 Debra Harriana, I want that man. Thank you so much for your company this Friday morning. We're going to cross over to Greg Hughes, who's live from Letter Kenny Main Street. Good morning, Greg. Hi, Lee. You've no small talk for me today, no? No, it's just all very official business like today. That's all right. Okay. Enjoy your weekend then, so... You too. Have fun this morning. All right. Take care, Lee. Yes, as Lee Gooch says, we are broadcasting live from Letter Kenny Main Street. We'll tell you more about that as the morning progresses. We do have our Friday panel and it's a special student panel discussing some of the big topics of the day and topics affecting young people, maybe more specifically. That's all on the way after we get a news update now. And it's good morning. Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning, a US congressman with strong Johnny Gull roots has told the McGill Summer School that the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and Oma bombing are stark reminders of how far the island has come in terms of peace. Congressman Brendan Boyle described the Oma bomb as a cruel, heinous, disgusting attack. Tuesday marked 25 years since 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed in the real IRA attack. Congressman Boyle believes the Oma atrocity was a turning point for the architects of the Good Friday Agreement. I think that moment was one in which those who had signed on the Dalit wine to the Good Friday Agreement and it was a wide variety and an interesting collection of people representing very different points of view. But after that heinous act, I think the overwhelming majority of people said no more, that we are moving forward and that we are going to, as imperfect as this agreement may be, we are going to attempt to make it work. Work has begun on the provision of high-speed broadband to almost 3,000 homes, farms and businesses in West Dunnegull. National Broadband Ireland has announced this morning construction has now commenced to deliver high-speed broadband to 2,953 premises in the Bunbeg deployment area. It includes Goudor, Anagri and Burton Port. The director general of RTE insists Ryan Turberry is not being scapegoated for the payments scandal at the broadcaster. Kevin Buckhurst announced last night negotiations for the presenters return to his Radio One show had ended as trust between the parties had broken down. The DG described the overpayments scandal as shameful. He said he doesn't believe Ryan Turberry has been well advised and said he's a decent guy. Mr Buckhurst said a draft deal had been agreed this week. When the second Grand Fulton report came out on Wednesday, we had a broad agreement on the broadest terms and a contract on the table to try and bring him back. I thought it was very surprising and very damaging that the statement then came out with the content it did from his side. Almost 8,000 people in Tenerife have been evacuated or told to stay indoors because of an out of control wildfire. The blaze on the north of the island is being fought by about 350 firefighters and Spanish Army members. Regional president says it's spread across 30 kilometers. Owen Corrie is editor of Air and Travel Magazine. He says such incidents highlight the need for people to check travel insurance for going on holiday, particularly if they might want to reschedule or cancel. Air Nines in some cases have been good with day changes, others have not. There's also a conversation with your travel insurance and that involves medical letters. It is a little bit more complicated and it's on a case-by-case basis. But there is no absolute right to cancel your holiday because you are concerned about wildfires and get your money back. Looking at the weather forecast, mostly cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain this morning and into the afternoon, some limited bright spells. This evening, though heavy and persistent rain will spread from the south, bringing a potential for flooding, an increasingly blustery day with fresh to strong, gusty southeast winds, a humid day with highs of 17 to 21 degrees Celsius, a yellow weather warning in place from 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. tomorrow, staying wet and windy tonight with heavy rain, some thundery downpours with spot flooding possible, difficult traveling conditions as well, low stormy temperatures 14 to 17 with strong east or southeast winds, veering southwesterly later, tomorrow better, bright and breezy with sunny spells, just the odd shower, maximum Saturday temperatures 18 to 21, again in fresh and gusty southwest winds. We're back with news again at 10. Good morning. Whether it's a 5 or 10K, half or full marathon, everyone's running journey is different. Find your pace with the Summer of Running series with Irish Life Dublin Marathon. Search Irish Life Summer of Running series to sign off. A better life with Irish Life. The county's number one talk show, the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, the 9 till noon show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello and a very good morning. You're very welcome along to the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio on this Friday the 18th of August 2023. It's just turned five minutes past nine and we are broadcasting live today. We're out of the studio. We are on Leonard Kenny's Main Street just outside the county seat. We want to thank the county seat and the crew there for facilitating our outside broadcast. We are here to mark the Leonard Kenny Festival 2023 Celebrating Music Pride and Community Unity. We've got loads of conversation, bits of music and what have you coming up for you over the course of the program. We'll have that entertainment as always. That's coming up for you after 11 o'clock. So there's no excuse to go anywhere. Now our lines are open as normal. 08 660 25000. WhatsApps and texts to that number 08 660 25000 or give us a call on 07 491 25000. And if you want to watch the show, you can do that to go on to YouTube Highland Radio Ireland for your smart TV, your fire stick, your laptop tablet, whatever device it might be. Highland Radio Ireland to watch the show and our guests and the music and all that malarkey. And if you want to watch on Facebook too, it's Highland Hub or Highland Radio News and Sport. And there's a watch live tab on our website if you want to watch in browser. Okay, so we've an assembled a youth panel. I suppose you could call it this morning to discuss some issues. We can say good morning to them now fingers crossed and all that. Chloe Martin's on the student council of Loretto Community School, Milford. Good morning to you, Chloe. Are you there? Good morning. Good morning. You think you would know where the mute on mute button is now at this stage? No, it's good to have you with us. Thank you very much. Chloe Steven Sheridan to student council with Mulroy College, Milford. Good morning to you, Steven. Morning there, Greg. How are you getting on? I'm doing fantastic. It's good to be out and about, actually. Tiernan Lynch is on the student council of Loretto Community School, Milford. Good morning to you, Tiernan. Morning, Greg. How are you? I'm good. Great to see you again, Tiernan. And Cassie Lam, regional officer for the Irish Second Level Students Union. Good morning to you, Cassie. Morning, Greg. You're becoming a bit of a regular. Yes, it's good, though. I love being a bit of a regular now. It's good to have all of you on the program. There's no wrong answer to this question, by the way, but the front page of all the papers today is the news that Ryan Tauberty is not returning to RTE. And I'm just curious as to whether any of you have any interest, knowledge or care about it? And as I say, there's no wrong answer, because if think if you don't in a way, that's kind of indicative as well. So I'll start with you, Cassie. Have you been tracking that story? Do you care either way? I think I do care with it, because, you know, say when I was younger, you know, every Christmas or November, you'd be waiting until the toy show night, you know, that's something in my childhood, we'd always look forward to it. And then right up when you would be hosting it. And, you know, when you hear about what's happening now, it's really heartbreaking because like you grew up watching him. And I feel like some people are actually forgetting of all the stuff he's actually done, the good stuff he has done, you know, with all the money from the toy show, going to Temple Street Hospital, or he wants to feed the children. But because of one thing that may or may not have been partly his fault, all the people are just, I feel like are turning their backs. I think really, I think what the issue here is, though, Cassie, is that it was partly his fault. And he released a statement, he released a statement this week that kind of once again, opened the question as to whose fault is it more RTE? Is it more his? And I think that was just enough to say, right, okay, we're trying to move forward, but we're going back to that argument again. I suspect he'll regret that statement from Wednesday for a long time to come. Turning Steven, Chloe, any of you been tracking that story at all? I have any interest? Or is he just the toy man from your youth? Um, look, I suppose it's been like a part of our trust has nearly been taken advantage of and, and excuse, um, you know, to us, I'd say, yeah, yes, the toy man, that that is the height of it more or less, you know, make them come and watch the regular shows. And they always are great and he's been great. But, you know, then just to see this come out now, just at the end of his, I suppose, his television career for now, you know, and that's, I suppose it is, yeah, I feel anyway, but taking advantage of here, just, you know, it's, he's been such a key character in my childhood now and see all this happen on this. Oh, well, you know, I suppose it's shocking more than anything, Greg. Yeah, it is the way the world. All right, listen, by the way, listeners might want to have a view on that. Of course, you cannot wait 60, 25,000. What's your views on Ryan Taubry, the talks about him returning to radio ending? I wouldn't be surprised if a he pops up on news talk or something else because they can get him pretty cheap. And it'll be a big, be a big scoop for them to be seen as and be there's still some questions as to whether or not he has a contract with RT and it may well end up before the courts as well. Who is to say we were talking a little earlier this week about some of the things the Electoral Commission are considering. One of those is the issue of lowering the voting age lowering the voting age down to 16. Tiernan, I'll start with you if that's all right. Do you think we should lower the voting age down to 16? And now almost, whether it's yes or no, want to get into the reasons as to why so on the first instance, Tiernan, would you like to see the voting age lows to lower to 16? Well, ever since I was 14 years old, I've always had interest in politics and seeing how the world actually works around us. I have recently turned 18, the 3rd of August. And from having like, I remember just always saying, oh, I can vote now, I can vote. It's such a privilege to have as an Irish citizen. And from even from the age of 16, when I started TY and learning about the voting process, it's always having such an interest. And I always wanted to do it. And for me personally, for someone who does have an interest in politics, I just feel like it can be a bit unfair that I'm not allowed to vote until I am 18. I could go into more details about that. But I think Chloe might have things to say about it more. Yeah, well, we'll hear from all of you. But just on that issue, when we were discussing this a little earlier in the week, it was sort of suggested that, okay, well, if you want to vote from 16, that means then if you commit to crime, not that any of you would, then you should be treated like an adult in that regard. Do you know what it means? So do you think you could afford someone the right to vote at 16, but then treat them like a child in inverted commas in other areas such as, you know, criminal responsibility, for example? I think when someone is voting or when someone is being treated under a certain circumstance, I think the government or society would treat the child differently based on where they are. For example, when I was in the Guildtalk, I was treated more like a student or a child. But when I was doing Predo for Progression, I was treated more like an adult. So it's really how an adult or an organisation would treat an individual. Turning 18 now, I feel more like better and more into politics and I feel more treated like an adult in contrast to about a year ago where I was still treated like a student or as a very young person with no voice or no say. All right, Chloe, do you want to come in there? Chloe Martin on the Student Council of Loretta Community School, Milford, would you like to see the voting age lowered to 16? And if so, why? I definitely would. I've spoken about it ago, but actually the biggest thing for me is taxation without representation. So I've been working since I was 15 being taxed since I was 15 and taxed heavily at that. And I've, you still had no say anything that even goes on in my local government, let alone national. So the government feels like it's OK to tax me as long as I can't put my voice out there and give a vote. And then as well as that, I believe that 16-year-olds who, especially who study politics or just have an interest in politics are just as knowledgeable about civics and have the same ability to make good voting choices because somebody who's young and studying politics or just researching could have more knowledge than a 50-year-old who's just going by what his family's voted for for generations. Are you confident that, you know, 16-17-year-olds would vote on the issues and not just follow their parents in a way of voting or not simply vote for a party that isn't in government because, you know, it's kind of a rebellious thing to do. These aren't my opinions. By the way, I'm just trying to tease the conversation out and to really maybe convince people that, you know, 16-17-year-olds are responsible and should be able to have a say. But are you satisfied that 16-17-year-olds would in big numbers look at the facts, look at the issues and vote accordingly? I think 16-year-olds given the chance can prove people wrong in the fact that we're just all known to things like social media because we're the people that see the issues firsthand. We're the ones especially things like things go on really hard and not like I am one of the people living around here. I know what's going on and I give out a fresh point of view whereas people talk about all this life experience that adults have and while that might be true we have the experience of being a young person and having fresh eyes to problems and I do think that given perhaps the right education people, young people would definitely come out and use their voice to vote if they got the chance. Alright Stephen what do you think? Well I think anyway it's fantastic to see commissions actually looking at around the age you know it's been a really healthy step it's been some you know a lot of the especially you know some of the student activism groups have been really pushing for it now for a long time so it's really healthy to see that that has been recognized by the commission I suppose and look I suppose here or today yes we're here now but like the legislation that you know the people that we vote on will be you know writing and acting on and enforcing and voting on I suppose well really will affect us today but will affect the young people for the rest of their lives you know today what we're of what 15 16 and you know we don't have a say in that yeah that's kind of interesting because a lot of the decisions that are being made can now I mean use inherits really whatever you know whatever roads we decide to go down but again I'll put it to you would you be confident would you be confident Stephen that you know 16 17 year olds would look at the issues and vote accordingly? I do trust them yeah the issue that I would see is the lack of voter education before we look at you know how young people would vote and because I suppose some of them may choose to follow their family's trends I suppose in voting and yeah but there's 30 40 year olds do that so I don't think that necessarily that's it and I suppose we need to look at a a vote in education for for all but we're lacking yep not a bad point there Cassie what do you think if I if I recall correctly I think you were opposed to 16 17 year olds getting the vote am I right or am I misremembering? No no I am 4 actually the vote 16 campaign that's why I'm 4 anyways okay so my mistake Oh don't worry so you know Ireland has one of the youngest population in western Europe the third of our population is under 25 you know the citizens december voted 80% in favour of the vote 16 in 2018 and you know multiple votes at 16 bills and extensions adding the voting right to 16 year olds but has failed political will not well is not there you know because as an eyes issue officer as a student and even as a young person I've seen how young people want to be able to engage and participate in society because young people are more than capable and aware young people want to participate in specific society and grassroots are seen in this climate you know we have climate strikes memberships of youth organisations student councils goes etc and you know there's there's countries that do have vote 16 you know Scotland Australia and even Wales you know that is being a success so far so I think the Irish government should just take a look about why other countries are doing with it maybe that's see maybe that's what they're doing and that's what they're afraid of Chloe how different do you think Ireland might be of 16 and 17 year olds vote because I do think you know often the conversation doesn't really talk about why people resist it I think there is a fear that you know we could become very liberal that you know 16 17 year olds could hold the balance of power because there's a great deal of apathy out there but 16 and 17 year olds if they got the vote might be emboldened and might sort of vote 80 90 turnouts and what have you so Chloe do you think if young people were allowed to vote the 16 and 17 year olds that it would make us a more liberal country is that perhaps what people are afraid of or where do you think the resistance comes from I think people aren't afraid of young people not showing up they're afraid of them showing up and having a voice that's different to theirs because Ireland I mean we're a fairly conservative country and it's been that way for years and years but as time moves on and your generations come up you'll have fresh ideas and as well like we want to have a voice in things in laws that affect our lives and I think that people that are a little bit older maybe just be like well wait to the red team but it's the difference of two years and while we're in school and getting education we have every right to want to share our thoughts on that yeah and you know you talked about taxation and what have you I mean one of the first issues you could start talking about is this crazy sliding scale on the minimum wage where you have a you know 16 17 18 year old working in the same job potentially as a 19 20 21 22 year old but working for a fraction a fraction of the wages yeah absolutely I've been working since I was 15 and my first job I was working people a lot older than me and I was getting paid a lot less and I'm in a new place now but back then you know it was because I was younger and I was on I think the I was on below minimum wage actually and still getting taxed happily by the government yeah okay tier um Tiernan just in relation to the comments from Steven there about education people's education about democracy about voting and all that type of stuff through the school curriculum I mean obviously you've already referenced and I think all of you have an interest in politics but if you don't is there much focus in school about explaining you know how democracy works what the local authority does you know what TDs do you know how proportional representation works I mean does that come across students much in this day and age when I started fifth year that's when the growth of politics really came to me especially when the subject politics society was introduced in my school I thought it was a fantastic subject and that's why I mainly chose it policy and society mainly taught me the structure of the Irish government the Doyle the Shannon on the ground and it's it's amazing how the subject has been invented and created and developed over time and from learning key thinkers and doing lots and lots of research and learning more about Irish people and the globe really it's been fantastic experience and for me personally for young people and education on politics and society I think the subject needs to be expanded to junior cycle I think this should this should be a requirement or in the SPHE curriculum it should be added on to even if it's a chapter or a small section in a chapter I think young people need to know how voting works for me at 14 when I was in second year I did not have a clue I didn't know about PRS TV and I didn't know about the Northern Ireland Assembly I didn't know about the UK government Westminster so from I think that we should introduce topics especially at 13 14 15 in the junior cert and in transition year to learn more about how politics or not even politics voting works on the basics of how to vote and where to vote and how to how to form your opinions or which party does a young person with a language the most yeah okay and Stephen just before we take our first break you raise this issue about a supposed awareness is enough being done with your views aligned with Tiernan in perhaps what needs to be done I mean I think when we look at turnouts of 40 for council elections 40 percent 45 50 55 for general elections you know that the loudest voice is sometimes is those that don't vote why don't they are the disinterested do they not know do they feel disenfranchised but anyway maybe we could start a younger age sort of educating people on all of this stuff Tiernan sorry Stephen I beg your pardon I'm sorry yeah um well look absolutely you know the points that Tiernan raised there you know bang on that's exactly what we're looking for and I suppose even at the minute you know we do have the CSPE course but it is lacking I suppose and it's there it's all there it's I suppose it's just um it's the way the way it's been taught you know there's very little resources for teachers there and I think that's um that's where guys you know like the ISSU there with Cassie can come in and I know they're working hard there to do that so and no look even to expand politics and society into junior cycle I absolutely would be and I would support that anyway yeah all right great stuff thank you very much indeed for now you're listening to the voices of our friday panel Cassie Lam regional officer for the Irish second level students union Tiernan Lynch on the students council of Loretto community school Milford Stephen Sheridan who's a student councillor with Mulroy college Milford Chloe Martin on the student council of Loretto we are broadcasting our show today live from letter Kenny main street just outside county house here and thanks again to our friends at the county house for giving us the power and what have you and later on in the show we're going to be um talking about why we're here which is to celebrate the start of the letter Kenny festival 2023 celebrating music pride and community unity we've got loads of interesting conversations and as well as that's some live music for you as well we'll be back with more from our panel after the break the night until noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union offering low rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letter Kenny cu.ie or in office today hi attention one and all easy living furniture is turning 25 and we are celebrating with an amazing anniversary sale this weekend join us for our biggest sale ever and with free delivery on all orders over 500 pounds this is one sale not to miss but hurry as this amazing sale must end soon visit easy living furniture presently retail part easy living furniture making homes great since 1998 is your car needed for service at iMotors with our state-of-the-art workshop facilities we offer servicing time and belts tires and wheel alignment split your service bill over four payments with our bumper payment facility visit iMotors.ie to book in or call us today the night till noon show is coming live today from letter Kenny's main street at the launch of letter Kenny music festival 2023 celebrating music pride and community all this weekend highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from letter Kenny to Dublin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time at okay okay the time is 27 minutes past nine you're very welcome back to the program Chloe we were talking to Chloe Martin we were talking yesterday to her no she sorry her group called she see her elected and they were discussing recently the issue in perhaps online abuse in person abuse being a barrier to women entering politics they're behind a big move to sort of sort that out ahead of next year's elections Chloe I'll put the question to you first and I think I was framing to you in the first place would you have any reservations about entering public or political life in this day and age given sort of the what we see on social media now absolutely I think I would definitely have reservations about it because at the minute there's such a heavy interest on council culture and people the way it is media owners aim solely for profits and to get ahead of the competitors and websites are only going to print things or papers and we're going to print things that people want to read and people are far more likely to want to read about a scandal or little upheaval than they are good things like royal weddings or celebrations people want to focus on the bad things and something that always comes to my mind when talking about toxic media is the tragedy of Caroline Flack and how it really shows that people see a rumor online and run with it and how that can end and actually one of the people who wrote one of the first articles about her came out and said that it had been a slow news day so she felt important to use a tone that was cruel and uncalled for because it was all over social media and she herself had no opinion on the matter but it just shows how twisted things can get on social media yeah and and it's also mainstream media too there's a I'm not sure if you're familiar with GB news it's a it's a relatively popular news station if you could call it that in Britain and some of the evening program is dedicated solely it would seem to sort of taking down Harry and Meghan you know in the most nasty way and if anything were to happen to either of those similar to what happened to Caroline Flack it would not be a surprise such as that the targeting of them Tiernan what do you think would you be reluctant to get involved in public life or elected politics you know because of the toxic nature of of social media or what oh well for me as Chloe was saying cancel culture is huge I feel like celebrities or politicians or anyone who is well known could get cancelled or an instant for a mistake or something they have done in their past and we've seen many politicians suffer many online abuse an example that comes to mind would be Cara Haunterd from the SDLP in Northern Ireland she a fake video was leaked of her and it was when I first heard of it I thought it was awful I heard about this when I went to the Good Friday Agreement back in April this year and hearing her experience was a major eye opener for me and it was disgusting and it was almost inhumane and cruel and brutal if I'm honest so seeing that happen to politicians it probably would put one off for example myself and probably many women in politics and many men as well so for me as a society for cancel culture and abusing those in power I think we need to remember a word in Irish Covas which is mutual respect or respect for people which is something that we really do lack in this day and age what's your view Steven well I suppose public life as public as ever as it ever has been Greg you know between social media and mainstream media you know when it comes to tabloid newspapers especially you know public and public individuals in whether it be celebrities and media or politicians or whatever they may be everything you may know everything about them thanks to media and today and frankly there are no secrets if you choose to go on to love a fairly public life you know and also too though the issue is as well which is is concerning and also people listening won't agree or like this but if you are a member of the the Traveller community if you are a member of the LGBTQ plus community if you're a person of color or if you're a woman it seems you are more likely to be targeted with very specific harassment Cassie you're nodding in agreement there yeah so being part of any close groups being even as a young girl on today's age you know I love politics it's something I'm passionate about it's something I would love to see myself in the future doing but if you really do think about it is it really worth all the stress and then all the fake news like you know something can pop up on your name has never been included in anything and you're on the front page of the Irish house or something you didn't do is it really worth of everyone people who you don't even know taking photos of you or you know I think too though Cassie and all of you which is even more worrying of course you know we've seen situations where people have been pictured in private in a nightclub or what have you but now with the with the advent of artificial intelligence I'm sure you've all seen the videos whereby a celebrity's face has been you know superimposed on another person's body and also obviously the voice can be replicated as well I mean a year ago you would know it had been done but even now it's almost impossible to differentiate an artificially artificial intelligence generated video let alone a photo so I think it's going to become even more of a challenge Chloe what do you think you know in the years to come whereby it's going to be very hard to find out what is the truth and what's not the truth I think AI is genuinely it scares me that's not me being dramatic I see it all over my especially TikTok it's all over TikTok at the minute videos of like celebrities voices attached to different songs and then I'm saying different things that they would never say in public and even just them their photos being photoshopped or videos in when technology evolves from that you're not going to be able to tell if it is the celebrity it's really difficult now to determine you know you can see people being caught out by some of these accounts obviously not this I mean you know Nelson Mandela rapping M&M I mean clearly that's not I'm not on about that stuff but you know what I mean it's what do you think Tiernan do you think AI perhaps one of the biggest threats to democracy going forward or I think for me personally I've seen many advanced technology for example I really love my phone like you should have seen me in the Guild Talk it was just awful but at the same time that was why you didn't have your phone is that what you're saying you were you were you were nude over there without your phone or it felt like it literally yeah and it just feel like from I've seen many like theories on how technology could progress in the future and even now with the development of deepfakes and how a person can put a face on someone else in a video and spread complete lies this could have this could be a major threat democracy in personally but it really could have it really could lead to a lot of issues and it could cause a lot unnecessary controversies that last word before a break from you Stephen um yep look and AI absolutely is terrifying you know when you see it whether it be Nelson Mandela rapping M&M or as politicians being I suppose superimposed into images where maybe they shouldn't be in certain places and it's it's terrifying to see that can be done even the capabilities are just beginning to show now and it's yeah the one word would be terrifying yeah okay well listen stay right where you are before I take that break I just want to give you a heads up that we have our 20 000 euro mega summer draw ongoing here at Highland radio and a little later on this morning on around the northwest and John Breslin returns to present that show today there is two and a half thousand euro to give away 20 grand in total to give away we've already given away two and a half thousand euro another two and a half thousand euro to be one today more next Friday and then there's a big 10 grand prize to be won as well on the following Friday along with another two and a half thousand euro so you can still get your tickets if you want to be with the chance to win the money today but you're also obviously in all of the draws if you get your tickets before the deadline closes Caroline mentioned I think what time was it closing up maybe half left and anyway I'll double check that I don't want to mislead anyone two o'clock sorry okay it's going to close at two o'clock today so you've gotten till two o'clock to be in the four remaining draws you can go on to our website Highland radio dot com and click the link there and buy your tickets or you can give us a call and oh seven four nine one twenty five thousand the team will sort you out there as well but if you are going to be entering you might as well enter this morning because that means you're in all of the draws okay back with more from our panel after the break watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com the nine till noon show is brought to you by letterkenny credit union with monster loans available up to 60 000 euro for all occasions visit letterkennycu.ie don't miss the kildara fair this weekend at mccarries bar done funnily on friday there's a 5k with chip timing at 7 30 saturday from 11 tractor and vintage car run followed by live music with shameless 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what's going on here you should really put on the subtitles fair point whatever way you play switch today and virgin media dot ie virgin media it's play time terms of additions apply subject to location and availability arland's best broadband awarded by omelette see virgin media dot ie slash proof the citron ec4 and all new ec4x are fully electric so that means zero emissions their progressive hydraulic cushion suspension means zero vibrations their renowned advanced comfort seating means zero discomfort and now their impressive finance offer means percent interest rate book a test drive today at your local citron dealer and zero for yourself the night till noon show is coming live today from letter canny's main street at the launch of letter candy music festival 2023 celebrating music pride and community unity all this weekend uh yes you're very welcome back to the program already a bit of a buzz around letter candy obviously given the fact that i'm normally on the radio in on mountaintop i don't normally get to see letter candy main street at this time in the morning but let's just say a good buzz about already and if you are out and about don't forget to give us a wave and i want to thank our hairers for coffee and scones that've sent up to us as well which is lovely isn't it thank you very much for that i look forward to watching everyone drink them and eat those scones because i can't because i'm doing this but anyway listen it's it's all about the team here right we're in the company of our panel it's a younger panel i suppose as we're heading back uh to uh school times college times we have cassie lamb regional office surface irish second level students union turn and lynch on the students council of loretto community school millford steven sherdon student counselor with mulroy college millford clloe martin on the student council of loretto community school millford now i don't want to invite your amazing young voices onto the program and then sort of steer the agenda so we can return to some of the the topics it might be interesting to get some views from you on but i suppose and i'll just go down the list as it is here uh in front of me and i'll start with you cassie you know from from your perspective what is one of the most or the most important issue uh for you that you believe that maybe we're talking about or not talking about an office there's something of particular concern to you so personally i feel like you know body image i know there's a lot of controversy around it and you know there is awareness about this but there's no support you know i'm very i would always support for body image and people who do suffer from an ed i'm very passionate about that because you know you're referencing there yeah yeah because you know because say um on social media you know i see that nearly as deadly for young girls you know say you know there's i see on instagram or even on tiktok like you know 11 year olds 12 year olds doing you know full face makeup or um you know they're doing proper skincare routines that i'm only starting to do like and you know there's young girls and their parents you know putting on diets and there's things coming out almond mums and they're very strict on their children on what they eat or what they themselves eat you know i just think it's horrible that you know it's not being talked off in school you know i'm very lucky i regret support system in my school i can always go to someone but there's not always that support system around in schools or in communities how big is the pressure uh on on young people um to you know conform to a certain image or body shape or look i mean is it ever present the pressure or is it does it depend on the individual feeling they are under pressure it's i feel like it's always going to be the individual but also say it's a young person who wants to go on to do nutrition or become a doctor or a nurse you know the personal image of that is to be slim you know if you're going to study nutrition or diet headaches you have to be a very slim person and that's 100 wrong you know if that's something you're passionate about you should go do it it's the same on politics maybe even you know if you go back 30 40 years the face of politics generally it was all men and you know there's women coming into it now and i think it's absolutely amazing that they are but at the same time where is our female t-shirt you know there hasn't been one and there's always those types of sorts but then there's pressure on say younger girls who see more older girls who might be 20 or 25 point of videos on what they should be eating what they should not be eating you know you can't compare a body of a 25 year old to a 10 year old and the worst of it is it's all down to money it's all being monetised and it's off the back of young people you talk about women in politics i mean often her name escapes me at the moment quite embarrassingly the the prime minister of New Zealand and Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland would have been seen as the two sort of maybe you know you can be it if you see if you see it sort of women in politics and yet both of them have stepped away because of burnout or wanting to get on with other aspects of their life that's two role models out the window there um Tiernan um do you agree uh with Cassie i presume you do in terms of uh you know body image conformity whatever it might be being a big challenge for young people and it's interesting to from Cassie's comments that some of it maybe it's it's the it's not just the influence of social media but parents maybe as well not our parents but you know what i mean you see that there what do you think Tiernan? Cassie's point of view is very valid and i agree 100 percent there's such a idea that an individual has to have a certain body type and it's especially on instagram and snapchat it's constantly portrayed that a young person needs to have a certain body i think as well for pressure on young people or young people problems as well um vaping and using tobacco products are probably another huge one stay there because i'm going to come back to that specific stay that because i'll come back to that specifically i'll just get a quick word from Chloe just in relation to Cassie's remarks what do you think Chloe? Absolutely the pressures on young men and young women and men in today's age to look a certain way or act a certain way like i see a lot of people on tiktok and i think it ties into politics as well um girls who might express points get told like the comments under like get back in the kitchen or girls are expected to sit there and look pretty and not have an opinion and i suppose as well men are expected to just be these big strong people who don't cry or have emotions like it's it's a two-way street there that's interesting actually uh yeah they're they're always those roles uh that even in 2023 people kind of feel compelled to conform to uh ternan not i keep missing it mix and ternan and steven at my apology steven what's your view on this briefly um sorry look um whenever we've got the chance whenever i get to speak to young people in this region that's always been um it's always been up there i say body image has been a top three topic that young people have been concerned about in this region of recently anyway um and i suppose yeah like Chloe said there really is a two-way street as well you know we have to we can't really enforce these um the stereotypes even if i may say um on men and women you know it and i suppose that's why we need to really raise awareness um on body image and um whether that be physical or mental yeah and i don't think adverts you know because there's a commercial element to them as well sort of adverts you know if you look at some of the adverts that they almost go over the top to portray differences and i'm not sure i think that's tokenism i think that's just like the same as saying you know drink aware when you're advertising booze i think it needs to be more nuanced and more thought need to be gotten into it right back to you then um back to you then ternan you wanted to talk about vaping and i've said it on the show before so i'll just reiterate it um we have seen an explosion of vaping amongst young people completely unregulated here to four and i think young people have been done a really disservice because there are tens of thousands of them now addicted to vaping and god knows what else they'll end up taking because they've been failed by regulation and oversight but i'm more interested in your views ternan i think it's a huge problem it's massive just on young people's physical health but also on the environment as well we're an age where we need to start worrying about the climate and fixing it and i feel like that's just not being represented enough when we're talking about the problems of vaping um as someone who is on don't go you've come so i love it so much it's probably the best experience i've ever had stephens on it as well um we have decided to take action against this and we sent a letter to the minister for god's sake minister of health minister of health i presume yeah stephen longley i think that's him i think so well there have been holidays for so long it's easy to forget okay so we'll give you a pass on that one ternan go ahead and we sent a letter explaining our concern our issue on vaping products like in schools especially i do sent i do tend to see more vapes and pencils being used and it really is a huge issue and it does need to be a big concern for young people today in ireland and in the uk especially right okay um now we are going to i just want to make sure we get everyone's views on something they want to talk about if that's okay so uh chloe uh or we may well have touched on it already but you know what do you what is the big issue for you at the moment that either we are talking about or not talking about enough i think that uh i don't hear as many people talking about as they should but social deprivation um this kind of i i worked on this before by politics and action um initiative i worked on social deprivation and drug abuse and we went on a skill trip to the doll actually and one thing that the overadventure said that really annoyed me was they were bringing up social deprivation in rural ireland and he turned around and said and i quote rural ireland is fine um i'm from phallus the ruralist of rural places and we're not fine and the levels of immigration are sky high and the lack of amenities are shocking and then what goes hand in hand with that deprivation is drug abuse and on top of that the rising costs of fuel food and everyday essentials it's the cost of living on top of that is ridiculous and then you'll feel like bored and they're turned into drugs and i think what was it in 2020 there were 218 drug related deaths in rural ireland alone and it all comes back everything cultures back to social deprivation yeah and i mean just on that there were three uh drug related deaths in dairy at the weekend and uh and now it was on the front page of a newspaper yesterday so no but it was it wasn't mentioned can you imagine three people dying uh in a boating instant or a road traffic collision you know it would be but it was three people who died uh uh suspected to have died because of a bad batch of um drugs okay uh as i say i just want to make sure we get through everything we can come back to other people with views on that um what do you think steve and what's the big issue for you that we either should be talked more about or we're not talking about at all um well yeah um i don't know i assume it's we're not assuming that it's really coming back to police point there it's social deprivation rural deprivation then rural awareness and i'd say cat it'll come under us now um but yeah we're seeing a lack of services a lack of um lack of support just in these rural regions whether they're going all around the west that's it is significantly lacking whether it be transport health education um you know when i would like to call anyway at least even housing yeah housing absolutely is um them four big points are what we're seriously lacking up here and that's what i think we're not talking about no maybe we are talking about it up here but we're not talking about it enough you know yeah that's i think that's a really good point it's not being heard and i think really in in chloe's commentary and what i think the phrase was annoyed her about the leader of the country is his lack of awareness and i'm thinking too as we speak now the struggle in households across the northwest about sending people to to third level because all of the problems we've talked about can be a hindrance to people's education as well and uh you know being able to afford accommodation people just missing out and susie grants and wondering how the hell are they going to pay to send a young person on to college but wanting to do the best for them and at the same time many of them and i've spoken to them living in a house that's falling down around their ears because of the correct defective uh uh uh concrete kassie i mean if we if people don't recognize there are problems it's going to be a struggle to get them to address them oh yeah a hundred percent because they've unique uh don't know for example if you're a college student and if you want to go to study in ucd or dcu somewhere in dublin or golly whatever and you know it's your dream course your dream skills and you're younger and then it's nearly impossible to find maybe housing in dublin or in golly so then it's either you save up for your accommodation or you save up for transport that may be a car because here in dublin we don't have very great transport you know we are only got our draft now for trains and that will only be coming in maybe 2050 and there's a lot of controversy around that and you know it's going if you decide then to save up for your accommodation and save you to get the bubble sub maybe even so many times and if you didn't even get the accommodation you could be spending up to nearly one thousand a year or a month maybe on transport nearly from donnie gall down to dublin and that's an utter disgrace and say even donnie gall you know the housing it's either about maybe house market in it or it's way over someone's budget you know the transport i already touched on it's not good enough genuinely it's not and it's not fair on the young people that you have to bring it up it should be more of saying here look can you just not look at donnie gall and say the transport's not brilliant you know nowhere in the country has brilliant transport let's be honest but donnie gall doesn't have the best support system for it yeah and i'm just gonna ask you briefly each of you because we have to wrap it up now and i'll start with you because you're the last speaker kassie whether you want to or not do you see your future in donnie gall no i don't all right and i'm being i'm i would love to you know i see myself going to the atv when i'm older but i don't see myself staying here for a very long time right and i'm not on about i mean obviously some of you are going to have the desire to travel but i'm on about maybe you know if you're wanting to stay here do you feel you could i'll ask the same question to you chloe as much as you might hope it is and maybe you don't do you think you have a future to live and work and prosper in donnie gall that's a good question i'm not sure i don't think so to be honest i'm hoping to go to gallway for a college and if i like it down in the air i might stay i could go to come back when did you just say to buy anyway right we're gonna have to get your passport off you tear then what about you do you see your your uh as i say it's not what you might want but you know in terms of fulfilling all of the dreams that you might have do you feel you can do that in the northwest um donnie gall is my home it's where i grew up it's where i go to school but do i see myself achieve my hopes and dreams here no wow steve can we have time to get into it we're gonna have to return to this one again steven what about you look even already um doing the youth activism i can't stay here um and going into the future whether it be college or work i can't stay here okay what a really what a really depressing note to end on and not from you steven from all of yours do you know what i mean come here we're gonna do this again did you enjoy it yeah yeah brilliant okay i think it's really important that we speak to you and not about you so thank you so much for your time uh steven lynch on the student council for grato community school milford good morning to you thanks for your time bye about mix not people's names am i steven shared and uh tiren and lynch i'm sorry steven steven shared and student council with more roi college uh tiren and lynch on the student council of loretto community school milford thanks for much great to see you again thank you look after yourself uh clawe it's been a pleasure having you on the show take care of yourself thank you very much again thank you for that soon and last but not least of course cassie lamb have a good eat thank you so much for joining us it's been a pleasure having you on the program again as well thank you all right take care of yourself all right 08 660 25 000 if you want to comment on anything we've been talking about or raise your own issues back after the news and the bituary notices following this break the nine till 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 orio the robot is not just helping staff with service at kelly's diner but he's also adding a little twist to birthdays there if you're celebrating your birthday at kelly's orio can be persuaded to sing a very special happy birthday it's a great treat for small kids and plenty of big kids too for the chance to see and hear orio the robot in action visit kelly's award-winning diner today at mountaintop better kenny it's the big grand sale at supervalue and there's great special offers like selected nestle