 I don't know, I don't know, just happy weekend. And now that was good time, we're cutting hair and driving tractors and doing shopping and making dinner and making pancakes and eating pizza. The tractor cutting hair, so you're farming, hairdressing, what else? I wasn't farming, I was just driving around a field with Wee Lee and the tractor cutting all his hair, cutting Lee's hair at pizza. Yeah. Did you watch any films? Well, I watched 20 minutes of him before fell asleep. It's a good show, though, good show. Can't wait to next weekend. Have a good weekend, thanks, Lee. It's a brand new week on the nine till noon show at nine o'clock. Let's get a news update and say good morning, Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. Well, Rishi Sunak is expected to be confirmed as the new UK Prime Minister this afternoon. Boris Johnson withdrew from the Tory leadership race last night, leaving only Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordent in the race. He'll be confirmed as leader if he's the only candidate with 100 Tory supporters by this afternoon's deadline. It's suggested he has well above the requisite 100. Penny Mordent is well below it. Former Taoiseach John Bruton says what the UK needs more than anything else is stability. Boris Johnson is unpredictable, pushes mildly. And I think we might be better off with somebody predictable because at this stage in history, after what has happened in recent weeks, Britain needs a predictable, stable government. And I think Sunak probably provides a better means of getting there. But we will really not know until he's in office for a month or two. A report to be published today reveals a 30% increase in the number of patients attending the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Donegal. 101 patients attended in 2021 compared to 70 the previous year. Donegal County Council is being asked to carry out inspections on all drain gullies in Letter Kenney and to ensure they're flushed and cleaned out as quickly as possible. The call will be made at a meeting of Letter Kenney Milford-Misseld District by Mayor Councillor Donald Mante Kelly. He says recent flooding in Glen Swilly has shown what can happen if gullies and drained aren't continually monitored and cleaned. He says work on a new pipe there should be complete either by this evening or tomorrow. But in the meantime, he says a comprehensive study is needed now to ensure that what happened in Glen Swilly doesn't happen elsewhere. I've got phone calls from numerous housing states within the town. And even the diarchs around about the flooded there recently as well. Due to gullies, they've been blocked. And if you take a look around there in some areas of the town, there's actually gullies with grass grown. I'm asking that these gullies be inspected and all be cleaned, especially now We have a lot of rainfall there this last couple of weeks. Hope for a good response on this and a little bit of inspection will be carried out. The Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, says it's vital that people conserve electricity after Russian missile strikes took out around a third of the nation's power stations. Rolling blackouts have been introduced across much of the country, with one official claiming 1.5 million people are without energy at any given point. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Subcommittee on Ukraine is meeting this afternoon to try to find solutions to the refugee crisis. The government has run out of accommodation. 43 Ukrainian refugees were refused housing by the state on Friday and Saturday. The European Affairs Minister, Thomas Byrne, says work was ongoing all over the weekend to find more accommodation. Minister Byrne says there's no question of Ireland putting a cap on the numbers coming in. It's not legally possible for us to do that. I think it would be morally wrong as well. And we're going to have to continue to do this while letting people know that it is really, really difficult for us at the moment in terms of the shortage of accommodation. Every single European country is having these difficulties. Most of all, of course, Ukraine itself. So there's no legal limit on the numbers. Residual mist and low fog and cloud clearing during the morning, leaving sunny spells and scattered showers, some of those heavier times, top temperatures this afternoon 12 to 14 degrees Celsius in moderate west to south-west winds. And that's how in radio news, we're back with News in Full at 10 o'clock. Taking time out to visit a healthcare professional isn't always convenient. That's why at Irish Life Health, we visit you. With my clinic, our members get virtual access to back and neck physiotherapy, professional counseling, unlimited GP consultations, and more. Search Irish Life Health at Better Life with Irish Life Health. Services available where covered in your plan are clinically appropriate. Professional counseling available to age 16 plus, back and neck physio to age 18 plus. Irish Life Health Deck is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. It turns a good issue to the bow. Live free in 2023 with Dunlowe GAA Club, winner takes all. Prize includes 500 euro cash paid every week next year. Live free in 23.ie. Pride sponsors of today's show. The county's number one talk show, The Nine to Noon Show on Highland Radio. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The Nine to Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, a very good morning to you. Five minutes past nine on this Monday, the 24th of October. I do hope you're well. I hope you had a good weekend. Let us know what went on. I'll wait 6, 60, 25,000. That's the WhatsApp and text line that's open for you right now. You can also give us a call. Caroline taking your calls today. Donna Marie also on the phones, 07, 4, 9, 1, 25,000. Keep us nice and busy. Let us know what's going on. If you wanna email us, comments at highlandradio.com is how you get in touch. Or you can hop right onto our website right now. Click the watch live button. Watch the program or go onto our social media, YouTube, Highland Radio Island, or across our Facebook pages. And you can watch the show there and most of our guests too, as they join us throughout the course of this program and right through the week. All right, let's get a look at what's making the front pages of the newspapers today. Let's start with the Dairy People Monday edition of the Donegal News, the Dairy People Donegal News. Bohemian's football club has been criticized for its silence in the wake of offensive chanting by some fans at Friday night's game against Finn Harps. Travelling spectators goaded the home fans by shouting, you're going down with your houses, an obvious reference to the Micah crisis. The scene sparked a flurry of condemnation on social media and have been roundly condemned by Micah family. Some politicians and members of the general public and it's a terrible thing to be at. It seems quite typical sometimes of sport, the way people throw abuse at each other. Ironically though, it might be the first time some politicians down the country have thought about Micah for some time. So in some way, maybe it'll bring that issue to the fore of their mind, because we know particularly the Dublin-based politicians, the decision makers haven't been talking about Micah much lately. So maybe it's a wee reminder for them. But Bohemians have remained tight-lipped about behavior, speaking to the Donegal News yesterday. Micah campaigner Patty Diver said it was shocking that the Dublin club had not added its voice to the outpouring of criticism. Bohemians are supposed to be the people's club and they should be condemning this and issuing an apology, he said. So the club expected to maybe make some sort of a common team relation to that. I think there's two elements to it. Of course, there's the club and then there's the fans. I think if I'm not mistaken, the club gave a wreath over to representatives to as a marker respect to the Chrysler tragedy. So that's the other side of it as well. That's what the club did. Their fans, they didn't leave them, leave Finn Parking Glory, did they? Right on to the Dairy News. No access to addiction services for women in Dairy. That's the headline. Women in Dairy who are dealing with addiction have no access to Tier 3 services in the district. They've no alternative but to travel to Omer for specialized treatment. This shocking revelation was made by Dairy City and Sturban District Councillor Emmett Doyle, who is secretary of the campaign for a Dairy detox unit. Tier 3 interventions include the provision of community-based specialized alcohol and or drug assessment and coordinated care plan treatment and alcohol and or drug specialist liaison. And if you want a lot of people who need accessing that service, you don't have them traveling to Omer. You have it available as locally as possible. Let's go on to the Irish Independent now and the government is working on a new scheme to encourage people to hand over empty homes to house Ukrainian refugees in return for financial payments. The state officially ran out of space to house people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine over the weekend. And ministers will meet today to discuss new plans to address the refugee crisis now. I mean, people will have different views on the amount of refugees and asylum seekers that the country is taking in. But right from the get-go from this conversation, there was talk from government themselves. It wasn't anyone else suggesting it that they could be seeing numbers up to 100,000 people, perhaps even 200,000 people. And, you know, that was the time to put a plan in place. If that was what you're going to commit to, you need to put a plan in place, don't you, to be able to accommodate those people in a reasonable way. But at the same time also, the plan must include your ability to continue to ensure that you're meeting the housing needs of the people that are already here. And yet here we are, far short of the 100,000 Ukrainians in Ireland and they're talking about a plan. Where was, what was happening at the start of the year when they predicted themselves these figures? So we're seeing a worsening housing crisis for those already here. And they have not planned as to how they would house Ukrainians. One of the things being planned is perhaps to stop giving free food in hotels to encourage people to move on. Well, 10 more refugees were left without accommodation yesterday, bringing to 43 the total for the number of people fleeing Ukraine who could not be offered emergency beds. One potential solution to the growing crisis is to develop a new payment for people who are willing to hand over properties on a longer term basis to house refugees. Now let's not forget there are those making a fortune out of this, it is their business, it's their living. And they're making hundreds upon hundreds of euro per night in some cases, certainly per week. Yet people who might have a house available or who might feel inclined are still being offered 400 euro seemingly. They're looking to maybe increase that. The scheme would be in addition to the accommodation recognition payment which pays, as I mentioned, homeowner's 400 euro a month to take refugees into their homes. Ukrainian refugees who spent the weekend sleeping in Dublin Airport have said they should not have traveled here if they had known or they would not have traveled here if they had known there was no accommodation for them. And one of them might have heard an interview suggesting that rather than fill out the form to say they're gonna stay here, they're actually going to maybe leave and seek accommodation in some other European country. The soap opera that is British politics at the moment continues. Richie Sunak is now poised, this is the Irish Times. Richie Sunak is now poised to become the British Prime Minister later today following Johnson's sensational withdrawal from the Conservative Party. It's not a phrase you often associate with Boris Johnson, but there you go. In a statement released just before 9 p.m., the former Prime Minister said it would not have been the right thing to do to continue his leadership campaign as it would not help to heal the divisions within the party. I've sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a United Party in Parliament, he said. So he's kind of blaming other people. The reality is, is he didn't have the support. If you're Boris Johnson and you need 100 people to back you and the deadline is Monday afternoon and you have that 100 people to back you, you send them out to every British news organisation over Sunday saying that he's the man to do the job. He's the man that can turn things around, blah, blah, blah, blah, it didn't happen. He clearly didn't have the 100 people and he's a waffler, but he's clever. I'll give him that much because now he's given himself a mandate to be critical of whomever comes into the leadership of his party and ergo the country. Mr. Johnson said he had reached out to Mr. Sunak and to the other contestant, Penny Mordent, over the weekend, but with that success we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this. Therefore I'm afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds. And presumably he wrote that as he went back to the airport to fly back to the Caribbean where he had been holed up. And no one questioned either, which is crazy. Like he's an elected politician, still is an elected politician with the House of Parliament sitting, right? And he's on a long Caribbean holiday. I mean, is that not even remotely an indication of someone who's not really committed to the job? And also too, and it's not unique to Britain and you see it elsewhere. If you look at the updates and the tweets from British politicians, it's clear they're far more interested in the survival of themselves and their party than the other people because it's there in black and white and their tweets and whatever other social media they use. Onto the Irish Daily Mail and politics much closer to home. Finafall is legally vulnerable to a lawsuit by Mark McSharrio for its inept handling of a complaint against the rebel TD ministers have warned. At a thinly attended Finafall card fall dinner on Saturday night, T. Shock me or want and claimed the attendance was the biggest for a decade and also stressed that in the last election Finafall received the biggest vote ever for an Irish political party. However, the event was dominated by the political ghost of Mark McSharrio. Sources in the party have detected a major swing against the leader internally in the wake of the shambolic handling of Mr. McSharrio's postponed re-admittance to the parliamentary party. One source said, people are wondering if Mee Hall would treat them this way. Were they in trouble? At least five people have turned against Mee Hall because of this. They warned that the chief whip Jack Chambers who announced the suspension of the McSharrio return is especially unhappy noting Jack is furious. He's been dropped in a quagmire. We are very legally vulnerable over the handling of this and so on and so forth. Right, okay, on to the Irish Daily Star now and let's talk about the former head of the HSE. Paul Reed claimed hundreds of Euro worth of fuel and travel expenses. I mean, he was traveling around a lot, wasn't he? I mean, you wouldn't want that coming out of his own pocket, would you? Oh, sorry, I didn't read the rest of the headline. He claimed hundreds of Euro worth of fuel and expenses as he also availed of the services of army drivers in a sponsored BMW during lockdown. Mr. Reed also had the use of a company car and other BMW during the period he was submitting the motoring and travel expenses. The senior civil servant also had use of his company car during the early months of 2020 during the first full COVID lockdown which was imposed from March 27 until the last week of June. During this time, all non-essential journeys were banned and you could only travel within two kilometers of your home. Well, that's not strictly true, but anyway. Then it increased to five kilometers from the fifth of, you could only travel that distance within your home to go to exercise. I can't believe they're still getting this wrong, but anyway, you could travel as far as you like if the reason was justified, but you could not travel beyond two kilometers to exercise. There was no restrictions on going to shops 10 kilometers away or whatever, now some guards would turn you around if there was shop closer to you, but anyway, it's just constantly misrepresented, that not that it matters at this stage, but anyway, the stars revealed documents, received documents purporting to show Mr. Reed's alleged expenses claims for these months of severe lockdown when ordinary members of the public were subjected to travel restrictions for non-essential reasons. The recently resigned head of the HSE was on a salary of over 420 grand a year when he submitted expenses for his fuel card and separately for staff travel. The documents reveal that Mr. Reed submitted invoices for expenses on his fuel card for the following amounts, 131 at the end of March, 60 quid at the end of April, 67 at the end of June, and 175 at the end of July. All right, okay, let's go to the Irish Sun. Now, can shopping around, can being more selective in your shopping bag make a difference when you're out shopping? Irish households were told could save 1,195 euro a year by swapping from branded products to supermarket's own labeled goods. Thrifty shoppers in any grocery chain could save nearly 100 euro a month, new Aldi research found. It would help lessen the sting of grocery inflation, which hit 11% last month, the highest level in over a decade. Aldi's Andrew Barling said shoppers have been changing the behavior across the board at the cost of living crisis as it hits many hard. So what changes have you made? Like when we talk about own brand savings, what are we talking about here? Is it different types of beans and sauces and stuff? Have you experienced that? If any real world examples of how you're saving money, let us know, share the love, 08, 6, 60, 25,000. If I find any way to save money, I try and pass it on to help me with that, 08, 6, 60, 25,000. And lastly, the Irish Daily Mirror tells us that, and we're gonna be covering this, of course, throughout the day here on Highland Radio, survivors of sexual abuse are waiting up to a year for appointments because support groups are overwhelmed with the right numbers seeking help. Well, you know what, that's half of it. They're underwhelmed by funding. That's also a problem. They can't offer the help because they're not being funded correctly. Yes, of course, any increase is gonna put pressures on services, but the bottom line is, is these organizations aren't properly funded. But anyway, they say that this is one of the key findings in a new report by the Rape Crisis Network. Stats for 2021 show 11,414 people contacted the organization's helpline, 1,341, received counseling and support. That's about 10%, isn't it? The study also shows that last year, 14,280 appointments were made by survivors of abuse, while 183 victims were accompanied to the sexual assault unit court and guard appointments. Okay, that's a run through. What's making the front pages of the newspapers today? If you've anything to comment on those issues or to raise your own or to pass on any information or anything you think we should be talking about, get that phone line hopping, 086 60 25,000. What's absent texts to that number? 086 60 25,000 or give us a call on 07491 25,000. 07491 25,000. We'll be back with much more on the program as you know after these. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra, Mountaintop, Letter Kenny. Live Free in 23 with Danlo G.A. Club, 500 Euro cash paid weekly, a luxury holiday, hotel stays and more. Winner takes all. Live Free in 23.ie. Proud sponsors of today's show. Keep out the cold, cold, cold this winter and ring Fleming for their full range of garage doors, agri doors, insulated doors, milking parlor doors. Fleming, 91, 48, 234. Get a free pair of 1,000 mile socks with every pair of men's and women's running shoes at Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure. Run the roads, the beach, or the track and comfort and style with the latest arrivals from top brands including Assex, Brooks and New Balance. Whether you're looking for extra cushioning, more lightweight shoes or trail shoes, you'll find the perfect pair of runners at MichaelMurphySports.ie. Green Shoes and Letter Kenny and Falkara have shoes for every occasion. All your favorite brands from Oona Healy, Tommy Bow and Echo to Kate Appleby, Marcosi and Skechers plus many more. Shop LK and one for all gift cards are gratefully accepted in store. Green Shoes in Letter Kenny at Market Square and Letter Kenny Shopping Center, Falkara and online at greenshoes.com. Green Shoes with the perfect fit for every foot. Order. There's a lot to be said for it. Not the restrictive always play by the book straight down the line kind of order, but the order you place for a brand new 231 Audi. An order best placed having experienced true progress with a test drive at your Audi dealer, where you'll also get advice on finance options available to ensure owning your 231 Audi is as straightforward as possible, which is proper order. Visit your nearest Audi dealer, where future is an attitude. Your specialty is quality tiles, bathroom suites and wooden floors. Who is the best range of tiles in Donegal? Grover Tays. The best wood flooring? Grover Tays. The best bathroom suites? Grover Tays. Five day bathroom refits? Grover Tays. And who's been tampering with my questions? That'd be me. Grover Tiles, Castle Finn. That'd be them. 07491-43942. Every business starts with a question, can I do it? And an answer, yes, I can. At Vodafone Business, we're a tech partner to each of our small business customers. And as the main sponsor of the Irish Rugby team, we want your business to be seen on the big day with a chance to win free pitch side advertising when Ireland take on Australia. To enter, visit Vodafone.ie forward slash business. Vodafone Business. Together we can. Terms and conditions apply. OK, joined on the program now. We're joined on the program now by Councillor Keir and Brogan. Good morning, Keir, and how are you keeping? Good, yeah, good morning. It's good to have you with us. OK, now you are raising an issue with the council. The question is a simple one, that this council meets with Folch Ireland to discuss the future provision of tourism facilities and opportunities in letter Kenny. What is the background to that? It seems kind of obvious, does it maybe feel that even letter Kenny is the biggest town in the counties somewhat forgotten in terms of being a destination for tourists? Is it as simple as that? Well, I think since COVID, the Folch Ireland office in letter Kenny, the opening hours have been very limited. It has been closed for a long time and it's now closed again. I think that now, I suppose, presents an opportunity for us as a council to engage directly with Folch Ireland. We have been allocated a lot of funding for the urban regeneration in letter Kenny and part of that submission at the time was the tourism facility in the old courthouse in letter Kenny, and I think there's an opportunity for us to engage directly with Folch Ireland to maybe identify what their impensions are going forward to have a tourism office in the heart of the town and the centre of the town, and there possibly are opportunities for the council to engage directly about what the future years should be of the Folch Ireland office in letter Kenny because the council has some plans going forward with the energy development. And I think if we sit around the table with good intentions that this could be a one-on-one situation. Where is the tourist office currently? Sorry. It's just off the post. I'll start around a bit. Yeah, so, I mean, in terms of people coming into town, it's different people living in and around the town or traveling through if a decent idea of the geography. To all intents and purposes, people will go to the heart of the town and we'll think there isn't one really, won't they? And they probably won't make their way out that far. No, well, I think that I suppose the needs of many, many offices, including tourist offices, changed over the last number of years with online. And, you know, back in the day when one would be calling in for brochures and maps and different information, that's now not the case. There's so much information available online. But I think it could be a real good added addition to the town centre in Larrakenny, being part of a sort of a tourism destination. I think all of us still like to go in and chat. You can't, I mean, I know that the internet's there and all that type of stuff and it's useful, but you can't be sometimes going in and chatting to someone and being, you know, verbally signposted. And people of a certain generation too, probably want to get the, you know, the documentation into their hands. I think there's still a certainly a good argument for a physical tourist office in a good location. The argument you're making effectively. I think there's an opportunity here to have additional services with the tourist office in Larrakenny. And that could be information that one could maybe, you know, see information about the Lakes of Sleeve League with Ars Forest Park, with Fannet Head, Glen Bay, and a sort of a information available that people can go online and see exactly what's available to them before they will get there. And, you know, there's a lot of investment going on in Donegal at the moment with Doneree and Mallon Head and so many other parts. So if people were staying around Larrakenny, which is in the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way, then they could explore all the information and the destinations to go. And I think this is an ideal location for that. And I think we need to work in hand-in-hand with Files Ireland. So what I'm looking for is direct engagement around the table. We need to all demonstrate that we're serious about it. And I think this presents a good opportunity. And I think the old courthouse is a landmark building. And I think there's opportunity there even during the summer months then that restrictions and stuff could be placed outside the shores to have as mad to the atmosphere around the town. And as you say, people could feel them, they could walk in and ask the questions. So hopefully this is an opportunity to turn into something positive at the moment. I think it's not good for anyone. Yeah, and just in general, do you think more needs to be done to have Larrakenny as a tourism destination? Obviously, you know, a lot of people come to Larrakenny. It's a very busy town. A lot of people base themselves in Larrakenny and travel to the places you mentioned, Sleeve League, you know, Winni-Shone, wherever they might choose to go. Like, does Larrakenny do well out of tourism or do you feel more needs to be done to boost those numbers? Well, I think in fairness, we have probably the most hotel beds in the Northwest. And Larrakenny is shown that a lot of people would base themselves in Larrakenny while doing the Wild Atlantic way and while going to many places throughout the Northwest. And I think there's an opportunity for us to improve the offer in the evening and time after their dinner when they walk up and down the street that there's somewhere to go and there's information available to them. And that could involve the music sessions and it could involve finding out more about Watson Glen Bay, Watson Errigan Mountain, you know, Watson and West and evolve with Carly Distillery. And there's a lot of good things happening in the county, but I think we need to try and improve how we manage the message and get as much information out there. I think the accommodation base that's there at the minute is very strong and it's very good and it's positive and it's one of the best that we have in the whole of the Northwest. So I think this would be an added addition working with the people at the stakeholders to improve that. And I think we have a good story to tell here. And I think we need to be trying to improve that offer in the evening time that people have somewhere to go. Yeah, and I mean, you know, like you only have to look at some of the stats come out of Arland West Airport as it relates to the direction of travel when people tourists come in, whether you go south or north, just generally, you know, I think we, I'm not being parochial here or maybe I am, but I think Donegal has more to offer than anywhere on the West Coast in terms of variety now and all that type of stuff. But still sometimes it feels that I don't think we get enough focus on driving people from the agencies, you know, driving people up here and selling the product that we actually have, you know, I mean, people are still gonna be frustrated that maybe traffic only goes as far as, you know, Bondourin at times or Donegal town. I mean, there's so much right across this beautiful county that if it was, if I think we got a little extra push in the marketing, we'd be on the pigs back even more so in the summer. Well, I think of one thing that COVID did learn is that an awful lot of people from the South and Southeast of the country came up here for the first time when they weren't gonna weigh in holidays and they've experienced the beaches, they've experienced what we have here to offer. And I think there's an opportunity now for us to take that a step further. But in the world we live on now, what technology and apps and everything else, I think having everything available in somewhere like the old courtage and that are kind of where people could go in visually and see what's happening at LNV and visually what's happening at LNV and visually what's happening in so many other facilities around the county that they themselves then could decide what strip they're gonna take it any given day. And I think there's a lot of positives for us here if we all come together. And I think, you know, working together is the only option that we have. And I think the council has stepped into this area over the last number of years with a huge amount of investment in the market and stuff. So we have the product there. A lot of good projects have been funded. So hopefully we can try and take this a step further and that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve here. Yeah, and there's no doubt Donagall kind of council have really stopped it up to the plate in terms of, you know, trying to control the narrative and get the Donagall message out there. There's in fairness. Also, up for discussion, you have a question down as it relates to an update on the Four Lanes project in letter Kenny. It's not exactly still a hype of activity there. You know, I don't know what's going on. What questions do you now believe need answered as it relates to firstly, the progress of this project and I suppose cost and finish dates? Hi, well, I think I'm only asking the questions that's been asked of me in a daily basis. I mean, a lot of people are frustrated with the delays in the time frame here involved in this project. And they're, I suppose on a daily basis they're having the same questions that you're having, Greg. You're out in the road every day. And then people are very concerned that there seems to be a lack of manpower on this project and have been for some time and has it been delayed for any particular reason? And I think we're dealing here with public money. We need to know exactly what's the total cost involved. What's causing the delays and what's the time frame? I mean, the last time that we had a discussion that was muted, it was going to be March next year before this project was completed. And that people are right to be asking the questions. And of course, we know coming into Christmas time now it's a very busy time for businesses. And people are very concerned about the cost. And some people have indicated that this could finally end up at around 10 million. I'm not sure. It's something that I've always been very concerned about at the start. But I think how this project has been managed definitely has caused a lot of concern locally and a lot of questions. And I think we're obliged to ask the questions. And I think that the people managing this project must come and tell us exactly what's happened. Yeah, because you talk about the public cost and you're correct, the overall cost, but a different cost, which is, sorry, excuse me, which is hard to put a figure on is the cost of business. The cost of businesses on the four lanes, the cost of businesses in Leicester County, you know yourself and that people will say, oh, it's a nightmare in Leicester County at the moment, I'll go somewhere else. So it's not just the, thankfully people still in big numbers are going into the town, but it's not just the actual cost that we know of. It's that cost that's hard to determine, the impact on Leicester County through the summer, into autumn, and as you say, coming up until Christmas. I mean, I think we're entitled to know what the holdup is here. I mean, do you have any idea what the holdup is? Like what is going on that you have the biggest road project in Donegal with a dozen people working on it most times? Like I asked these questions, if your colleague, Donald Manda Kelly, before why did the council allow work to carry on during the day? What was the purpose of that and what was achieved by that? You know, this is why we're asking all the questions and for elected members, we've been only getting sort of information on a drip feed basis. We haven't been getting the information that we should have been getting and it changed every so often. And we're due to get another briefing again, but the information to elected members has been sort of on a drip feed basis. And I think we're only asking the questions the public's asking of us. And I think this project has definitely eroded a lot of the confidence in Donegal County Council and in T.A.I. how it's been managed because the one question that everybody's asking and I've been asking for a long number of months is how come there's not too many work on this road? Mm-hmm. And there's been no satisfactory answer to point. I think there was a press release that stated that the road was 80% completed. I mean, that's almost insulting to the people, I think, to suggest that. Yeah, well, we'll just have to wait the outcome of what they're going to tell us and they answer to questions later on today and the further meetings that we hope to have. But as I say, this hasn't done good for the public components that people may have in the road service. Yeah, and that's at a meeting later today, isn't it? We'll all find out what the outcome of that is. Right, okay. Thank you very much for your time this morning, Kieran. I appreciate it. Oh, sorry, I just wanted to... That's the reason I'm suffering. You mentioned that this eventually could cost 10 million. Was this not a fixed price contract, no? Oh, that's the questions that we're asking and that was only brought to my attention late last week that somebody said that it could cost 10 million before it was finished. So that's why I'm putting down the question and I want to know exactly what the figures are. And I think the public deserve to know exactly what they are as well. Yeah, that's it. And if they are more than the original figure, then we need to know why. For sure, because I mean, is it because of... I mean, I didn't realize road projects prices could increase because say, for instance, an increase in materials may be costs are going up because so few people are working on it for such a long time. I think those are the questions that people will really want to know and I'm sure you're gonna ask them all. So thanks for your time and we're definitely gonna get an update on that certainly tomorrow if that's okay. However we've managed to do that. All right, thank you very much indeed. Kieran Brogan, he is talking on those two issues there as it relates to the provision of a tourism facilities in the heart of the town but also to that four lanes road project. A listener says, there's a load of information at the County Museum. They have a stand with brochures on it. I've often got fantastic information there. Yes, indeed. Okay, thank you very much for that information. It takes all. Live free in 23.ie, pride sponsors of today's show. Have you bought your NCBI radio bingo book yet? Contribute to this fantastic charity and be in with a chance to win. Daily cash prizes of 400 euro. Books are now available from your local retailer. Greener choices are the key to a sustainable future. That's why Energia offer a reduced night rate for charging electric vehicles and free home charging points for new EV owners. All of it powered by 100% green electricity because the choices we all make today will change how we live tomorrow. EAB 1588 euro, 13.75 cent night rate. Free charger, TZNCs apply. See Energia.ie. If you're a business owner wondering what to get your staff, Christmas, Kelly Centra and Edward Kenny have great hampers to suit all budgets. Luxury hampers are a specialty with delivery available. Also vouchers for Kelly's award-winning diner or Circle K fuel at the forecourt. Get Christmas sorted for your staff now at Kelly Centra Mountaintop Letter Kenny, call 911-220-26. Hello, Hill 16 insurance. How can I help you? Oop the doobz. Ah, hi. I am looking for a home insurance quote. Roy, no, I'm one part of Dublin D11. I don't actually live in Dublin. Roy, they lease apart the doobz. What? I'm just looking for home insurance. Well, you're gonna have to keep looking, pal, Hill 16 is Dublin only. Do you get the feeling that your insurer doesn't want you? Well, at local insurance, we are Irish owned and understand your needs. Call us today for a bespoke quote on 0818-894-444. Local insurance, we'll get you sorted. The Local Insurance Network, DAC Trading's local insurance is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Local insurance is a tide insurance intermediary of Acorn Brokerage Limited. Acorn Brokerage Limited, Trading's Acorn Insurance is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. What if someone in the house has medical equipment that uses electricity? What if my mum has mobility problems and needs to charge her electric walker? Everyone's concerned about rising energy bills, some more than others. But there could be circumstances that classify you as a vulnerable customer. Just check with your supplier and be sure to register. Talk to your supplier or find out more at cru.ie. Here to shed light on your energy rights. Brought to you by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. A caller says that the council have made a sham of the mica scheme and there should be a separate department set up to deal with it. Not only are they not dealing with it properly, but they are facilitating the companies responsible for the scandal. Ministers involved should be hanging their heads in shame and respectively resigning over this. What is happening to the day-centering car and donna or are we getting the same old story? They looked into it. It's been closed since the COVID. To say it is a joke is an understatement. Older people that worked hard all their lives know where to go. They're talking about a turf cutting ban. What about the raw sewage in Donegal? It is a disgrace. Thank you. Touching on a couple of issues there, but I take your point. A caller says also a family member was admitted to the hospital mid-last week by ambulance. They have a history of strokes in the past. Last Friday they were told they needed an MRI to know if they'd had a stroke or not. They're still waiting on that MRI. Nurses are pushing for it every day. One week of laying in a bed to get an MRI and once the MRI is done, the patient will get home. One week waiting also means one week of occupying a bed which could be given to one of the many patients in the ED waiting. This patient is now physically fine but is being kept in for an MRI. How does this make sense? Well, it doesn't. And access to diagnostics and also step-down care, community beds, all of the major factors that are problems, not just at letter-canning university hospital, by the way, but in hospitals right across the country. I don't have all the answers, but sure, we'll keep plugging away for them for you. Greg, on the holiday home, owner is getting the 600 euro electricity credit. One way to solve that is to give away, is to put a line on the revenue returns as to whether or not you own a holiday home. And if you do, you must add 600 to the total taxes owed to revenue. That's one person's suggestion there. Can someone explain to me how or why a ramp has been placed on the road entrance to letter-canning from Rock Hill? Where else would you see the likes of this on a main road? I'm not familiar with that ramp or that route. Is that something you've noticed? Are you happy with it? Oh, I'm happy. It's a ramp that's been placed on the road entrance to letter-canning from Rock Hill. Where else would you see it asks that caller? Another caller says, Hi, Greg, can you please help us with our street lights? We're in a rural area. Our light has been out for over a year. We've been on to our counselors. We're in Monfad, Newton, Cunningham, pole number 60 if you can help. Thank you so much. Well, we'll chase that up. We'll chase that up for you. I don't know what's going on. I was told that those lights can be fixed really quite quickly, but obviously not the case. We've had a couple of calls along those lines. Right, now, Paul Gallagher is an interior designer and architect at the University of East London and Paul's winning entry into a competition we're gonna tell you about. Well, it's a significant one. It's a $100,000 prize to design and build a wheelchair accessible treehouse. Paul, John, just now, good morning to you. Thanks for your time today. Hi, good morning, Greg. Can you hear me okay? I can hear you loud and clear. It's a fascinating story, this one. So what is the competition and who's running it? So it's run by Airbnb. I think everyone knows Airbnb for the short stays and that's around the country. But yeah, they run this competition to design the courteous kind of places to stay around the world. So I'm an architect. I teach at the University of East London. So I'm based in London, but I'm back in Donegal quite frequently. But yeah, we won't, I think it's a crazy idea. So we designed a treehouse that was accessible for disabled people, which is kind of usually these experiences are very much for able-bodied people. So the idea was that, yeah, anyone can use it and it's kind of very inclusive. I like the idea of it because, you know, and I think it's particularly with young people, the idea of a young person, you know, seeing their peers able to go up and it must, it would be very demoralizing. It would be very sad. Now, of course, all treehouses can't be made wheelchair accessible, but I think it's a nice touch to sort of look at this. Why did you decide to go down this road? Because, well, I've got relatives in wheelchairs and I've also been on these kind of vacations or stays, short-term stays with people who needed special assistance. And it did feel very much like they were second-class citizens and everything felt very clinical, very kind of white and hospital-y looking. So I like the idea that inclusive design is invisible, that you don't actually have to get all this special stuff to kind of fall down and pull out and that everyone just, it's brilliant. And oh, by the way, yes, it is wheelchair accessible, but no one really has to talk about it. Yeah. Just to give it, yeah, okay, I like it. So now the fun starts, right? $100,000 seems like an awful lot of money, but I don't know, do you have to go through planning? I presume it's going to be permanent structure. You have to source the materials, get the work people on site, you know what I mean? Like $100,000 seems like a lot of money, but... Yeah, yeah, you're right. And now the fun starts. And then we're great at doing these lovely visuals as architects, like these dreamy scenarios, like, oh, this is lovely. And then you win and you're like, oh, God, now we have to figure out how to build this thing. But I'm lucky, that's pretty handy. Dad's a builder. He's kind of with the Urban District Council back in the day, and that are Kenny and then the clerk who works with the health board. So that's pretty handy with machines and motors and engines and things. So hello to that. Sorrel Gallagher from Bowen McIlder. But yeah, he's helping me along, and we're trying to find a site that's very scenic, but kind of getting the site also kind of eats into the budget, like getting a nice site on the water. And Donegal's woken up to the staycation and the kind of COVID has meant we've appreciated the wild Atlantic way. And also there's brilliant glamping pods all around. Donegal, like Krishna's got some great examples. So we're not the first to do this, but I think it's going to be the first that has this kind of robotic hydraulic aspect to it. But yeah, getting this built will be a lot of fun. And I'm reaching out. I'm thinking if you've got some sort of prefabbed two bedroomed wooden shed and tried to put it on as nice scenic site somewhere in Donegal, you would need to double your budget. So you're really gonna have to work smart here, Paul. Work really smart and work with Donegal County Council. So we've been on to the first phone call that I made actually when I found out I won was straight to the lads and the women at Donegal County Council said... You're Paul's father. Yeah. I've won this competition. I said, I'm not gonna do it behind the council's back. I want to work with the council. Because obviously the net benefit is tourism coming to the country. It's huge it is. And it's gonna be spotlighted on Airbnb and whether people like them or love them, they're a worldwide platform and they'll be pushing this big time. So it's massive for Donegal. It's huge. It's been two Irish winners of this. The other one, I don't know who it is or where it is, but in the US there was over time, I think there's been about 40 winners of this prize fund. It's always a hundred grand. They always give a hundred grand. And I'm kind of half of me thinking, God, if it didn't move, this would have been a lot simpler. But the fact that I've designed this robotic hydraulic thing, the budget's gonna be tight, very tight. But no, it's fun. And I've kind of been looking of where to put it in Donegal now. And actually what's interesting is a lot of Scottish companies have contacted me and said, look, we love your idea, put it in Scotland. I've had two companies in Essex say, look, we'll actually deliver it and give you another hundred grand to put it in Essex. So they can see the benefits of this. But now I'm kind of becoming a very kind of proud Donegal man. I said, no, no, I'm bringing it back to Donegal. And I think it will promote tourism. Like you say, Airbnb will promote this. And are they, the other people that sort of see in the bigger picture of this, are they people that could sort of make this design quite handy and they say, right, well, will you plot it here? Then people can come and see it and then we can sell these sort of things. So they're seeing the commercial benefits as well. Is that, that's why you're seeing companies? Tap exactly. Yeah, they can see the commercial benefits of this and they see it. And that's not how I'm looking at it. I'm looking at it as a way to bring people to Donegal and put Donegal on the map a bit more. Yeah. Of course there will be a commercial benefit. But do you know what I think really what that tells me is when people are prepared to spend their own money, they can see it. So, you know, we need to make sure that say, for instance, from a council or tourism perspective, especially with public money or whatever it might be, you know, if people are prepared to put the money from their own pockets into something like this, that's a strong indication that it'd be well in the interests of public bodies to support this. Definitely, definitely. I mean, I'm calling you from Spain now. I was flown over to Spain to do a big press thing for this. Brilliant. Sorry I couldn't make it. Yes, sorry, I didn't get the advice. I'm amazed at the outreach of this. Like they've gone really big on press. And they keep asking me where is Donegal, which is great. Already I've got people from all over the world asking me where is Donegal. So it's great. And now I think the trick is finding the perfect site that really sells Donegal in one snapshot. Somewhere on the coast, I think it's got to be on the coast. I'm edging towards the Dullo area. I've got family in Dullo and my auntie Anne and my mum's from Dullo. So I'm edging towards the kind of Rosses because I think it's beautiful down there. And the people are quite welcoming and there's pubs and there's restaurants and there's good food. Because people, and also you've got to think, someone in a wheelchair and a disabled friendly stay, that's one thing, but they've got to be able to use the facilities around the area as well. They've got to, there's no point me doing this perfectly and then nowhere for them to go for a kind of a hike or a walk or a kind of with their friends. So it has to be level thresholds. And I know there's a beach down in Courtney or Narn. That's right, yeah. The first, one of the first in the county and only one in the country with a fully accessible beach with amazing wheelchair. So, and there's a rationale behind, beside putting it next to that. So that you're offering not just my amenity, but a whole beach. So those guys have spoken to me. So there's a lot happening very fast now, but it's really exciting. It's really fun. So as much as you can, I mean, you're an architect and you know, it's a visual thing really I suppose. You could tick the boxes by building a tree house, nice, but plain and having some way of a lift or some other way that a wheelchair could get up into it. But obviously this is far much beyond that. So you talked about mechanical elements to it. Can you give us an idea of your vision or early? Yes, yeah. It opened the best way to describe it is like a Venus flytrap flower, you know, the flower that opens and closes. So the lid of this thing opens like a flower and then the pod kind of rises up within. But you can enter at a level threshold. It's very, what's the best way to describe it? It's like, you know, origami, Japanese, kind of Asian folded paper. The metal structure around it, which is like a rain screen is almost like folded paper. It's very sharp and angular and geometric, catches the light, nice shadows and everything. But I think the magic of this is people don't expect it to do anything and then you press a button and then it's like magic. It opens up and the thing rises up inside. Then it's like a glass, kind of a glass bubble inside that rises up. That raises all sorts of other questions. Like, what about privacy? How do you stop people looking in when you're looking out? Or you want 360 panoramic views, but you don't want other people looking up. So there's still a lot to design here. And to be honest, it's like a big, we enter loads of competitions. We don't win them all. So you do, I do this all the time and then nothing ever comes up. I was just reminded of a video of a sort of people who they decided to, for privacy, tint. You know, the tint that they put on cars on their back windows and doors, but they put it all back to the front. Very complete, nothing they could see outside and everyone could see. So if you're going down that route and I presume you come up with something more scientific, put the tint the right way around. Obviously then this has to have accommodation, Paul, does it with the Airbnb element? So that's part of this as well, yeah? They're pretty strict. They wanted rented out by August in the summer coming. So it's not like, oh, you know, you've watched these grand designs where they go over budget and over time. This is one where they're not accepting that. So my whole meeting in Spain here is about like you've got to deliver this and you've got to have people renting it on the first. Also there's a commercial benefit for Airbnb here. They get a percentage of every stay. So I mean, if this goes really well, they probably get their money back. Yeah, but it's great for Donegal, I think. Yeah, so in terms of anyone listening, like are you looking for suggestions for places in the Rosses? When we talk about a tree case, does it have to be associated with a tree? No, no. No, it's really interesting because I've been googling the hell out of tree houses since I was like looking and the best examples are in Scandinavia, but there's tree protection orders I mean, you can't really touch trees. You can't go near trees and if you build too close, you damage the root ball or the root of the tree. So actually you need to be surrounded by landscape and trees but realistically you won't be actually interacting with trees that much. But yeah, we are looking for sites. We're looking for good ideas and the thing's quite small. It's like, it's the size of it. It's about the size of two double beds stuck side by side, you know? So it's not very big. So we're looking for beautiful sites on the coast and maybe there's someone out there who just wants to offload a corner of the site. But yeah, if anyone actually does have a good site in mind, email info at zaparchitecture.com. So I am info at zap, ZAP, architecture, all one word, zaparchitecture.com. Because yeah, I could drive around the country and find loads of beautiful sites but I don't know if someone wants to sell them or... I guess you indeed, indeed. And just last question or maybe two. It sounds to me like this will be structured that would be for the most part prefabricated and then broad side. Yeah, it will be prefabricated. Yeah, it's metallic, it's glass and it's got all the hydraulic moving parts. So my ideal scenario is it's built in a big factory somewhere and it's just craned into size and it's dropped in. There's also an aspect of that if it goes really well, you could add in another two or three of them. So you have the blueprints and you just keep building more and more of them and drop them all over the country. But yeah, it's exciting. I mean, it's all new to us. We're usually the guys who get called to draw the pictures and then we never hear anything about this ever again. But this is one I will own. So it's very exciting. Yeah, it really is well done. It's a remarkable achievement because this is a global organization and this is a significant prize fund and particularly a Donegal winner and it being located in Donegal with huge tourism potential pictured everywhere. And it's not just the actual stay in it. It's the visuals of the views and everything that people would see and it attracts more people here. It's organic and it's really good. Congratulations, Paul. Thanks for taking the time out this morning. Thanks very much. Bye-bye, take care of yourself. All right, that is Paul Gallagher there. Have you noticed diesel prices are through the roof? Absolutely through the roof. They've gone up 4% that the second highest they've ever been or they've been for quite some time. We're gonna be talking about perhaps potential reasons why after these. Live Free in 2023 with Dunlowe GAA Club. Winner takes all. Prize includes 500 euro cash paid every week next year. Live Free in 23.ie. Pride sponsors of today's show. Hi folks, Paul McDevitt here. Inviting to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday Night Sessions. On the show this week, we welcome Kildkar singer-songwriter Michael Maloney and local singer-songwriter Regina Kelly will also be joining us for a chat and a few songs and comedian Ronan Boyle will also be popping out to tell us all about his hilarious new stage show Orange is a New Green. So that's the Monday Night Sessions this Monday night between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Right here on Highland Radio. Prime McCormick Sports and Leisure Main Street Larry Kenny. Women's clothing from your favorite sports brands. Nike, Under Armour and Adidas. Nike performance, quarter zips, teas and vests with matching Nike Pro shorts and tights. Nike Yoga Range just arrived. Tees, bra tops and tights. Offering new support during your workout. New jackets, hoodies and tights. Join our Christmas Club by opening an account today at Brian McCormick Sports Main Street, Larry Kenny. Sometimes it's just bad luck, but sometimes it's negligence. From minor bumps to life changing injury, every accident has a story. Time to call McElhenny and associates. They'll assess the situation, advise on solutions and lead the way if any litigation is to follow. From motor accidents and workplace accidents to slips, trips and falls, call today on 074-917-5989 or find us online. Let's get you started on the road to recovery. McElhenny and associates, Solicitors, Sturnawler. How can we help? In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement. Bully Buffet is the ideal place for all your Christmas celebrations this year. You can enjoy a festive atmosphere with excellent service and outstanding food at the Villa Rose and Jackson's Hotels. We have a lively array of party nights, events and hotel packages to choose from. Visit us for festive dining with friends in one of our cosy and inviting bars and restaurants. See Jackson's Hotel.ie and VillaRose.ie for full details. Hello, Farmer Tinney here. The Christmas Club is now open at Tinney's Toys Letter Kenny. Loads of top brand toys in stock. Number one in Donegaw for electric ride-on toys, pedal farm toys and go-karts. Buy now and pay later with Klarna. No extra charges. Check us online at tinneystoys.com or call into our Lek Road store letter Kenny. Tinney's Toys, your local toy store. Donegaw. And radio weather updates brought to you by Grant from condensing boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating. Trust Grant to heat your home. Visit grant.eu. Okay, any residual mist and low cloud will clear during the morning, leaving sunny spells and scattered showers, some turning heavy at times, temperatures 12 to 14 degrees, winds moderate, west to southwest. Okay, so as I mentioned before the break, you're seeing now, aren't you? Diesel around about 206, 207 per liter. It's really high. Paddy Common is of A.A. Ireland. He joins us now. Paddy, as much as we can determine what's causing this rise in diesel prices, the price of a barrel of oil. There was a bit of a peak, but I don't think it's going up the way the price of diesel is. Yeah, good morning to you and good morning to the listeners. Look, there are a couple of reasons for it. And I've been asking the people in Avertecom is in the know, but what I'm told is that because a lot of the diesel products that we use came primarily from Russia, lots of countries, especially across the Europe and ourselves have been backing away slowly from Russian oil. And the result is that while Europe, it seems, is pretty much awash with petrol and says there's plenty of supply, there is starting to be a little bit of a difficulty with diesel. And it's not that there's not enough of it. It's just that the suppliers have started, suppliers have become fewer. And in particular, the oil refineries who are making the diesel products are actually making more profits than ever before. There's lots of them capitalizing on the fact that there are fewer people doing it. And the result is that by the time it gets to us, the products has become a lot more expensive. And of course, locally, we pay plenty of tax on it. But that seems to be the reason why we've seen just that increase in the price of diesel, significantly 4%, 20 cents a liter on average. And just by the sound of the price that you mentioned, Donegal in particular, seems to be one of the counties most affected. Yeah, 206, 207, 206.9 to me. That's 207. I saw that this morning. So when we look at trends then, and you look at the price of a barrel of oil, you look at what the old producers are saying in terms of switching the taps off and on, petrol and diesel were always linked. So you could almost track then where they were going dependent on what's happening elsewhere. Are you saying that now maybe petrol prices is more linked to that type of stuff, but diesel has been decoupled? In other words, there is nothing to predict necessarily that we might see diesel come down to 180 a liter again. You're 100% right. I think decoupling is a very good word for it because petrol is a reasonable product for now, thankfully. But diesel was always a slightly different channel if you like. And none of us would have necessarily had to pay attention to that before, but now once we see the pricing change. And I think it's difficult to predict pricing, but this is something that could continue for some time to come, because diesel is one of those products that is a little bit different, and we have been getting it traditionally from Russia oil, and that's something that is going to be ending if not totally ending. Yeah, the problem is that, you know, people maybe were seeing the sale of hybrids, petrol's increasing and maybe people are switching. But I don't know, but taxis, haulage, agriculture, bus air and whatever it might be, a lot of vehicles, very important vehicles run on diesel, and we are going to end up paying more for that presumably. I mean, it is a problem, big problem. It is an issue because, yes, as you accurately said there, it's the diesel is still the fuel that gets the nation around in terms of public services, public transport. We are starting to see changes away from that, especially with private cars, diesel is now in the minority now, we are seeing a big jump for petrol hybrids, and of course diesel or electric cars rather, which are 80% up compared to last year, but for hauliers, for buses, et cetera, any increase in the price of diesel is difficult, and very be the cost, end up being passed on to us one way or the other. Yeah, all right, listen Paddy, no good news there, but thanks for your info, appreciate it. That's Paddy Coman there of AA Ireland. We'll be back with more on the 9th till noon sure after the news and obituary notices with Donald. Live on air online and on the Highland Radio app, this is Highland Radio News. Good morning, it's 10 o'clock, Donald Kavanaugh at the news desk. Rishi Sunak is expected to be confirmed as the new UK Prime Minister later today. Boris Johnson withdrew from the Tory leadership race last night, leaving only Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordant in the race. Sunak will be confirmed as leader if he's the only candidate with 100 Tory supporters by this afternoon's deadline. It's suggested he has well above the requisite 100, while Penny Mordant is well below it. The old courthouse in Letterkenny has the potential to be a major focus for tourism in Donegal, that's according to a local councillor. At present, the Falkshire Ireland office in Letterkenny is just off the post around about and is closed to the public for much of the time. Councillor Ciaran Brogan says the council should meet with Falkshire Ireland to discuss the future provision of tourism facilities and opportunities. He told Greg on the lines of noon show this morning that one option is for Falkshire Ireland to relocate to the old courthouse with the council possibly using its existing office for another purpose. There's an opportunity for us to engage directly with Falkshire Ireland to maybe identify what their intentions are going forward to have a tourism office in the heart of the town, in the centre of the town, and there possibly is opportunities for the council to engage directly about what the future use should be of the Falkshire Ireland office in Letterkenny because the council has some plans going forward with the guarantee of development. And I think if we sit around the table with good intentions that this could be a 1-1 situation. A report to be published today has revealed a 30% increase in the number of patients who attended Donegal's Sexual Assault Treatment Unit last year, 101 patients attending in 2021 compared to 70 in 2020. More details and a breakdown of the figures on our website, highlandvideo.com. Donegal County Council is being asked to carry out inspections on all drain gullies in Letterkenny and to ensure they're all flushed and cleaned out as quickly as possible. The call will be made at a meeting of Letterkenny-Milford-Massable District this week by Mayor-Councillor Donald Mandy Kelly. He says recent flooding in Glen Swilly has shown what can happen if gullies and drained aren't monitored and cleaned. He says work on a new pipe there should be complete either by this evening or tomorrow. But in the meantime, he says a comprehensive study is needed now to ensure that what happened in Glen Swilly doesn't happen elsewhere. I've got phone calls from numerous housing states within the town and even the layout roundabout that was flooded there recently as well. Due to gullies being blocked and, you know, if you take a look around there and some areas of the town, there's actually gullies with grass grown out of them. I'm asking that these gullies be inspected and all be cleaned, especially now from the 1st of March. We have a lot of rainfall there this last couple of weeks, hoping for a good response on this and that the inspection will be carried out. Draft proposals for the Bali-Shanan Town Centre Regeneration Project are going to public consultation. Members of the public can share their views on the proposals with council from tomorrow until the 8th of November. With more detail, here's Daniel Brennan. The Bali-Shanan Town Centre Regeneration Project aims to revitalise several areas of the town. Donegal County Council say that regeneration works would include projects at the market yard and the three bridges loop walk, as well as investments in new car parking facilities public immunity areas, new artisan enterprise units, as well as new public conveniences, tourists and public transport facilities. You can view the plans online at the County Council's website or at a public information event from 3 o'clock until 8 this Tuesday evening at Zidane's Hall in Bali-Shanan. The public consultation begins tomorrow and is set to run until the 8th of November. And the government has been criticised for promising a referendum on women's place in the home without meaningful steps to improve gender equality. Tishok Mihol Martin confirmed this month a vote will take place to remove references to mothers in the constitution, but told the iraq this committee on gender equality he couldn't commit to a timeline because of the complexity of the issue. However, whatever happens, newspaper columnist Brenda Power says, in reality, nothing will change. Because, of course, the truth was and remains the fact that the person who does the majority of what is now called emotional labour or what was then called just running a home and being a housewife is still a woman. And my point of view is that if you erase the word, take out the word woman, that you are not changing one thing about the reality. You're simply tweaking cosmetically the constitution to make it more acceptable, but you are not changing the fact. Well, the forecast on Metairyn tell us that any residual mist or cloud will clear during the morning. That'll leave sunny spells and some scattered showers, number of those turning heavy at times in top temperatures of 12 to 14 degrees Celsius, moderate west to south-west winds. And that's Highland Radio News. We're back with news headlines again at 11 o'clock. Until then, good morning. The Avic notices for this Monday morning, the 24th of October. The death has taken place of Frank Doherty-Bohn, Mallon and Leeds. His remains were reposed at his home in Carthage Mountain, Colcini, Mallon from two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Removal from there on Wednesday morning to St Patrick's Church, a hot clay for 11 o'clock mass followed by burial in St Mary's lag. Family time, please, after the rosary and on the morning of the funeral. The death has taken place of Tony Myris-Stewart, 21, Breck and Lee Letter-Kennie, formerly of 40, Balicoman Estate, Straban, reposing at Quigley's Funeral Home, Straban tomorrow morning from half past nine with removal at 10 o'clock to St Mary's Church, Melmont, for requiem mass at half past 10, cremation afterwards in Lakeland's crematorium. Donations in Louis-Flare's Please to renew Charity Shop Letter-Kennie, care of Quigley Funeral Directors. The requiem mass can be viewed live on melmontparish.com. The death has occurred of Vera Gallon, Navany Street, Balibah Faye, remains reposing at her brother, Lawrence Blees, home at Navany Street from 12 noon today. Funeral from there on Wednesday morning at half past 10 for requiem mass in the Church of Mary Immaculate, St. Honor at 11 o'clock, followed by interment in St Mary's Churchyard, Seshia O'Neill. Requiem mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. The house is strictly private to family only, please. The death has taken place of Katie McLaughlin, Nay Neelus, 15, New Street, Clady. Her remains will repose at her home from six o'clock this evening. Funeral from there on Wednesday morning at quarter past 10 for requiem mass in St. Columbus Church, Dunny Loop at 11 o'clock, interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Requiem mass can be viewed live via the Dunny Loop Chapel YouTube channel. The death has taken place of Davy Canning, 37, Dublin Street, Newton Stewart. His remains are reposing at his home. Funeral from there tomorrow morning at quarter past 10 for requiem mass in St. Eugene's Church, Lenox at 11 o'clock, interment afterwards in Lenox Cemetery. The death has occurred of Phyllis Sweeney, Lakena Burton-Port. Her remains are reposing at her late residence, viewing from 11 o'clock this morning with Rosary at nine o'clock tonight. Funeral mass tomorrow morning at 11 in St. Columbus Church, Acres, with interment afterwards in Belkrich Cemetery. The death has occurred of Martin McLaughlin, Dodley, Gort Fawn, removal from his late residence this afternoon at quarter past one to St. Murris Church, Fawn, for two o'clock requiem mass followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery. Requiem mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu to ICU at the Government Hospital, care of any family member or Murphy funeral directors. The death has taken place of Tony Kelly, Dromahal, Manor Cunningham. Funeral from his daughter Donna and Kevin Higgins residence in Dromahal this morning at half past 10, going to St. Columbus Church, Dromahal, for 11 o'clock requiem mass followed by interment in the adjoining graveyard. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu of flowers if desired to the Donegal Hospice or Medical Ward 5 Letter Kelly University Hospital, care of any family member. The death has taken place of Tessie McGever Neymikavarty, Glassochew, Guidor. Funeral mass in Chockpubble Column Kiln, Nakhvala this morning at 11 with interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. The funeral mass can be viewed live on Kiran Rorty Funeral Directors Facebook page. The death has taken place of Susan Donahey, Ney Carton, 40, Trater Road, Park County, Derry. Funeral from her late residence this morning, leaving at 20 past 10 for 11 o'clock requiem mass in St. Mary's Church, Altenure, with interment afterwards in the adjoining graveyard. Family flowers only please. Donations if desired to Foil Hospice, care of McLaughlin Funeral Directors, Donegiven. And the death has taken place of Willie James Horrigan, White Castle, Quigley's Point. Funeral mass will take place this morning at 11 o'clock in St. Columbus, Church Drung, followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard. The funeral mass can be viewed live on St. Columbus Drung.net. Family flowers only please. Donations if desired to the RNLI, care of any family member. The death has taken place of Mary B. McCauley, Cabri, Quigley's Point. Removal this afternoon from Eternal Light Chapel of Rest, Mountaintop Letter Kenny at three o'clock going to St. Columbus Church Drung, Quigley's Point to repose overnight. Mary B's funeral mass will take place tomorrow at half past 11, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. Funeral mass can be viewed live on St. Columbus Drung.net. And the death has occurred of Philomena NickLaughlin, St. Dimpna's Gorthen-Nacool-Carnedona. Philomena's remains will repose at her late residence from 12 noon to 9 p.m. tomorrow. House Private, please, at the request of the deceased family and friends, welcome. Philomena's funeral mass will take place on Wednesday at two o'clock in St. Patrick's Church, Ahead Clay Mallon, with interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. For more details, including any health requirements from families, please go to HighlandRadio.com. If something's free, why would you turn it down? I mean, a free haircut from a five-year-old. Oh, no. Or a free sample of onion paste. Well, then, how about a free tour of your neighbor's new shed? Oh, that sounds well... OK, look, they were bad examples. But how about a free eye test and free glasses from the 69-year-old range of spec savers with your PRSI? Well, that sounds like something to smile about. Book an appointment or find out more at specsavers.ie. Are you tired of waiting for treatment or surgery? Did you know you can receive immediate treatment across the border under the new N.I. Planned Health Care Scheme at potentially no cost? Donegal patients are still being treated with us at Kingsbridge Private Hospital Northwest Post-Brexit. The process is easy, and our dedicated team will help guide you through it. So why wait? Contact us today to find out how you can skip the waiting lists and receive treatment in Northern Ireland. Visit kingsbridgeprivatehospital.com because life matters. Attention, all pet lovers and owners! Gary's Pet World Letter Kenny is open seven days per week, offering the very best value on all pet foods, accessories, grooming and care products. Call in and let our staff help you spoil your pet today. You will be amazed by the range of product for all pets with exceptional value on all leading brands. Alternatively, you can browse and buy online at petworld.ie and we will deliver to your home. Hi, it's Brian Cunningham here from Brian Cunningham Management and we in association with Highland Radio are bringing our thanks given by Candlelight Nationwide Tour to the Mount Eiracle Hotel in the Letter Kenny. Featuring Dana, Chloe Agnew, Brian McGrane, Louise Marisy, John McNichol and Simon Casey. On Tuesday, the 22nd of November, tickets can be purchased from the Hotel Reception on 0749122700 or from the box office on 0539127758. The limited number of tickets available for our thanks given by Candlelight Nationwide Tour in association with Highland Radio. Live Free in 2023 with the Low GAA Club, 500 Euro Cash Weekly, a holiday to Dubai, All-Island Final Tickets and more. Winner takes all. Live Free in 23.ie. Brian's sponsors of today's show. And you're very welcome back to the programme and I just to remind you that the HSE Support Service will continue in Creaselut in the rooms behind Brennan's Pharmacy from Monday the 24th to Friday the 28th of October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And you can walk in or contact the support line on 087147 5138 for a chat or an appointment. The HSE Support Line is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Now, appointment can also be arranged for people who want to attend in Latter-Canney. So for anyone who wishes to avail of these services outside of the Creaselut area, and some understandably might, the HSE can facilitate you in another area where you can call the support line there again 0871405138. Now, everyone who was affected by the incident or impacted by it in any way is asked to avail of these services or invited to. And you can also contact your own GP wherever you are or GP's practice, they'll be able to assist you in accessing those services where you require them. Right, I just need to let you know that there is a very bad oil spill that's been described on the termant Creaselut Road. So if you're traveling that route, termant Creaselut, a bad oil spill on that stretch. We were talking about diesel prices there. I spotted 206.9 earlier. Caller says it's 209 in Dunlowe. Whilst another says diesel is 189.9 at the Gold Service Station in Blackline in West Cavern. I filled up at that petrol station yesterday. That's coming in from Sean in St. Johnston. Thanks, Sean. Again, as I said last week, and this is not in any way to pardon or excuse, it really depends on how much diesel these places sell and when they got their last order in or not. I think everywhere, diesel is going to be over 2 cent per litre, just depending on when they get their new stocks. A caller says, I have said for years that the tourist office could not have been put in a worse location. And last year, when the council asked for ideas about the traffic at the Polestar roundabout, I made my views known online. Why is it taken until now for a councillor to mention it? Another big loss to letter Kenny is there are no bus tours to all the lovely places Councillor Brogan is mentioning. If someone comes to a lovely town, but they depend on public transport or private bus tours, they're in for a massive disappointment. Another caller, hi, a few years ago, when we first got our bus passes, we took our tour around the country. And as we got off buses at most towns, the tourist office was in sight and we just had to cross the road to book our accommodation, was very useful. Yeah, indeed, that's kind of what I was talking about. I know there's an awful lot of online stuff, but you have to imagine you're from outside the area. If I go to, if I was lucky enough to get away to say, I don't know, Alba Farah, and I wanted to book something or find out some information, I would seek out a tourist office because I think in talking to someone, I'd be assured that it wasn't a scam or that it was a legit or that it had a good reputation. I would look for that assurance and I'm sure people coming here look for the same. Another caller says the letter Kenny town is gridlocked at the moment from 8.30 due to a lack of the bypass road that should be up by now instead of wasting time and finances on the port road. Focus on this first, they say. Derry moved its tourist office fairly recently into a more central location. They moved it from the edge of the city centre onto Fall Street to the Old Ulster Bank building on Waterloo Place, right in the city centre, the new tourist office and Derry is a real state of the art affair, a great resource for the entire North West. Letter Kenny badly needs a similar facility, Sen and St. Johnston, lets us know. One way to save money is to sit further away from the table, what's that about? Don't know, okay, maybe it's an old saying. It's called back-hander-ism, all right, okay. It's backhand, you know, the art of backhanding. A registered builder in Donegal and waste of time asking questions. We all know what happened. Don't be asking the councillors. Ask the Donegal council foreman that's looking after the job, what they've done on the road. Any of us local builders could have done what they've done. The local council four people can report back to the councillor and say that, you know, this isn't happening, that isn't happening. The actual relationship is the council four people aren't there and direct what people do. They can oversee, report back to the councillors. The relationship's between a contractor and the council. Hi, Greg, most days you have members of Donegal council on your show, but never an opinion from our female councillors. I'd like to hear their opinions and for name recognition at the next election. We have them, they're invited regularly, okay. Let me just say that first and foremost. Also, 8% of the council is made up of women. So there's a massive underrepresentation there, but people have other things to do as well at the same time and not everyone of them wants to go on the radio. We extend invites all the time. Sometimes they're taking up and others, they are not, but we actively, and there's other things that go on behind the background too to actively try and make sure that all voices are represented. And I'll say proudly, if you don't mind, if you listen around to other radio stations, you might not see the same level of representation. We go out of our way to try and ensure that as many voices that need to be heard are heard. So I'm kind of proud of that, but it is tough. I'm not gonna lie, it is tough because not everyone's available and then there's fewer numbers and so on and so forth. All right, good luck. If you are playing the bingo, we're gonna be speaking to Donegal Legend. I think she's already got that. It's bandied about, but I don't think I'm bandied about. I think Amber Barrett already has the Donegal Legend tag. She has for me anyway. She's also Irish international footballer. We're gonna be getting her reaction to the World Cup draw after we take these messages. But first, what we'll do actually is give you a chance to win big on the bingo. Here are the numbers. It's time for MCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Monday the 24th of October. You're playing on the green sheet. The reference number is S11, it's game number 43. The numbers are 80, 62, 38, 85, 11, 25, 9, 74, 23. And finally, 17. Phone your claim to 9104833 before eight 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 HighlandRidio.com. 23.ie pride sponsors of today's show. For day-to-day healthcare needs, generations have trusted the experienced staff at McGee's Chemist Letter Kenny, from coughs and colds to aches and pains, from vitamin supplements to first-aid essentials. McGee's have what you need when you need it, with a full prescription service available daily. McGee's Chemist Main Street Letter Kenny, for healthcare help and advice you can always trust. 24. Joe Gallagher Entertainment presents Chris Norman, the original voice of smoking, returns to Donegal on the 30th of October to the Mount Errigal Hotel Letter Kenny. Tickets on sale from the Mount Errigal Hotel reception, Joe Gallagher Entertainment's office and Ticketmaster.ie. 25. Your specialty is quality tiles, bathroom suites and wooden floors. Who is the best range of tiles in Donegal? 26. Crawford Tiles. 27. The best wood flooring? 27. Crawford Tiles. 28. The best bathroom suites? 29. Crawford Tiles. 30. Five-day bathroom refits? 31. Crawford Tiles. 32. And who's been tampering with my questions? 33. That'd be me. 34. Crawford Tiles, Castle Finn. 32. That'd be them. 37. 491. 33. 494. 32. Quiltia Cares for Ireland's Forest Sustainably. As our country seeks to combat climate change, we'll do more. Our ambition is to create new forests, manage our existing forests for greater carbon capture and provide more habitats to enhance biodiversity. We'll support creating new homes by delivering sustainable Irish wood products, and we'll increase the number of beautiful forest recreation spaces for everyone to enjoy. Quiltia, forests for climate, nature, wood and people, for a greener future for all. Alright, so we learned over the weekend that the Republic of Ireland have been pitted against co-hosts Australia, Canada and Nigeria in Group B at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. We're joined by Irish international footballer and Donegal's own Amber Barrett. Good morning to you, Amber. Thanks so much for joining us. Great to have you on the programme. Thank you very much, Greg. Is it fully sunk in that we're talking about who you're going to be playing in this tournament next summer? I presume it has. That's it, but still, it was such a remarkable journey to the finals. Yeah, I think now that we know we're in the draw, the draw's been made, we know who the opening game is, we know who the opposition are for the group stage. I think collectively we talked about it over the weekend. I think this is the first time it's actually began to feel a little bit real and the excitement has already started. So opening up against the co-hosts Australia, then it's the Olympic champions Canada and finish it off with the highest ranked African team in Nigeria. But I suppose you wouldn't want it too easy. That's what you qualify for these tournaments for, isn't it, to go in against the best in big games? Yeah, I think initially when the draw was being made, looking at the first, especially part one and part two, the calibre of teams in both were top. So I don't think any team, I don't think any group has got an easy run of it. And to be honest with you, I don't think any of us really cared. I think the fact that we have our foot in the door, we were in the draw, we were in the group stage, I think that's after that there, we don't really care about the rest. You have a win over Ireland and a friendly in Dublin, friendly, completely different. Of course, this is a competitive match. It's the World Cup and you're going to have a very passionate Australian team. And I'm sure there's plenty of Irish over in Australia. We'll be scrambling to get tickets as well. But this is a different experience altogether, isn't it? And we'll have to be prepared for as such. Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, I think the turnaround that we had coming into that Australia game, I think we were on the back of seven or eight defeats, I think, in a row. And, you know, probably the lowest we'd been in a long time in terms of, you know, such poor results. And I think the Australia game, then, you know, it kind of instigated the turnaround that we've had over the last, you know, year and a half, two years. And I think going in now to the World Cup, playing them again, obviously in Australia, you're talking about arguably a 40,000 capacity stadium will be sold out. And I'm just hoping that they'll be half of it will be filled with Irish because there's plenty of them down there. Yeah, exactly. They have to get their, they get their wallets out and start booking some tickets. I think last time I was to defeat Canada, never played Nigeria before. But as a professional, like, does, does form matter when, when you're heading into such a big tournament like this? I mean, is it in the back of your head, you know, what went before a wonder? Yeah, to be honest with you, like, sometimes yes, but also I think that, you know, we have a long, long little bit of time between now and the next, you know, until the World Cup actually begins. And we're going to more than likely play a lot of friendies in between that. Obviously, there's no qualification games in between that. So, you know, I know with Vera previously, she's always, you know, spoke about how important it was to get to play against strong opposition to kind of build that little bit of confidence. And yes, there's a possibility you'll lose the game, but, you know, you're competing against the best all the time. And I think, as you said, that's exactly why you want to play in the World Cup. You want to play against the best players in the world. Yeah. And we are sometimes we look at the opposition, not just in this scenario, but often, like, Ireland are the, the emerging team, Ireland are the improving team. Ireland are arguably the team with the momentum. So, you know, I hope somewhere in Canada or Nigeria or Australia, they're having a conversation and saying, right, we've got a really tough draw here. There will be, but where are the team with the momentum you could argue? Yeah, I think 100%. I definitely know that when we were put into part three, I know I don't think there was any team in the other groups that would have wanted Ireland to go into their, go into their group. I think, you know, what we've done over the last year and a half with the campaign, I don't think went unnoticed. And I definitely think going in now to the World Cup, you know, as we said before, we've nothing to lose now. We've got in, I say, nobody would have given the chance to get into the group that we got out of anyway. So, as you said, we're going to make it really difficult for every team that we play against. And I definitely think everybody will be keeping an eye on us. How big is the preparation? You mentioned the going to be friendlies. That's going to be because I think us as spectators, maybe, you know, just don't see friendlies like used to in terms of preparation because some teams might have a handy group, right? And they will see that as their preparation to hit top form, you know, come the knockout stages, for example, Ireland, we are going to have to have really good preparation because we are in a final almost on day one. Yeah, 100%. I think that every friendly that we've played, you know, there's been something that we've taken out, whether it's been, you know, looking at something defensively that we want to improve in attacking ways, you know, and it's just as well, it gives other players an opportunity. So maybe there's players that haven't played that much over the last campaign. And when we when we play friendly, you know, Vera is always very strong about it, that she wants to expose players to that type of high pressure because, you know, she's not just taking 11 players to World Cup when these girls are going to play every game, like it's going to be a squad. And I think everybody needs to be ready for that. And that comes from the first friendly that we played, the last one that we played before the World Cup starts. Yeah, indeed. And you genuinely fancy our chances of getting through this group. You can see a pathway out of it. Yeah, I think, like, again, nobody could give us a chance to come to come out of Sweden with a point. Nobody would give us a chance to beat Finland home and away. And I think that's the whole thing. You know, I think when Sky came on board, they had that quote with us, I believe, and I think, you know, we're going into the World Cup. We have a foot on the door and I don't see why we would be aspiring to do anything except get out of the group. Yes, it would be very difficult. And chances are definitely against us. But as we've shown before, anything's possible. Yeah, and it's I don't know if you want to focus or how much you focus on the gender side of things. But it's an amazing time for women's sport at the moment. We've seen the amazing success of our boxers over the last week. While Katie Taylor is back out again in the in the next week or two to defend her undefeated titles and undefeated or unified titles. And then, you know, we have this to look forward to. And we see watching a bit of the the the the the European soccer and also the the the English women's higher leagues. You know, there's a real there's a real momentum there. It's it's not talking about something where it has to come from. It's there now, isn't it? It's amazing. Yeah, and I think that comes down to the exposure that it's got over the last few years. I think you look at the English League, you know, they've they've went on. They've went on Sky Sports, they've went on BT, they've went on BBC. They have the FA player number. Every game is available to watch. Then the crowd attendance go up. And then I think the best thing for it was the Euros. I think the Euro campaign in England in the summer was a huge, huge success. Unfortunately, it was the English that did come out on top. But the fact that, you know, we were able to sit at home in the evening and have so many games of football exposed to us was brilliant. And like it wasn't just people who had an interest in women's football. It was everybody, you know, was checking in to see it because it was there and it was available. And I think as soon as you see it, it just it carries through in the momentum, carries through with it. And as you said, I think for women's sport in general, not just soccer, it's just going to keep getting better and better. Yeah. And there's a few stubborn high profile commentators not in football, but I'm thinking about boxing. It's a standalone sport. It does not need to be put in the context of the male versions of the games any longer, even though some still try to. It doesn't it doesn't have to anymore. So, you know, these are and I think the particularly the European Championship show that this is it doesn't need comparison. No, I don't think so. And I think that was always the, you know, that was the difference between it. You know, they were comparing in England like they were comparing the women's league there to the Premier League. And yet nobody realizes that for 50 years, women's football was banned in the UK. And it's like, how can you compare something that was for 50 years? There was nothing being done about it. There was no progress being made. And I think that's, you know, it's a little bit of naivety from so so many people. And I think, as you said, it's definitely a small number of people who are trying to, you know, still put us in the same bracket. But, you know, the ones involved with it and the people who have followed it realize that, you know, we are standing on our own two feet at the minute. Exactly. The people that know it know that finally, too. I often wonder that we see, you know, with the men's world upcoming shortly, you know, some high profile players missing out, picking up injuries and you feel for them in in club games and what have you. That must be, is that on your mind, Amber, when you're when you're playing, I mean, you're building up to this. You've worked so hard to get to it, you and the squad. And then, of course, you have league games and what have you to take part in that the worst case scenario will be a nightmare. You can't think about that though, can you? I don't think so. Sorry, that would be that. I think I said injury. But anyway, that'd be the worst, but you can't think about it, can you? No, I don't think so because like, you know, regardless if there was a World Cup or not, you know, injuries can happen at any time. They can unfortunately, it's part and parcel of the sport. Of course, you want to keep yourself as fit as possible. And but as you said, you've seen the top players in the world with the best medical care available, still pick up injury. So I don't think they're always avoidable, but you just have to you just have to hope that something's on your wee bit of looks on your side. Yeah, fingers crossed now, July seems like a lifetime away, but will blink and will be just in the mouth of the World Cup. It's so exciting. Thanks so much for joining us this morning and giving your reaction to that draw. It's really appreciated, Amber. No bother. Take care of yourself. Thanks very much indeed, Amber Barrett there, Irish International, Donegal footballer, of course, a footballer from Donegal soccer player and her reaction to that World Cup draw. It is Australia on July 20th, Australia co-host in New Zealand. We have a win over them. But of course, it's a completely different scenario. Canada, I think last time out, we went down to one their Olympic champions and they would be seen as the best team in that group, I'm sure. And then Nigeria, they're the highest ranked African team. All games are going to be brilliant, aren't they? And we just hope they get enough to get through to the knockout stages. Wouldn't it be a great way to spend the summer? Staying up in the middle of the night. But you wouldn't mind that. All right, let us take a break. OK, we'll be back with more after these messages. Live free in twenty three with the Logea Club. 500 Euro cash paid weekly, a luxury holiday, hotel stays and more. Winner takes all. Live free in twenty three dot IE, proud sponsors of today's show. Want unbeatable value from Sky? Here's the deal. Get Sky Broadband Plus, our award-winning SkyCube box for the amazing low price of just 39 Euro a month. Super fast, super reliable broadband and SkyCube with your apps and recordings. That's Sky Broadband Plus, SkyCube for just 39 Euro a month for 12 months. Now that is unbeatable value. Go to Sky.ie. Availability subject location offer does not include Sky TV subscription. New Sky customers only set up fees minimum term and further terms apply for more info see Sky.ie slash speeds. Businesses for your twenty twenty three calendar. Order now from Bizprint and Laddercanny. Promote your business 365 days of the year with the personalized calendar designed to sit from Bizprint, the printers Fort Road, Laddercanny. See Bizprint.ie. At iMotors we've reduced the pricing of all of our pre-owned vehicles. With unbeatable value we won't be beating on price. We guarantee we have the car for you. From a starter car to SUV ranging from Kia, Nissan, Jag, BMW or Opel we have it all. Visit us in Laddercanny or Malin or check out our website iMotors.ie Massive stock clearance promotion now on at Hagerty's Home Interiors Bonkranagh. See the best selection of sofas, beds and sliding robes. All at unbeatable prices with free delivery included. Our best sale items include four foot six bed set mattress base and headboard was four nine nine now three hundred and seventy nine euro for the lot. Get an extra one hundred euro of any recliner suite electric or manual. See the best selection and the best priced sliding robes in Ireland with lots more offers throughout the store. Hagerty's Home Interiors Bonkranagh. Grid furniture always better prices. So you're saying mental health difficulties can be smaller? Yeah, like troubled sleeping. Yeah, or if I'm always stressed like. Yeah, or often anxious. They're all part of your mental health. Hmm, thought those were separate. Nope, they're all connected. I had to know all this anyway. I sure I've been there myself. Anxiety, ongoing stress, low mood or troubled sleeping. They're all part of your mental health. Make the connection and find support that can help at your mental health.ie from the HSE. Right, OK, let's take a piece of music. Here's the Cranberries. OK, that is the Cranberries there and a zombie. Right, OK, you would have heard already so far today that the program this week is coming to you in association with Dunlowe GA Club because they are running a fantastic draw and to tell us more about it. Patty McGowan, club secretary of Dunlowe GA Club joins us in studio now. Good morning to you, Patty. Warren, Greg, are you a big one, isn't it? It's a big one. It's a big one for us. OK, so it's live free in 2023. Part of the prize is 500 euro per week in the year 2023. A luxury five night holiday in Dubai. One night dining escape to the Galgorm Resort and Spa. One night staying Ashford Castle. Tickets and accommodation. I hope you've booked the accommodation to the All Island football final and tickets and accommodation to the All Island hurling final. That has you pretty much sorted for 2023. What a prize, isn't it? What a prize, you know, a lot of thought and effort into creating this something unique, you know, and I think it is unique. You know, a lucky one or just have a free year in 2023. The draw takes place on December 30th, 2022, so people need to get their tickets as soon as they can. And the price is pretty recently to 20 euro per ticket, or you can get three for 50. Yes, and you can also get seven for 100 if you're feeling really lucky. Like, you know, that would be brilliant. And come here, what's the foundation drive for? Because it's like everything to it costs an awful lot of money to run a club now, to develop a club. And we know the role of a club like Dunlowe GA club. It's not just the senior team, it's all the other teams. It's the it's the underage stuff. It's the community stuff. It takes a lot of effort and money. Yes, Greg, they can recent years like clubs have nearly become like a business to run. They can Dunlowe just like we've integrated ladies, football, hurling, camogie, they're of late, you know, we have 36 groups competing competitively, you know, so that just doesn't happen. It takes a lot, a lot of effort and money to keep these going. So at the moment, we're just operating off one pitch. So hence this draw is we've recently just commenced the development of a second pitch, which is most, most, most badly needed in the area. And listen, phase one has completed. This draw is going to help us, you know, get the goalposts up, get the lights up, get the fence around the pitch, you know, to make it. Do it right. Do it right, like, you know. So we've been fortunate that we've had some granted from Run the Guild to Sports Capital. But unfortunately, that doesn't just get you the finished article. So we had we had a recent draw there in just before COVID uphill battle, which took a substantial amount of money. But we we we we pitted through the north of Ireland, selling tickets door to door. It was a hard, hard drive, you know, but listen, live free in 23. It's an online draw. And we're hoping that it's going to get us across the line. Yeah. And there's two elements to this as well, because, you know, if people have the spare cash living in the local area, the Rosses, for example, they're invested in their own community as well, you know, which is it makes it a little bit easier to part with the cash even with the fantastic price. But, you know, you're going to have people all over the place. Looking to have a go at this. People love the online competitions. Yeah, the online is just something that's maybe has come up since COVID started. Everybody was running competitions and listen, we've been fortunate. We've been able to tap into local, local people. The likes of Leanne Green, Keelan Ward, Jess McBrown. I'm just going to name them here to thank them before their input. Paul McGee, Mark Horne, Maeve McGee, Demi McHugh. Like this group came together mid-September and we've pulled this together really, really fast. And they have the expertise for marketing and online. And listen, it's greatly appreciated for their input into the club. Like, you know, they're the skill you're the pretty face. Is that it? I wouldn't say that. And I tell you, another thing people can do as well to do their bid is share. Share the links and share the information because, you know, we've got people from Dunlowe and Donegal in Ireland all around the world as well. Share it out on your social media too. Absolutely. Sponsored ads. They see them just please tag, share, whatever they can do to get it around the world. You know, and it is working. It's going fairly well for us at the moment. You're going to have to keep pushing week on week here with this, you know. And I suppose the same old applies here. It's people can struggle to buy Christmas presents for certain people. It's hard to know what to get certain people, isn't it? You can buy tickets that make it great. With this being a post Christmas draw, you know, you have that Christmas Christmas present market open there. Absolutely, Greg. And like just one thing that is going to come up in the next couple of weeks is the little gift card with the ticket in it for people to give that, which would be a fantastic Christmas present for anybody to get and be in with a chance to one. As I say, such a unique price. So if they just keep an eye on our website for that, that is coming along shortly. And it's kind of go big or go home. It's winner takes all, isn't it? It is. It's winner takes all. You know, people are just going to stand with their their mouth open. Basically when they hear what the price is, like, you know, they were thinking this is for second, third, no, it's winner takes the lot here. Like, you know. Yeah. So just to remind you, it's 500 euro per week, every week in the year 2023, a five night holiday in Dubai, which is an amazing place to go. And, you know, it allows people maybe that couldn't ordinarily sort of dream of this stuff to have the dream of it. One night dining escape to Gal Gorm Resort and Spa. One night stay in Ashford Castle. And then tickets and accommodation to both the All Ireland football final and the All Ireland Herndle final. That'll be a nice 2023 to look forward to 2023. What's your pick there? If you had to choose one of those, are they enough to put you on the spot? You look like you could do with Five Nights in Dubai. I could do with Five Nights in Dubai or the All Ireland Final would do me as well. I would be happy with that, you know. Okay. Right. So Live For Free in 23.ie is the URL. That's, it's predominantly online. You know there's people out there that, you know, maybe don't want to do the online thing. Are tickets available from the club? Locally, some of the club members have tickets there now. And Robert and Siobhan, the local post office, very good. Help us with our local week to week 50-50. They're available there for anybody that's not comfortable going online and purchasing. So you can pop into Robert there and he'll sort you out like, you know. And in terms of fundraising in the past, you know, like it's not unusual clubs going around the bars doing the bingo or not doing the bingo, but doing the lotto or rattling buckets here, there and everywhere. And it's all for the one thing. It's about developing the facilities. This is just a different way of doing it. Basically, it is the same. It's trying to raise money from the public who see the benefit and something like this, but having that prize there as an incentive to support. So in the first instance, you are supporting the club, you're supporting this development, but you're in line for a great prize here. Sure. Greg, like every club in this county country, they want to have the best facilities for their young people. And Dunlowe is no different. You know, we've a fantastic clubhouse there, which was built in recent years. We have one pitch there that everybody will tell you. It's a hill they're playing on and stuff like that there. So listen, there's a young, vibrant group in the club now that wants to see this develop and there's a strong push coming. And then we are going to develop this and have this for our people of Dunlowe community. Yeah, it's exciting. And is this new pitch that's on the development, that's going to be the main pitch then, isn't it? Our hope is like, we don't have floodlights at the Manatee. We use the local Rossus Community School. We're here there and everywhere using grounds. What lights, we have teams like our senior men are going to an Ulster campaign. We have a minor girls team going to an Ulster campaign after the time we need our own thing there. And listen, we're going to have that in the next year or two anyway. You've been lucky to get some funding, but there's always a fundraising element to it and that's just where we're at right now. Is you just going to sell tickets? Is there a cap on how many tickets there? Yeah, well, we've capped at 12,995 tickets. A little ambitious perhaps, but I think with the prize, isn't it again? As you say, Greg, rightly so around the world, this is going to be seen and we're hoping that people will pick up a ticket. Right, so if you think on there, if there's anything else you want to mention, I'll just run through for people again if you want to get involved in this and support really primarily the Dunlowe GEA club. You go to the website Live Free in 23, I beg your pardon. Live Free in 23.ie and the 23 is the number is 23. Live Free in 23.ie. You could win €500 per week in the year 2023 plus a luxury five-night holiday in Dubai, one-night dining escape to Galgorm Resort and Spa, one-night stay in Ashford Castle, tickets and accommodation to both the All-Ireland Football Final and the All-Ireland Hurling Final and your tickets are €20, you can get €3 for €50 or how many to say? Seven for 100, okay, so if you're a lazy gift buyer, dare I say, this is an impactful gift and it's handy. And Gregor would be wrong for me not to come on here today and mention our development committee who is like the brains behind this and it's Paul McGee, Danny Carey, Emma McCann, John Gerard Bonner and Adrian Ellicorn. Like these guys do tremendous work, voluntary of course. So like, you know, project this just doesn't happen by throwing out a draw. There's people behind the scenes as well there and I think it's be wrong for me not to mention them today. 100% because we've all good ideas, don't we, Paddy? It's easy to have an idea, but then when you start trying to put it in place and the speed with which you have done this as well is really quite remarkable and it's a testimony to all those people you've mentioned so far and lots of other people as well because as I say, ideas are cheap but making them happen, that's where the graft comes into it, isn't it? That's it and listen, as a club committee, you know, we have to try and support and facilitate these ambitions, things that we have going forward. So again, they're the guys with the brains. We must do the groundwork behind them and support it. Yeah, great stuff. Well, listen Paddy, anything else you want to add? I don't think we've got anything to add. No, just one other thing. And I have mentioned our footballer Gers and our Hurlin and our Komogi but we're also very, very good at score there and we have our score team going to the All Irons in Castle Bar on the 12th of November. So we would like to just wish Eugene and his squad there all the very, very best on that, Greg. All right, well done Paddy. Obviously, people listening throughout the course of this week will get even more information but if you want to find out once again how you get involved, how you order your tickets, how you book your tickets, live free in 23.ie and you win it all, the 500 euro per week every week for 2023, the trip to Dubai, the trips away in Galgorm, Resort, Ashford Castle and tickets and accommodation to both the All Ireland football and Hurling finals. Why wouldn't you buy a ticket if you can? Listen, thanks very much for that Paddy. I appreciate it very much indeed. That's Paddy McGowan, the club secretary of Dunlowe G.E.A. Club. Live free in 2023 with Dunlowe G.E.A. Club, 500 euro cash weekly, a holiday to Dubai, All Ireland final tickets and more. Winner takes all. Live free in 23.ie, pride sponsors of today's show. Start playing NCBI Radio Bingo today. Three chances a day, five days a week, to win daily prizes of 400 euro plus, not to mention a weekly jackpot of 5000 euro upwards. Books available at your local retailer for just five euro each. It couldn't be simpler. Real money, real people. Get one free. The Nutrius Beef ATP Pack enhances animal performance through maximising room and efficiency. Teas and seas apply. Contact your local homeland or farm commercial specialist today. Visit nutrius.ie for full product details. The Hilarious. It's the Real McCoy by Tommy Marin. On Grain On Theatre, Letter Kenny. Friday, October 28th and Saturday, 29th. Do I look like Daddy? But in the dog always comes out in the pub. It's the Real McCoy, Letter Kenny. October 28th and 29th. See on grainon.com. Book now. There's bingo every Monday night at Halfway House Bingo Burn Food to doors open 730 with eyes down at 830 sharp. 2500 euro must go. The snowball is now 1200 euro and 45 numbers are less. If you're not in, you can't win. That's Halfway House Bingo tonight at 830. Attract and retain top talent. Shine the spotlight on your business. The Employer Excellence Program. Learn more at Folgerarland.ie. The Letter Kenny Halloween Fest is on this Saturday the 29th with spooktacular fun for all the family. Dress up for the CDPs fancy dress competition and get on the Trick or Treat Trail between one and three. There's storytelling, a Halloween Fest parade down Main Street and so much more all afternoon from 12.30. This Saturday at the Letter Kenny Halloween Fest, you dare not miss it. For more info, see ShopLK on Facebook. And radio weather updates brought to you by Grant from condensing boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating. Trust Grant to heat your home. Visit grant.eu. Okay, the weather forecast for today reads as follows. Any residual mist and low cloud has cleared at this point leaving sunny spells on Scottish showers, some turning heavy at times, temperatures 12 to 14 degrees in moderate west to southwest winds. Nolene Blackwell is of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and joins us on the programme now. Nolene, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it. Pleasure, Greg. Thank you for asking me. We've spoken to a number of people directly affected by drink spiking or at least they believe they have been. And drink spiking reports are on the increase, is that correct? Yes, the reports going to the Guides are increasing. And of course, you never know if that's because more people recognise that it's a good thing to report it. And Guides are hearing them, listening to them, or is it that drink spiking is on the increase? It's been around for a long time, but I think maybe people didn't feel that the Guides would believe them if they said it. And maybe Guides were not as good at taking reports and they're getting better now. Just to be clear about the terminology too, Nolene, for listeners, drink spiking, people might think it's someone dropping a tablet into a drink or it's someone injecting a substance into a drink, but actually getting someone a triple when they asked for a single, that is also effectively drink spiking. Absolutely. And Greg, that is the most common form that we hear about of drink spiking. It's somebody surreptitiously putting more drink into someone's drink than they want it, or putting alcohol into a soft drink. And it can be absolutely legal when you don't know what medication a person is on, when you don't know what they've had already, and when you don't know what the impact of the triple instead of the single will be on somebody. It is effectively trying to poison someone with alcohol, trying to harm them or alter their mental state in some way. So it's really, really harmful. And as you say, it's people thinking that's funny in some way or a prank when it is actually a really harmful activity and shouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances. Do you think it's a difficult one, though, for the Guardian to get a handle on? Because I know, obviously, because we spoke to them, a number of reports were made here, a subsequent inquiry, and I'm not sure if it's changed, found that these reports hadn't been recorded on pulse. So in other words, was this information, does it feel anecdotal when really we should be able to speak more clearly about actual cases? I think maybe there is a little bit of a change in attitudes, just generally, that people did not feel they would be believed at all if they went to the Guardian before. And I think the Guardian attitude is to recognize that they'll never get a handle on whatever problem is there unless they get enough reports. The trouble with putting extra drink or a tablet or whatever into drink or whatever way you're spiking, if it does alter somebody's date, very often they can't report in real time. And by the time they do get to report, a drug may have washed through a system or it just may be too late to do anything about it. So one of the things that I think the guards are recognizing is, they need to know, for instance, if they're a particular nightclub, a particular bar where this is being reported again and again, because maybe they can do something about it. We would also say, and colleagues who work, there's a website up there called a spiking hub where people can just anonymously report their experience. We're saying as well to people, if you can report it to a venue, if the venue can understand that there is some bad behavior going on there, they can also keep an eye out for where they might see it happening. So unless it is reported in some way, unless people who can do something about it know about it, we never establish the trends, you may not be able to pick up the person who actually carries out the action, but we might be able to make it impossible for them to do it without being noticed and without people drawing attention to it and without people minding the person because there must be a lot of people who see somebody else engaging in that activity. Hear them ordering the triple instead of the single that somebody asked for. And they don't keep the person safe. Yeah, call it out. But also say to whoever is to get the drink, don't take it. That's not what you asked for. So, you know, we can do a whole lot more short of prosecution, but I think letting the Guides know so that they can maybe track it better than they were doing before. And I think they would say themselves, they didn't maybe take it as seriously as they want to take it now. Now that won't be perfect across the Guides, nothing ever is, but there is that recognition there that they will not get a handle on what is a criminal offence a lot of the time unless people will tell them about it. Nolene Blackwell as always. Thanks for your time this morning. I appreciate it. Thank you, Greg. All right, take care. Nolene of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Our Monday focus coming up in the next hour, by the way, is going to be that thorny issue of smart meters. Smart meters are being rolled out. You can resist at the moment, I believe, but if there are an inevitability of that's the direction we're going. Have you any questions about smart meters? I have them myself. I don't have smart meters myself, not that I'm aware, but I have questions. But maybe you have specific questions. Get them into us right now. 08, 660, 25000. I told you I would try and get someone on to talk about this issue. We've achieved that. And it's just to maybe... It's one of those issues that people are chatting to in bars. Are you getting a smart meter? Oh, no, I'm not doing it because of such and such. And I heard it's going to be that and the other. So, you know, obviously a lot of speculation comes in the absence of information. So we're going to try and maybe plug some of those holes. The answers might not suit everyone, but we'll see. All right, so stay tuned for that. Watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at highlandradio.com. Okay, it's just turned 11 o'clock. Let's get a news update and say good morning to Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. The British Minister of State for Northern Ireland is urging the DUP to allow the Stormland Executive to be formed this week. Politicians from across the UK and Ireland are meeting in Cavern this morning at the British Irish Assembly. It's likely fresh elections will be called in the north by the end of this week if the DUP doesn't agree to attend the Executive. Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker is appealing for a deal to be done. Meanwhile, his party colleague Rishi Sunak is expected to be confirmed as the new UK Prime Minister later today. Boris Johnson withdrew from the Tory leadership race last night, leaving only Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordent. Sunak will be confirmed as leader if he's the only candidate with 100 supporters from Tory Tories by this afternoon's deadline. It's suggested he has well above the requisite 100. Penny Mordent is well below it. The old courthouse in Letterkenny has the potential to be a major focus for tourism in Donegal, according to a local councillor at present. The office is just off the post around about. It's closed to the public for much of the time. Councillor Kieran Brogan says the council should meet with Falkshire Ireland to discuss the future provision of tourism facilities and opportunities. He told the 90s news show this morning that one option is for Falkshire Ireland to relocate to the old courthouse with the council possibly using the Polestar office for another purpose. A report published today shows a 30% increase in the number of patients attending the Donegal Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in 2021 101 patients attended the unit. The previous year, the number was 70. Donegal County Council is being asked to carry out inspections on all drain gullies in Letterkenny and to ensure they're flushed and cleaned out as quickly as possible. The call is to be made at a meeting of Dr. Kelly Milford and the Municipal District by councillor Mayor Donald Mandy Kelly, who says recent flooding in Lenswilly has shown what can happen of gullies and drains aren't continually monitored and cleaned. He says the Lenswilly work on a new pipe should be finished by either this evening or tomorrow. But he says in the meantime if a comprehensive study doesn't happen, then future Lenswilies may crop up elsewhere. And Dairy City Instrument District Council expects over 100,000 people to attend the four-day Halloween festival that runs from Friday to Monday next. The Awakening the Walled City Trail will run both sides of the foil from Friday to Sunday. Halloween Night itself will see the Carnival Parade at 7 and the Halloween fireworks at 8. The council has issued a comprehensive list of full and partial road closures, accessibility arrangements and car parking provision. All those details now on our website, hideandvideo.com. We're back with headlines again at 12.00. Thanks very much, Donald. Right, people asking us the question but just to answer it for you again. Can I buy tickets for the live for free in 23 draw? Can I buy them anywhere else other than online? Yes, co-members have them locally. And they're also in the local post office. So yes, you can. Okay, further call out. If you have any questions about smart meters, get them into us. I have a feeling a lot of it's going to be, well, soon you'll be able to do this. In a while, you'll be able to do that. We hope to be able to achieve that. But anyway, let's get the questions out. Let's get them asked. Let's get them answered as much as we can. What questions do you have about smart metering in your home? For those not aware, the smart meter replaces your analog meter. But there are concerns. People feel that it's easy to switch off or to control or whatever it might be. Some people feel it's going to be more expensive. I went through some of the rates of electricity charge, the ones other than you use in the electricity at three or four o'clock in the morning. The rates for daytime rates seem to be higher. For those not using a smart meter. So I don't know if it's about saving money. Do you remember we were kind of led to believe, I never bought into it, but we're led to believe that switch to electric cars, it's cheaper. They'll save you money. Well, really, it's about the environment. A lot of people would find that there's not a huge saving or the motivation shouldn't be about a saving. Is it going to be the same with the smart meters? We'll be sold them as a save money, get control. But is that the reality? Maybe it just suits the companies better. I don't know, we'll try and get to the bottom of all of that, but you can help me with your questions to 086625000 or by calling 07491-25000 if you prefer. Listening to the TV or radio becoming harder. If your hearing is affecting your everyday life, connect hearing are here to help. Our clinics in Leicester, Kenny and Dunlowe are open Monday to Friday, where you can avail of our hearing test, wax removal and repair services. Take that first step to better hearing. Call us today on 07491-13296. It's flu season, and children are twice as likely as adults to catch the flu, which can sometimes cause serious illness. That's why all children age 2 to 17 can get their free nasal spray flu vaccine, a safe and effective way to protect them, and the rest of your family too. So make an appointment with your GP or pharmacist. Visit hsc.ie forward slash flu for more information from the HSC. Northwest for the past 50 years. Higgardies are the only forward-approved body shop in the Northwest, but repair all makes and models. Paintless dent removal, windscreen replacement and restoration work. Higgardies even mix their own paint. Approved by most insurance companies and certified steel standards Ireland. That's Higgardies Auto Body, letter Kenny, for all vehicle repairs. See Higgardies.com. A public interest message from Dunleagall County Council. Dunleagall County Council would like to remind farmers in the county of the following key messages as autumn and winter approaches. Lands spreading of slurry to be completed by the 15th of October. Farm yard manure cannot be applied to land after the 1st of November. Check and repair gutters and downpipes to minimize soiled water in yards. Ensure that any effluent or soiled water generated is directed to appropriate storage tanks. There should be no direct runoff of soiled water from farm roadways to waters. Play your part in keeping Dunleagall clean and green. 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 or speak to your financial broker or advisor. Irish Life Assurance PLC is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. I'm Lorraine Keane and I hate feeling tired and hormonal, yet that's exactly how I felt when my Perimenopause started in my late 30s. For nutritional support, I chose Irish Supplement Clean Marine Menemen. Why? Because Menemen contains Amiga 3, Vitamin D and also Vitamin B6, which contributes to the regulation of hormonal activity and helps reduce tiredness, all in just two capsules a day. Ask for Menemen at health stores and pharmacies, or learn more at cleanmarine.ie. I'm glad I did. A caller asks, has the Irish Homeless Crisis ever been addressed? There are so many on the streets, we need to find a solution. It's hard not to wonder why we can't step up for ourselves when we can do it for others. The notion being that City West is not the solution to the Irish Homelessness Problem. A hotel in Natterkenny or in a Shona or wherever it might be is not the solution to the Homelessness Problem, the Irish Homelessness Problem. That requires building new units of housing councils, taking over vacant property where appropriate, and making long-term accommodation available for homeless people. Homelessness also sometimes means there needs to be a range of supports. It's not always just a case of saying, there is a house going and living it. Sometimes there's multiple reasons why people are homeless and they also need to be supported and addressed. The government will argue they are trying to do that. Homelessness Problem is worsening. And staying with homelessness or no homes for refugees, apparently, all the paper is covering, and I mentioned this, that the refugee plan is in disarray. The Irish Daily Mail this morning says, there is growing concern in government circles over the failed strategy to house Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. The fears were revealed after the murders that 43 Ukrainian refugees have been left without accommodation here since Friday. Now, as it relates to Donagol's contribution to this, and of this information from a number of sources, but looking for clarification on it, is that the national view of Donagol might be that effectively, in terms of accommodating refugees, Donagol's fault. As I say, I'm trying to get a spokesperson to confirm that this is the sense. There is some concern at the national level, again, of this from a number of various sources, that there's already an awful lot of pressure on the health system through GPs, hospitals, with schools, and what have you in Donagol, and that the view being that, and Donagol, I think, has taken the second highest number in certain categories of refugees. I believe the attitude, the national attitude, from the center that sort of organizes where refugees go, is that Donagol effectively is fault. It's at capacity in terms of what services can support here. As I say, I have that from a number of sources, and it's hard to get someone to confirm this stuff on the record, so we're working to do that, but that is, as far as I'm aware, that is the working hypothesis from those centrally, this is nothing to do with the council, those centrally that determine these things. Right, okay, Owen Redes, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He's a Donagol man, and we want to wish him congratulations. Good morning to you, thanks for joining us, and as I say, Owen, congratulations. Good morning, Greg, thanks a lot. Good morning, Greg, thanks a lot. Thanks very much. Yeah, it's not an easy role to achieve this, is there? I mean, obviously, you have to have done the work, the work on the ground, and you have to sort of be popular, you have to be seen to be a doer. You've achieved all of that, because you have climbed this pole. Well, I've been active, very lucky to be active in the full-time trade union movement, Greg, for about 24 years now, started off in mail in SIPTO, I worked with SIPTO for 18 years, and started off in mail, and then came back to Dublin, and worked in a number of different capacities, and achieved a few promotions, and was in the SIPTO management team for the last number of years. When I worked there, involved in some kind of high-profile disputes, the Lewis, double-boss Irish rail, things like that. And then I joined the Congress of Trade Unions, which is the All Island Federation, and which is the kind of the body that tries to speak with one voice for the 44 unions we represent on the island. I joined the Congress in 2016, working at a Belfast, responsible for Northern Ireland. And then when Patricia King, my colleague, stepped down last month, or two, the position was advertised, and I applied, and I was successful. So I'm delighted, but there's a big job of work ahead, and that it's good to be part of a collective team, because it's very much a team. I mean, there's no eye in the trade union movement. It's all about the week. Yeah, and what do you see as your priorities during your term? I mean, I think union membership has been proven to improve people's well-being. We've seen that recently with pay agreements in government jobs, effectively. Let's put it like that there. But I suppose in the private sector as well, you would like to see more areas of employment involved in unionism, or just more members generally? Well, there's a number of things, Greg. I think if we've learned anything from COVID, and sometimes we go through crises and we don't kind of reflect and learn the lessons and move on to the next crisis, but if we've learned anything from COVID, the list of what we consider essential workers, pre-Covid to post-Covid is radically different. And for many of those essential workers, it's a very long list. Work does not pay, and they don't earn enough. They don't get respect. They don't have dignity and work. So we need to change that. And I think the way to change that is for the trade union movement to recruit those workers and to try and bargain for pay, particularly in the middle of a cost of a living crisis. And in Ireland historically, there's been a number of institutional barriers for workers joining trade unions. There's a couple of things happening at Europe at the moment from nationally, which we hope to be triggers to take away those institutional barriers. So the key priority is to work on those issues in 2023. There's a European directive, which we want to transpose that will make it easier for workers to be in unions and wants to improve collective bargaining coverage. That's the number of workers that are covered by an agreement. So that's a key priority. Another key priority is obviously to reach out to young workers. The age profile of workers in the union, the highest group is about 55 to 65. So we need to do something about that. But what we do know from surveys is that young workers, 16 to 34 year olds, 52% of them that aren't in the union would like to be in the union. So we have to reach out to them and we have to make sure that that next generation have a key role at the bargaining table when it comes to workers' rights and pay. And are there sort of demographics within that demographic in terms of where young people are most likely to be working? I mean, there are certain career choices that almost those who employ within actively discourage people entering unions. They do, and I mean, when we talk about young workers safe from the age of 16 to 34, we're talking about young workers from all sorts of backgrounds, people who are third level graduates who go into professional occupations, other workers who go into semi-skilled or what are considered elementary-skilled jobs, right across the board. What strikes me is there's a demographic we least represent, but there's a demographic that has the highest proportion of people saying we want to be in a union. But why is that Owen though? Sorry, I mean, obviously, it's going to be a myriad of reasons. But why do you think younger people, especially when it's right across all different disciplines, why do you think they're so underrepresented in unions then? Well, there's another piece of work that came out a number of years ago that said the vast majority of people in Ireland would join a union if they felt their employer wasn't going to be hostile. And then it lies the problem, Greg. We're one of the few countries in Western Europe where the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining benefiting from union negotiations is not as clear-cut as it is elsewhere. And one of the things we want to do next year is transpose this directive that's called the adequate minimum wage directive. That has an ambition to get collective bargaining coverage. So the portion of workers covered by agreements negotiated by unions up to 80 percent. Currently, it's about 42 percent. So the government, whether it's this government or the future government, are legally obliged to transpose that directive and to follow it. We will make sure they do that. It's our job to be part of that because we want those workers who want to be in unions to have the opportunity to join them and play their part. I mean, at the end of the day, we want volunteers not constrictors. So it seems to me, when you look at the data, there are quite a lot of people who would like to be volunteers. So we need employers to respect that right and to allow their employees where they wish to unionise, to unionise. But it's a fundamental civil right, a human right, and that we want to make sure it's indicated in Ireland. Also, a living wage. You would see that as one of your focuses as well, that we have a genuine minimum wage that people can live on. But I mean, you would imagine sometimes those who employ seem to have more influence over the government than maybe they should have. Oh, well, most certainly they do. And I mean, you know, when you look at the structure of society and the economy, it is weighed heavily in favour of employers. And we need to get that balance right. The only way we're going to get that balance right is by legislation and by further organising and building union power effectively by having more workers in unions. But again, that European Union directive I'm mentioning also will help when it comes to the living wage because it recommends higher thresholds and different criteria to look at what a minimum wage should be. The other thing about the minimum wage that's outrageous is these sub-groups for younger people. I really don't understand that. It's really insulting to think that the bills and responsibilities in 18-year-old or even younger, but particularly in 18-year-old, that in some way their life is different from that of a 22-year-old. It's crazy. I don't never understood how that was ever accepted. 18 and 19-year-olds in the Republic of Ireland get a portion of the minimum wage and north of the border, where you've got a lot of listeners too, it's much, much worse. If you're under the age of 25 in Northern Ireland, you don't get the full minimum wage. So, you know, if you're old enough to pay your taxes, if you're old enough to pay your part in society, you're old enough to get the full minimum wage. So, you know, there are a lot of things there to be done, Greg. I do think, though, people have a different view of what they want society to be after the COVID pandemic. And I actually think the tide is with trade unions. And I think there's a lot we can do. And I think what we have to say and what we have to offer is something that is more receptive to people now post the pandemic. And we need to build on that. We can't expect people to come to us. We've got to make it viable for people to want to organize. And we really need to reach out to those young workers because I hear a lot of talk about generations that they want everything, but you know, if they're right to want everything. And, you know... Great to see employers, though. Like, you see some of the better employers in this country and actively hiring at the moment. They treat all workers equally. They pay them a decent wage. And presumably from that, they get better productivity, a lower turnover of staff. You know, maybe the business community need to realize that maybe if they loosen the purse strings a little bit, that it would be in their benefit. You know, no one's looking to put them out of business. But, you know, these being particularly the... You know, a lot of the foreign direct investment, they realize that you treat people equally. You pay them a decent wage. And as I say, you get more productivity and a lower turnover of staff. You are 100% right, Greg. 100%. I mean, we know when we look across the European Union where you have a higher proportion of people in unions and we're unions and employers and negotiating on pay, better outcomes for workers, better productivity for the whole firm. And better outcomes when it comes to the economy and the society. It is a win-win. I mean, there are many decent employers out there that we work with, that we have good relationships with, and we want to make sure that they prosper and do well. I mean, it's not any union's interest to make a firm unprofitable. But we don't want those bad employers who don't respect their workers' rights to be in a union to have competitive advantage when it comes to labor costs. So you are right. It is a win-win. I actually think, I mean, the employer's body, Ibeck, are starting to realize that. I think many large employers are starting to look at, their social responsibilities. There are many that aren't, and we need to address that and challenge them. But we want to work with the decent employers so that they can do well, so that the workers who are working in those firms also do well. So it's very much about a win-win. But unfortunately, there are a number of employers who are still living in the previous century. And haven't got with it yet. But we have a job of work to turn their heads to. All right. Congratulations again, Owen. And I'm sure your granddad would be very proud of Derry Mann, also involved in the unions. That's right. He was born in Derry. He was president of the Congress the year I was born. Big influence on my life. I lived in Moville Green Castle, so much of my youth used to come down from Derry to go fishing for that. Talk politics, talk to the unions. So I wouldn't have thought into this word of work without him. He started work on you early, didn't he? He was grooming you for this path nice and early. And you thought you were going fishing with your granddad. Well, I enjoyed going fishing, but we got a lot of politics discussed in Derry Mann as well. But his people are all from Moe Island to the west. So no, Derry Mann is a special place. Always will be for me. That's where I see myself from. And I'm very proud to be from there. Super stuff. Well done, Owen, again. Thanks so much for your time. Thank you again. Take care of yourself. Bye-bye. We'll chat again. I'm sure Owen Reedy, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions at Donagall, Mann, doing well, of course. So just further to the information that I've been receiving from a number of sources in that people who have been making offers of accommodation in Donagall have been informed by a team responsible for this on a national level. Thank you, but no thank you. Because my understanding, people are being told that the Ukrainian accommodation team are not contacting or not contracting any additional properties in Donagall. And some of the reasons being given include the impact, the amount that are already in Donagall is having on resources in the county. OK, so as I say, that's information we've had from a number of sources. And we will look to get a spokesperson for you on that. But it seems that according to what some people are being told now from official sources is that Donagall in terms of the Ukrainian response is full. House to home, Bridgend, Donagall. Our modest front door opens onto two floors of Irish made furniture, suites, beds, mattresses, dining and occasional furniture. Step into our showroom and see how we can transform your house into a home. House to home furniture, flooring, slide robes and interiors, Bridgend, Donagall. Businesses. Order your gift vouchers for Christmas now from Bizprint The Printers. Also personalised calendars, Christmas cards, diaries, draw tickets and much more at great prices. From Bizprint Portrait Letter Kenny. See bizprint.ie Keep your garden in shape all year round. With top quality garden equipment from Garden Care at Galliana's Letter Kenny Tool Hire. A great selection of leaf blowers, hedge cutters, chain saws and much more for sale or hire. There's a full backup and repair service including chains and bars for all makes of chain saws. Galliana's Letter Kenny Tool Hire at Mountaintop Letter Kenny. Your local garden care dealer. Garden care. Your pathway to a beautiful garden. Did you hear our motors have an October sale? Well who better than a cabin man to tell you about saving money? With all pre-owned cars reduced and a new offer every week, give us a call on 074-9134567 to find out more. Is on Tuesday November 1st at 6.30pm in the Abbey Hotel Donegal. Register for free for this event or any of the workshops nationwide at falterarland.ie today. Okay you're very welcome back to the 9 till noon show here on Highland Radio. Between now and 12 we're going to be hopefully answering your questions on smart meters, their installation, what's the advantages, disadvantages and so on and so forth. But I am genuinely delighted to welcome back into studio Brendan Deveney, presenter of the DL Debate. A very welcome back to you Brendan. Thanks Greg. Thank you for joining us. Now we're going to do the tough bit first, right? And then we're going to talk about a bit of sport. But since I last spoke to you, very sadly you lost your dad Patrick, who I know you were incredibly close to, a really important person in your life. And then tragedy on top of that sadness with the passing of your beautiful sister, Margaret Deveney Sullivan. You've been through the mill and obviously just want to pass on on air our condolences to you. But I'm sure Brendan you enjoyed the love and support of your family, your friends and your community in this awful time for you. Yeah, yeah listen Greg and I know there's some horrible things have happened in Donegal and listen, I suppose on behalf of the family I want to thank everybody out there, you know, the kindness as you say was overwhelming, you know, and so it's a horrible thing to go through still a bit unrealistic. Greg, I can't really fathom it and you know as you say dad had a battle with cancer and his death you know was coming upon us and was going to be tough we wanted him of course to live on but you know he did what he did, he needed to do for us as children that it just was more for mom I suppose you were thinking about the rest of her time but Margaret of course you know predicted a young family now as well and I liked that she was and everybody said the same things about them everywhere everybody you met between the wake and if you know the exact same things about the two them you know between Margaret's warmth and her her outgoing spirit and what she was and of course dad you know two words associated with dad was tough and sound you know and it was the same thing you know all the stories about the playing days in that as well and I think everybody from Margaret particularly I suppose some of her work colleagues they wouldn't have known you know coming down and I could just imagine Margaret working down there and she worked for the and the government buildings there and she would have been great crack there around an office you know that type of person and everybody came down to the same same things to say a bit and her friends and that and of course there's a huge family of us as well so that that's been great support because you know we think I mean obviously losses is personal and then you saw there's a point you realize if you didn't already which I'm sure you did that these people that we hold so close to us people outside our families do as well yeah they're their friends and they go to person and they're rock and you know their loss goes beyond our own personal and even the family emotions but that's a testament to how nice and popular they are so there's some there's some light in that dark as well too isn't there oh definitely it's hard to take on board because of the way the two things happened at the one time but the outborn I suppose of an emotion from everyone there was was pretty special and it did help I'm always about so so about wakes myself I always do like most people you drag going up and you're glad you went but you know it was uh I was the same and then there was a point I was sort of didn't like wakes at all was nothing and then my mind checked I realized it's not actually about me or maybe it's not even necessarily about the person that's passed on it's an opportunity for all the people around you to make sense of it all do you know what I mean I used to have quite a self-shatitude to it and then I realized that well it's really about people getting that chance to pay their respects and then since then my my attitude has changed somewhat yeah I suppose there's a there's a terrible uneasiness I think that that comes with it but I think that from from my standing point then it's uh you're so you're so glad of the of the effort and the people do that it takes over everything else so yeah it was um even though how everything happened and that so many people and put in the what happened around it everything just seemed to happen when people rally around I think it's a special thing particularly here in Ireland how we we do things they get you know you'd wonder how you'd practically get through people around you I know what you're saying well listen that's the the beauty of our community yes okay Brendan listen um we're going to talk about now about the the DL debate um you've got a great guest on actually uh today Anthony Maloy uh he's a legend of 1992 of course yeah he's an interesting character because on the face of it he's quite quiet and retiring uh if you didn't know if he didn't know he's on his way he's on his way he's a dude he's a dude but that's not right you know he's a I love the man you know he's you know you're talking about suppose Brian McEnuff is in many ways the daddy of of of G.A. and then he goes I think he's moved to the Grand Forestry's because Anthony I think is in the daddy this day he's now you know and uh I listen we all who doesn't have an 82 story unless of course you were born a bit later in Os Craig but everybody has a has an 82 story and and it's it's so tied on me Anthony Maloy I think and talk about a captain and he's coming up he's he's written a Frank Craig has written a book from 30 years on since the famous 92 just about Anthony's life and and the lead update and everything that happened I've had him on the show a few times he's a great guy of course the counsellor down there uh and their drier as well and listen he does great work and I think that's that suited him as a real man of the people so always good always good detail with him and uh listen he's he's one of them guys you just love to see there's just something about him you know he's got a great great spurt and a great heart and of course he's got some great stories as well which I look to get out of him yeah exactly and I think sometimes that's where the the authors have a bit of advantage because they get these guys over a long period of time and you know uh can tease stuff out but he's going to be a great chat so you've got both Frank and anthony on yeah they're both coming off and he's actually coming to coming to the studio and uh yeah if you asked to be getting people and they can be getting hard to get uh Frank I was I was joking with Frank last week about actually tying him down he's one of them guys has a has a lot of things on his plate and and he'll get to you soon or whatever but no listen I'm interested to see his story in terms of the how it came to be because he almost retired he almost wasn't there in 1982 and he had a knee injury and different things but sometimes in life Greg just things fall into place and for Anthony Malay a bit like the the Michael Murphy story that was to follow it just seemed like that that was right that these two guys should lift the samples you know that's going to be really interesting chat how you're going to squeeze the rest of it in albeit important is another uh what's not something I have to worry about you're going to have to worry about it because uh Michael McMillan's uh of gaelic life's on with you too uh reflecting on the dairy senior football final yeah I was in there yesterday uh Greg it was um not a great not a great game I know our own county final was per and it was a bad day and you know the fence came back to the four unfortunately Greg you know and uh it was a bad final we had there and listen they've gone deservedly won the final and good luck to them and uh yesterday we seen uh the Glenman of Maharak coming back and and um make back the back title once against a very poor slot needle and Greg I was just looking at slot needle he played 15 men inside the 45 and they were just there to be beat Glen pressured them up a pitch a bit and then tried to won the match and they won the game without you know really uh uh slot needle laying a glove on them and this famous slot needle team yeah how do you how do the slot needle players feel today I was just looking at this go well we did our best because the three of there is best players in there but they sat in and listen if you're going to play that style I I you know I don't like that I know but I'm just wondering as a player afterwards you know how sometimes when you know what we gave it all we did our best if you're one of those three one of the three some of the best players in Derry in that slot needle team and you bump into some fellow woman walking up the street how do you feel yeah see that's the thing like if you one you see playing like I think for supporters and I could probably stomach it maybe it's maybe some don't care maybe just want the one I don't think like that I think you need to go and actually take a team on and go out and out play them not out defend them and that's what slot needle attempted to do and it was I mean Shea McGregan's in there you've Chrissy McKay you've Brandon Rogers you know three of there is best players you didn't hardly see them because the whole team just sat in the differences with Glenn when they get up the pitch they could drop the shoulder and beat a man up at the ball over the back and slot needle just were there to be beaten it was really perky listen I didn't even stay for the whole match did you not you did a renault on it you did a renault on it you see I just you know I've spoken to you in the past we have to move on but footballer to get to the league level has to do so much you have to work so hard right and you've a short career and you've said in the past that you still to this day beat yourself up about the defeats right that's why I ask that question about your feeling I just wonder if there's a crop of players perks playing a certain type of football through their glory at years who's gonna write their autobiography yeah yeah you know what I mean who's gonna reflect on their career in a part are they gonna be able to reflect on their career on a positive like sometimes I think you need they need to step out and go you know well maybe we need to start saying we don't really want to play that type of football yeah yeah well if you look at the Greg and we're going to have an announcement I think tonight on the Donegal management and you look at what's Donegal's biggest issue the manager come on is our defense we're our defenders if you put 15 in the side you're 45 you don't need to be a defender you just need to be a body in there you give me 15 foot men Donegal Greg I'll make us hard to beat I don't care what your talent is right now if you play the cat that means that that guy fall back cornerback doesn't have to actually be that tight these man because he's got three or four players around him so where's Donegal's defenders they're not there now that must be coming from our club we're still producing midfielders we're still producing forwards we're not producing defenders and it goes back to this this mentality you know so I I thought I seen green shoots there in the championship great players were teams were leaving two or three in attack at times I thought there gives you a platform to kick the ball we're not kicking the ball you see and then but once it came to the crunch of it I mean even Kalkiara and their semi-finals we said Yunan's a very talented Kalkiara team went full blanket defense and I was like come on that's you have a talented team and Yunan's picked them off the difference between Eve Connell they are the masters at that and they sat and they waited and they had of course Yunan's lost to man but I don't even think that would have mattered and Eve Connell were really on it and if you if you like that type of football they are good at it have you met anyone that does I know but listen they still won't be a point Greg we choose you sometimes where that game goes I mean it was almost a flip from last year's county final where Yunan's weren't completely on the top but because Yunan's went for it they won the game handy but that game come down to a point but listen they have the title and they'll say right we're happy enough for that but as I say Greg I'm just talking about Donegal forget about our own club scene here that the county manager needs defenders we need defenders and I don't see them out there okay and also last but certainly not least Maureen O'Donnell's on with you as well yeah good boy we're good to catch up there again listen Donegal ladies club football a tough time yesterday and Bradley Terman going down to Lurgan and three three goals in the second half which was really their undoing it was one ten to three six close game but the goals were the undoing and very disappointing for Terman because they had obviously big length fun in the championship and there was high hopes for them you know very talented Terman side so unlucky to fall at the first hurdle so Maureen's going to wrap up that and of course the the Goodmore girls were in action as well they went on to Sol in their game it was one three one five and that I think the other game had been called off for Waterlog the intermediate game so Maureen's going to wrap up the really stuff for us yeah all right that's all on the deal debate this Monday after the seven o'clock news podcast on Highland radio and it's worth mentioning important to mention to brought to you an association with the sponsors sister Sarah's and Sarah's kitchen that's it getting broken in the crew looking after us as ever do you get food in there follow this sponsorship package uh yeah no no no I I feel it's all it's all meat it could go in there and pay and big tips as well great no bother to you and a great to have you back cheers bro it really is and we'll be back with a preview of the deal debate podcast next Monday after 11 and don't forget it's a on for you tonight it's a really interesting one you've got Anthony Malloy there along with Frank Craig talking about Anthony's autobiography you've got Michael McMullen you've got Mo O'Donnell and that's it it's gonna be a goodie all right then we'll be back with more in the night till noon show after these live free in 2023 with Dunlowe GAA club winner takes all prize includes 500 euro cash paid every week next year live free in 23.ie pride sponsors of today's show go full needle and make sure there are no tricks at your house only treats with this huge haul of sweeties for just 496 go happy bear is only 99 cent chocolate lolly's just 119 snacktastic monster claws 149 and good old Henry Hippo Jellies just 129 go on have a Halloween without compromise go full needle today at Hickey Clark and Langan insurance brokers they compare quotes from all leading insurers so you get a great price home motor and van farm holiday home travel and liability insurance they quote them all so if the worst happens you're covered for a competitive insurance quote today called Hickey Clark and Langan on 912688 or pop into their office at Bally McCool Letter Kenny Hickey Clark and Langan general insurance is limited trading as Hickey Clark and Langan is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as your accountant advised you to make a pension contribution to save tax as award-winning brokers John F. Lowery financial services can guide you through the process of setting up your first pension or review your existing pension contracts to make sure you are still getting good value for money at John F. Lowery financial services our business is your financial peace of mind to arrange a personal consultation with one of our qualified financial advisors visit jfl.ie or call 9124 002 John F. Lowery and Associates Limited trading as John F. Lowery financial services is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland with the ongoing war in Ukraine affecting the cost of energy many of us are facing a challenging winter through budget 23 government is introducing a range of supports to lessen the financial impact on families households and businesses and will continue to monitor the situation in the coming months to protect those in difficulty it's important that everyone stays warm and well but where safe and possible to do so reducing energy use can also reduce bills changes like turning your thermostat down by one degree and considering how often you use energy intensive appliances like tumble dryers can make a big difference for information on available supports and energy saving advice visit gov.ie forward slash reduce your use brought to you by the government of Ireland your specialty is quality tiles bathroom suites and wooden floors who is the best range of tiles and golf the best wood flooring the best bathroom suites five-day bathroom refits and who's been tampering with my questions that'll be me Crawford Tiles Castle Finn that'll be them 07491 43942 all right now we are as we promised going to talk about smart meters Carmel O'Connor is smart meter project manager and joins us on the program now thank you very much for your time today how are you keeping Carmel good all good excellent right so tell us what's happening at the moment uh smart meters are being rolled out are they right across the country at the moment people can choose whether or not to have them is that the case i'm not sure how long that might be the case but tell us what the situation is yeah um as of last week we actually hit one million smart meters were installed so it's been a major milestone for the project it started back in September 2019 but it kind of started with an idea back in 2010 around kind of moving all of the older electromechanical relay measures and the older kind of digital type meters to a new smart meter now that the technology is there where we can communicate remotely with it with the the measures and bring back measuring information so whether it's just your your normal kind of monthly by monthly meter readings so rather than sending out a meter reader we will take that off of the meter and also more importantly we actually have access to half hourly information so a customer can really see uh you know where the their peaks and troughs of their usage are and then they can look at supplier tariffs that are out there and and say you know i i can actually maybe save myself a little bit of money if i go to this smart tariff rather than staying on a on a 24 hour rate you know where every unit is the same price but also it's a big deal for micro generation a lot of customers now are out there and they're putting in solar panels and some are even putting in little small windmills so that they're able to export to the to the network and now with the smart meter we can record that export information and give it to the suppliers and then a supplier can can pay a customer for whatever they've exported to to the to the grid yeah um but i was looking just through some and it is a minefield to try and ascertain you know where is the value is in terms of electricity suppliers but what it seemed to be to me is that uh those that were offering smart tariffs at least in terms of the daytime rate were higher than their old um systems the costs you know you can do a comparison your current rate versus the smart reader rate so if it was about saving money unless i want to put on my washing machine dryer and dishwasher at night which i'm told by the fire officer that i shouldn't be doing so i'd end up paying more for my electricity okay now obviously i'm not a supplier i work for ESB network so i can't comment on like there's a myriad of different tariffs that are out there um but i can say what we're what we're currently exchanging is a meter that's on a 24 hour rate for another meter that's on a 24 hour rate and nothing nothing can change so if whatever tariff you were on before we had the the smart meter in and the tariff that we have now it's the very same so we're not suggesting to customers you know leap you know don't look don't leap before you look kind of thing so uh from the middle of november or thereabouts we're actually going to have a networks uh portal that uh will allow a customer to log on and and look at their usage they'll be able to see a graph of their usage and then they can go and they could maybe download that information and go to a switching site because some people aren't like i mean i know what you're saying but i personally i i got a smart meter actually just a couple weeks before i went into the smart measuring program i was i was on a list anyway but i went i jumped for a smart measuring tariff because i was in smart measuring i said look i'll i'll go for smart tariff but i would never now um switch on my washing machine or my tumble dryer or my dishwasher between five and seven which is the peak and and that's for two reasons it's because obviously it's a slightly more expensive rate but also because there's so much talk and we're doing so much to reduce that peak demand so that we're not bringing in you know i get you and i understand there's a wider global picture to this all right but with all your respect you don't choose you don't use it between five and seven because it would cost you more to use it between five and seven i'm on an old meter right and if i wish to use my washing machine or dishwasher between five and seven it doesn't cost me it doesn't cost me any more or less so i understand where you're coming from but you're disadvantaged because you can't use your product when you want to whereas me on the old meter i can and it doesn't cost me anymore yeah and what i was going to say is but if you want to do that even with a smart meter you don't have to change tariff so if you are on a smart meter and you don't think that the way you use electricity will allow you to save money you can stay on the same 24-hour tariff but for me i'm seeing because i have a cheaper night rate and the night rate is from 11 p.m till 8 a.m so i i tend to you know i'm i stay up late so i tend to put on stuff at 11 o'clock i know plenty of people who might put on their washing machine or the tumble dryer at 6 a.m and they'll get a slightly cheaper rate but i suppose the big point is that getting a smart meter does not mean that you're automatically on to a smart tariff you can look at your usage and then you can say well if i go to this supplier who has maybe a night boost and i have an electric vehicle i can save money doing that but if you think that you're not going to save money by changing to a smart tariff you don't have to change to a smart tariff but you will still get the benefits of if you have if you're exporting you get you get your export you'll still have the benefits of no longer ever having an estimated bill because we've taken the the readings off the meter if you're somebody who wants to change the buyer that process becomes a lot easier and then over the next few years we're also going to see networks benefits because we we have what we call a poor voltage use case and from a network planning perspective it's actually showing where it locations where maybe the voltage is dipping or there's an over voltage and it's allowing our low voltage network planners to target areas for system improvements because we're getting that information so there's a range of benefits to the customer and to usb networks of it but the big thing is a customer has a choice and if they want to stay on the tariff that they're currently on they stay on that tariff and they'll know no different until they to look at smart tariffs i mean at the moment you're not obliged to get a smart meter it's a choice but it is only a matter of time is it not really that once more people that have smart meters that don't have smart meters they might say well you know we are no longer supporting the older meter because obviously for financial reasons or practical reasons what have you so the the reality is is that the older meter is not going to be perpetually maintained that whether it whilst it's a choice now there is a whether people like it or not i'm not saying whether i do or don't there is an inevitability that everyone is going to end up on a smart meter i would say over time yes because i mean in essence the smart measuring program is an asset replacement program you know if you want to look at the techie way of doing it it's like you know your car your fridge whatever over time it will it will break down and you will have to replace it so what we've done with the smart measuring program is instead of maybe replacing every meter over about 15 years we're replacing all of the meters with the news technology over a six-year period so that we can get as many customers on smart measuring as possible and i would say you're right in a few years time i don't know whether that's five ten years time down the road maybe the only meters that companies will be making manufacturing is a smart meter because let's face it like a lot of people still have the old electromechanical ones you know the ones with the spinning disc and some of them are 30 or 40 years old they're not made anymore so we had already moved to the next generation of electronic really meters and now we're on the next generation which are the smart meters so you're right maybe in five ten 15 years i don't know at what point meter manufacturers will be saying we're only making smart meters yeah well you see i mean you employ people to read meters as well and uh obviously those people are losing their jobs they're not going to be maintained to read the old analog meters so live perpetually on estimated bills or switch to smart meters there'll be loads of way people are pushed in this direction or encouraged in this direction your job is made very difficult though because smart meeting has been pulled into something of an ideology for some people as well there are people very much opposed to it and you're trying to sell the product whilst electricity prices are increasing and increasing like we've never seen before so it's hard to sell comparisons okay is that a challenge uh because you know that the fluctuation for whatever reason in in electricity prices can be used to sort of say well see that's smart meters are doing that for you yeah you're not wrong there's a few people now recently have said oh i saw my neighbor's bill went up after they got a smart meter and i suppose it's back to what i was saying to you earlier like a customer doesn't most customers have not actually changed from their whatever way of billing that they had like that that you know you're the same unit rate all day and all night to a smart tariff so i think the the fact that electricity prices have gone up quite a lot has definitely made people not do but when you say like there are some customers that don't want a smart meter for other reasons that they're a little bit worried but that's that's running at less than two percent so most people once they realize that the technology that we're using is it's it's like a smartphone it's not even like a smartphone it's like your old phone because it's it's like sending a text message um and the meters meet all of the international standards and again with data i think there's a few people have been worried about maybe data but again we follow the highest standards of GDP GDPR and we really mind the data and security of the data is really high on our list and if anybody is interested like our we have a web page with all with our FAQs and it goes down into the detail of the the different international standards that that we use for all of that but again just to let customers know that if you get a smart meter you you don't change your tariff unless you choose to do that but a caller says Greg not true no matter what tariff you're on if you have a smart meter you will be charged more for electricity from five to seven p.m that's simply not the case if you're on a 24-hour rate you aren't charged more you're it's the exact same rate and just just again to reiterate like that that extra that's that's in there from five to seven there's that's two hours but there's 22 hours where it's a cheaper price but no if you have not chosen if you're on it if you're on a day it's the same price per kilowatt hour no matter what time of the day if you're on a 24 hour rate people are getting obsessed with these meters some people say do you know how there's better in the early days of the electric car range anxiety you couldn't enjoy driving your car people are afraid that if they have a smart meter they'll become obsessed with it they won't be able to enjoy their house because they're going to be worrying what what time the kettle's being put on or what time the toaster is being used some people are going to be like that not everyone is yeah i may be a few but i'm guessing not like i have a i have a smart measure for about a year and a half and uh i at the the supplier i'm with just energy insights and i would say what's the lag on those because people people are of the impression that they've got little things sitting on the coffee table and it tells them exactly any peaks and troughs it's a day it's a you have to wait a day don't you yeah i know at the moment we're we're what we call day minus one so the information and i think some of the suppliers might have a two or three day lag because we're a phased approach instead of trying to do everything at once uh kind of like the first 250 000 measures went in with just making smart tariffs available and i'm pulling the data uh at the moment we're going to be making like i say in the next month or so uh the the data day minus one but it's actually phase three so it's probably going to be 2024 or thereabouts or the end of 2024 before we have live what we call near near real-time data yeah that's where it's coming straight up onto whether it's an app on the phone or whatever some people are worried about radiation levels no that's that's exactly what i was saying to you like if they're the meters meet all of the uh worldwide world health organization standards and it's it's more like having an old Nokia phone as opposed to even a smartphone because what frequency are they broadcasting what frequency do they use is it 5g or yeah i can't remember i know but yeah i can't remember just we have to be careful we have to be careful with the Nokia analogy because they operated on 2g and i think these meters operate in 5g but i understand no no they absolutely don't work on 5g no that's what i'm that's what i'm yeah yeah the vast majority of the measures work on 2g um and then some of the newer meters if the two if there's no 2g there's going to be narrowband internet of things which is less than 4g excellent okay that's why i wanted to clarify clarify that it's not to absolutely no 5g um smart meters will reverse your reading you of solar panels if that doesn't matter who your provider is the pay-as-you-go meters are a disaster regardless of provider well you're not here to comment on pay-as-you-go meters i know some people swear by pay-as-you-go meters but anyway um so do you get in terms of your solar panels right will that will that will that reverse your your smart meter or you get paid back for what you put in no i think uh some of the very old electromechanical measures if there's uh if there's uh export i think the disc might go backwards but i think the units don't go backwards but the disc goes no the whole point of a smart meter is it records exactly what kilowatts you're exporting and we give that information since the middle since the end of June we now provide that information to suppliers so suppliers will see exactly how many kilowatts how many units you've exported and the different suppliers again have different rates for for what they pay but and i think uh i think most of them will be starting to pay before the end of this year burning that's what we were told whether any of them are paid yet but no thanks for your time carmel i wish we had more but unfortunately we're against the clock thank you though it's not your fault that's our fault alright take care of yourself thank you bye bye calm along on a smart meter project manager live free in 23 with the low ga club 500 euro cash paid weekly a luxury holiday hotel stays and more winner takes all live free in 23.ie proud sponsors of today's show some people spend 60 minutes watching tv and some head out for a 10k run just like retirement 60 minutes means different things to different people at bank of ireland we're all about your financial well-being and 60 minutes is all it takes to start a pension that can make your retirement lifestyle achievable now's the time to fund your future book a phone or virtual meeting today at bank of ireland.com forward slash pensions bank of ireland begin revenue limits terms and conditions apply bank of ireland is a tide agent of new ireland assurance company plc trading this bank of ireland life for life assurance and pensions business members of bank of ireland group bank of ireland trading this bank of ireland insurance and investments is regulated by the central bank of ireland Raymond Sweeney here from Ben Sweeney ironix to let you know about the Blomberg integrated dishwasher which can save you time and money when you're pressed for time you can choose a quick 30 minute or 58 minute wash cycle or an intelligent auto program for perfect wash results every time the german engineered inverter motor means it operates at low noise level so it's whisper quiet and there's a seven-year person that were warned for peace of mind call in and see for yourself at Ben Sweeney ironix or grow a letter Kenny or in the shopping center done low your autumn getaway awaits in aards and north dine just minutes from belfast this stunning region is the place for great value short breaks embrace the waters edge with adventures on both land and sea explore picturesque towns and villages visit top class attractions and sample delicious local food and drink experience a relaxing stay and a warm welcome this autumn for details offers and the chance to win a 300-pound viture towards your break go to visit arts and north dine dot com the hilarious it's the real mccoy by tommy marron is coming to on granon theater letter Kenny this friday october 28th he had no go with him if there was work to be done in the bed he'd sleep in the wall drop it's the real mccoy letter Kenny this friday night see on granon dot com book now at esb networks we're connecting ireland to a clean electric future and as part of the national smart metering program we're now installing smart electricity meters in your area your new smart meter will reduce the need for estimated bills help you to manage your electricity usage more efficiently and enable you to access smart electricity products and services we'll contact you before your meter is installed find out more at esbnetworks dot ie slash smart meter highland radio weather updates brought to you by grant from condensing boilers to heat pumps and underfloor heating trust grant to heat your home visit grant dot e you okay look at the weather uh we will have sunny spots and scattered showers for this afternoon some heavy temperatures 12 to 14 degrees thanks for listening to the show we're back with you tomorrow at nine john bresnan's next have a great day live free in 2023 with the low gea club 500 euro cash weekly a holiday to buy all ireland final tickets