 I couldn't get back to sleep. Isn't it funny sometimes that... I even put you on, and I couldn't get back to sleep even when I started listening to your show. I thought that'll put me to sleep. Listen to me, but isn't it funny sometimes, the night that you have a good night's sleep? Well, you think you have a good night's sleep? You could be tired the next day? It's... I don't know. It's an age thing, is it? I don't know. I don't know how it works. I'm cos I knew you had your wish. So you're getting old, aren't you? But you should be using... A man of your age now needs less sleep. Yeah, well, you get less sleep. I don't think you need less sleep. You still need sleep, don't you? I've got all the responsibilities of a 25-year-old. That's the problem. All right, good luck. All right, Lee, see you in a bit. It is The 9-Clock Noon Show, and it's time for our news update at 9 o'clock, and it's over to Makayla Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. No citizens should be denied access to your community or public service that they're willing to pay with legal tender. That's the warning from Denigal Deputy, Padre McLaughlin, who was speaking in the doll on a motion calling for the protection of cash as a legal tender. He says the government needs to confront those who are denying people the option to pay with cash. Deputy McLaughlin says in particular, those who have supported the GAA are now being shot out. I'm really disappointed with the GAA, I have to say, with the cashless approach that they've taken, that it'll listen to their grassroots and particularly make sure that older people who've been the bedrock of their clubs for years can go along to the games. That decision needs to be reversed and it needs to be accessible to all. The biggest check-up of the primary school curriculum in a quarter of a century is being unveiled today. Primary school students will soon be learning foreign languages, science and technology, as well as the importance of well-being and how to achieve it, while there will be a reduced focus on religion. That is being welcomed by guidance, concerned education columnist, Brian Muney. Reducing the time allocated to religious education from two and a half hours to two hours, I mean, that's long overdue. You know, the Catholic Church, the government diocese have basically said that faith formation is now going to be part of parish life. I think that the Catholic Church itself is realizing that, you know, having the emphasis in schools is really not doing them any real benefits. A Donegal woman has been awarded the inaugural Dara Fitzpatrick Award. Frances Griffin, a national ambulance service paramedic, has been recognized for her efforts in the immediate aftermath of the Chrysler tragedy. She was one of the first responders on the scene. The Dara Fitzpatrick Award is presented annually on International Women's Day to an inspirational woman within Ireland's pre-hospital care community. Irish Royal Link believes the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in rural areas is helping regenerate towns and villages nationwide. Around 75,000 Ukrainian people have arrived in Ireland since Russia's invasion began in February of last year. She was Boland's CEO of Irish Royal Link, says there are plenty of benefits of people coming to Ireland. It does rejuvenate all range of things in rural Ireland, especially schools, school numbers. It brings people into the area, it brings services into the area. And of course, it is a great story. And it also is part of a greater growing acceptance that migrants, whether they're war refugees or others come into this country and that, you know, we can accommodate them and then do so in rural Ireland. Whether I largely dry this morning, outbreaks of reinsleet and snow will move in and extend through the day, leading to pervisibility and hazardous road conditions, highest temperatures of one at two, three degrees. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with news again at 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. SuperValue makes saving money as easy as one, two, three. One, we match Aldi and the products you love. Two, great special offers like SuperValue Fresh Irish Lamb Leg Save 33%, Guinness 15 Pack 24, 85, and three, money off vouchers every week on the app. So, follow the one, two, three and save money at SuperValue. Enjoy health responsibly. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And now, it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The Nine Till Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. OK, good morning to you, four minutes past nine. This Thursday, the ninth of March, listening to the weather there, I do hope they get it right and I know it's not an exact science, but there's events being cancelled and people not travelling up to the region and maybe empty seats in restaurants and what have you with this weather warning. So hopefully, fingers crossed, they do have it right. So hopefully, we'll all stay safe in any case. Anyway, the show lines are open for you right now. WhatsApps and texts to 086 6025,000, 086 6025,000. You can give us a call in 07491 25,000, another busy show for you. We are down to our last act in our search for local hero music talent and this is part of Irish Music Month. Midnight Preachers are in their class act and you're going to enjoy it. They're going to perform two songs for us. Then after that, we'll announce how you're going to get involved in the voting. We've had three brilliant acts so far. We have a forthcoming for you. We know what they sound like. They're great. And you'll be voting on our website, HighlandRadio.com. We'll give you details of that. That's going to be launched after the performance, the last performance. Your votes then will be combined with an external panel of judges votes and then we'll have a winner and they'll go on to represent us in this region in a national competition with a super prize which includes guaranteed airplay across pretty much all the radio stations in the country that isn't RTE and that's to an audience of well in excess of three million and there's a financial prize as well. So it's all good and it's all been fun and it's all been a great opportunity to continue our platforming of fantastic local artists. That and so much more besides. Donegal Democrat have an interesting story. Speculation is growing that former Balabafe County Councillor Cora Harvey could be on the Sinn Fein ticket for the next general election and I think this would be quite a shrewd move from the party in terms of location, et cetera. The 44-year-old assistant director of nursing in the Donegal Mental Health Service would tick all the boxes as a candidate and it appears she could be ideally placed to help her party scoop up a major share of the votes in East Donegal, the mother of two is not ruling herself in or out at the moment. She's a member of a very unique club, one of only 12 women who've served as a councillor in Donegal, that in itself is some statement, isn't it? One of only 12 women to have ever served as a councillor in Donegal. Ms Harvey began her tenure in September 2008 when she was co-opted onto the local authority to replace outgoing councillor Tony McDade from Lifford. She contested her first and only election on June 5th the following year and successfully topped the polls so she's in the right place, potentially at the right time. I think it really is down to her. It'd be a no-brainer from the party's decision I would speculate. The Chicano Tribune this morning as the Office of the Planning Regulator comes in for stinging criticism over its recommendations to the letter Kelly draft plan. Business interests and developers say that most of the proposals put forward by local councillors have been ignored as the OPR's new mapping is being analysed by the council sources say that the future of the town cannot be taken in perspective from an office desk in Dublin and it appears that the work of the councillors going back for four years has been rejected. The response to the recommendations of the OPR will be made to a council meeting in a report from John McLaughlin, the chief executive, more on the front of it inside the paper today. The Donegal news, sad to see this is still happening. More students than ever at ATU Donegal are being forced to use food banks because of the crippling cost of living crisis the Student Union has said. ATU Student Union Welfare and Equality Officer Barry Breslin told the Donegal news is also seen an increase in students turning to the university's counselling services giving the difficulties of financial pressures being experienced and it's not that long ago that we were speaking to Saint Vincent de Paul who outlined the increase in students that they're working with, not just in terms of providing day-to-day help but also actually helping in paying students fees. But we'll go on here and hear a quote from Barry Breslin. We have had to refer more students to the support of the food banks than any previous years. And he said, we've also had to increase in pressure. We've also had an increase in pressure on our counselling service given the added headache and financial difficulty adds to the situation. More on the front of an essay inside that paper today. The dairy news. There's good news and some bad news for emerging. Good news and bad news emerging for the owners of electric vehicles and dairy. Recent analysis of the latest data recording the number of electric vehicle chargers in towns and cities across the north and Britain found dairy topped the pole for the highest percentage of broken electric vehicle charging points, presumably that's the bad news. 30% or three of the city's 10 electric vehicle charging points are currently out of action. Presumably these are public ones and surely couldn't be 10 electric charging points across the whole city. They must be the ones that are run by the government, are they? But anyway, 30% of the three of the 10 aren't working there. OK, we'll hopefully get on top of that. On to the nationals now. Free public transport would be overly costly and incentivise excessive travel. Let me read that for you again, because I find this one of the most remarkable sentences I've read this week. Free public transport would be overly costly and incentivise excess travel. So the fear is that if they make, now we obviously need proper public transport in this part of the country, but the fear is that seemingly that if it were free that we would just sit on buses that rather than watch it by the telly, you want to watch Coronation Street? No, let's take a bus to Galway. That's what we'll do. And if maybe you were going to Galway, say, look, it's free, let's go to Cork, just use it excessively for no good reason as if that would happen. But anyway, this is what the experts believe. It would also result in just a 1% reduction in car travel according to an independent report commissioned by the National Transport Authority. Motorists are more likely to switch to public transport if fuel prices increase or parking and road usage is restricted rather than if fares are made free according to a report from accountancy firm, Ernst & Young. So really what it seems to be saying is is that people are committed to the car or else they've no alternative to the car. So you either tax them out of it or ban them from certain areas because cheap public transport is no good. It's not going to work. Anyway, the elimination of fares would cost up to $550 million a year or $750 million a year if private bus operators were included in the scheme. It could also increase anti-social behavior by users and there was a risk of public backlash if the policy had to be reversed the report found. So a report commissioned for the National Transport Authority says, and this is one of the negatives, that the elimination of fares would lead to an increase in public order offenses. Well, you police it? I don't know, it seems very, very strange to me. We were talking about figures of politicians who were landlords and they've been updated because the registrar's recently been updated and they're covered in the Irish Independent today. The number of TDs who are landlords is actually dropping, believe it or not and it dropped significantly compared to the last doll mirroring the exodus from the rental market by other property owners. Now you could read this a couple of ways. Maybe they feel that, you know, we're making decisions on homelessness, on renting, on developers, on the property market. Maybe it's not good that we've such a vested interest in it or people are saying, like I'm getting out of it now, we're at the top of the property market arguably, I'm gonna sell up and cash out or those that are remaining are saying, we don't wanna have to sell our stuff, let's make it more attractive for landlords to stay in the business. I don't know, could be any of those things. The doll register of members' interests for 2022 published by the Eroctus in recent week shows 27 TDs now, currently list rental properties as part of their income. The previous doll, which was dissolved in 2020 ahead of the general election, had 35 TDs listed as landlords, but they're still well represented around the cabinet table. There were also two fewer TDs in the 32nd doll compared to the 160 deputies in the current one. Some of those around the ministerial table making the calls, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, he spoke out about the lack of support for landlords at cabinet during a discussion on ending the eviction ban. He has two rental properties. Education Minister Norma Foley, she rents out an apartment. She half-hones in Dublin's Rathgar. Agriculture Minister Charlie McCunnilogue lets a room in an apartment he owns on the outskirts of the city. Michael Healey Ray still, the doll's biggest landlord, he's got 16 rental properties. So a slippage somewhat. Let's see who else is on the list. No one locally here as far as I can see. No, I don't see anyone locally here, but I know we'll go through the figures again and just to pick out any that's of interest to listeners in here in the Northwest. The Irish Daily Mail tells us that Michael D. Higgins has weighed in on sex education in schools. He said schools must teach sex education in its fullest and those who fail to provide it should be punished. The surprise comments come in a statement marking International Women's Day yesterday, in which the president said it was necessary for sex education to be taught, encouraged and its absence sanctioned. He said that every child in the state has the right to be given sex education. His comments come after the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association wrote to government ministers calling for transgender issues not, I will go to page six, not to be taught at primary level. Yesterday the president said there is also the need for the appropriate dissemination of basic information regarding sexuality in the fullest sense by those responsible for providing education. The requirement for respect to be shown and the right for it to be experienced should be available to all. It is necessary that it be taught, encouraged and its absence sanctioned. The farmer's journal this morning tells us that a sharp fall in the value of entitlements under the new cap is feuding a spike in interest in sale of entitlements. The value of entitlements has fallen by 40 to 45% in 2023. This has occurred through cuts of 25% to fund eco schemes, 10% to fund the complimentary redistributive income support for sustainability. That's the Chris or front-loading and 3% to fund the new young farmer scheme. Now let's go on to the red top tabloids here. English soccer hero, as is described here, Gary Linnick, hit back yesterday as he faced calls to be sacked for comparing UK government plans to stop migrant boats to the tactics of Nazi Germany. The match of the day host is due to be reminded of his responsibilities relating to social media by BBC bosses, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has devised the controversial plans to ban migrants arriving on small boats into the UK, said of the former England Stars comments, I'm disappointed, obviously. She said it was a matter for the BBC if Linnicka is sacked for his irresponsible comments, but Linnicka blasted back, great to see the freedom of speech champions out in force this morning demanding silence from those with whom they disagree. Now he never said anything that was factually incorrect, how it's phrased or the context might be offensive, but he never said anything that was factually incorrect. But he works for the BBC, which is not impartial. Anyone who says the BBC is impartial doesn't know what's going on, because it's not. But it claims to be impartial, and he works for it, and he's a football commentator, a football show presenter, but he made the comments on Twitter, not on the show. Five hotels will stop housing Ukrainians in asylum seekers as they plan to return to the tourist trade. This is in the sun today. The decision to leave the state housing system means 1,600 refugees and international protection applicants will have to be moved by the end of the month. Let me see. The Defence forces have been asked to create housing camps in their barracks in Kilbridge, Wicklow, Mollon Garbys, Meath, which will put up refugees in the difficult weeks ahead. But listen, those hotels are working on three-month contracts, so presumably they're going to opt out for the summer and opt back in if it's financially viable for them to do so after the summer. I guess it will happen. Finally, the Irish Daily Mirror. Repossession orders were granted for an estimated fund in cases where less than 6,000 was owed on a mortgage at all panel was told. Let me read that again. My reading is not fantastic this morning. Repossession orders were granted for an investment fund in cases where less than 6,000 was owed on a mortgage. Now, that means that they were allowed to repossess the home for that small debt. The Money, Advice and Budgeting Service criticised a power imbalance between individuals and institutions with an army of lawyers. Spokesperson Dr Amy Ladio told the Rockers Committee so-called Vulture funds are paying an increasing role in Ireland's financial sector in direct lending to individuals. She said, as of September 2022, non-banking entities own over 56% of all domestic mortgages in arrears up from 43% in March 2020. Well, they bought them all up. And we've heard from people this week who are with Vulture funds. They're mortgages with Vulture funds and their rise in interest rates is being passed on hand over fist to them. Mortgages doubling, more than doubling in the space of a few short months. Not necessarily the case with people with other lending institutions, right? Anything in there that call your ear and you want to have a say on 086625,000. That's the WhatsApp and text number 086625,000. All call us an 07491 25,000. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra Mountaintop Letterkenny, the 2022 Seastore National Off-Licence of the Year. The 9 till noon show is brought to you by Letterkenny Credit Union, offering low-rate holiday loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. Are you ready to experience something extraordinary? Cultural gyms in Croatia, ancient temples in Asia, art in Italy, anything and everything is possible with Travel Department. Pick a destination and a date and we'll take care of everything, flights, accommodation, excursions, expert local guides and all that planning. For guided group tours to dream destinations, book today at TravelDepartment.com. I've ever shown it operated for over 25 years. Travel Department, let's see more. Farm entitlements values slashed for more in your farmers journal, His Paul Mooney. New cap changes are fueling the sale of entitlements. Shocked new cow quota for young farmers and partnerships. Fears over new suckler scheme payment clawback. Hopes grow for sheep crisis support payment. Solar farm expansion squeezing land availability plus find out if you're paying over the odds in the latest fertilizer price survey. All inside this week's Irish Farmers' Journal. You cannot afford to miss it. Floyd's Restaurant, Balai Magori Straban, two course express menu Monday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., only $18.95. Seven day weekly a la carte menu, €1.00. Now taking bookings for Mother's Day and Sunday Carvery, two courses only $15.95. Check out our party packages and grid deals at Floyd's Restaurant, Balai Magori Straban. Join John Breslin and the Highland video outside broadcast team this Friday from 12 to 2.30 p.m. for a live broadcast from the Mount Erigal Hotel letter Kenny for the start of the three day Donegal New Build and Rebuild event 2023. In association with Homes of Donegal Magazine, John will be speaking to some of the exhibitors and organizers to preview the event. In partnership with Hot Press Magazine, Irish Music Month is all about recognizing the value of Irish music to everyone in this country and across the world. Help us celebrate Irish Music Month as we play more Irish music than ever before. Promote bands and artists and provide a 100,000 euro fund for artists to perform on independent radio stations across the country. This is independent Irish radio supporting Irish music. This is Irish Music Month, supported by Hot Press, and the BAA Sound and Vision Fund. Now, on the front of the Chicano Tribune this morning, we read that three years after the new 2.5 million euro health centre in Dunfana, he was scheduled to be completed in 2020. There's no sign of construction on the green field site on the outskirts of the town. Councillor Michael McLeafrey, independent, joins us to discuss this. He's quoted in the article as well. Good morning, Michael. Morning, Greg. Good to have you with us. Right, OK. Thank you. What's the delay? Do you think what's the hold-up? Do we know? I compare to myself, Greg, I don't know what the hold-up is at the moment, because that's what we're trying to pursue. Actively, there's a long time now, there's a good number of years, particularly even in the last couple of weeks of health. And still, we have no answers. For example, on the 1st of March, he sent an email again to the Minister of Honours Office. As I had as well before, back in November as well, the time he's here in the Kenny. And still to no avail, there's no reply to this one. On the 1st of March, still, I asked the questions this time, what the hold-up was, what was happening, where were we at, so on like that. And still no answers. I've also emailed as well a contractor hearing that may or may not be in the running. Could they clarify one way or another? I emailed their office, could they clarify one way or another? Were they in the running or not? Well, have the tenders gone out, do we know? The tenders in that are out as far as I'm aware, yes. OK. But those two people in particular, one, the contractor, there's no owners on them to reply, but they'd just be helpful if they would clarify. It would give me some sort of an angle, because I'm having no luck at all with Minister of Honourly, as of yet, as we speak. As such, so it's very frustrating for myself, for the whole area, for the community. And it's a bit crazy at this stage, 23 install nothing happening. Yeah, what would concern me is, is the recent announcement, the confirmation from the Department of Education that almost 60 school projects are being stalled now, because of the rising cost in construction. Maybe that's just the first sign of where we're going here. Are we going to hear of the likes of these developments being stalled even further or deferred for the exact same excuse? Well, Greg, that's a very valid point, and to be fair, I did ask you about that there last week when I emailed the Minister as well, what the additional costs incurred results in the delay and so on, so I just don't know where we're at, to be honest with you, and I don't have any answers. The tone of the article seems to suggest that, as a deputy, Pat the Colt-Gallagher worked hard on this project and was raising the issue, and in his absence, there isn't maybe enough of a focus from our elected representatives at all levels. Shannon, level, do you agree with the tone of that commentary in the article? I do agree, Greg, yes, because at the end of the day, like, myself, my colleagues at County Custard, who are on the ground here, surely we can only do so much. We depend then on the higher up, as you said then, you alluded to the TDs there. They're the ones up in the toilet. They have the really ball at the feet, if you'd like to kick sometimes where possible. So we do rely heavily on them as well, but hopefully, hopefully, this will come to a resolution, a positive resolution, I hope, but at the moment. The lack of information is strange, really, in that it's the public, it's the public money that's being spent. At least tell us, what is the status of this project? Have tenders gone out? Was there a successful tender? Do you know selected? Is there any issues in terms of that contract and now saying that they can't do it at that price? I don't know. Is there an uplift in the contract that will actually now go ahead? Are these types of projects going ahead? Generally speaking, are they going to go the way of those 58 schools and be stalled because of the rising cost of construction? You know, why should we be guessing? This should be public information here. We pay the wages. It's our tax. You know, let us know, why should the people of Don Fanehi be Don founded as to the future of this health center? Well, great. I really thought, and I fully agree with you. This is the problem. And it has been in my mind as well since before Christmas time and last summer, what the raising cost of the infrastructure and that when one signs would come around that this would become an issue. But as I say at the minute, until I get a reply back from Minister Donnelly's office regarding what I said to him, we're very much in the dark. Right. Well, we have an inquiry ourselves now in with the HSC to find out what the status of this project is and we'll see what they say formally. Yes. Yes. Well, that's all we can hope for, right? Because otherwise, we're just getting the run around. As I was saying to Caroline there before coming here, you're asking the HSC and that before, what you have done many times, all we're doing is just going around circles, just that they're talking about a talk surrounding the wind. But from my perspective, like I don't care about the gobbledygook and wording of the press statements, it's about getting information on the record. So whatever response we get formally, that will be the position on the record as of the 9th of March 2023. And we can work, we can work from there too. But I mean, you know, the services are there. It's just better facilities to house them. Is that how you see it? Or do you think that the provision of this health centre leads to better health care for the people of Donphanahein and surrounds? Well, I think if it goes ahead, it'll open to more options for people of Donphanahein. I'm not sure it'll end up in any better health care. I would say to be fair, they're getting the best possible care they can at the moment with the doctors and such you there, even what the difficult situation have there at the old centre. But I do believe if the new centre was opened, it will open up more options to bring more facilities such as health-wise to Donphanahein and possibly more medical practitioners of different natures with the extra room. It may have maybe possible to come there as well. I do know at the time, it was a big concern going back 70 years ago, various people mentioned at the time, even if everyone at the health centre would go ahead, the one difficulty they would have was broadband. That's kind of stuff in lack of infrastructure. But thankfully these days now, there's a big push-on round here in the Chrisley, Donphanahein. I had an agent who worked for Gary, as we speak, and up all the back roads here, getting broadband and bliss, so I'd hope in the next few months ahead there'd be no more issue with broadband or such. If there does seem to be a great deal of activity from the contractors in that regard indeed. OK, as I say, I'm sure Giacomo Tribune's made their inquiries, will make ours as well. But for now, thank you very much indeed, and you have as well, of course, just to mention. First to March, Greg, just for the record, the first of March, that was sent to Minister Ronaldi's office, so I'm waiting on a reply to that recent email. And if I get a reply to that, more than yourselves. Hopefully, we just want guidance, but we want actual facts as well, not just really going because that's too much of that going on. We want to just know the facts of today, what yes or no is going ahead. If it's not going ahead, why not? And tell me, tell you, tell the people of Donphanahein, that the wider area of this country earned Dr. Stewart and his colleagues down there on them. OK, listen, thanks for your time this morning. Councillor Michael McLafferty, 086625,000, the text number there. Let's get to some of your comments coming in today and over the last day. This morning on the way to work, I called in to Lidl. I parked beside a black car and noticed a child in a car seat in the back of a car crying. I looked through the glass inside the car and looked around, no adult. I didn't intervene. I didn't know what to do. I kept watching the distance until the mother returned to the car. She had gone into the shop to get messages. I don't want to be too judgmental. I just think this is so wrong. Anything could have happened. What a toffee, though. Listen, I mean, I would... I have not done this, OK? But if you're a parent on your own, you don't have family support around you. The nappies have run out. The formula milks run out. And you have to get it. And you've got no-one to say no support around you to step in with childcare. I suppose you take the child in with you, don't you? That's the obvious answer to it. But I would also try not to be too judgmental. But there is a child welfare issue there as well. What would you have done in that situation? Oh, wait, 60, 25,000. A caller says, young people shouldn't worry about climate. They never caused it. Corporations did. And it's their responsibility. Nobody else indeed. I think that's off a backer commenter made yesterday. But the truth is that, you know, they're being told that... They're being told that, you know, the world's going to end if we don't do this, that and the other. And if you're eight or nine, that's a pretty... That's a lot of information to try and process. Right. A caller texts us and wants to know people's thoughts on this. So get your ears out. My partner was getting carriers... Sorry, it does say carriers, but I mean, that's just a typo. My partner was getting carriers allowance for looking after her mother as she's in a wheelchair for about 30 years. But once we got married 10 years ago, it was then means tested, and the amount she got every week was halved because of my income. But about five to six years ago, she lost it all together. We have appealed this, and even Joe McHugh has done his best, nothing changed. But ever since, or even since, this... My mother-in-law has had a stroke, and my wife is there basically full time now, and not getting anything for this and is unable to do any other work. Surely this is totally wrong and should not be means tested only for she would not do this. But if she put her mother in a home, it costs a lot more than giving her 200 euro a week. I just want to hear people's thoughts on this, or is anyone else the same experience? Do you think 086625,000? It doesn't seem to make sense, does it? Because, you know, that daughter is caring for her mother, but she's got bills to pay as well, and she is doing the job that might fall to the state if she wasn't doing it. But because she got married, she was means tested, it was cut in half. Five or six years ago, cut completely. Her mother has since had a stroke, wife is basically a full time carer, and is not getting any support, and is unable to do any other work. Anyone in the experience of that, or comment on that, as I say, 086625,000. At the start of the A55 project, there was to be equal funding from both governments. The Irish government said due to recession, they couldn't pay their agreed amount, so got it reduced. So now, we hear that the Irish economy is doing better than the British economy. Well, the Irish government putting up more than the British government to get the project started and completed, that comes in from Derek. I don't recall the Irish government watering down their commitment to that project. My only recollection is them reaffirming it on an annual basis, it seemed. But I'll have a look into it if that's what you're saying. There's probably some truth to it, so I shall have a look and see. I'm in the convoy area. There's a high pitched, very loud alarm which sounds repeatedly throughout the night keeping people awake. The alarm usually goes off around 11pm at least for half an hour. It went off again last night around 4.30am and lasted 4.30 minutes. Would it be possible to mention this on the show? I'm not sure how to get about finding a solution to this. So, it's coming from a business they think or it's coming from a particular area. It's in the convoy area. It's a high pitched, very loud alarm. It's going off repeatedly throughout the night. It normally goes off around 11pm, stays going for about an hour, half an hour. Now, I'm not sure if this is a business with a dodgy alarm, but we can make a call to a business that's mentioned here to find out what the story is, but are you in the convoy area and have you heard this? And secondly too, by the way, the emailer emailed in apologising for raising this issue because it wasn't what we were talking about. So, let me just emphasise this again. We have stuff lined up for you, but anything that you want to talk about or something that you want to raise with us, you don't have to wait till there's a similar topic on. Send it in to us and we can work on that or fit it in, by the way. And I appreciate that listener's politeness, but you don't have to worry if we're not talking about a particular issue, text in. Someone texted in that says, Hi Greg, the former festival has been rescheduled. Those not wanting to attend can try to get a refund. I've tried to get a refund, but the link they send doesn't work. I have messaged them a few times, but no reply. Let me see, so let's go on to the answer. All ticket purchases from the marketing director of the festival, all ticket purchasers were emailed in late November and again on January 18th to keep them up to date. See attached below that correspondence, which informed all ticket purchasers of the new rescheduled date and also the deadline for applying for refunds if you could not attend the date. So this sounds, remember I referenced the fact that they give us an answer before and said they would reschedule or offer a refund? Well, it seems they did. Then they go on to say, we've been informed by Eventbrite that most refund requests have been processed with a very small number of refunds still to complete to finalize this process. All other ticket holders have held onto their tickets, which are valid. Okay, so that is, it's taking place on, by the way, Saturday the 28th of October 2023. It's Halloween and it looks like it will be good fun. So for those who can't go, the refunds are still being processed is what we're being told. But it does seem to be from the tone of that email there was a cutout date, which was forwarded to those who booked tickets if they wished to avail of a refund. But as I say, some refunds are still being processed. For all occasions, visit letterkennycu.ie Show the Monday blues the door. Kick them into touch. Banish them for good. With a wheat treat at Kelly's Diner in Erickenny. Maybe a coffee and scone or an all day breakfast or a burger and chip. With American style booth seating, fast and friendly service, a menu packed with tasty choices at great value and loads of parking, it's a great stop off any day of the week. Take back your Mondays at Kelly's Diner, mountaintop at Erickenny. Hi, Trees of Manion here with a road safety alert for bad weather. Black Ice is one of winter's biggest hazards and is hard to see. 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OK, now we are joined on the programme by independent Deputy Thomas Pringle, who is part of the rural independent group of TDs who believe businesses not accepting cash is a flagrant violation of people's rights. You're actually part of that group, formally, Thomas? No, I was thinking, yeah. Part of the independent group? Yeah, that's right. OK, well, I corrected myself before I gave you the opportunity to do so, although you probably might not have. OK. But you are... Your views are aligned and we've heard from part of McLaughlin last night as well. There seems to be, you know, a general feeling amongst the opposition that cash needs to be enshrined to make sure people have rights to use it. So that being said, though, I covered a couple of months ago the Irish government's proposals for a legislative framework to protect access to cash in the Republic. I think it's part of its retail banking review. And it seemed to highlight an awful lot of the concerns that you're having. So, I mean, there's not politics being played here, are you? You're not sort of going to try and take the credit for the something the government was already planning? Cosmet, I'm sure the government wouldn't allow me to do that. Charlie McConnel and Joe McHugh would be very quick to jump on that if that was happening. No, look, I mean, I think this is the motion that was put forward by the rural independent group. And I think it is timely motion. I think it's the first time in quite a while that cash has been discussed in the Dall. And it's shocking when you realise that, and I didn't realise this before I looked at their motion, that cash isn't actually legislated for in the Parliament. You know, so there's just an assumption that cash is going to be there and that is a problem. And it leads open into the banks. And if the government are going to do this, well and good. But you know, you wonder why it should take so long and why, you know, and when they can rush through stuff very quickly when they want to. But there seems to be a bit of dragging the needles in relation to this. The minister, I think probably, see, outlining by maybe by the next year, things will be sorted out. At that stage, probably the banks and everybody else will have withdrawn that much cash out. It probably will be a moot point whether people have it or not. Yeah, it seems to me that there's a slight difference. I'm not sure, but my sort of understanding of what the government is proposing, it's not to sort of retain cash usage at its current level or indeed to sort of encourage greater cash usage than we already have. But it's to manage... Manage the wind down. It's wind down. Is that how you see it as well? Because look at, I mean, I don't know if the generation's coming through, they might have a chip in the palm of their hand for crying out loud like some of the countries already do. Do you see this as maintaining cash usage as much as possible for those who wish to use it currently and then follow society if it sort of fades out? Well, I suppose probably, if it declines and fades out, as you say, it's going to make more and more difficult to maintain this. And if you get to the point where there's only maybe 10% of people actually want to use cash, then the question is whether it's sustainable at all or that sort of thing. But I mean, the more we move away from it and the more it's encouraged to move away from it, then it's going to decline anyway. And I think what we need to have is that cash is legal to enter clearly in the people's minds. And that's because then the businesses will bank and stuff like that will be forced to actually work in cash and manage cash as well. And we see it's having a huge impact on people's daily lives as well. Well, this is it. And this is where it really starts bothering me. And I think particularly as well, the fact that COVID, never waste a crisis, has been used kind of as a smoke screen to do things. The thing in particular is the GEA, that's the one we get most contact on here. And let's point out right from the get-go, we as the taxpayer, not through tickets or anything else, we pay 21 million Euro in last year to the GEA, 21 million. Now, that doesn't account for buying tickets, attending events in Croke Park. That's taxation coming from the Exchequer into the GEA. I know there's different elements to the GEA, right? But they don't mind coming into the pub, selling the lotto. I know that's clubs, right? And I'm grouping them in. But anyway, bear with me. Selling the programs in the grounds, rattling the buckets at Child Church, right? But then when it comes to an older person in particular or someone who has a mistrust of digital transactions, you can't turn up at the gate and pay for your ticket. That's an absolute disgrace from an organisation that claims to be of the people for the people. Yeah, that's an example that everybody's familiar with. And it is wrong. I know people who refuse to go to the games now because they refuse to pay online and buy a ticket in advance. And some can't and don't want to compromise their independence by asking someone in the house, they'll actually just say, stop it, I'm not going, because I'm not going to ask the upstart to buy me a ticket online or make my way to Accenture, if they don't have a car. I actually went to a game last year myself over in Barba Faye, and I forgot all of it, the fact that you had to buy a ticket online. So I couldn't, they looked for the ticket, and then you couldn't buy it there and I had to go away, go on my phone, buy the ticket and come back again. It doesn't make sense. And the thing about it is, people might think it's a bit weird and stuff like that there as well, but all this is about keeping track of you as well, taking people paying with cards all the time for everything. That will be used against you as well. And also too, about the GEA, like when the government didn't like, they obviously fund boxing as well, when they didn't like how boxing was being run, they started sort of putting question marks over funding. Do you know what I mean, saying we need to change things or else? Why is the sports minister not coming out, which would fix an awful lot of the problems that we get into this show and say, look, we provide 21 million euro out of the taxpayers' pocket to you. That's why you're profitable. We want you to start accepting cash at the gate. Do you know what I mean? And that would just, it would cost them nothing and it would be a very good intervention from government and the sports minister and it would put the GEA in a very difficult position, not actually in the first instance threat to withhold some of that money, but exercise the right that we have through our contribution. Well, because back to what you were saying at the start, Craig is that the government is more interested in managing the wind down of cash and doesn't actually see anything wrong with what the GEA is doing as an example. And so they're managing the wind down rather than managing the actual usage of cash and allowing people to have the facility to use cash as well as, and if people choose to use the current payment or card payment, fair enough. But so the government is going to see the gradual wind down of cash and that's what they're working towards. And I think that that is going to be a problem and I think every organization has to take into account that look at who their people are and who the people are that are supporting that organization and the GEA are very good at supporting people and something like that. But in this case, they seem to have a blind spot in racing to them and I don't understand why that is. And for many people, the ability to go to a game on a Sunday is what makes their week in that, you know, and making it so awkward for people then to get into a current payment system. I think it's just completely wrong. What would you do about the likes of the three arena? Fully independent, I imagine. I think they are. I think they're cashless as well if my memory serves me correctly. It's a big business serving an awful lot of people throughout the year. Do you believe there should be pressure on businesses or however you might describe it like that to accept cash? Yeah, I think so. And they've been targeting somebody actually during the week in a random motion and they were saying about the three arena that they don't accept cash. And I said, well, you know, people shouldn't go then so they said to say not to go. But if you want to see Shania Twain, you're going to have to go to the three arena, Thomas. That's just the bottom line. Well, that's it. Maybe I don't understand that. But, you know, but that's the thing. So if people don't use the power and use the choice and it's the arena, say, well, you know, if you don't want to go, that's fair enough and you've already bought your ticket. So what are you going to do? And, you know, and then people say, right, well, okay, we're going to do it. That's what allows us to come in all the time. And it's difficult. But, you know, that's why I think the government has to take the responsibility like cash is legal tender. That is legal tender. You know, you talked about constitutionally, like, is it protected in that way? I mean, it's legal tender, but are people obliged to accept it? I mean, if I go into a voter phone shop with my legal tender, you know, they can decline or they will decline to accept it or the three arena for that matter. So what, if it is legal tender, but companies can refuse to accept it, like, what, you know, what does this status legal tender actually mean then? Yeah, well, that's, I think, and apparently legal tender isn't prescribed in law in Ireland. So therefore, there is no protection for it. And that's what government needs to do is actually protect the use of cash. And, you know, and people can use their cards if they want to use their cards, but the reality is that it should be facilitated for people to use cash as much as possible. And, you know, I suppose, maybe cash has been around for so long that the government didn't legislate for it or didn't see the need to legislate for it or that sort of. But, you know, now is the time that it needs to be done to make sure that it maintains. And maybe in 15, 20 years time, this will be a mood conversation. Well, like, it might well be. I know cash and checks aren't the same, but I mean, I'm not sure if you remember, I'm sure many of the listeners do, you know, going in and paying for your shopping and they're writing a check or what I mostly did is didn't have a shilling in the bank and wrote a check for cash on a Wednesday, hopefully hoping that it didn't land in the bank again until Friday. And then on Saturday, I've spent all the money I had for the week on the Friday and not a shilling on the Saturday or Sunday. That's not familiar. Yeah, you know, that's what life was like. But anyway, and to some extent, it can still be like that. But, you know, you would have thought checks would have been around for everything. Now, I know cash is somewhat different, but things do change, you know. And I think there's a separate concern but also tied into it is that it is big brother. You know, we are being tracked every which way. Revolute knows exactly what you like, where you are, what you're spending, it pushes you ads in that regard. The same with all of the banks. I don't know if there's any way to stop that because we're walking around with phones like I can tell you where I was 10 past three on a Thursday in 2016. It's on my phone. I can go win and it will tell me precisely where I was at that time. We all have that on our phones, whether we switched it off or not. So we're sharing that info, you know, and that's how specific it is. You could name a time and a date over the last 10 years and I could tell you specifically where I was. And I kind of upped into that, you could argue, because I haven't switched it off or find it handy. But are we going to have to get used to business and the state really being able to track our absolute every movement? I'm not sure how much more they'd get from the card, but you know what I mean. Yeah, well that's it. Like I mean, and the question is whether you opt into it or not. And if you opt into a system and you know that that's what it involves, well then you can say that you have some responsibility of it. But the fact is that a lot of this information is going to be used unknown to us and it's going to be used and it's becoming a commodity. I mean, you see like Facebook makes its money out of selling the details of who the users are and what their likes are and stuff they got there and that's where it makes its money. You know, so why couldn't the bank do the same thing? And you know, because your bank will have a record of on your card purchase everywhere. If you went by a cup of coffee in the street, they know that you bought a cup of coffee and you know, and they can use that information. And then you tie into that plans for really effectively the guard to have access to any CCTV camera in the country. It could be a camera that's put in a particular area to check on, to check on the legal dumping or something. How long is it before they have access to your doorbell camera? You know, but maybe that's a separate conversation. I don't think going cash this is the big problem. I think we're already halfway there and it's going to get worse and tracking us through our ATM cards. I'm not sure really that's, I think there's better ways to do it. But anyway, the thing, just to take away from this is that at different stages and maybe with different things to be introduced, it seems all of the though pretty much is in the business of at least maintaining cash usage at its current levels. Do you think that's a fair enough assessment of what the government's looking at and with what you and other opposition TDs have been saying? Well, I don't know really if the government's looking at you maintaining at its current levels. It's looking at probably doing an orderly wind down or something like that. There's what we're looking at. And that may be what's necessary. I don't think so. I think we should be trying to facilitate people to use cash as much as they wish to use it. And I mean, I would use cash quite a bit myself because I would rather have cash in me pocket and be paying my card all the time than that as well. And I think we should be facilitated in doing that until I suppose it becomes, we're dragging, kicking and screaming into using the cards all the time. But I think it needs to be looked after and there's a lot of people who don't have the choices that I would have in terms of using it and they should be facilitated and continued to make life as easy and reasonable for them. All right, thanks for your time. We do appreciate it. That was independent. Deputy Thomas Pringle. What do you think? 086625000 or call us an 07491 25000. A caller says we should never be a cashless society. The issue is young people think they'll never get old. We can find a balance of both. It's just greedy businesses. People don't actually realise there is no free banking anymore, no free banking anymore. Every time they spend via a bank card they are paying about 15 cent extra for the transaction and many businesses will not accept a payment via card for under 10 euro. Well, the businesses might be paying 15 cent extra but if you use the likes of a Revolute card there are no transaction charges as far as I'm aware there isn't. So there are alternatives out there where you don't pay as the consumer a charge although you end up what you lose in the swings you pay in the roundabouts, don't you? Greg Bank of Ireland refused cash off me before Christmas because it wasn't in full bags. It was money collected for charity. If the banks won't take it how are we supposed to gather money for charity? I mean I can't ask people to only put in notes or a specified amount if I need to make a full bag. It was over 50 so nothing to be sneezed at either. A caller says I agree GEA going digital only is national disgrace just as bad as selling our games to Sky. Well, that agreement is no longer in situ. The only thing is with the Sky thing is it means you can watch more games. You know, like there's a how many... There was a couple of Donegal games that people were mad to watch. They weren't even being streamed on GEA Go or anything. If another organisation was prepared to show them and you were able to pay for them and see them where you ordinarily wouldn't see them maybe that's not a bad thing. We were in a hotel last summer and they wouldn't accept cash at all and said it was a cashless business. She didn't have a card on her. It was the height of embarrassment that the people she took out for dinner had to pay for the dinner. Can businesses do this? Well, yes they can. Of course they do do it. I think you should be notified well in advance though if that is the case. Right, OK. Guardi, we're very heavy... Well, I'll come back to that because there's a few still going back to that work situation. I'll read it now. Guardi, very heavy handed yesterday. Big squad of them. The court should have owned security at Guardi onto the streets. Drew will be busy this morning viewing cameras. Those Guardi look very unfit. What the school and the courts were trying to force Enoch Burke and anyone else that didn't agree with transgenderism was if they were to interact with that student they had at all times to use gender and neutral terminology while interacting with them, her or whatever. That is madness and anyone who thinks that's OK should have a good long think to themselves. That's not why he ended up in prison. That's not why he ended up in court. And there was a process and I'm not going to keep going over this because, you know, I got DMs on Twitter yesterday from people slacking me off for being pro and anti-all at the same time. It's crazy how divided the world has become. But anyway, we don't want to get... We need to talk about the facts and he did not like the fact that he was suspended on full pay. There was other instances than his refusal to use those pronouns and he decided to go to court rather than allow the school process to play out. And then if they did sack him to appeal that. So we never really got to find out how the school might have accommodated his religious beliefs. We never got to that point. The GEA are living up to their name, the Grab All Association. They're not grabbing cash so I can't agree with you there. How many people aren't turning up to the games because they can't buy a ticket? So if they grab all, they're not grabbing all. They're not grabbing cash. Just wondering, are vouchers still considered legal tender? Well, we have to be careful with words like legal tender. It's a little bit like our neutrality. You know, we presume that they're enshrined, but they're not always are. Everyone, welcome to Finn Park and we'll be delighted to accept cash. Up the harps, that comes in for man. The brilliant things happening at Finn Harps with the people that are in charge there. Huge crowds. Huge number of season tickets sold. People then paying cash at the gate. And there seems to be a real buzz. And hopefully the results start coming the way as well because it deserves it because it feels like something special is happening there. I don't think that's a misread of the situation. Right. I have to take a quick break. Stay where you are. The 9 till noon show with Letter Kenny Credit Union. Simplify your debts with a debt consolidation loan from Letter Kenny Credit Union. Call us on 07.4. No, no, no, 07.4. 9102126 or apply online via our App Store or in-office today. Every Tuesday morning on Heiland Radio will be joining Colin If you're thinking of changing your washing machine, consider the brilliant 8kg 1400 spin washer from Blumberg. Raymond Sweeney here at Ben Sweeney Huronix. If you often need laundry washed in a hurry, this brilliant washing machine will get your daily clothes clean and fresh in under 30 minutes. Saving money on your energy bills and giving you back valuable time. It also comes with a seven-year parts and labor warranty for peace of mind. Call in to us and see for yourself. At Ben Sweeney Huronix Port Road, Letter Kenny, we're in the shopping centre, Dunlow. Get ready for the all-new Paul's Venue with state-of-the-art sound and light and all-new decor. Reopening Saturday 18th of March with the Whistling Donkeys. Tickets on sale now. See Paul's Letter Kenny on Facebook for updates. Farm entitlements values slashed for more in your farmer's journal, His Paul Mooney. New cap changes are fueling the sale of entitlements. Shocked new cow quota for young farmers and partnerships. Fears over new suckler scheme payment clawback. Hopes grow for sheep crisis support payment. Solar farm expansion squeezing land availability. Plus find out if you're paying over the odds in the latest fertilizer price survey. All inside this week's Irish Farmers Journal. You cannot afford to miss it. Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport. Thinking of a sun holiday this summer with the family? Flight to Alicante, Malaga, Faro, Lanzarote, New York and Milan with Ryanair. Ireland West Airport, don't just take off, take it easy. OK, it's the day where as on outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow will move in from the south and extend to most parts through the day, though the coastal northwest may stay dry. This will lead to poor visibility and hazardous road conditions. Not it's staying dry, I presume to mean from the first part there. Anyway, highest temperatures one or three degrees. We'll try and get a more clear sounding weather forecast for you for the next update. We are going to take a break for the news now. Stay where you are. The Ninetal Noon Show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union. Digital loans now available. Apply online or via our app today and get your loan transferred directly to your current account. We should all be grateful to Vespila Vulgaris. The common Irish wasp. Because Vespila Vulgaris is equipped with an early warning system. Only audible when you're in harm's way. Just like front assist, driver alert and lane assist. Early warning systems equipped as standard on Volkswagen's T-Cross, T-Rock and Tiger SUVs. Which only kick in when you need them. Search Volkswagen SUV. Volkswagen. On this week's Business Matters, I'll be joined by the director of Bill Cost, Liam Langen. So join me, Kearny Ronell, for Business Matters on Sunday evening after the 6 o'clock news. The Business Matters podcast is also available to download at heilandvideo.com. Business Matters in association with ATU Donegal's Faculty of Business. If you're an owner or manager in food production business, consider the new one-year Level 8 Higher Diploma in Food Business and Product Innovation. It's just one three-hour lecture weekly. Call 911-866-00 or email gary.miguel.atu.ie. Choose life. Choose fun. Choose not sitting at home getting bored. Choose something better. Something really fun. Choose fundomania. Coming to the Brunswick Movie Bowl from March 3rd. Choose regular, junior or family wristbands. And enjoy some of Europe's top thrill rides. Choose fun for all ages. A legendary fundomania event. 3rd to 19th March. For details, see fundomania.co.uk. 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 Newsdesk. No citizen should be denied access to a community or public service if they are willing to pay with legal tender. That's the view of Donegal W. Pothick McLaughlin, who was speaking in the dull on a motion calling for the protection of cash as legal tender. He says the government needs to confront those who are denying people the option. W. McLaughlin says, in particular, those who have supported the JAA are now being shut out. JAA, I have to say, with the cashless approach that they've taken, they need to listen to their grassroots and particularly make sure that older people who've been the bedrock of their clubs for years go along to the games. That decision needs to be reversed and it needs to be accessible to all. Another water outage has been reported to end south of Nechon. Iske Aaron says repairs are underway to a burst water main at Ardmore Muff. Water outages are possible in the local area. A traffic management plan will be in place for the duration of the works, which are set to last until three o'clock this afternoon. The biggest shake-up of the primary school curriculum in a quarter of a century is being unveiled today. Primary school students will soon be learning foreign languages, science and technology, as well as the importance of well-being and how to achieve it, while there will be a reduced focus on religion. That's been welcomed by guidance counsellor and education columnist, Brian Mooney. Reducing the time allocated to religious education from two and a half hours to two hours. I mean, that's long overdue. You know, the Catholic Church, the government diocese, has basically said that faith formation is now going to be part of parish life. I think that the Catholic Church has said that, you know, having the emphasis in schools is really not doing them any real benefit. The arrival of Ukrainians in Ireland could lead to the further development of school facilities in rural areas. Irish rural link believes people fleeing the war in Ukraine offers the potential for the regeneration of towns and villages right across this country. Almost 15,000 Ukrainian children have been enrolled in schools across the country as of March 1. The figures show almost 10% of those were in Donegal. Seamus Bowland, CEO of Irish Rural Link, says their arrival might not just save struggling rural schools, it could actually help them grow. Schools threatening to lose a teacher, looking at the figures here, a lot of schools now have increased numbers, so I think that threat dies away and in fact it may even put pressure to expand services or even expand the buildings that schools are in. Concerns have been raised over the delivery of a new health centre in Dunfanahe. The 2.5 million euro facility was to have been completed in 2020. However, to date, construction has yet not commenced. It's understood tenders for the development have been issued. Councilor Michael McClaverty says he has sought an update from the health minister. I don't know what to hold up with at the moment because that's what we're trying to pursue actively this long term. There's a good number of years, particularly even in the last couple of weeks as health is still, we have no answers. For example, in the first of March, he's sent away an email again to Minister Donnelly's office. As he had as well before, back in November as well, as he was here in the Kinney. And still to no avail, there's no reply to this one. A Donegal woman is to receive the inaugural Dara Fitzpatrick Award. Frances Griffin, a National Ambulance Service Paramedic, has been recognised for her efforts in the immediate aftermath of the Chrysler tragedy. With more, here's Sean O'Regan. Frances Griffin was one of the first responders on the scene of the explosion in Chrysler last October. Irish paramedic and education and research network chair Neve Cummins praised Ms. Griffin's strength and bravery in responding to the tragedy, saying she was completely focused and professional, knowing it was likely someone she knew would be involved. Ms. Griffin was involved in removing the most seriously injured patient from the building and treating and stabilising another seriously injured patient at the scene. The Dara Fitzpatrick Award was launched by the IPERN to honour the memory of one of Ireland's first female search and rescue pilots who lost her life in 2017 while on a rescue mission and is presented annually on International Women's Day to an inspirational woman within Ireland's pre-hospital care community. A significant snowfall is being reported in many parts of the country. A status yellow warning for ice and snow is in place until tonight with wintry showers likely in many parts. Of up to 10 centimetres are being forecast for some areas. Met Erin's Liz Walsh says the snowfall is already underway. There's been some sleeved and snow reported in parts of Galway, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Kilkenny, Leesh and Tipperary so far. So obviously in Dublin it's just wet and that was expected but it's far from over. Looking at the weather forecast from Met Erin it'll stay largely dry for the morning but in the afternoon outbreaks of rain, sleet or snow will move in and extend through the day. That will lead to poor visibility and some hazardous road conditions. There have been suggestions that the furthest northern coastal areas may escape the snow and stay dry. Met Erin's say expect top temperatures today of no more than one to three degrees celsius and that's Highland video news. We're back with news again at 11 o'clock until then we'll have a very good morning. The obituary notices for this Thursday morning March the 8th. The death has occurred of Marie O'Donnell only ban Main Street Dunlowe. Her remains will be reposing in McLean's funeral home today from 3 o'clock with Rosary at 8 o'clock. Reposing at her home tomorrow from 2 o'clock. We'll have a very good morning. We'll have a very good morning. We'll have a very good morning. We'll have a very good morning. at Conley Homes, Malentine. Funerals will take place tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock, followed by cremation in Leclan's crematorium cavern at 3 o'clock. The death has occurred of Peter Andersen, Mahara-Paced, Drombo-Lorch, Stronauler. Remains reposing at his home from 11 o'clock this morning. Funer from there tomorrow morning at half past 10, for recreation mass in the Church of Merriam-Macklet, Stronauler, at 11 o'clock, interment afterwards in Drombo's cemetery. The recreation mass will be streamed live on churchservices.tv. Donations and lay of flowers if so desired to the patient's comfort fund, St Joseph's Community Hospital, care of any family member. Family time, please, from 10 p.m. until 11 a.m. and on the morning of the funeral. The death has occurred of Dr. Thecla Morgan-Nayfrost, the Gleeb Letter-Kennie and formerly of Cratlow County-Clair, reposing at her late residence today from 12 o'clock to 11 a.m. until 8 o'clock, with rosary tonight at 8 o'clock. Funer from there tomorrow morning going to the Church of the Irish Martyrs, Bally-Rain, for 11 o'clock recreation mass with burial afterwards in the family plot in Cormwell Cemetery. Funer mass can be viewed online on the Church of the Irish Martyrs YouTube channel. Family time on the morning of the funeral, please. Family flowers only, please, donations if desired to the family member during a Olysses unit, Letter-Kennie University Hospital, care of Pascal Blake, Funeral Director. The death has taken place in Centreville, Virginia, USA, of Trevor Bell, formerly of William Street Raffault. Cremation will take place in Centreville, Virginia, USA. The death has taken place of Marie Broden, 18 Dromahee Park and formerly Garo Art, our draw. Her remains are reposing at her former residence at Garo Art. Funer from there this morning at half past 10 to the Church of the Holy Family, our draw, for 11 o'clock recreation mass with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only, please, donations if desired to St Shanahan House, our draw, or St Vincent of Paul, our draw, care of any family member. The death has occurred of Anne Cormwell, Nay Devine, 171 Murlock Road, Dunamanna and formerly of McCullis Town Road, Plumbridge, reposing at her home. Funer from there this morning at 20 past 10 for recreation mass in St Patrick's Church, Kalini, Dunamanna, at 11 o'clock, full bay internment in the adjoining cemetery. Donations and lay of flowers, please, to cancer research, care of quickly funeral directors. The recreation mass can be viewed live via Dunaheedie Park's YouTube channel. And the death has taken place of Kathleen Freel, Gorten Avern, Cool Boy Letter Kenny, remains a reposing at her home. Funeral service at her home tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock with cremation and Leglands crematorium cavern at 5 o'clock. Family flowers only, donations if desired to the stroke unit, Medical Four Letter Kenny University Hospital, care of any family member. For more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals, please go to highlandradio.com. The county's number one talk show, the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio. OK, you're very welcome back to the programme. Good morning to you if you are just tuning in. Where have you been? We had an interesting conversation about the future of cash usage. And you've been texting in on that. We really do appreciate it. Just to remind you, coming up in about 20 minutes, we have in studio once again, Midnight Preachers. They are our fourth act who are taking part in our competition here, where we, I say we, all of us will select a winner to go forward to represent this region in a national competition. So stay tuned for that. Two tracks coming in from Midnight Preachers. They already have a huge, following huge support. So it's an extra retreat for you on a Thursday. Will I let you know a little later on as to how you will have your say on who wins. I would not like the job of picking out of our four acts. And I mean that. And I'll tell you how much I mean it. Literally having the conversation with Caroline just while the news was on. It's not just something I say on air. I generally don't do that. But they're all great. And the Midnight Preachers are one of the best bands we have in the county as well. So good luck choosing a winner in all of that. OK. Caller says the GEA are the Give All Away Association. They distribute money to clubs. Yeah, listen, there's no question. Like, I hope no one thinks that there's a general criticism of the GEA here. That's not what that conversation about. This was about empowering people who supported the GEA all their lives to go to a game and buy a ticket at the turnstile with their cash that they have in their pocket. They might have to make a small amount of money go a long way. It's easy to budget that way. No one's calling for a root and branch of the GEA or criticising every element of it and also very conscious that it's not the clubs, generally speaking. This is an inter-county situation. Just take cash off people. That's all we're asking for. The only reason they stopped taking cash was because everyone was going to get COVID off the cash. Do you remember? There's nothing else. There was no other reason. Using your card for certain transactions like coffee can be used against you when applying for a mortgage according to my brother's financial adviser. Keep cash lots of older people. Well, my understanding is and I've seen mortgage application forms gambling and the lotto, which is gambling. They work against you on mortgage. I'm not sure they can go so frenzied because it relates to how much you spend on coffee, but certainly there's a box to tick-re the lotto and gambling. So whatever about coffee, I don't know. But your brother is a financial adviser, so you know what I mean? I'd go with that too. That wouldn't surprise me. I'm only saying what I know for a fact. Keep cash lots of older people have no idea about cards. They do maybe. Like, you know, my dad, God rest him, always use the cards. He thought tapping was the best thing ever and never off the mobile phone and all that. He was well into his 80s, so I wouldn't say all people are the same. He loved the notion of tapping. The only thing is is that every single time he found the necessity to tell whoever was serving him how the tapping works, as if he discovered this technology. You know, I'll just tap here. He used to go, but anyway. So I wouldn't group all people of... And I also know younger people who only use cash because that's the way it is. The same people that will... They don't transfer their bank account online. They wanted to go in and see someone in person. They tax the car in the local office. They don't want to do it online. They prefer to post off the passport because they don't want to do it on the internet. You know what I mean? And that's people of all different ages. So not to group everybody in. Traveled to the Donegal V Galway match in Old Donald Park. Never crossed my mind it would be a ticket-only affair. At the turnstiles told no entry without a ticket and to go back and get one on my phone. Said I didn't know how to do that. Told get some young person to show you how to do it. I went home. I'll probably never see Donegal ever playing a live match again. The GEAs like the government totally out of touch with much of the population. Sad for older, forgotten people. Hi, Greg. There are 20 people living around me. Has stopped going to games because of no cash payment. Exactly. So not to grab all. Three arena has cash tills. Well, there's one place. Are you sure it's the three? Well, I was definitely one of these venues and it was cash only for particular events. And I was almost sure it was the three arena. There was no cash. When I was there, I couldn't use cash. I know that for a fact. And it's not because I want to do it. It's because someone with me did. Right. Right. Okay. Is there any sign of the roads coming to an end? And that are Kenny, they must be way over budget, taking them an age to finish, probably take another year out of it to build a footbridge. Seems there's an open checkbook for this project. Be very interesting to find out the final bill. I'm not sure what the uplift is or what the overrun is. And I'm not sure if there's any wiggle room outside the contract, but don't expect that four lanes to be finished before at least the end of October. That caller is correct. The Irish government did reduce their financial commitment to funding the A5 when the recession hit. I distinctly remember that. Thank you. That's why I'm not an authority, by the way, and I never wish to present myself as such. I'm just here keeping the conversation going. So I appreciate your input there. I really do. Greg, you take the child into the shop with you. Don't talk about being too judgmental. It's common sense. Too dangerous nowadays. Thank you. I understand what you're saying. And I have been accused of maybe too being too forgiving. And of course, then I kind of did check myself when I realized that the obvious thing to do is what I do is take the child into the shop with you. I'm a carer of a child with special needs. There is a Facebook support page for parents in Donegal, and every post on it, it's parents being reviewed of their carers allowance. It appears the government are doing this to every carer in a bid to save money. Okay. Well, right. Where are we? Let's take a break. We're heading towards live music, by the way. We've got the midnight preachers in just to remind you if you're switching on wondering where they are coming up just after half 10. That and so much more besides on this Thursday. It's the 9th of March. It's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Thursday, the 9th of March, Jackpot Day. You're playing for the Jackpot prize of 15,200 euro on the pink sheet. The reference number is S9. It's game number 10. The jackpot number is 25. This number can come out in any position from the next 10 numbers drawn. And now, here are your daily numbers. 25. 11. 85. 10. 23. 48. 20. 22. 53. And finally, 77. Call your claim to 9104833 before 8 tonight. Leave in your name, contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day. Get all your NCBI Bingo information at HighlandRidio.com. Are you suffering from long-term injuries? Chronic joints or back pains? Is your lifestyle getting you down? Are you fed up of long waiting times? Letter Kenny Medics are a new private clinic based in Letter Kenny. Dr. Muhammad El Preah and Dr. Repu Singh are here 7 days per week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to help and assist and advise on medical issues and offer consultations of up to 30 minutes. To book, go to letterkennymedics.ie. Letter Kenny Medics, we listen if you want to talk. Hi, Theresa Mannion here with a Road Safety Alert. In snow and icy conditions, slow down and leave extra distance between you and the vehicle in front. Avoid harsh braking and acceleration. Use the highest gear possible to avoid wheel spin. Select a low gear when travelling downhill from the Road Safety Authority. 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Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. So as we heard a little earlier on in the programme, we don't know the status of the two and a half million euro health centre in Donfany. It was due to be completed in 2020. There's no sign of construction. The Greenfield site is there. We've made our enquiries with the HSC, the paper house, the Treconal Tribune, Councillor Michael McLafferty has. Dr Rory Stewart is the GP in Donfany. He joins us now. Good morning, Doctor. Thanks for your time this morning. Greatly appreciated. Good morning, Greg. Nice to speak to you. Yeah. Now, and I could put it to Councillor McLafferty that we're hearing now that 58 school projects are being put on ice because of cost overrun potentials and what-have-you. Are you concerned that financing this now is what the stumbling block might be? Yeah, I think so. And obviously, as you've already alluded to, we expected this to be completed about three years ago, and I suppose we've been getting the same message over and over again since then, which is the whole of the negotiation between the developer and the over-costing. So I suppose the longer things go on, it seems like the more expensive things are going to get. And I suppose the fear is at some point the developer would essentially say that this doesn't make sense in an economic sense, and I suppose that would be the concern that it would be time to still speak. So, yeah, that's the fear. Yeah, what's the status of planning for this site, Doctor? Yeah, so the planning went through. I can't remember the exact date, but it's certainly probably a couple of years ago. And of course, planning is only a valid for a certain period of time. So I suppose that, again, is fear that if it goes much longer, then we'd have to go through the planning permission process again, which obviously can be quite arduous and time-consuming. So I suppose I need the ladies now who may have knocked on the ladies further down the line, and I suppose from the perspective of the patients they're concerned, because I suppose the health centre that we have at the moment isn't prepared for any of it. Yeah, and my concern would be that other than medical professionals like yourself and those that would work in this centre and the general population who'd benefit from it, my concern is it might suit everybody else if, I don't know, I'll put it like this. I'm not sure it's the exact terminology. Yeah, and there were to expire if we went back to the drawing board because of the increase in construction costs and what have you. Yeah, obviously, maybe there are some parties where that would make sense for, but obviously from my perspective it's really about the patients and the community, and certainly that would be a real issue that people have been voicing concerns over the last two to three years, but the local patients are getting, I suppose, more and more frustrated and upset by the delays and certainly there was something like that where we had to go back to the drawing board. I think it could be pretty crest on, pretty angry because the community came together to, I suppose, fight for a new health centre and over years ago and they had a big campaign to save the surgery and to get a new health centre built and a lot of effort was put in from the community to get to this point so I think it would be a massive retrograde step that we ended up going back to having to read and refer to and everything like that. Yeah, I mean obviously we heard the councillor raising his concerns. Would you like to see more of a political backing to this campaign, more vocal perhaps in terms of getting this across the line because if this falls by the wayside now we could be right at the very beginning of a process where people feel they have to start campaigning again. Do you like to see maybe, as I say, this issue being raised on a national level by the five politicians that represent the entire county. They don't just represent their own areas. Yeah, no, you're right obviously. I suppose the balance of power lays mainly in political spirit now. What I would say is all of the local politicians have been engaged in the process and are aware of the situation as an ongoing situation, you know, as we speak. And it has been brought as far as the Minister for Health. And so I suppose that I'm not sure what we can do as a community other than to try and, you know, keep pushing and I suppose that that's the path that the most community groups would take is to, you know, lobby our local politicians to try and get them to, you know, expose them to the Minister and the Department of Health to see if they are very important to get something like this done. But to date, as I say, we haven't had much success so it is very disappointing. I mean, obviously there's a lot of pressure on the country's finances. My fear is projects, we're getting into a period of time where projects like this start falling by the wayside. We hope that's not the case because you and other medical professionals and the public deserve a decent space for you to do your work and see the likes of yourself. But for now, Dr. Rory Stewart, thanks for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Bye-bye, take care. Matt Aaron have now upgraded the weather warning to an orange one and I'm not sure how much we'll get of it. But anyway, a status orange snow-ice warning is in place now for Cavern, Donegal, Monah and Claire, Connacht, Longford, Louth, Meath and West Meath. They say further spells of sleet and snow today combined with strong east-northeast winds significant accumulations of snow are expected in some areas along with icy conditions, lying snow and sub-zero temperatures overnight leading to icy stretches, possible hazards, possible impacts, very hazardous road conditions, travel disruption, poor visibility. That's valid from 11 o'clock today until 10 a.m., 10 p.m., not 10 a.m. tomorrow. All right, that was issued just in the last 20 minutes. Now again, I want to do a public service and get that information out to you, which is that you might be texting me in the morning and saying, we've never seen a flaker snow and it's four degrees, do you know what I mean? But there are going to be parts of the county that are going to experience some difficult conditions and I would err in the side of the caution if you had to head, say, for instance, west or through the Gap or whatever, maybe try and get it done a little bit earlier in the day if that's at all possible. Right, OK. Ewnan joins us on the programme now. Ewnan, sorry, I was coming to you before 10 and then I had an issue with the phone line, so you've been patient and waited for me to chat to you. How are you, Ewnan? I'm fine, Greg, and how are you? I am doing good, right? You're, I think, really quite typical. You're three decades following Donegal footballers. I would have followed them for the best part of 30 years, anyway. Yeah. But when they started this crack of you're not allowed to pay at the gate, that was me furnishing them in because I left school 47 years ago and I can't get this computer thing at all in my head. I can text and phone, and that's about the head of it. Yeah. So I couldn't get tickets. Now, it's not to say that I couldn't get tickets. Sometimes you might be able to get somebody to get one for you, but that's if they're going to some of the shops. They used to be, but... But do you mind asking them, Ewnan, like, because I speak to some people who don't want to ask people to do something as simple as buying a ticket for them or something that was as simple, but it's not as simple anymore? Do you know what I mean? I mean, everyone's different, and I try and recognise that, but do you constantly want to be calling in favour to do something that you should be able to do yourself just to buy a ticket at the gate? Yes, because, I mean, I was brought up in the world where it was all cash, you know. Checking cash years ago, and I've been going to maybe my grannies or my uncles there, and, you know, when you have cash and you're away, you're always looking for a few Bob, but not that you had asked them, but, yeah, when you went away at the weekend, maybe to your grannies, your uncles or someone that might have stewed you a few Bob. Hello, and do you know what? And Ewnan, you'd feel like a millionaire, wouldn't you, when you got that? Even if it was a handful of loose change or whatever, you just felt like a millionaire to have that cash. There's no point... No, for sure. That's probably before, Rick, about a year, a way back a couple of years ago, where you're asking about, we're talking about yellow up bottles. Yeah. I think you have to, if you remember. We do now, Ewnan, yeah. Yeah, and, you know, to get that Ewnan Bob on bottles that time, it was ten pence for a five-megon bottle. You know, there weren't a glass bottle to be got in the country because everybody was yellowing them up. Money was that tight. Well, they're going to start doing that now with plastic bottles. We'll see if it's the... if the same effect is happening, but hopefully it does. And you mentioned to Ewnan that your grandparents, and it's beautiful memories to have, I'm sure, of the few Bob being put into your hand, and you do it for your grandchildren now, and I'm sure you see their eyes light up when you do it. There's not... If you said to them, I'll put five euro in your Revolut card or something, it wouldn't mean anything, but you hand them a five or whatever you do, a couple of quid, you'll see their eyes light up because they know they've got real money there. I mean, it's lovely to see it too, Greg. You know, I love to see the winds coming over and coming in, and when their bosses and things get, you know, you get them a... a point of pound in their yard, you know, and sure their eyes light up like one... I had one here in Sunday there, just there, with Daniel, and I had money in his yard, and you see the eyes lighten up on him when he opened up the yard with that. That's been that I always look for right now, when you see the way up to the envelope. But that's lovely to see them, you know, at the same time, and to be able to give it to them. But I think of every sad day that they took cash away from... Yeah, let me ask you, yeah, let me ask you, and did Daniel put the cash straight into his pocket and then read the card, or did he read the card and then put the cash into his pocket? No, he put the cash in first, and then he had a locker. He's going to be a businessman, then maybe so, you know. I have six grandchildren, and I have to say for a plate of them, they do put their savings away. But I guess, right, that you're the type of person that when you go into the shop, if they hand you a tenner, you get it broke up to two-fiverers because the grandchildren might be landing. Oh, I would always have a win-and-bub in my pocket because when the wind comes, at certain times, and if they're doing something that they're entitled to, I would say to them, listen, if you do get that right, I'll give you a win-and-bound. Yeah, but that's education as well as anything, you know. That's education. They're learning about the money side of things. That's right. Well, I remember a way back years ago when I was going to school in the beginning here, and one of my teachers in fourth class, I thought he was the best teacher since sliced band because he had a press at the top of the class and they had apples, and bananas, and toffees, and a box of lucky numbers. And the way it was, if you got your arithmetic right, they'd say they've won up here some and pick something out of that. It's one item. You could pick one thing. Well, I was, you know, I left school at 14. The education wouldn't be a mile high, but the one thing I was good at was reading and writing and spelling. Well, I left school at 14, too, so... Well, I learned more at school than I learned. Well, I was going to say, you see, you don't want to discourage people, but I just couldn't work at school and finished school on a Friday and started working on a Monday, and I haven't stopped working since. I've never, you know, I've worked every moment since then. Anyway, you and I could chat all day, but we've live music on the way. I just think I don't like to hear someone like yourself who's spent 30 years following the county team now feeling that you can't because you have to, because you don't... You prefer not to do online and stuff, and I just think that's really unfortunate. Well, I would like to say one thing. I think, do you see the likes of me and there's plenty like me? What the GE should be doing for the likes of us? Because I tell you, I must have two All-Ireland's that we actually won. I was actually in Dublin, but I had to go to a pub to watch it after going for 30 years following them. I couldn't get a ticket for that day, but I've seen people come from America and different parts of the world was able to get on them, not in a much more year. That's a different conversation. If you're going to a MIPS, there should be some way of regulating that you get a ticket, you get a stub, and if you can have so many stubs, that you should be entitled to a ticket to get a ticket for that by the end of the year. I think they did have a scheme like that a couple of years ago, but, Yunan, come here, listen. We'll chat again. Thank you so much. Fair play to your great-granddad, and it's lovely to chat to you. Have a lovely day. God bless. Thanks very much. God bless to you too, Yunan. Thank you very much indeed, Yunan there. OK, midnight preachers on the way very shortly. Riker Shoes at Market Square Letter Kenny are proud to announce that they're now stocking Riker Footwear. Riker blend fashionable styles with incredible comfort, striking the perfect balance between fashion and practicality. All Riker Shoes are made using unique anti-stress and anti-shock technology to provide the essential support and comfort the brand is known for. Try any of the new season Riker Shoes now at Green Shoes Market Square Letter Kenny. Farm entitlements values slashed for more in your farmers journal, is Paul Mooney. New cap changes are fueling the sale of entitlements. Shocked new cow quota for young farmers and partnerships. Fears over new suckler scheme payment clawback. Hopes grow for sheep prices support payment. Solar farm expansion squeezing land availability. Plus find out if you're paying over the odds in the latest fertilizer price survey. All inside this week's Irish Farmers Journal. You cannot afford to miss it. Take something old and make it new with the vacant property refurbishment grant. Get up to 30,000 euro for a vacant property or 50,000 euro for a derelict property to help you create your new home. Plus the scheme now includes cities, towns, villages and all rural areas so there are more options than ever. Breathe new life into an old home. Head to gov.ie forward slash vacancy for more information on how to apply. An initiative of the Government of Ireland. There's something exciting coming. It could make your travel dreams come true. Tune in to the Ninetal Noon Show this Friday to find out more. The Ninetal Noon Show with letter Kenny Credit Union. Now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Letter Kenny Credit Union 9102127. All right now it's time to introduce the midnight preachers a band with a huge local following with a big national following as well. A few albums in the bag on soundtracks and back on Highland Radio. It is great to welcome back Owen Johnson, Eamon McLaughlin and Colin Kenny Owen. Good morning to you. Thank you so much for coming on. Good morning Greg, how are you? I'm doing fantastic and it's great to have you back on the Ninetal Noon Show and back on Highland Radio. And thanks for entering this competition as well as to say, you know, you're already enjoying great success. You're currently working on your next album, is that right? That's right, yeah. And just like to say as well, we're very grateful to be here and it's great of Highland Radio to be promoting local music. And if I sound about like Johnny Cash or something this morning, I've got a bit of a cold. Well, I also have a bit of a cold but I'm not using any excuses, Owen. Yeah, I'd say the good carpenter doesn't blame us too. I'm not about to sing. So, you're working on the new album, you're continuing, I suppose it's just trying to continue that momentum that's built up there. That's it, exactly. Yeah, we're working on the album and yeah, the competition was great because it kind of forced us to get something that we were working on ready and sent in. Yeah, and I think too what you's are as bringing credibility as all our acts are to a movement about, as I said to the boys yesterday, getting more Irish music played not on weekends, not for specific months all the time and I think that's what I see me and you guys being a part of here. I appreciate that. The quality is definitely out there and you only have to look at the standard of the other acts from this week to hear that. But it's very difficult as a musician to break through that. So, yeah, it's tough to get through that glass ceiling. So, if things like this are great to give people that confidence that they can sort of stand up there with the big boys. Yeah, that's absolutely. Because the quality is there, the variety is there, we've heard it from this week. You can fit all of the bands into genres if you wanted to, that they bat in the same as you that could hold their own no problem. It is just a case of the platform. That's it, exactly. In my view. Right, okay. So, we're going to hear Summertime is the song we're going to hear first. Then the track that people have been listening in the promos and on air is Mirror's. We'll get to that and have a quick chat in between tracks if that's okay. But are you happy enough to plow on there? Yep. All right. So, okay. This is Summertime. It's from the ever-popular Midnight Preachers. They are Owen Johnson, Emma McLaughlin and Colin Kenney. As I say, this is their track Summertime. Thanks, Greg. All right. That was Midnight Preachers and their song Summertime, which sounds amazing. And just to remind you, I'm sure you're aware and those watching on our socials would certainly be aware that all of our acts are performing live in all elements of it. Owen, that sounds... It's just a lovely sound, isn't it? Thanks very much. You get that yourselves, I'm sure, because these are perfectionists in that regard. In terms of gigs, where can people see us locally or do we know what's happening for the summer yet? Yeah. Dare we speak of the summer yet? Do we have to get, say, Patrick, stay out the way, I don't know. You mentioned Lassenbray the last time, Greg. No. Yeah, we've got a few festivals coming up and we're in preliminary stages of planning a tour with a group from Israel called the Dodies. And we're looking at different things. Locally, we're in the oyster to drift into Montana and those kind of dates are up on the Facebook, so those are the ones we can talk about. All right. And anything that might be coming up that you can't talk about? No. A few orange in the fire, maybe you'll see, all right. OK, it's great to be able to... for people to get a look at you's locally with the tours that are upcoming and all and the festival season, which is ahead of us. Yeah. Right, OK, so we're going to hear the track now, mirrors. Tell us about how long have you had this track in the bag because it's one of those songs, it's a great song because it instantly sounds like you can sing along to it after one or two hearings, which I, and I said this yesterday, presume is what good songwriting and good music is all about. I really appreciate that. That's kind of the litmus test for us is when the song is over, is there something you remember about it? Something good you remember about it? Yeah, so it's kind of... that idea has been knocking around since about 2017 and it's got that sort of 70s type thing, which we really love, obviously, and we try and write stuff that we like, which sounds like a sort of stupid thing to say, but... No, is that where it comes down to all that, you know these buzzwords, but it's authentic then, isn't it? If it's what you used to do as a collective, right, then you believe it and then the audience will believe it. That's where the connection comes from, isn't it? That's how you grow organically, I suppose, an audience. I think so, and we all love that kind of stuff because it's very authentic. We don't record to it, like we don't use auto tune, we don't do that kind of thing, we don't use samples, so it's all very live and natural and when it works, it's very satisfying. Yeah, OK. Well, listen, we're going to hear it now. This is mirrors. You've heard it on the radio, you've heard it in the promos, I'm sure, and heard it across our social media and I feel you'll be hearing a lot more of it into the future. This is the live performance now. This is the Midnight Preachers and their track, which is in this competition and it is mirrors. Whenever you're ready, guys. Thanks, Cricket. Yes, Midnight Preachers there and that's their track mirrors. If you're doing that live, would you go on for another minute or two just on the instrument? I could listen to that for a while. There's no doubt about that. I'm not hearing you there. There's the mic cut. Have we lost the sound already? OK, there you go. I was saying now if that was live, I think you could go another two or three minutes there. That's the plan to get all lost in it and start soloing and stuff. It's sort of a dreamy type thing. It is, and I'm not a music aficionado though I pretend to be like everything else but your work's brilliant in that but the bass is particularly nice on that and the percussion obviously is excellent but there's a lovely bit of bass guitar in there as well. Very much. I'll be sure to pass that on to Deemer there. It might make her a minute. I think they won't go beyond that. Listen, thanks so much. As I say, you're successful already and that's going to continue of no doubt and hopefully being part of this to assist and we appreciate you being a part of it because like all the other acts it brings good credibility to it as well which is brilliant. And thanks so much for... I hope what I'm trying to say has come across correctly but I want to listen to thanks for the time. Thank you and thanks for the platform and thanks for giving the platform to everybody else too because it's an important thing to do as you say. Yeah, all right. Colin, well done to you as well and Emer of course, all amazing artists as all four acts have been and I hope you really do agree with us. We're going to be letting you know how you get involved in the voting very shortly. We've got external judges as well who are well placed in the music industry and the booking industry as well that are independent to all of this process and I would not like to be you the listener at home. No, you may know some of the people involved and vote for that way but if you're completely independent I would not like to pick any of the four acts because for all different reasons any of them could win and I genuinely believe that but we'll let you know about voting and all of that coming up for you very shortly but we have to take a break here now. The 9 till noon show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union offering low-rate car loans with fast approval Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. At Shannon Airport we know what makes a dream holiday. It's not just a huge choice of destinations like Chicago, Paris, Newcastle, Naples, Barcelona and Porto it's the hassle-free experience that makes getting through our airport a dream. So whatever dream holiday you're packing for head for ShannonAirport.ie Shannon Airport, making it easy. Donald's skiing here and I am so excited to announce my new partnership with Ireland's leading retailer, Dunstores. 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How well do you know your mum? Find out with our fantastic Mother's Day celebrations at Foilside Shopping Centre Saturday 11th of March from 12 to 3pm. Enter our fun-filled quiz. How well do you know your mum? Live with Jerry Love's for your chance to win amazing prizes for your mum. You can find us at Foilside Shopping Centre's Facebook page for details. The weather updates with Ireland West Airport. Sala, Nunes, The Beatles. You can now fly to Liverpool eight times a week with Ryanair this summer. Ireland West Airport, don't just take off. Take it easy. OK, the weather forecast for this Thursday. I kind of mentioned it already. There is an orange weather warning. We'll just stick with that for now. It's a moderate weather warning for snow, ice, ferdonigol, rain, sleet and snow will spread and be accompanied by strengthening winds. Accumulations of snow are expected in many areas, along with icy conditions. Sleet and snow will likely transition to rain in southern areas. So that doesn't really apply to us. But look at... We are going to be seeing some wintery weather. Let's just hope it doesn't get too bad. Right, 086625,000 WhatsApps and texts. That number. The Midnight Preachers. Such a great band. Hope they win. Well, you can vote for them. The Midnight Preachers. What a voice. They deserve more airtime, fabulous song. When you hear them regularly here, we just want... We just want everyone to get an opportunity to hear the great music we have in this country. Greg, I've heard the songs. Looking forward to today's entry. Hope I can vote. I can only phone or text. Nothing else coming in from Mary or Mary. We're going to kind of probably just do it on the website to be honest with you because... to try and... To be completely open, right? Because considering this and talking about this, if we do it via text, some people WhatsApp and some people text, and it's more... It's easier on the SMS text to sort of calibrate the votes, but then some people now are so used to using WhatsApp, we might miss out on some votes as well. So what we're going to do is we're going to have one portal on the website where you can vote for the four acts and watch the performances back again. And then we can... Then what can we do? Oh, yeah. Then we'll share it out through the social media and all that type of stuff. Listen, I'll chat with the people who make these decisions and see if there's some phone system we can employ as well, but I just think in the interests of fairness and being able to collate them in a simple manner, the website might just be the best option there. Right, let me see. I do have an ad break, but I'm trying to figure out how long it is because I have to, whilst I'm talking, look at the clock to make sure I don't run over. Two minutes, 24 seconds, OK. I'm on holidays in a country 7,000 miles away where cash is king, but I've visited a shopping mall that served only food. The first thing you have to do is go to a booth and deposit X amount of money on a card. Then go, get food at a variety of counters and pay with the card. 5.25 in the evening, it's 26 degrees. I'm sitting on a balcony having a cup of lion's tea, listening to Highland Radio. Can't get much better. Wazers, that sounds lovely. I would love to be sitting on a balcony. It doesn't have to be 7,000 miles away, but that sounds lovely. Enjoy it, too. You well deserve it. Sinead O'Brien, Chestnut Grove, Lifford, happy birthday to you, Sinead from Anne and for Jim. OK, from Jim as well. That slipped into the comments here. I don't want to go from my own request to something incredibly, incredibly serious. Right. OK, I get that. And how are you getting on? Just telling me that now. I've had a break to figure out what fader I put up. We'll do that now. Back with the news in a sec. The 9 till noon show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union, offering low rate holiday loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. Keep your car or van running smoothly with the service at Hagerty's Ford in Letter Kenny. Not only will it minimize the risk of a major repair expense, but it will be logged in your vehicle's service handbook and help its resale value. Hagerty's also offer everything from new and pre-owned car sales to parts and body repairs in their approved body shop. Booker, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's, Hagerty's and Hagerty's body refills in their approved body shop. Book a service online this month and save $30 when you use the code Ford 30. You are always in good hands at Hagerty's Ford. Turn onラ. Right Prices and Wood Flooring are 25 years old and to celebrate we're offering up to 70% off of birthday sale now on. Hi, Theresa Mannion here with a Road Safety Alert. In snow and icy conditions, slow down and leave extra distance between you and the vehicle in front. Avoid harsh braking and acceleration. Use the highest gear possible to avoid wheel spin. Select a low gear when traveling downhill from the Road Safety Authority. Stopp, Highland Radio are going to Scotland from Monday the 1st of May to Thursday the 4th of May with the very best of music and we would love for you to join us. Staying at the four-star Crown Plaza Hotel in Glasgow, we are bringing with us some of the biggest country stars, including myself, David James, Declan Ernie and Robert Mazzell to name a few. You will enjoy luxury travel to Glasgow, three nights dinner, bed and breakfast with music and entertainment each evening. Join us on the Highland Fling to Glasgow this May for only €575 per person. To book Call Highland Radio today on 074-9125,000. Early booking is advisable, single supplement applies. Talk show, The 9 till noon show on Highland Radio. All right, we've a very, very busy hour coming up for you. Stay right where you are, but now it is time for the news headlines and it's over to Michaela Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. Stardust orange weather warning is in place in Donegal and 12 other counties today with further spells of sleet and snow expected combined with strong east to northeast winds. Matt Aaron says there will be significant accumulations of snow in some areas along with icy conditions. The warning is in place from now until 10 o'clock to more morning. No citizen should be denied access to a community or public service if they're willing to pay with legal tender. That's the warning from Donegal deputy Padre McLaughlin who was speaking in the door on a motion calling for the protection of cash as a legal tender. He says the government needs to confront those who are denying people the option to pay with cash. Education Minister says a new primary curriculum framework places the child at the centre of the learning process. Norma Foley this morning unveiled the framework for all primary and special schools which has an increased emphasis on STEM projects, foreign languages and wellbeing. Students will also be encouraged to be both an active learner and an active citizen. Just under 17% of TDs are landlords according to the dolls latest register of interest. 27 politicians have listed rental properties as part of their income which is eight less than the previous doll. T. Shockley of Rantker and Minister Stephen Donnelly Norma Foley and Charney McConnlough all rent out apartments in the capital. Independent TD Michael Healy Ray has 16 rental properties while Finnegill TD Frank Feehan leases a commercial premises. Concerns have been raised over the delivery of a new health centre in Dunfana Hey. The two and a half million year development was due to be completed in 2020. However, to date construction works have yet to commence. Dr. Rory Sturred, a GP in Dunfana Hey says it appears costings are holding up the process. There's calls for parts of the Ineshaun Peninsula to be included in Donegal County Council's winter gritting programme to facilitate access year-round. Councillor Johnny McGinnis believes that Ineshaun 100 and the Wild Atlantic Way should be reclassified in order for them to be gridded due to a number of schools currently omitted and to facilitate travel to businesses in the area. Another water IDH has been reported in South Ineshaun Ishka Aaron says repairs are on their way to a burst water main at Ardmore Moff. Those are the latest headlines. We'll be back with an update again at 12 noon. OK, McKayla, thank you very much for that. Ah, yeah, we're good mates, yeah. Look, I'm always there for him. 100%. It's so thick and thin. And sure, he likes having me around. Any time he's going out, I'll get the shout, you know? And someday, I'll probably kill him. Smoking isn't the friend you think it is. Quit for 28 days and start taking back control. Find out how at quit.ie or free phone 1-800-201-203 from the HSE. OK, we're in studio with Kroger Ofreel, principal of Stremont National School. I forgot the pronunciation, OK? Yes. OK, very good. Mara Callahan, 12 years of age. Good morning to you. Good morning. Good to have you with us. Now you're going to have to speak a little louder for me, OK? And also, last but not least, Cormac Gallagher. Hi, Cormac. Hello. What's the crack with you? Oh, not so much. All right, good stuff. Right, shall we settle with you, Kroger, first, as to what the students have been working on? Well, you can see a very complicated robot sitting there in front of you, Greg. The students, I suppose the principal, previous to me, has invested heavily in Vec Robotics and Munter Paul and Francie have led it for the last number of years in our school. So the aim is to build a robot that has to carry out certain tasks. And we've won it. We've won the regional competition now three years and we've been in Cork twice. So we've done very well in Cork for the All Ireland this year and we've won the All Ireland this year. And as you can see here, the judges were very impressed with the robot here and we're going to the World Championship now for Vec Robotics and Dallas. Right, OK, so for those of you watching on our social media, you will see this. Now, I think when a lot of people hear robot, right, they think of it's walking around the place with two eyes that are lights, OK, and it's picking things up and what have you. But robot's coming in all different shapes and sizes. Myra, do you want to talk to me through... Is this robot got a name, by the way? Chad. Chad, right, do you want to talk me through Chad, please, Myra? Well, it's just a robot with pieces like Lego. And there is a brain which connects two motors and a remote that connects to the brain and you can move the robot then and do tasks. Right, you've got the controller there. Right, OK, so for those people listening on the radio, they'll not know what's going on, but anyone watching, do you want to give us a quick demonstration there of what it can do? Right, so it's moving backwards, forwards, left and right, full control over it in all different directions. Now, what's happening here? We're spinning the motor spinning and it's making this here, but we call it the spinning thing. Yes. And then, well, it's... We need the spinning thing to do some of the tasks. Right, so what's its main task? We have to spin this part, like a dispenser. Yes. And the discs fall out of the dispenser. Yes. And they don't fall out. They fly out. So do you want to demonstrate that for us? Wow. OK, now, what is the function of that? Why is this to assist in the game or is this the game? Well, it's part of the game and... Yeah, it's part of the game. Like, the robots, I can shoot, give more points than other robots. They just push the robot or push the discs in to get scores. Well, yeah. Right, OK, and how long have you been working on this, Maya? We've been working from before Christmas, so a few months, I'd say. All right, and what is this built around? You know what I mean? Is it a remote-controlled car or did you put motors together specifically for this all yourselves? Yeah, we did. We saw a robot on YouTube that we just decided to use that there's a template to make it, and then this is what we came up with. Right, so, Crom, I talked to me a little bit more about the competition and then how this will be judged against others. What happens judged is there's an arena, the same arena for all robots, and as Cormac mentioned there, there are different dispensers. So, for every disc you take out of the dispenser, you get points, and then if you can shoot these discs up to the other side of the arena, you get more points. So, and Cork, they did very well. They had 125 points to beat, and they scored 130 points. Yeah. And I think the highest score that they've gotten is maybe 150. And who operates it? Well, we have drivers. I was the driver in Cork, along with Edward Callahan. He was in sick class with me, and then there was another boy who, unfortunately, had to go to America from when we were in Cork. Well, he was the driver in the Donegal competition. Brilliant. Now, how much of this is down to the skill of the robot, right? And how much of it then is down to the skill of the driver in terms of the point scoring? Is there some human element of skill in there as well? Yeah, you need a bit of both, of course. Because you need the robot to do the task, but you need the person to make sure you score the goals or knock it over or whatever it might be, and that's how you accumulate the points. Yeah. All right, brilliant stuff. And do they come in all different shapes and sizes, Maya? I mean, is this the typical size of what you're going up against or what's the story? Well, it depends. You have a box of pieces, and you can do whatever you want with them. There is a height restriction, but this is an ice-square robot. Some of them are very long, some of them are wide, some of them are tall. So it kind of depends on what you want to build. Excellent. And everything that I'm looking at here, has it got a function or is some of this design as well? All of it has a function. Yeah, I was thinking that it all looks very functionable. All right, I'll bring it. And has it been good fun working on this? It has been very good fun. We've learned a lot from this. And how many of yous are on the team? There's seven of us on the team. Yeah. There's three coders who code the robot to do stuff. There is two drivers, which would be Charlie and Edward, and then there'd be me and Maya, the builders. Right, so in other words, if there is, say, for instance, God forbid, there's a failure. You just have to rush out there and see if the wires come off or if something's come unattached. So that's exciting too, like yous are in the pits. During the match, you're not allowed to go in and fix it though. Oh, well, that's not fair, is it? So for breaks, like you just have to wait till the end of the match? Right, well then, so let me flip it another way. Yous have to make sure that it's very robust going into the competition to avoid the failure. So that's where most of your efforts are into it. Have yous had always an interest in, I don't know, electronics, construction or is being part of this project sort of made you think, wow, OK, I'm really enjoying this because there's teamwork as well, which is great. But go on, you go first, Cormac. Well, I've always played Lego and stuff like that there at home. So it's kind of like Lego and yeah, it's fun. And it's not like the Lego I used to play with because it's quite technical. Maya, what about you? What part of it do you enjoy the most? I do like playing with Lego. So I start, I love building things and this was very new to me because of all the electronics, but we figured it out. And you have to build these discs as well or were they supplied to you? They were supplied as part of the game. Are you allowed to grease them up or anything? No, just nothing, no cheating. OK, right. This is brilliant, isn't it, Crower? Because they're having fun, but they're learning and it's really, it's learning on. I don't want to make it boring or not fun either, but you know what I mean, the skills that are being employed and used here, when you don't really realise that you're actually learning some really interesting stuff as a younger person. Yeah, absolutely. And as we all know, everything's moving to robotics and I think when we can facilitate this in the school, it's great for students and it'll open up windows in the future for them. As we know, there are plenty of courses and stuff for this for robotics and engineering. And so it's great to get a good head start on it. Right, OK, now this is the largest robot competition in the world. There's five students and a number of staff travelling to Dallas for the competition. Now, we have some amazing businesses and individuals working in technology and in areas within which this would fit. And the call's going out now, isn't it, for one of them to row in behind this, get the publicity, get the media, back the future, maybe future employees and get that international recognition for supporting something like this. The trip's going to cost around about 15,000 euro into a reasonably sized company. That's not a great deal of money. But how do, how can a business or an individual or individuals back the students in going and competing in Dallas, Crore? Well, first of all, I'd like to thank Greg, the businesses that helped us out already on the trip to Cork. And again, we are looking for more funding to get us to Dallas. So we have a GoFundMe page. Businesses have already. If I was a big business, I'd go in and wipe the rest of them out and have my name top of the list on this. That would be brilliant. That would be great. We've had a few businesses from Leather Kenney already. Donate 1,000 euro. Wow. But we're still looking. We're still looking for more. So we're still short of what we need to get to Dallas. But hopefully, we're trying our best to get there now. Yeah, I think this is a great investment in our youth, you know, for any individual business that wants to go and donate. The GoFundMe page, what's the rest of the search? The GoFundMe page can be found on our Parents Association Facebook page, which is Tramore NS, Parents Association. I don't think we mentioned that you were all from Tramore NS yet. Sorry. All right, OK. And the school must be incredibly proud. The school is very proud now. And the parents, everyone. We had, we were coming back from Cork. We weren't back until 12 o'clock at midnight. So, and we got a great reception and there were bonfires and everything. And the party hasn't stopped yet. So the community are very proud of them. Brilliant. I'm not surprised on to Dallas. Myra, would you be travelling over, hopefully, to make sure? What's the robot's name again? Jeff? Chad. Chad, OK. Jeff, over at Chad. Sounds better. You'll hopefully go on to Dallas as well. And you, Cormac? I'll be going to Dallas. As a driver or part of the building team? We're doing competition at the moment in school to see who will be the driver of me or Charlie. Oh, a bit of competition so far. It's tough, isn't it? Because you have to fight for your spot as well. But I think it's great. And what's the battery? Like, how long can you get out of the batteries on that now? I don't know. Maybe two hours. Plenty of time anyway. Yeah, two hours. All right, OK. Well, listen, I'm sure everyone associated with the school and your parents and guardians are really proud of what you're achieving. And has this made you feel, Maya, that this is something you'd like to be interested in? You shouldn't really be thinking about what you're going to be doing as an adult. But are you thinking, wow, OK, there's an area here that I'm interested in now? Yes, it is very interesting. I learned a lot of new things like how to work cogs and how the wheels work and everything. So it is very interesting now. And I hope to be taking part in things like this again. Brilliant, I'm sure you'll do really well. And you, Cormac? Yeah, I want to take part in stuff like this here again. It's good fun doing this. And that's the main thing, we're enjoying ourselves. And they're very impressive young people, aren't they? They are. They genuinely are. They've worked well now. But even just coming on the radio and talking about it too and doing it so well, it's really, really impressive. If you want to back these young people and the rest of the team and the school you can go to the parents association page of Stromoa National School and support them in going to Dallas for that major competition. It is the biggest, I'm right in saying it's the largest robot competition in the world. That's correct, yes. Really impressive, OK. Anything else you want to say before we wrap things up? I suppose we just want to thank the staff and the community and parents for all coming together. First of all, sending us to Cork and now they've already come together to send us to Dallas and we're well on our way to raising our target there. Chad, have you anything to say? Does he speak? Well done, Cormac. I'll tell you what, you're quick. Well done, thank you so much indeed. Maya Callahan, 12 years of age, believe it or not. Building that's because you're so impressive as a speaker and as a robot builder. She's part of the building team for Vex. Enjoy baking, walking and Lego as well. Did you bring any baking with you? No. When you come back on, having won the competition in Dallas, we want to see how good a baker you are. Cormac, you enjoy reading, playing rugby and Gaelic and building Lego as well. You have a lot to do, you're some busy, busy young people so you've an awful lot to squeeze in. Crow, what are your passions at? I enjoy watching football and I enjoy a bit of Lego too. OK, and that was Crow, her 33 and a half. Thank you all three of you. And well done to Stremont National School for embracing this and supporting the young people and seeing the benefits of this going forward. It's really very much appreciated. Thanks for coming in. It's been excellent. And thanks to Chad. Good luck in Dallas. When are you hoping to head out or when's the competition? The end of April, hopefully. End of Exxon. OK, it's only around the corner. Brilliant. Well done, Maya and Cormac. Callahan, Maya, Callahan, Cormac, Callahar both 12 years of age involved in this project. Did we name check the other people just to be in the team? Do you know them off the top of your head, Cormac? Yeah, there's Charlie Goulday. Charlie Goulday, good man, Charlie. Edward Callahan. All right, Edward. Joseph McDermott. Shane McCormack. And Ned O'Connor. Well done. It's very impressive. Thank you so much all of you. We're back to school. We'll be back after the break. The choices we make determine where we're going. Where will your choices take you? Visit Kelly's Toyota, letter Kenny or Mount Charles and join the thousands of Irish drivers who swapped diesel for Toyota Hybrid Electric lowering their emissions and fuel costs. We've Ireland's widest hybrid electric range including the Toyota CHR and Yaris Cross. Don't miss out. Order today at Kelly's Toyota, letter Kenny or Mount Charles. You'll never take a wrong turn with Toyota for a better world. McGee of Donegal Outlet has just got bigger and better with new lines added. Enjoy up to 70% off McGee 1866 men's and women's clothing and accessories. Shopsuits, jackets, coats, knitwear, shirts, trousers and more. Don't miss the outlet in store at McGee of Donegal, the Diamond Donegal Town. Charlie McLafferty, funeral directors serving letter Kenny and the surrounding areas for over 100 years. 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We'll speak in a moment to Erin, who's a foster carer in Donegal and also firstly, Ethna Larkin, marketing and recruitment lead with Origins Foster Care. Good morning to you, Ethna. Good morning, Greg. Thanks for having us. It's good to be on the show. So what is Origins Foster Care? Is this an arm of the state? Is it a private company? I don't know how this system generally works. Origins Foster Care is an independent fostering agency. Origins Foster Care was founded by two Irish very senior practising social workers with lots of experience. We saw the need, I suppose, for more foster carers but more importantly, more trained and better supported foster carers. So we work in collaboration with Tosla. So when a child is taken into care, Tosla make those decisions. We don't. And they reach out to us and see if we have a foster carer available. So Origins then continue to support the foster carer and Tosla continue to support the child coming into care. So it's very much a collaboration. I've done a couple of interviews about foster caring in Donegal over the last years, in the last number of years, sorry. And it always seems to be there's an urgent need. There's more needed than are available. Is that still the same situation, Ethna? Yes, sadly, there is still an urgent need for foster carers. There are more and more children being received into care. And I suppose for a number of reasons, maybe just people aging out of fostering there are less foster carers available. So certainly we are making an urgent call this morning to any of your listeners in Donegal who might think that it is something they could consider. We would love to talk to them and see if it's for them. Why else might there be a reluctance? I presume this is something you've looked into, because obviously those who would have fostered in the past are no longer fostering, but there's not necessarily the same amount of people coming through. Have you done any research or what do you believe anecdotally might be the reason for that? I think there's probably a number of reasons, Greg. I suppose maybe parents, families, they have more things going on. I suppose traditionally there was always maybe one parent at home and it was possibly easier to care for another child that wasn't a member of your family. Obviously the cost of living crisis now is certainly impacting and more and more people have to work full-time jobs maybe. And there's no doubt about it, fostering no more than parenting your own birth children is becoming more challenging. So I suppose people might be a little bit anxious or a little bit hesitant maybe to take on the care of somebody else's child, but I suppose we would just like to reassure them that our agents are here to support you. We offer 24 hours support. But you do have to go into something like this with your eyes wide open and that's why you have these conversations and they're always frank and realistic as well. Do you find that you would get a certain amount of people, let's say 10 people that might come forward and in the process then decide that maybe it's something that's not for them? Oh, yeah, absolutely. We get lots of inquiries, people just making general inquiry. And what we say to people is, Greg, if you have a thought about fostering at all, it's a really good thing to explore. Lots of people explore it and decide for different reasons. It's not for them and then you know. But if you don't explore it and you keep thinking about it and think, oh, I must look that up. I must do it next week, next month. There could be some child out there who is missing out on a really amazing parents. There could be people out there who could be amazing foster carers and have ruled themselves out maybe without even exploring it. It certainly is challenging, but people think sometimes they might be wasting their time contacting us in case it's not for them. We say, no, have a chat with us, an informal chat, and we can decide together whether it's for you or not. Yeah, and I imagine every case is different and every need is different. So it's not easy for you if possible to give a typical situation, but maybe I could break it down like this. You know, if someone comes forward for fostering now, do they have a choice whether it's short-term, medium-long-term? Do they have to prepare themselves for different scenarios? Do they know what age the children might be? What their background might be? They could be a 14-year-old coming from a difficult home, or they could be an eight-month baby, like all very different sort of propositions. So what can you tell us about that side of things? Yeah, absolutely. There's no case, one case fits all. Every child is coming into care, I suppose is coming from different circumstances and they would have different needs. A huge part of the assessment that we do with potential foster care is looking what they have to offer, looking what age of a child could they potentially care for. You know, having a look at their current time schedule, their commitments, maybe if they've done birth children. So we look at what everybody has to offer, so whether it's somebody's work at home full-time, maybe they're working part-time. We look at all of their individual scenarios, what skills they have, in terms of matching, the matching foster care with the child being received into care is hugely important. So again, we look at, some people want to foster teenagers, they feel that's where their expertise is. Other people would like to foster much younger child. The one rule that we have is that if you have your own birth children, there must always be two years between your birth child and a child being received into care. Within two years or a two-year gap? A two-year gap. So for example, if you have a six-year-old child, then you would look at fostering zero to four or eight plus. Can you ask what the logic of that is? So that your child maintains their position within the family. So they're not displaced. They will always be the only child, say for example, in fourth class, making the confirmation, moving on to first year. Our children generally, do you try and foster them? So say, for instance, if there's school going aids, that they go to the same school, or do you try and avoid that? Or again, is it on a case-by-case basis? It's a case-by-case basis. The ideal situation, Greg, is that children are not taken out of their own communities. You know, that as much of their life can continue as possible. Sometimes, for safety reasons, the men need to be moved from their local community to a different community. And sometimes, sadly, just because we don't have foster cares within that community, they may be moved. And then the huge part of fostering is maintaining contact for once it's in the best interest of the child with the birth family. And again, that's case-by-case. Sometimes it could be a number of times a week. It might be once a month. It might be only maybe once a year, depending on the circumstance of the child coming into care. But knowledge of the birth family is hugely important as to go through foster care. Is there an average time a child might spend with a foster family? Now I'm sure there are going to be occasions and changing circumstances where it could be for a very long time. Other situations may be much shorter than there's a medium. Like generally speaking, as much as we can, how often might you have, for how long might you have a foster child with you? I suppose, again, that's case-by-case. Children come into care sometimes for short-term. And that might be only maybe when maybe a parent is going for treatment or some might be a very short, specified length of time. Other times children come into care short-term and then as they kind of settle into care, maybe more and more information is shared and they end up in care long-term. I can give you, in my own circumstances, I'm a foster care and we have a young man with us now who came to us when he was five for a month and he's about to turn 20 next month and he's still here and he's just started university. He comes home at the weekends. So there's no, I suppose, definite times that a child comes into care. And that's why I asked the question because I suspected that was the answer. We'll focus on all the positives and some with what we've been talking about is positive. That's a beautiful positive story of yours but I want to talk through the challenges as well because then the people that contact you perhaps are even more likely to go on to become foster parents and we're going to speak to Erin in a moment for her experience. But how do you support people to deal with attachment and detachment? Because that's the thing I think I would struggle with that I would become attached and then something would be taken from my life that would be very important to me and not like a possession on something that your heart is connected to. Yeah, that's a huge part of the training is preparing you for endings and beginnings and the reality is when a child does move from you it is a loss, it is grief and you need to acknowledge that and go through that period of grieving and that's I suppose where our support workers our social workers come in to support you and your family and just help you work through that loss and eventually you'll come to the time and for some people it can be a week, month, two months when they feel they're ready okay a little part of me is gone but I'm ready to share it again. I'm sure all our audience are finding this interesting but I think we're talking about very special people that this will resonate with and they'll want to do this people like yourself and people like Erin, Erin, thank you for joining us and good morning to you. Thanks for having me Greg. So how long have you been fostering and sort of why did you decide to do it? My parents actually fostered in England before we moved back over here so it was always something that I'd been kind of involved with but in terms of how long I've been fostering here is for about two years now and it was just basically as simple as that you can constantly hear the appeals for foster families when you look at the statistics the amount of children being looked after by the state and so many of them waiting for to be in a family I think there's a few hundred in residential centres and I'm sure a lot of them would want to be in a family some of them are better their needs are better served in a residential set but there's many children that would ideally need families to develop the best way they can and we me and my partner we were in a stable situation we had our own little boy we bought our house with a few spare rooms in the house it just felt like the right time so we thought we'd explore it and we phoned up and the people that was assessing us agreed with us and this is where we are now and as you say there's many reasons why you decided to do this but one of them I think you mentioned it there is that you know the difference it can make to the children I think when growing up in a household with your parents I had a unique bit of insight into lots of different types of situations that children can be in and then when I went on to study myself I ended up studying that kind of avenue of trauma and psychology so you can when you've had that insight you know what you're able to do and what you're going to be best suited to do but even if I haven't had that kind of experience the assessor and work workers and support you get from a team like Origins they really explore that for you anyway and your approach and I presume it's the general approach is that the aim obviously and you can hear from your motivation to get involved in this and from your experiences to care for the child but it's always with the viewers when it is safe and if it is safe for the child it's a guardianship almost until such time as they can be returned to their family and accept a child in that knowledge is that the explain that correctly I think that's a reasonable description of the situation with fostering obviously most of the time the ultimate goal is reunification with families but there are a large number of children including children that I'm looking after that reunification just is not going to be possible and they need to even if you're not their relatives so to speak they need to know where they're going to be next year where the next Christmas is going to be spent they're coming home each day to the same person they're not going to be moved to school again before you know whilst they're in secondary or whether they're in national school it doesn't really matter you know everybody needs that level of security and when you have children one of the biggest sort of things to be thinking on is whilst you might be obviously helping other children you don't want to do that at the detriment to your own child or children as well and I presume that's all part of the process of seeing if this is a fit for you because it's absolutely individual is it absolutely yeah and obviously that was an absolute paramount of importance for me when we were going through the assessment was to explore what age background and any kind of demographic of what was going to affect my little boy as well so had you asked me at the beginning I would have said that maybe somebody close in age to him would have been the right way to go and as it happens we've ended up with teenagers and they absolutely adore him there's no competition between them they're just at a different point in their lives and they're actually able to explore maybe earlier areas of their life that they missed out on by kind of being with him you know so this actually ended up in a blessing but that only came about because of exploring the matching process you know with origins in the first place so and it couldn't have worked out better and I think it's quite interesting my comments were quite interesting really on reflection in my chat with Ethna who will return to in a moment in that when I was talking about it and when I was sort of going through my head what might be difficult I spoke about me I spoke about my feelings about how I might feel what happens if I get attached how will I feel if I have to say goodbye to someone that I've grown close to but really I suppose you have to think on the child obviously you have to have space for your own emotions but it's what will the benefit to this child be how will it improve their life how will they go on from that position you know so rather than me thinking of myself really it's the child that should be first and foremost in my thoughts yeah that I mean it is a fear for anybody going into you know looking at foster you know if you do get attached and that they would possibly have to you know move on to either go back and say the birth families or if you're just doing this on a short term basis that they would go on to a permanent place and yeah of course you've got to think about yourself because you know if you don't have your own emotions you can't look after anybody else's but I think what I would say to people when they are worried about that is what is worse at the end of the day we as adults can take a burn am I going into this and that's why I called out my own selfishness in my thought process you know I did because I was putting what I might feel ahead of what the child might feel as I was processing this conversation um ethna in terms of the supports that you offer um foster parents actually before I get to that ethna a few questions coming in lower age and opera age and what other assessment in terms of people's background or income is done through this process okay really good question we do have a lower age you must be over 25 we don't have an opera age when it comes to the opera age what we look at is we look at each individual applicant at their circumstances I suppose for people at the opera age their health and fitness is a huge part of it their fitness to foster but we don't have an opera age because really important there's a lot of people you know older people who have a lot to give they have the possibly the advantage of time and they have a life experience and they could be amazing foster parents obviously if somebody was say 60 or 62 we wouldn't be placing a baby coming into long-term care you know because obviously you don't want to be minding a teenager in your late 70s um but other than that you know they could older people could have a lot to offer some of the other criteria the biggest criteria we have probably is that you must have a spare room every child do you have to own the home you can rent or you can own a home if you rent a home we just need a letter from your landlord that it's okay with them that you are considering fostering but we have lots of people who are renting the home you were going on to mention spare room sorry go ahead then yes you need to have a spare room for a child coming into care and that's just to give them a sense of ownership a sense of privacy they have their own space it's important to remember these children are coming from all kinds of backgrounds and have had sadly experienced lots of things of adults don't experience but regardless as to what they come from just the whole idea of being taken away from the births family is traumatic in the south so that is a big criteria to have a spare room we need you to be able to drive because you may have to drive a child to appointments therapeutic appointments family visits um you need to be open to guard the vetting um and if you've lived outside Ireland for more than six months police checks for any area you've lived in if you smoke if I drink if I dabble in drugs you know like how do you how would you now not all that's going to be picked up through vetting for example but how do you filter that out that would be all part of the assessment we ask people to be honest in terms of smoking if you do smoke we ask that you smoke outside your house as where it affects you is that you cannot have obviously a child with a new respiratory issues or a child under five in and all of the others you know the level of alcohol use that's all discussed under you know as part of your assessment and obviously you can't see so in terms then of financial support because again as you mentioned quite rightly so no more so here in Donegal people are struggling at the moment financially and I don't want this this is not transactional either and I don't want to break down to that but it's a practical reality so what financial supports do you offer people the statutory fostering allowance is three hundred and twenty five euro for a child under twelve and three hundred and fifty two euro for a child over twelve per week per week yes so it needs to be clear that it's not to replace an income for a person a couple or a single applicant applying to foster they need to be financially independent the allowance is there for the child's school uniforms, activities all of the general day to day expenses that are involved in the child and we encourage our foster care to put something away for the child so that when they are coming out of care that they do have some little savings account there it's not mandatory but we do encourage it I suppose we need to be clear Greg you know if you break down three hundred and fifty three hundred and fifty two euro a week sounds like a lot of money and maybe people are saying well I don't get that for my own child but it's not as a payment for the foster care it's there to support the child and it's not to replace an income need to be financially stable bringing another human into a house changes many things it's you know what I mean it's not simply saying right well a five for a day for food it's not like that because it could be extended school runs it could be there's lots of lots of things and with the money that's being thrown around at the moment that seems like good value for a week to keep one of our young people safe yes that's how I would view it and it's the impact that a foster care can have on the lives of a child they could foster parents I suppose what research shows you know this trauma obviously we cannot undo the trauma children have experienced but research shows that a stable secure environment can repair trauma for a child and foster parents have the potential to do that more information I presume from origins fostercare.ie absolutely or if somebody wants to call me if I can share my number with you yes it's 087 052 9749 and we'll retain any of our social media accounts we'll retain that number here Erin do you want the last word I suppose the only thing to say is just if anybody is thinking about it at all you know really do consider just making the call or just attending one of the information sessions online there's no harm in pulling out at any point if you think it's not for you or if somebody else brings something forward that shows that it might just not be the right time you can come back to it later but better to regret something that you've tried than not tried I always think Erin thank you so very much for your time I really appreciate it take care Ethna Larkin also thank you very much for your time as I say maybe we can connect a child that needs support and care with someone who wants to offer that and if we do one I think that's where I'll throw out the 20 minutes designer collections include Lazy Boy Sky Italian and Calia Italia now is the perfect chance to get that furniture you've had your eye on at Foyze the North West's leading interior's paint curtain blind and interior design specialist farm entitlements values slashed for more in your farmers journal is Paul Mooney new cap changes are fueling the sale of entitlements 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counselor and education columnist with the Irish Times is with us now Brian well I can give you a weather forecast for Dublin airport because I'm here waiting for a flight for Lanzarote it's a bit west but other than that there's another side of the snow but Brian I knew because Caroline mentioned to me that you're waiting on a plane to go to Lanzarote and I was not going to say it I was going to stick it to you because I'm so bloody jealous but anyway I'm delighted for you we know now everything's grand hopefully your flight opens soon primary school students will soon be learning foreign languages, science and technology it's been described as the biggest shakeup of the primary curriculum in a quarter of a century do you see it that way Brian do you see this as a positive move forward absolutely well I mean 1999 was the last huge change in the primary school curriculum and now you know we're looking at making a number of changes now I mean obviously as you say technology science languages they're all going to have to find a place in the primary school curriculum because we can't be waiting for students to enter into second level before we introduce them you know to the concept of doing foreign language although they're doing the Irish and the English already but you know the opportunity to do content languages or other languages the opportunity to experience science for the first time or technology obviously there is going to be a change in terms of the amount of time that's going to be dedicated to religious education it's coming down from two and a half hours to two and within that there will also be some changes in relation to you know the curriculum would be more orientated towards teaching children about religion as such about morality about ethics and not necessarily about faith formation all the time and obviously a lot of the Catholic diocese particularly in Dublin and in other regions are looking to maybe bring that faith formation aspect back into parish life more and maybe away from the school system we were speaking by coincidence in this hour to students from Straball national school who are finalists in the biggest robot competition to head into Dallas shortly and it's amazing what's happening there but that's one school and there are many others that are doing the science stuff and technology really really well I suppose we need to go ahead we've been waiting to children are 12 years of age now to introduce them to the concepts of science and technology and they're all absolute wizards on phones and all sorts of stuff and yes we're not allowing them to explore that in an educational context so this is really positive the problem of course with the primary school curriculum is what we're trying to shove into it there's so much we're trying to achieve we're also trying to achieve that children stay fit and we're talking about nutrition and we're talking about sport and keeping them healthy and all that stuff it's really you're trying to ram so much into it so the problem of course is you only have a limited period of time within the school day but taking on board all of the new ideas in terms of technology and development and introducing it to science and giving them the option of foreign languages element way back about 10 years ago and then with the crash it was taken out which was a really retrograde step and it's great that it's coming back in again yeah and we don't know what the consequences are you know every action has a reaction I presume we can draw on best practice from other countries and even in learning a language it's not just that language you're learning I presume it's you're learning a new way of learning as well so this can only be good and the fact that they say that when you learn a language the earlier you learn it the greater the ease at which you're learning it and obviously waiting on the second level to introduce languages other than Irish and English to children is really really wrong because ultimately their skills and their ability are so much greater at a younger age to learn a language is almost effortlessly as babies and yet at the same time you know we're up to now we've only really introduced into the concept of 13 years of age so I think it's a really positive step yeah okay listen Brian enjoy your little trip I'm not at all jealous we'll talk to you soon yeah alright go on you'll not be worrying about Austin Ireland in about five and a half hours but enjoy it anyway there's some space somewhere and it seems that focus on religion will be reduced I don't know what you think about that maybe parents might prefer for that element to be taught in a different environment I don't know good morning Greg I hear the advert for transport for Ireland rural now asking to book the day before you travel not good as some people might only decide on the day of travel to do so thanks Charlie of course Charlie you know well maybe it's like the if they have free transport maybe they don't want you to travel too much maybe we'll exploit it maybe we can travel on the day we'll travel excessively or maybe if it's cheaper we'll travel excessively I don't know you just you just don't know what's going through people's heads sometimes right okay we are joined on the program now by Carolyn Al and Wilson good morning to you thank you so much for joining us good morning can you hear me hello is Carolyn Ann there no okay not there just at the moment we'll come back to that might have to leave that till tomorrow because we're very short on time I'm the carer for my husband since he took sick 18 years ago when he's got his contributory pension my carer allowance was halved he worked all his life for that pension I mean that the arrival of that pension should have your life shouldn't it instead it was chopped off the carer's allowance I don't see how that makes any sense let me see where else are we going here a lot of people will be homeless because there's no money for new houses 250,000 houses we're short at the moment apparently hi Greg you were listing all the doll members this morning that were landlords maybe you should list the local councillors as well and ones that we will be wishing to stand in local elections also so we need to know the wealthy ones that want to become richer I think everyone wants to become richer don't they the is there's a I think there also has to be a declaration doesn't there from people who who are standing for local election as well hi Greg for three years during Covid we were told to follow the science to adjust we still use this narrative there is only two genders as the science tells us that's what one person thinks a lot of people who agreed with Billy yesterday motivated to text Berks are being treated like criminals bring those spare guards to Donegal Berks need to go to the European court for what though why are they being treated like criminals I would like you to know maybe and if you want to come on and explain that to us as a grandmother I've advised my children to just take their children out of classes I don't think religion has anything to do with it why take we children's childhood from them the world has gone mad and Leo me Hall have joined them if it's about sex education I think we have to have a bit of balance in this and how we think words and educate this is this is just what I haven't decided my view right but I'm putting to you like this look at the amount of children whose livelihoods like childhoods were taken from them because the adults was doing something to them and they didn't know it was wrong they didn't they trusted them when they said that this was natural this is our secret how many in our in our history and we can look back at our history how many children's lives were robbed from them and not just their childhoods sorry their adulthoods as well because I've spoken to them 60 70 years after they were abused as children should we not at the very least be informing children of certain amounts of stuff to protect them so that they can identify to us to us if something is happening that shouldn't be happening and it's most often someone close to the child as well by the way if it's done in a certain way without too much detail is that not better than the ignorance and that ignorance being exploited and I'm talking about ignorance in terms of a lack of knowledge fair play to Billy trans people are allowed to have their opinion but the rest of us have to shut up and not have an opinion at all except Billy was on the radio having an opinion and he didn't actually have any commentary about trans people at all what Billy actually said was that live and let live and he talked as someone who was treated as a minority because of his religion he made no commentary that I can recall on the trans people to be honest with you the man is correct in what he says and the truth is the majority are putting up and shutting up because they're afraid of those who are promoting the narrative to the point of losing their jobs particularly those involved in education good man Billy next they'll be wanting Christians to say Mohammed was equal to Jesus face the consequences very emotive topic this one isn't kind of why I avoid it not on the radio in my personal life to be honest with you I agree with that man it was and is this in the way they're treating that family and yesterday the way they threw that woman on the footpath you wouldn't treat your dog like that right okay that's some views out there as well and look this I don't mind reading something not that I don't mind but there's I'm reading an awful lot of anti stuff cheering stuff and what have you so maybe this offers offers a little bit of balance and all of them okay thanks for all your calls your comments and texts thanks for listening to the show thanks to those of you who watched the show we're back tomorrow morning from 9 we have our Friday panel and we're going to be discussing all the big stories of the week a little later a little later on we'll be announcing on the radio how you can vote for your winner of the Irish Music Month competition we had the four acts they were brilliant weren't they but stay tuned John Bres and David Ivan and the rest of the crews will remind you how you can vote as I will tomorrow when I come on air alright have a great day be safe and if you're out and about this evening and tonight hopefully the weather's not as bad as they were forecast but we're all going to have to take just that little bit of extra time to make sure we get home or get out or get out to work safely chat to you at 9 some sports demand resilience great power Sheltonham demands it all and this is William Hill Racing