helped that either it's actually enhanced that because everything has become so much more available and so much more normalised online I was even talking to a young person last night you know in terms of the cocaine issue which is just completely off the charts at the minute and what they said to me was what sure everyone was doing it and that kind of really summed it up for me it was almost a kind of a general acceptance now right across the board but also a kind of not even taking responsibility for that you know people don't not even realising the potential harm well when I was growing up the situation with drugs was this A. it was so frowned upon you know what I mean I don't recall it really being glamourised in the media as much as it is whereby you know leaders of cartels are almost anti-heroes that type of stuff so it was really really bad B. I wouldn't have had a clue where to get hold of it you know because you would have been in a pub or a club you'd probably have to have known someone who was dealing it or actually just go up and approach someone and say hey do you have any drugs so those are the two things that jumped mine now drugs is and it could be anything from what's happening with the kind of cartel their involvement in reputation washing in sports and what have you it could be programmes like Narcos whereby major drug dealers at the top end of the snake are seen as kind of anti-heroes as I mentioned but also to the fact that on Snapchat particularly and other social media you can very very easily get drugs and it's not really seen as a bad thing is that part of the problem is that part of why drugs are so prevalent because I think a lot of people listening probably don't get how many young people and older people are getting and using drugs yeah it's a massive part you know when you consider the amount of time that all of us myself included but particularly probably our younger generation spend time-wise online and when you consider these platforms the Instagrams and the Snapchat and the TikToks in particular you know will tell us that they are doing everything they possibly can to stop the sale and distribution you know like those those are the hubs where young people spend their time and when you have drugs like cocaine or any of the drugs really and you know being glamourised and being on offer I mean like like dealers have become so adept at this that they'll even send you menus by WhatsApp as to what you need to buy and price-wise and quality and everything like that so it's really really come on leaps and bounds again from anecdotal evidence as well talking to people who deal some of their dealers now don't accept cash they want you to play with Revolut or whatever other card so we really have moved on from that sort of mystical character that you talked about they're a well-organised business absolutely and it's a business and you know one of the things that has kind of caused this upsurge I mean actual production and supply of cocaine doubles from the years 213 onwards for about four years so it's not just an Irish thing it's a global thing it's worldwide and as I said you know the criminal gangs have become more adept and they've got their distribution network so now and again the gods will nab someone into the north west maybe they work in Dublin or whatever it might be the drugs are, they have their network to get them distributed and you know what the what the guardians are nabbing is just really the tip of the iceberg you know so you know it's really really difficult at the moment what about cost you know I mean is cost not a barrier to taking drugs you know young people maybe they have a weekend job we spoke so positively about we spoke so positively about young people on the program yesterday and I don't want this to be a pylon on young people neither do you Martin but we as adults and have a responsibility to make sure the small group of them although big in number are helped but what about the cost side of it is cocaine use not an expensive it is an expensive drug you know particularly when you consider that from cocaine is short lasting so you know I mean the effects of a line of cocaine can wear off well within an hour so again if you're like me you'd be looking for another hit fairly quickly after that so yeah if you're doing a few lines of coke per night then it's costly and I suppose do we know how much well you're talking about up to 100 euro gram kind of thing it varies so how many lines might you get out of a gram you'd get a few lines but there's people who would be doing but my point is if three or four people got together with low sort of resistance and they put 30 quid each in they could probably make quite a few thin lines and have a night out for a cheaper than they might on booze well I'm not trying to promote it I'm just trying to have a full on real conversation about what might be happening well yeah and the argument too Greg and a lot of people will tell you is it's considered a cleaner drug in terms of like you don't have the same level of hangover and you're not sick and you're not kind of all of that sort of stuff and it's probably not as as apparent or visible to people so I mean if you're showing up to work in the morning it's not you're not seen to be hung over as such so it's a cleaner alternative for people for younger people you know and again as you rightly say you know we're not here to demonise young people I love young people I love working with young people but by the very nature of their youth they don't always make the most informed decisions you know and neither do we because I remember us having a conversation on this program three four years ago I can't remember how long it was and it was talking about cracking down on drink right and minimum unit pricing of alcohol which I'm not saying is a bad thing right but I said at that time I says okay that's grand right we need to do that but what are we doing about drugs and the person I can't remember exactly who was said to me well what do you mean I says well every action has a reaction more expensive or difficult you make one addictive substance but addictive in a different way yeah then you are going to you're going to drive people to alternatives yes and we should have at that time been going right okay we're not saying this is causing what we're talking about so in other words I'm not blaming young people I'm blaming people that make the decisions that you we set up a situation that perhaps turns people from booze to drugs we're on the same him him sheet Greg I remember when you talked about that back then and I and I thought the minimum unit pricing as a standalone measure was not in any way effective I mean it was obviously targeted at young people and problem drinkers but people invariably in addiction will find the money somewhere if you're an addict that's what you do if you're an alcoholic that's what you do and something is going to suffer like alcohol is the majority of cocaine users casual users in other words they'll go out at the weekend they'll take cocaine and then they'll carry on the rest of the week not take any cocaine and then obviously the same with alcohol but then you'll get people that feel that they need to function with it is there that kind of a breakdown of usage as well well the more you the more people you have using and the greater increase in that the more the more people who are going to become psychologically and physically addicted so yeah I mean cocaine traditionally was kind of associated with white colour and people who would function that way but because it's really gotten into society now right down through all every town and hamlet up and down the country it's no longer that it's it's there so the more people that are using I think my point is the more people who are going to become addicted and the more problems that you're going to have that comes with that so you know you're going to I mean I'm listening to you're coming through the gap and listening to Jenna there as well I mean drug induced psychosis that kind of stuff that that's all coming down the track reading about people and use outlets about people being you know jailed for for for drugs I mean all that kind of thing it's going to be commonplace it is commonplace you know you believe at this point do you and you can put it into your own words that cocaine use is so wide and its availability is so widespread that it's not going to be eliminated that particularly with the resources available to Guardian we've seen the resources in the drugs unit here there's no point else pretending that in some way we complete drugs out of society is that an assessment of what you're saying that's fair enough I mean somebody was asking me the other day what was plan B and I said well we don't even have a plan A and we never did you know we've taken a very hard line judicial approach to drugs from day one but it hasn't worked this war on drugs that's always been talked about hasn't worked I mean I've been advocating for years for a health led approach towards this because the judicial approach is not working I mean Simon Harris minister Simon Harris stood up in the door in February and talked about you and I or whoever goes out of the weekend and does a line of coke being responsible for financing the drug cartels and everyone else and he also talked about you know putting further Guardian into nightclothes and pubs under I mean that that that bought us long sales don't get listen in this day in age you could say that things have changed and you could say that every point that you buy feeds into a big massive global industry that's responsible for ABC or D you know people don't trust big business that argument I don't think is going to win any support because there's a general distrust of big business and what have you so I understand I think he wasted his breath I think you know I really do think you know well again but I've been advocating you know people drugs have been around since the beginning of time and as has drink you know it's a deeper societal issue you know we should be asking you know not so much about the supply but demand why are people needing to escape the way they are why are people getting off their head every weekend on cocaine or drink what's that all about that's the stuff we should be looking at for a long time and try to understand that rather than to shift blame and kind of focus on that you know people like I said in a recent article on the paper good people sometimes make poor choices it doesn't make them bad people you know but you see the message isn't clear because you know you have sickies really really bad for you drink good for you let's open pubs wider yeah drugs really really bad for you yeah you know you get where I'm coming from it's kind of like you know we cherry pick what we see is good and bad and I want to get I want to get into the nitty gritties of I'm actually going to ask you to put the headphones on now Martin we're going to get into it a little bit more about what a health care approach might actually sound like or feel like but I want to say hello to Pamela on the show first Pamela hi how are you good morning to you hi Greg yes I'm very well and I just want I just want to put it across to everybody about drugs that how well known they are that the people in the street knows where they all are but that there's nobody higher up that can go and do something about it and there's nowhere here in Derry or beyond for anywhere any young person to go whenever whenever it's really bad you know very sadly I could name them all I can name all I could name all the drugs because I kept them here during during the COVID I kept them here to make sure that it was clean and that it was fed and everything else and one of the days when I would go when I would spend time in the bathroom or spend time out in the house out in the yard I would be calling where are you what are you doing and one of the days in the bathroom he opened the it says I'm alright I'm here and he opened the door now this is a boy of 39 years old right and I just treated him like because he was the youngest son of nine right and he opened the door and all this frost was coming out of his mouth and I said what are you at and he says and I said what have you in your mouth he had the tablets denture tablets that you clean your teeth and he had them and his mouth he was eating them. Just in search for drugs now your son Steven very sadly you lost him a year ago to drugs and six weeks before that Greg I lost my first born grandson John I'm so sorry two jobs as well John was on a house and found Ed and Steven was on a house found Ed whenever he was and it was in totally two different parts of the city and you're quick to point out too that you know people when we talk about this they just go out to their own fault or the risk on bag or whatever it might be and you don't think that tells the full story. I said you know they'll say don't you run about to him you know that's scumbags they're not scumbags none of those young people are scumbags Greg they're all well brought up children and the mammy can't pick them by the hand and say you know come on you and you're not going to him and you're not going there you're not going there you know how do we know how do we know that people are not saying don't you be running around Steven you know he's a scumbag none of them are scumbags there are wee critters that are caught up and nobody to bother about them do you know it's one of one of Steven's I could name them all do you Greg that one of them the fentanyl one was a patch which whenever I phoned the doctor a few times and I was told it's an adult I can't talk to you and I said but I'm his voice I said because there's nobody else going to be a voice for him he was getting the fentanyl patches bringing them home here to my house cutting them into four with a pair of scissors and eating a quarter of them as the day went on through the day he ate them he didn't put them on his arm and his drugs journey started with smoking and it just escalated from there is that correct what did you say there Greg not a problem I think there's a radio one in the background which might be a slight distraction Steven started smoking he started smoking cannabis initially he started off with cannabis right and then of course he didn't ever say he didn't like cigarettes and he didn't like drink but I used to say he didn't like drink because it interfered with the drugs you know he didn't have the money for the two so he got the drugs and said Greg do you know what he used to go over the border in a taxi and he used to pick up a package from a post office over the border where they were ordered online the blues and the yellows and he brought them on here one day just opened the swunger open he didn't take his time to open it right over my work top all these and here's me sacred heart of God where did you get them do you want to be sweetie he says yellows and blue tablets about 500 and a package that he ordered on the internet Pamela you've been you tell me that they can't detect those coming through your post you've been through so much Pamela where do you get your strengths I don't know Greg I really don't and there was a thing on YouTube was put up a fella did he did it as he thought in good sense for the people which wasn't because what I didn't know that he had been to Stephen's house and did this video of Stephen and a few had seen the dirt of the house all lying around the floor and all over you would have thought Stephen was somebody that wasn't cared for and didn't look after himself and we went up there more times than enough and found him nearly dead and you know and I would read up the house and try my best to do what you could and we bought him more stuff and enough and you know what it all started with Greg I'm telling you that's true now Stephen started out with a lovely wee girl who took sick and she was taken to the royal and he went and he spent his time with him and the mammy to use the royal spent the time with the wee girl and one of the days they were told take her home and let her die in peace and they couldn't do any more for her and Stephen brought her home and he went through the internet and he found Dr. Han Grettinger in Trubigan in Germany and he explained the whole situation and he had to send on all the medical records in and Dr. Han Grettinger says yes that she was a good candidate for him because she was only a baby and Stephen and his partner went and an airplane to Trubigan in Germany spent their time with her and Stephen's stem cells saved her and it was through all the goodness of the people and Donnie Gaul and Derry and Afar that paid on a fund to pay for that but then during the time that he was there they were smoking this dope and then the dope went from that to something else then with Stephen and Dr. Han Grettinger but he cared for that regard and she'll be 18 now next week Lovely, okay Pamela has gained sorry for everything you've gone through and thanks for helping us understand I really appreciate it and it's clear that you There's just no where for them Greg and it's time that these people that are running around doors asking for your vote let them get up and see where it's all coming from and let them provide a place they have to be willing to go as well they have to say yes I want to go but whenever the place is away in Nury or somewhere to get there's no way that they're going to go to Nury okay I get you Pamela it's too far away thank you very much for your time and condolences to you again we're also still in the company of Martin McFadden Addiction Chancellor but I just want to bring Sheila into the conversation Sheila good morning to you Sheila can you hear me okay what's your situation at the moment Sheila well my daughter has been drinking a lot weekly you know at night she would go down the town and get some drink and come back very drunk to the house and then she I could take no more so into the GP and they referred us to addiction counseling and she's at that now I don't know it's like it helps her but she tries to tell me now that she doesn't take any drink but I think that she's actually turned to taking you know weed and I don't know what else you know your suspicions what you don't know I'll call out for cannabis or cocaine yeah Martin's with us here now obviously that's a tough one and I know Sheila's doing everything she can to keep her daughter safe it's tough but how can she ascertain that or what would your advice be to Sheila firstly it's just to be and remain Sheila as supportive as you possibly can it's a difficult situation to watch somebody you love fall down that spiral or that whole of addiction and quite often people quite often people will leave down one drug and pick up another and that's a fairly regular occurrence you know and usually they end up back with their drug of choice anyway it's just to be to continue to be some supportive and you know if she is attending addiction counseling that's a good thing you know it's very difficult like a lot of work I would do would be around trauma and addiction and most people who find their way to an addiction service or find themselves in the position your daughters in there's usually something behind that and what they're doing to use drink or drugs or whatever it's to numb the pain and will the addiction counselor with the addiction services be able to tease that out with Sheila's daughter well again you see I suppose Greg it's the limited resources that are out there to follow your show regularly and you're a great advocate for lots of different things even this morning diabetes cancer care and you know when you consider that the services are not in place for those particular issues you know I mean alcoholics and addicts traditionally have been well down the pecking order in terms of supports because it's considered by some people as still a choice behaviour and for anyone who knows anything about addiction it's not just that simple it's more complex than that and just listening to the lady before as well and I sympathise with her on her losses you know there aren't a lot of supports out there it's very very difficult and it's becoming even more difficult now because of the number of people who are cross addicted and Sheila from your perspective obviously this is your baby and you know you want to do everything you can to protect her to help her for her addiction at this point and are you is it possible that you're overly worried that maybe she's on trying drugs as well because you're so worried about her she will admit to it but I just don't know her much or is it cocaine or is it just weed or you know she does tell me what she takes yeah it's a pity that there isn't more support for family members out there in terms of even education around it and what to look out for and how to manage that there's definitely not enough for that available either I don't think well Sheila obviously you're a fantastic mum doing your absolute best and we hope that these services work for your beautiful daughter and if we can offer anything else not on air or off air get back in touch with us in case we can do anything to put you in contact with other I don't need to feel alone because I presume it feels very lonely at times even when you've got people around you so if there's anything we can do or whatever I don't know what it might be this time I just don't want you to feel that when you get off this phone call that that's the end of it you know we can try and help if need be somewhere else down the line if that makes sense yeah that's great okay you don't feel as lonely as it can feel thanks Sheila who's obviously a great yeah absolutely yeah stay with us you're okay for another little we're gonna take a quick break I do have to catch up on these back in a sec the county's number one talk show the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio does the start of another week start you dreaming of adventure then swap your well-worn paths for the winding trails of Lock Key Forest Park or the meandering cobble streets of Kilkenny for more short break ideas visit discoverarland.ie book early for the best value and keep discovering Dunfanny Golf Club on the North Atlantic Coast come join us with opens on Wednesday and Saturday come challenge your game against the links course that will test you with incredible value and great prizes put Dunfanny Golf Club on your playlist this summer to book call 074 9136335 Dunfanny Golf Club just magical if you're a cancer survivor be part of Relay for Life Dunnegall come along to the event anytime from 5pm on Saturday the 3rd of June to 5pm on Sunday the 4th at ATU Dunnegall campus in letter Kenny see Facebook for more details or email relayforlifedunnegall at gmail.com Relay for Life celebrating cancer survivors and supporting the fight against cancer hello I'm David Foley Medical Herbalist are you suffering with stress, anxiety and insomnia? then ask for Irish Botanical Peace and Calm a traditional herbal remedy Irish Botanical Peace and Calm has a naturally relaxing effect ideal for stress, insomnia, jet lag and pre-examining anxiety call us the natural way Letter Kenny Shopping Centre for more information 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 it's half past 11 we're in the company of Martin McFadden Addiction Cancer we're just trying to have an open frank conversation here about drugs usage if you want to get involved in the conversation 0749125000 give us a call or await 66025000 and I'm genuine in saying this Martin I get very frustrated and upset actually and you know you add the 14 billion of the Apple money if we didn't contest that and the reasons we are on top of the 34 million billion 34 billion odd surplus this year and next not to mention the 8 billion from last year so you're up around 50 odd, 52, 3 billion euro in a population of 5 million I can't understand whilst now in fairness to Sheila she seems to be getting the support but there's families out there who can't get even a counselling session for their young people because they're at the pin of the collar financially and they can't afford it privately or be affordably and publicly there's not much available I cannot I cannot square the circle of this all of this money and us letting us young people letting our young people and families down like we seem to be doing it's beyond you and I right but as I say I just cannot make sense of it we're Manchester right we've got 45 billion to sort Manchester out do you know what I mean why aren't we why are our young people why are we losing them to drugs we want to say losing I mean actually losing them I don't mean losing them in the sense that their personalities change Martin I suppose firstly it's important for me to say there are a lot of good people working who are absolutely stretched to the pin of their collar and burnt out and everything that comes with that and good really good compassionate caring people and they like us would be extremely frustrated I'm sure I mean I've been kind of at the co-face of this for quite a number of years and I suppose if you're asking me honestly the stuff you're talking about why is it happening I mean like I have come to the conclusion that it's happening by design it's happening by choice because why else would it happen you know do you know what I mean it's not rocket science people who have kind of had their eyes open for the last number of years anyway would have seen what's happening and what's coming down the track in terms of drugs and little or nothing has been done to try and avert or put an E into place to try and protect our young people you know the the education the early intervention all of that stuff hasn't been there and you know I think part of it is coming from that moralistic model of well you know if you take a drug or a drink then that's your responsibility and if you fall across the line into active addiction then that's your problem to get back from because you know and I get it I have a sense of humour you know what I don't mean and I get jokes and sometimes my humour can be dark right but you will see a significant haul of cocaine or cannabis and it'll be posted on a Facebook page and people will joke about it they'll say you know I've liked and shared in other words they want to win it and when I get that it's a humour right that's fine there's no harm in that to say I've got a bit of dark humour as well but then again on the flip side then you'll get someone who's convicted for for drug use or whatever and there's kind of words that Pamela used so societally right I don't we either have we either make a joke of it or something or else we just condemn people that in other words it is only their choice that they made decisions that they took a certain path so you know what I mean I don't think us as a population are actually really in the conversation I think it's on will I take it really light or else we condemn people I think what you're saying for me kind of it shows a kind of an uncomfortableness around it and probably a lack of understanding so we don't really know how to handle it you know we know it's somewhere along the line it's potentially harmful and dangerous but yet we do have that gallows humour around it but you know that like I mean you were talking to me you know a few minutes ago about the health approach and I think that's part of it as well the fact that you know well can I let's frame that if you don't mind because I don't want to interrupt your flow of thoughts you're effectively saying and you have said that cocaine and certain other drugs are absolutely everywhere it's such a part of society it would be like you know to try and discourage its use with the level of policing we have or with education we don't stop it right so when you talk about a healthcare approach that means decriminalisation doesn't it so talk to me about what you would see as how we deal and we'll focus on cocaine and cannabis yeah so how do we deal with the scourge of those two drugs in our society well again you know I would always have been an advocate for decriminalisation in terms of again because I suppose from a personal and professional perspective I would value people's autonomy and their right to choose the caveat with that is people and particularly probably young people who still have a developing brain don't always make or have the information to hand to make informed choices so you know the impulsivity in everything that comes with youth there are no disclaimers handed out by drug dealers as to what can potentially happen so you know that kind of education is not there so for people who make poor choices and they are poor choices they should not be criminalised for that so if you go out the weekend and you're in Dom's or wherever you are the McCafferty's whatever and you're doing a line of coke you should not be criminalised for that well then what discourages me from doing it well I mean the threat at this stage the threat of being arrested and maybe getting a fine or whatever else that has no bearing anymore there's no fear in that I mean like you walk into a pub now and it's easier to pick out the people who are not doing cocaine as opposed to the people who are so that's not a deterrent the legal aspect is not a deterrent anymore one thing I would have always kind of thought though from my own perspective the actual legalisation is something I would struggle a little bit with for a couple of reasons because of the message that it would send out and you just touched on it there a few minutes ago drugs were bad and all of a sudden if you legalise them then does that make them good do you know what I mean? So what does decriminalising then so in other words if I'm doing a line of coke in a pub and there's an undercover guard if they actually do that anymore if there are results to do it I don't get a fine or charged do I get referred to a drugs awareness programme? like Portugal and that's the model that's always held up it's not perfect but I suppose where I'm at now I don't think it really makes any difference whether you legalise or you don't because I think we've gone that far have we though and this is I don't know anyone that takes cocaine I don't believe I do I'll tell you you do I'll leave it at that then either that or you don't get out okay that's how bad it is and Fred's oh yeah and it's across all sectors I made the point to it's your local postman your local politician not mine by the way but that's where it's at and even the figures in terms of I was listening to Dr Colin O'Gara there and said John O'Gods and reading some of his stuff there's a cohort of farmers now have been really badly affected by cocaine and they're presenting for treatment you know young women from the ages of 15 to 24 there's been a six-fold increase you see also to what we don't I don't know how we gauge how bad something is but we I don't believe also and you could say the same of suicide for an example and there is efforts ongoing at the moment with coroners to try and get some figures on it because how can you address something properly or targeted approach unless you truly know the extent of a problem and the same with drug use okay we don't know the impacts on the mental health services from people taking drugs and I'm going to include alcohol in that in terms of suicides for that matter we don't know how definitively how big a factor is drinking drugs I mean what really opened my eyes is once the Gardie started to be able to test for drugs all of a sudden like it was 50-50 50% people on drugs 50% people on drink but that gave us some idea of what was going on I don't I think this country and our government needs to do a full across the board assessment of the use of drugs and what impact they're having on people's lives and death yeah I mean I get you and just right back to the point of thought or what we've been talking about you know I believe a lot of the figures that are projected and given to us are very conservative by their nature and those figures are quite often massaged and they're massage to suit the you know the narrative because Greg if you were to truly know the extent of the drug problem in numbers or suicide or any of those issues then you know we would be forced to set up and take notice and then if we have to set up and take notice then we have to do something about it like road traffic collisions for example so that's what I'm saying this often for me looks as if it's done by design I told me through the health-led approach then well the health-led approach again it's probably you know in terms of cost as well it would involve you know more educational programs that you know were not industry-led as we've had in the past in terms of you know alcohol or any other other addictions but also you know people in place who are able to work with trauma so it's like somebody comes to me I don't say Greg what's wrong with you I say what happened to you but when I ask you what happened to you then I have to sit down and work with you and listen to you and work through that where you know that's resources heavy that's resources and again not to put any sort of blame on the medical profession either but it's so much easier and has been to write a script and off you go and medicate yourself which we are saying record levels of certain prescription drugs absolutely where cancelling could be an alternative absolutely and I mean like again you know in terms of you know there is a time in a place that itself causes its own addictions as well absolutely you know medication works with talking therapy and that and you see the problem the problem for a lot of people in addiction Greg and I think maybe people miss this is the fact that if you are coming to an addiction service or counsellor or whatever is you are coming obviously with a bit of baggage and a history and you know I don't tell people now who come to me you have to stop drinking or you have to stop using because if I do that I'm taking away their crutch and there's a possibility they'll go out the door and they won't come back again because I've taken away the only friend of people and this is a health approach is okay I understand that you may need to have a drink at the weekend but let's try and work on the stuff that caused you to drink in the first place and if we can resolve that or get some sort of understanding and maybe clarity or even keep the conversation going then there's a good chance you may not need to drink as much if at all I mean you know they celebrated government celebrated a record announcement for mental health 78 million for 2023 now 78 million in a population of 5 million to me seems like chicken feed that should be a billion but it should only be a billion if we look at the structures and how everything is set up is on point throwing money in the problem either but personally I would not be celebrating 78 million on mental health service because a lot of that is wages, a lot of that is admin a lot of that is paying rent on buildings chicken feed chicken poo for that matter do you know what I mean that figure if we're serious about saving our young people and not just young people because addiction as many older people are addicted as well that figure should be 500 million look at the amount of money we're talking about but it can't be thrown into a black hole of administration 100% it needs to all be stripped back and put money at it and let's become a world leader you know we're here we're going to be a world leader we're going to be labels on bottles of alcohol right and you know like I'm like seriously presenter are you going to challenge this person seriously let's become a world leader on freaking dealing with people who have problems helping them then we can be proud but the labels are easier it's easier to do that well it's effectively a sticky plaster you know almost literally that's what it is and listen is there anything you want to add I mean keep up the work that you're doing I think it's an eye-opener I don't think there's any exaggeration in anything that we've talked about I mean it's a difficult subject difficult topic and I mean again I get very frustrated and like yourself and angry and I have to kind of I suppose one other just to finish on maybe the fact that and it's quite a stark statistic and I think it really should alarm anybody you know the fact that we are the fourth most consumers of cocaine in the world right now behind only Australia Spain and the Netherlands you know that to me is just you know it's mind boggling you know it's gotten this far you know a lot of countries in the world okay listen thanks for all of your time I appreciate it Mark I wanted to I know you were up since just after 10 but with the other things that we had to do I didn't want to rush it in a couple of minutes so I appreciate you hanging about it's an important conversation and you know maybe we also need to make sure we're talking to our younger people as well because we have to talk to them presuming that they know where to get cocaine one of their friends is taking cocaine they've taken cocaine or they're hanging around with people taking cocaine and we have to presume that that's it then because I mean you laugh me out of it when I said I didn't know anyone that takes cocaine so do you know what I mean it is at that point we definitely need a more compassionate approach anyway and a more understanding I think you know whether that happens or not I don't know okay Martin McFadden addiction cancer thanks for your time thanks for watching preparing for a 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Frayl this and every Friday night from it for rock and hits on Highland Radio in association with Arena 7 Letterkenny the best family entertainment complex around with bowling, laser quest, soft play center and more visit arena7.ie okay you're very welcome back to the program we're joined on it now by Len Porter author and journalist in Portugal Len thank you very much for joining us good morning right for those who aren't aware police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will begin search of a reservoir in Portugal today how significant is this development in this case Len do you think well it's very difficult at this stage to say the reservoir has been searched before but it's another search is on the way today and this reservoir in question is near the town of the city of Souves which is about half an hour away from prior to Louis where Madeleine disappeared from in 2007 Wilkner this terrible pedophile is said to have requested or sorry sequenced the area and so that's what it called for the search today now previously my understanding is this area was searched and it was funded privately presumably this is intelligence led by the German police who are obviously taking this very seriously and in that you would hope that they have the best of equipment and people to thoroughly either confirm or otherwise that this could be the final resting place of Madeleine McCann her current resting place let me put it like that well the search is being coordinated by the Portuguese police it has been instigated as you say by the German police and there will be a presence by buddies police the metropolitan police the searching is going on in the water and in the woodland next to the reservoir as far as I know and there have been lots of digs for Madeleine since her disappearance the last big dig by the metropolitan police was a near proud illusion 2014 there were many many searches in 2007 they were gone for more than a year now the reservoir was searched in late 2007 and in 2008 now that search was initiated as I understand on behalf of Kate and Jerry McCann and it was initiated by the multimillionaire Brian Kennedy a friend of the McCanns the search was done by a Spanish group of private detectives but doubts remain about the honesty of that early 2008 searching just a distraction from the truth is what some people say is Bruckner Christian Bruckner this German TV file being made a scapegoat and there does seem to be a circumstantial case against him though nonetheless does there not in that his mobile phone records show him in the vicinity of the area where Madeleine disappeared from he was known to be in and around this reservoir it depends on I suppose which coverage you read of it it would seem to be a slam dunk you're suggesting otherwise well there is circumstantial evidence there's lots of circumstantial evidence on this case but there's virtually no solid evidence there's virtually no solid evidence as to what happened to Madeleine since 2007 now the German prosecutor has said about Bruckner that he has said that he was 100% sure that Bruckner was involved but he hasn't produced or certainly not publicly produced any solid evidence to support this and as I say 16 years on there's lots of speculation lots of contradiction contradictions and lots of confusion but very little solid evidence and that's what's needed in this case and finally is there any confidence at all then amongst you or others very familiar with this case will these latest searches might produce any answers well I think we all hope so and at this date that's the best we can do we can just hope that the search over the next couple of days does produce an answer Len, thank you very much for your time this morning I appreciate it, that is Len Porter who's an author and journalist in Portugal as we mentioned their divers will look at an area around 30 miles away from where the toddler went missing in the Algarve in 2007 the suspect Christian B is known to have camped in the area officers have already done a search of the dam but found nothing so not only will her Madeline's parents be watching on very closely as to what happens but the eyes of the world I think it's just one of those cases that a lot of people feel very invested in will be watching on as well okay, let us get to some of your comments as we head towards the end of the programme for this Tuesday drug dealers getting off too light in the courts finds and sentences don't match the destruction these evil people cause to families yeah, maybe at the low level but I mean at the highest level there's an awful lot of people involved in the drug industry that have been sentence and there will never see the light of day again but I do take your point I suppose if you're involved in any activity at all and you fear you might be caught for doing such a legal activity and it's very very lucrative you would have to feel that the sentence was such that it wouldn't be worth your while maybe that's just simply not the case at the moment a caller wants to know or asks how many people with undiagnosed ADHD have addiction problems I don't know really enough about that to comment do we have time for this email ok, I'll try it here I just want to highlight something that I'm sure has been discussed but until it comes knocking at your door unfortunately we like most people had no awareness of I've been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and have had to briefly is the plan and reluctantly leave my work as a preschool manager whilst undergoing treatment as I'm only at the start of my journey I'm unsure how long I'll be at home so I contacted citizens advice to see how I'm going to manage my rent bills and outgoings the shock I had to be told I'm entitled to 210 euro a week, that's it my rent's 194 euro a week I can live happily on beans and toast but I'm going to need electricity to heat those beans and make toast maybe some heat to heat this old bean, seriously is this the society we live in the caller says luckily they're entitled to a medical card because they've got cancer but then they go on to talk about all the other expenses they've had to take time off work to go through their cancer treatment and they're entitled to 210 euro a week, rent alone 194, have any of you any input or advice in that regard I'll come back to that and give it a little bit more time a little bit earlier in the show the next time but just thought I'd throw it out there in case of any of you want to consider it throughout the day and text in or call in that's where we have to leave it on the program today thank you to all of you who listen to the show and those of you who chose to watch the show we're back with you tomorrow morning at nine