 Yeah, I'm always the last to know you. How are you, Rick? First to know on The 9th Loon Show. Of course, Gregor. You got your nice shirt on today. It's just white, Lee. Did you iron it? You ironed that yourself, did you? I did, yeah, this morning. You did a good job with that. Thanks very much. Could I drop you a few bits of Bob's then? Go down. No bother, I like ironing. All right, okay. Got myself a wee steam iron and a piece of cake. Did you? I did, aye. Did you? Had it for years. Is it brown stuff I've ever come out of your iron, no? Yeah. That's the worst when you're doing it. But it's bad water, you see. Is it salty water? No, no, it's just that the water's dirty or something. I have a wee sash here, right, that you can put into these irons, but I don't know where to put it in. Put it in where the water goes? Is that all you do? Yeah, of course. But how do you have to flush it out then? What do you do? Steam it out? I don't know. Shake it about, tip it out. I have it sitting on the mantelpiece then. What's the regular iron you have? It's a steam iron. So it produces actual steam. You can vertically iron with it? No, not vertically. Just normally. What kind of iron on the board do you have? It has a wee container. It's got a wee container and you pull out the thing and you put it in the water. But then you put the sassy in there. But how do you get rid of all the stuff that's in? Do you just iron as normal or do you have to like steam it out? Oh, it's $660,000, $25,000. I don't know, we need help with this. So I have this sassy for about a year. We'll get to the bottom of it later. Nice, Greg. It'll be resolved before $5,000. I'll iron your shirt. Can I iron your shirt as brown stuff comes out? I don't think I'd trust you. I know you will. All right, good luck to you. If you can answer his question, get in touch with us. It's not going to settle till he finds out. 9 o'clock, good morning, Michaela Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. Later, Kenny Milford, Municipal District Councillor, says he's flabbergasted after Ishka Aron told him that the water supply at Ross Park and Manor Cunningham did not make the cut for inclusion in the 2023 Main Rehabilitation Programme and that there are no plans to replace the mains in the area this year. Councillor Jeremy Monaghal says there needs to be more accountability and that he will be pursuing the matter at the highest level. He says given that there have been two outages in the past seven days alone, he's questioned what needs to be done in order for work to be carried out. I sent an email off requesting that information. What needs to happen for an area to make the cut as they put it? I'll take it as high as I can get it with an Irish water, but I think there needs to be some government intervention here. Someone has to be able to hold Irish water to account and that needs to happen very, very quickly. The Keherlock Author, initial Municipal District has described works approved for Newton Cunningham as a game changer. Donegal County Council has given the go-ahead for works as part of the town's Main Street Active Travel Project. Improvement and upgrade works are to be carried out and traffic coming measures installed. Councillor Paul Canning says once complete Newton Cunningham will hugely reap the benefits. Street is very low and a lot of vehicles use it because anybody's coming from Derry through the Kille road will come through Newton and there's a lot of vehicles on that street. We have about six raised tables to call them and that will slow down the traffic. This system is also to encourage people to walk more than the vehicles and also a lot of the footpaths are getting inviting to shoot people going to school. Farmers say their worried rewetting plans will lead to land values being slashed. The EU wants Ireland to start saturating peatland to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's part of the nature restoration law which hopes to restore at least 20 percent of the EU's damaged land and sea areas by 2030. But the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association says rewetted peatlands could result in the market price of upland and bog falling dramatically. Declan O'Brien news correspondent with the Irish Farmers Journal says farmers are worried about who would want to buy flooded lands. There's going to be a devaluing of the asset value of the farmers lands that are selling now for six, seven, eight thousand an acre. They will go back in value how far back they will go? Nobody knows. But who's going to want to own a bog outside of the state potentially that is effectively rewet? Whether I am mostly sunny day to day with top temperatures of 21 to 26 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. The muck plant. What? 100% vegan. Even the cheese? But how? Can't be. Can't? It really is. The muck plant from McDonald's with melt-in-the-mouth vegan cheese, a delicious sesame seeded bun, vegan mayo, and a juicy Beyond Meat patty. It's our iconic taste, plant-based. Served after 11 a.m. Subject to availability. 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. And you're very welcome aboard. Good morning. It is four minutes past nine on this Thursday, the first of June. It's the official in meteorological senses, the first day of summer. And we're starting to get the summer weather. All right, it's okay. Another busy three hours for you coming up. We want your views. We want your news too, and your opinions. 08, 6, 60, 25,000. The lines are open for you right now. Caroline, as always, taking your texts and calls as is Nev. And don't forget to give us a call if you wish on 07491 25,000. Emails coming to us. Comments at highlandradio.com. A bumper morning as it is a Thursday for newspapers. We'll start with the Treconal Tribune this morning. Any threat to call Arland's count numbers by 200,000 will signal the end of the road for suckler farmers. And it will make the future of the rural countryside unsustainable. That's the view of Sweeney. Joe Sweeney, sorry. Chair of the IFA in Donegal. While the proposal has been described as a briefing document by government sources, angry farmers say this mindset's typical of the thinking of officials in the Department of Agriculture. And I listened to, and I can only listen as you would know to an interview with Charlie McConnell not so long ago. And he seemed to give the impression if I'm not reading the room incorrectly that farmers were all for us, that they were chomping at the bit. Well, Mr. Sweeney said that any suggestion that this plan is part of the consideration for the future of Irish farming is deeply disappointing at a time when the industry needs the strongest possible backing from government for young people to make farming a career choice. And clearly they're not because the recent census shows that all industries, there's more people working in them except fishing and farming. I wonder is that a coincidence? I don't know. Only 11% of farmers are classified as being under 30 years of age, according to a farm survey published last year. There were 130,000 odd employed in the business with 9,197 under the age of 35. Half of farmers had a standard output equal or less than 13,566. On to the Donningham News. And the man who was killed in a tragic workplace incident in Guidor will be laid to rest tomorrow, Steve and Montgomery, just 43 of Ballymore, who was married with one daughter was killed in a workplace incident involving an explosion at Bloody Foreland. On Monday afternoon, his funeral service will be held in his family home at Ballymore tomorrow at 12 noon with burial afterwards in Ballymore graveyard. On Monday afternoon, Guardi evacuated the area after an explosion and the Irish Defence Force's explosives ordinance disposal were called in. It is believed Mr Montgomery was operating machinery while breaking rock on the site when the explosion occurred. And it's the subject to a full investigation, I presume, and I'm sure to determine the full cause. Again, we're thinking on the family and friends this morning and his work colleagues as they prepare for that funeral. The Donegal Democrat this morning momentum is mounting to restore Donegal's six-seater single constituency status. That's the overwhelming message from the 22 submissions received by the Electoral Commission in relation to its task of shaping the future make-up of Dole constituencies. The big question was the reunification to come up time and time again was the southern part of the county with its natural hinterland the rest of Donegal into one constituency. Going finagale TD Joe McHugh was the only Donegal Erectus member to make a submission. Although the Finafall Donegal Gahila Dole Cantor office board also made a contribution. Other Erectus members in this area to contribute were independent TD for Sligo Leach and Marion Harkin finagale TD for the same area Frank Fagan and former Finafall now independent TD Mark McChari. This is the first review of constituencies carried out by the Electoral Commission established under the Electoral Reform Act 2022. Do you have a view on that? Do you believe that Donegal should be restored to a single six-seater county? Not many people actually had their say by way of the Electoral Commission just 22 and quite a few of those with skin in the game so to speak. Maybe it's not something that vexes people anymore. The Dairy News this morning tells us that former Celtic and Dairy City footballer Patrick McCourt was yesterday found guilty at Dairy Magistrates Court of a charge of sexual assault on a female on January 30th last year. McCourt, who's 39 of Wheatfield Court in Moff County Donegal had contested one charge of sexual assault on a female where it was alleged someone had put their hand up her skirt in a nightclub. The Farmers Journal this morning a world first genotype cattle tagging scheme will open for farmer applications later this month. The five-year scheme anticipated to cost 83 million with 23 million of Brexit adjustment reserve funding to fully cover implementation costs in the first year of the program. Year one will target 800,000 cattle. All calves born to genotype cows will also need to be genotype tagged in the following four years and effectively every animal in the country we will have the genetic makeup which presumed it's advantageous for breeding and for tracing and all that type of stuff. It's a it's a lot of money though, isn't it? The Irish Independent this morning older workers should face sharp increases in pure sight now in order to fund their retirement and diffuse a looming pensions time bomb the head of the country's fiscal watchdog has said in the wake of new census data showing that the country's growing population is getting older Sebastian Barnes chair of the Irish fiscal advisory council said large tax increases now would avoid having to levy even larger ones in the future on a small or working population. You're taxing these people before they retire. If you don't do it now you miss that opportunity. It is a big group of people. I don't want to pay an extra tax what I want to do is live long enough to retire and then all the new young people to pay more tax and make sure I've got a good pension that's what I would like and I want to referend them to make sure that's happening. I don't want to pay any more tax and I believe it should be my children that pay extra tax so that I am in any way comfortable in my retirement. 08 660 25000 do you agree. The government has committed to small and gradual increases to employee and employers and that's while they're paying off the national debt as well they can pay that off at the same time. The government has committed to small and gradual increases to employee and employers PRSI in order to fund future pensions having already rejected the pension commission recommendation to gradually increase the retirement age from 66 to 68 by 2039 but I'll read about it later in a later article I think it's one I selected. The reality is is though it is probably going to be hard to hold the retirement age at the mid 60s because as I say I'll read the article I think in a moment the children born this week are very likely to live to 100 they are very likely to which is great isn't it because of long better outcomes than who's to say with artificial intelligence. We could live forever I don't know unlikely but anyway so you know your working life is going to be longer and people are going to be healthier it's going to be very hard I'm not saying I want it risen but it's going to be very hard to argue to keep the retirement age at 65-66 when people are routinely living to 100 years of age isn't it I think that's just practical realities of life that you kind of would have to work longer to pay your way for longer so we do have to look to the future to some extent I would imagine 380 million euro the Department of Housing returned to the Exchequer amid underspends it's a huge amount of money how can you fray almost half a billion well over a quarter of a billion this is big money the Department of Housing had to return more than 380 million to the Exchequer over the last four years amid underspends blamed in part on COVID-19 construction stoppages the Public Accounts Committee will be told despite the ongoing housing crisis the Department has struggled to spend its full allocated budget it was previously reported that it failed to spend more than one billion earmarked for housing over the past three years now what I don't understand and I genuinely don't understand is why this money is not used to provide housing for people in in Donegal are affected by the defective concrete scandal why is it not used to to provide prefabricated buildings you know why return it to the Exchequer why is it not there's a million ways this money could be used really practically to help citizens and that's even if we accept that what is being spent is being spent in a good way but there's a massive housing crisis all over the place but just allocate a hundred million of that to prefabricated houses for people here in Donegal and ease some stress on people as they say it probably doesn't work like that but perhaps it should work like that you know why return the money if it's not spent go right you know what we can redirect that and provide modular homes in in Donegal for people so they have a roof over their head and are less stressed whilst or stop penny pinching over the scheme for crying out if you can't spend the money you're allocated why are you penny pinching on money that you are going to allocate yeah back to this thing about people's life expectancy it's in the Irish Daily Mail children born this week have a good chance of seeing their 100th birthday a longevity expert has said because Irish people are living longer than ever before Dr Mark Ward senior researcher with Trinity College's Irish long longitudinal study on aging was speaking to the Irish Daily Mail as the census 2022 figures this week showed that the number living to 100 and beyond has risen by a staggering 61% since 2016 from 455 people in 700 to 738 so we are talking about a small group of the the population generally but in just six years the number of people aged over 65 has risen by more than 140,000 which is a much greater number Dr Ward said if the trend towards people living longer lives in Ireland continues children born this year have a really strong chance of living to 100 and beyond he said we can't predict whether there will be the natural disasters or another pandemic but all things being equal if we have similar improvements in terms of lifestyle and health care we will continue to live longer would you like to live that long I'm sure you would wouldn't you oh wait 660 25,000 right okay the petrol prices some of them went up yesterday but they certainly went up at 12 o'clock last night I wondered did many of you rush to get your petrol and diesel at the five six cents cheaper it was yesterday in most places compared to today well drivers will face higher prices at the pumps from today as the government excise cuts are reversed for the first time as fuel prices reached record levels in March 2022 the government announced it would could excise duty on petrol and diesel in a bid to bring prices down this was later extended in September's budget when it announced its cost of living supports in February the coalition said it would phase out the cuts gradually so the first cut was faced yesterday now I would say if they worked with us we probably because petrol and diesel has come down quite significantly we could probably absorb could we this this slight increase but it's going to go up another 10, 15 cent over the next few months so I think that's just a bridge too far I mean they're making more money off petrol and diesel than they ever did because of it being so expensive but you know work with us a little bit meet us halfway right we'll swallow this one but do us a favour maybe defer the other ones I don't know right if you smoke you might not live as long as someone who doesn't but you will gain an extra week off work every year that's how much time smokers spend on cigarette breaks one working week a year more than half leave their desk several times a day for cigarette or to vape some take as much as 20 minutes out of their days but typically it's up to 10 even at the lower rate that amounts to 50 minutes a week or nearly 40 hours a year the equivalent to at least a week's extra holidays despite ongoing government and HSE campaigns in early 720,000 people in Ireland are currently smokers and while they're putting their own health at risk they're also likely to be less productive at work the poll warns the biggest slackers are Gen Z workers those born after the mid 1990s followed by older baby boomer colleagues born between 1946 and 1964 so is there someone in your office getting an extra week's holiday what do you think are you looking over at their desk I'll wait 60, 60, 25,000 I've no one to look at here everyone's good oh they're good boys and girls here and finally just bow your head and I want you to just reflect for a moment on the struggles of RTE they are under pressure the TV license fee has raked out of your pocket 3.7 billion for RTE over the past 20 years but the broadcaster insists that it now needs to be reformed if the station is to survive figures well maybe cut wages you know and if if they want to move on somewhere else let them go that would be one way you could save some money figures released by culture minister Catherine Martin show that RTE regularly takes in close to 200 million euro a year out of your pockets for the TV license for yet station bosses admit it's still struggling to remain sustainable despite the huge intake and plus ads by the way despite the huge intake the national broadcaster is losing money and was given 15 million in additional taxpayers cash last year on top of 196.2 million had already received from the TV license now I could go in there and help them save money because they're losing listeners overall to independent stations and other services stop paying people so much money stop throwing money at prizes to try and get people to listen to shows that are dead on their feet you know things like that it wouldn't necessarily balance the books but it certainly would make it more palatable for the public if you come with your hand out and the begging bowl out all right any views on anything there that you've just heard or if you want to talk about anything yourself raise it with us oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand WhatsApps and texts that number or give us a call on 07491 25,000 the newspapers are courtesy of kelly centra mountaintop letter kenny the sea store national large four court of the year for 2022 the northwest opera returned to a green in theater this June 2nd and 3rd with the musical comedy Sweeney Todd the demon barber of fleet street with music by Steven Sondheim and the iconic film adaptation by Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp this chilling tale of revenge will leave you breathless book your tickets now at and green in theater don't miss Sweeney Todd at and green in theater June 2nd and 3rd holiday sunshine fly from dairy to New Yorker this July or August with 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B&S Credit Union limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland Highland Radio time checks with Expressway travel route 32 from Lettich, entity Dublin when you book online and travel for less Expressway bringing you the time asked the time is 22 minutes past nine we welcome Deputy Thomas Pringle onto the program good morning Thomas thanks for joining us morning Greg how are you good good good before we talk about why we invited you onto the program just a word from you in relation to the latest speculation as to whether or not Donegal should be a single six-seater county now I mean you're in I mean from a personal suspect perspective in Kili Beggs I mean it'd probably be preferable for you if that southern tip of Donegal was part of the county but more generally speaking it would make more sense to return us to one county wouldn't well I think so and effort was based on county boundaries and that the whole county was included in it would make sense but I think that the idea of six-seaters in Ireland is very I don't think there ever has been a six-seater I think why the six-seaters are allowed for I don't think there actually has been any five-seaters as far as they go and for in terms of the established parties they would want six-seaters because it's a lot more the less control over who gets the last couple of seats so it looks like that they're probably go for two three-seaters and so and in the county and I don't really know what difference that's going to make in terms of my own circumstances and I suppose very selfishly I'll be looking at that to see what impact that could have so when I first got elected Donegal it was a three-seater and Donegal Southwest and then we got re-elected again in the five-seaters so I mean we just have to take it as a conference see what it's going to present for us but in terms of representation you know with all due respect to the count there to the TDs elected I mean their focus is kind of slugowy if you know what I mean I think people from Lahi South and across to Pettigo would probably feel and this is like this is not just respect to any of the politicians of whatever party and on their part of they would probably feel better represented by someone elected for the rest of South Donegal Yeah I think probably Balochana-Bondore an area suffered from the point of view that there wasn't enough votes in that area to elect the TD so therefore it kind of was like viewed as being an add-on to slag-only term and that made a real problem and you know so if probably if it had to happen again in the future it should be a bigger portion of Donegal that's a terrible idea that's an absolutely rubbish idea we'll move on before in case anyone from the I mean that's what that would have in case anyone from the Electoral Commission is listening right you have said and I think you know it seems pretty obvious now that would be impossible for a single person on your median wage in Donegal to buy a house in this county that's based on the recent CSO figures it's it's you know it's quite a depressing fact yeah yeah it's quite depressing it's very stark when you I mean I didn't think I knew it was bad but I didn't think it was quite as bad when you read the actual figures the CSO showed that Donegal people are income is 36.7% lower than Dublin and the national income and when you look at the average income in the county is around about 27,000 euros which means basically for a single person in 27,000 euros the most they get expect to get on a mortgage is 89,000 euro and you won't get anything near a house in Donegal for that kind of money and that is a problem and if you do get some for that it will need a huge amount of work on it and which would mean extra money as well you know so I just put it in stark contrast what the people of Donegal are facing yeah and what I thought quite interesting was the level of the amount of single people it's not something I've ever really given any consideration to consideration to as such but we are talking like a big swathe of the population here and even if you have a couple they will still potentially struggle on that income to afford a decent house because they may likely have children for example yeah that's right and in Donegal context yes it would be very difficult for them and then the rules of how the income is treated in terms of buying for a mortgage and that as well does make it harder and even if you get above the the 90,000 euro figure as a couple they're still looking like I mean I think for an entire county when I looked at it there were 35 houses available for under 100,000 so I mean there's even the at the higher at the higher than the 90,000 there's still an awful lot of restricted properties available and they're just the people just can't get them and that's the reality because of course with your salary there are many other things that have to come out of that as well possibly two cars because of the rural nature of the county you know the associated costs with that you're likely to be buying a house with poor insulation I would imagine so the additional running costs there and so on and so forth but what can realistically be done to address that though because and we've done it before you know it was when I built the house my wages were I can't remember what it was I think it was about 16 or 17 or 18,000 it was something like that but you you could build a house key in the door for 60,000 do you know what I mean like and that was I remember that being an expensive quote at the time so even even though wages now are considerably higher than that the multiple of your annual salary to actually get the cheapest of a new house is it's completely different examples and oranges now yeah the change is huge amount in the last time that's why and that is the problem and there's a number of different issues in relation to it I mean I think the the availability of workers and actually housing construction so if they got their pushes up the cost as well the fact that there isn't the amount of people available to actually work at building houses therefore the cost of houses was up as well that has to be looked at definitely the the amount of income that people are earning has to be looked at as well and also as well I think what has to be looked at and what has to be addressed is the amount of properties available for people to rent as well because that puts an extra burden on people you know because I've I've come across quite a people who've had to move home because they they're unable to find a property to rent but yet if you look anywhere at all I'd say outside Airbnb you're tripping over Airbnb's all around the place and that is something that we have to get the balance of right as well yeah well you last time you were on this program you were effectively I don't think I misquote you was unapologetically effectively saying tax people who put their properties up for Airbnb out of the market yeah I think I think so I think that's what the government has to do but also what I said was that would should be a tax benefit for having your property as a long-term rent as well you know that's so basically a lower tax income tax level for people maybe who have a property and they rent it through somebody on a long-term rental and that way they're used to tax but Thomas is that not an overreach okay these are people who maybe have a distrust of banks or whatever they've invested in the house maybe they inherited it it's their property it's their bricks and mortar on their land and you're asking or taxing those people to coerce them into doing something with their property and the reason you'd be asking them to do that is because of a failure of successive governments to build enough affordable housing I mean that does that not contradict your your ideology there that you're looking to tax citizens into forcing them how to use their property to fill the gap left by poor government policy that's that's it's not it's just a sound right oh no it doesn't sound right and unfortunately in the emergency situation that's what we have to do but you know remember that the those same citizens are the people who elect that government and elect our governments as well you know so I mean that's like saying take your medicine no we all have a responsibility we live in it we live in a society we don't you know and nobody can stand outside and say that I'm already jacking to hell with everybody else and you know and that's that's the problem again and what we what we should do we do it all the time like I mean do we we have compulsory seat belts and cars because that's because it's safer for people so you're saying we shouldn't actually put pressure on people to wear seat belts but this is their own property what's next I that you can you can go into someone's house and take half the food out of their fridge and give it to someone else because you you know I mean where does it end if you're looking for the the public to fix government problems like where does it end it ends when everybody's looked after and when when everybody when we can be sure that people have a house and that they can have somewhere to live and that people won't end up homeless and but yet where we have airbends tripping over ourselves it ends when that's the case and when when everybody is looked after and everybody needs has what they need then the additional can go on and then if people want to have their properties in airbnb that's okay but I think they should pay a higher rate a higher tax rate for having that because we all have an obligation for a public good and we all have an obligation to each other and to to the society to make sure that everybody can live and I think we do but the airbnb the airbnb sectors also contributing significantly here because we've got 50% capacity taken out of our hotels right for an example at the moment because the public are doing their bit to help with the refugee crisis airbnb's are actually probably really really helping the donagall economy the reason our income is so low perhaps is because there's so many eight or nine ten thousand people involved involved in hospitality where the wages are low I mean if it wasn't for the airbnb where would our tourists be staying do you know what I mean like how many times can you go back to the public and say look at okay your business is banjax because you live to a hotel beside a hotel that has no tourists anymore if you then wanted to try and make a bit of income off a house that you had no we're going to tax that out as well because we need that house for someone else like where does it all end I mean I'm not saying that people shouldn't make income out of the houses and if you listen to what I said Greg I actually said that people should get a tax benefit from having put in a house in a long-term rental so it actually would be more attractive for people to have their houses at a long-term rental rather than have it as an airbnb and I think that I think that is a perfectly acceptable solution for an emergency situation which we're in at the minute and yes there is a need for people to have holiday accommodation and stuff to get there but alongside all that we still have thousands of holiday homes available in the country that could be that could be used for that purposes but also as well that I don't I don't want to have tourists here and have homeless people on the streets as well and that's it yes but there's 380 million euro that there's 380 million euro that has been handed back the extract from the Department of Housing why not say right why don't we start actually properly building modular homes for people up here say for instance if they need to move out of the micro or the defective concrete block affected homes that would take some pressure off the rental market you know and also too for some people they don't want the hassle of long-term rent someone comes in stays for two or three nights out they go they clean the house and on again you know the potential being a long-term landlord now as a dirty dirty industry it seems in this country you know the the hassles and what have you that goes along with that and if you decide to do something without else with with your property you can't because you can't it's very difficult to to to move tenants on no that's that's not actually the case Greg I think that's a lot of that a lot of that some of that that's true yes there's no doubt about it there is some some instances where that's the case but the reality is Greg and you I think you would know what you sounded like myself when you were talking there about the modular homes and something out there I've been raising this in the doll and the government doesn't want to know the same government doesn't want to know that is that is won't won't provide housing for people and won't provide yes but it's almost as if you've given up on that because the government will not be cracked on it right wait till I finish it's not it's not an insult to you it's almost as if right okay they're not going to do that so what we're gonna do is start taxing people on their own private properties their own residents to fix the housing crisis that way now maybe it's a too too stranded approach right but surely the focus should be on pressing the government to fix the problems that successive governments have created rather than putting our hands into the pockets of people who perhaps had a distrust of banks as I said before and and and invested in property or what have you and this sounds like I'm lobbying for I have nothing by the way I've a my house and I still have a mortgage to pay on it so there's nothing there's nothing in this for me by the way just to be absolutely clear but you know this again these are all government problems yeah but what what do you feel to realise Greg is that who who is the government the government is elected by the people of Ireland to represent and to to fight for it yeah but we yeah but people don't but people don't people don't you have to force yourself from the response by people people elected people elected you people elected you Thomas right and you had the opportunity to go into government and you decided not to yeah because because the government would not reflect which way you want to because the government because the government would not reflect the needs of would you be would you be happy if I was in government but then this type of government now yeah but you're blaming people for electing the government yes but it's it's almost an alicard attitude towards democracy you're blaming people who elected the government right but you would they elected you and you could have gone into government and you chose not to yeah because it would because the government wouldn't provide for the needs of the people as that's what what I've seen and and I I would say that I've been proven right because the way this government has behaved but you can't you can't divorce the people people from and people paying tax from the government and people paying tax from society we all live in a society and we have an obligation to make sure that everybody and within that society can live and it's better for us all and I think it benefits better the people who have Airbnb properties that if everybody in the county is living and living properly and living at the best life that they can it'll benefit everybody in the long one and it actually would bring more tourists here to the county which would make those Airbnb's more viable as well too so it would have a benefit all across the board and that's the difference that it makes and rather than me saying I'm okay Jack and everybody else can go to hell okay I get you but I just see a small group of individuals and business people making millions upon millions upon millions in this county right and it's it's it seems perfectly fine because through through the refugee an immigration crisis and yet here we are trying to fix a problem of homelessness and it's taxing people on their own private property but I respect your view and I've just been told that you've a vote at 9 30 I was told that at 9 37 so uh one of the questions coming up or whatever it might be my apologies Thomas I appreciate your time and the conversation take care of yourself all right 08 660 25000 WhatsApp's and text that number or give us a call an 07 491 at 25000 watch the show live now on YouTube Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com New multi-million euro cattle tagging scheme launched for more in your farmers Journalist Paul Mooney we reveal how farmers will be incentivized to DNA tag animals find out how many farmers applied for the new suckler scheme in your county fears grow that rewetting plans will devalue farmland department moves and hedgerow removal rules as summer silage sizzles we examine rising diesel prices and Ireland leads the way in sustainable farming read our exclusive interview with the EU commissioner for agriculture all in this week's Irish Farmers Journal on sale now time is ticking on the sizzling summer sale at easy living furniture with absolutely everything reduced now is the time to spruce up your space with stylish furniture and unbeatable savings from cozy sofas to elegant dining sets we have the perfect pieces to transform your home but hurry this sizzling sale ends this Sunday don't miss out on the hottest prices of the season visit easy living furniture presently retail park the dunnegall senior herners return to crook park this Saturday afternoon mickey mccann's chargers face wicklow and the nicky rackard final at 3 p.m. follow the action on highland as dunnegall she is a fourth all-arland title live coverage from the nicky rackard final between dunnegall and wicklow is in association with fuel you can trust at gal oil claddie bridge castle fin your one-stop shop for all your fuel needs with top rates given on sterling get ready for an epic summer with irwin's expert electrical letterkenny and bonkrana everything you need to make the most of our irish summers from the highly sought after ninja barbecues to outdoor speakers dice and fans big screen tvs bluetooth speakers and small appliances we've got you covered irwin expert electrical letterkenny and bonkrana all right some interesting comments coming in off the last conversation debate that we had with deputy thomas pringle i'll get to those very shortly but first i want to introduce on to the program patricia casey who's manager of the national poisons information centre the npi see at bowman hospital thanks for joining us sir patricia good morning great it's great to be here yeah right june which we're into now the npi c is hosting the no act prevent talk to us about this and this is part of actually it's you have a garden at the board be a bloom which kicks off today i believe so patricia talk to us about this this this campaign i suppose could you call it yes i mean the reason that we we decided to have a show garden at bloom this year was to help raise awareness about the risk of potential accidental poisoning in the home and the garden and to give people some information on things that they can do to prevent young children particularly from being poisoned accidentally and we also want to make people aware that the national poisons information service does have an information service for the general public so if a child you know does get hold of something that and eats or drinks something that might be harmful the person looking after them can phone us and we can give them advice on what's best to do so our telephone service operates every day of the year between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and people can phone us on 01 809 2166 we'll ask a few questions we'll talk through what's happened with them and we work out what the best thing to do is in their particular situation yeah and I think it's a good number to have on the fridge door if people still do that whether you have your own children or you're a grandparent or an auntie or an uncle that has children around because there are an awful lot of inquiries annually now I mean there's obviously an awful lot of instances and an already a good deal of awareness about this number I imagine many come through GPs as well and other sort of healthcare settings but still a lot of inquiries annually yes we get a little over 10,000 calls each year and from a variety of sources as you said about half will be from the general public but then we do get calls from healthcare professionals from from GPs from from hospital staff as well and about 6,000 of those calls involve children and they're typically the toddlers you know children under the age of three years and because at that age children are very active and very curious they're exploring their world and parents anyone who looks after children will tell you whatever they pick up they put in their mouths they have no perfection of danger so that can lead to them eating things that might be harmful yeah and you know it's almost as you go through life with a toddler that you realize I mean there's obvious things like dishwasher tablets and tablets you know for your washing machine and what have you but also a lot of people would put these sort of liquids around the bowl of their toilet and you know toddlers the first thing they do to grab that and it's all very flavorable and they're sorry all very nicely scented and you know they're naturally curious it's everywhere you look there's potential danger yes I mean it's a good point whatever they are naturally curious so whatever they can get hold of there's a there is a chance that they're going to taste this and because that's how they learn about the world and so certainly things like the the toilet and the wind blocks as you said things like read diffuser hand sanitizers I think that people might need to think of as well you disinfectants any of the multi-purpose cleaners that you have around the house and then there are things in the garden as well just tons of your your children might be out in the garden so it's be important to to know what plants you have growing in your garden just in case something happens so if you if you have to get advice so that you know what the plants are and be careful with the garden shared you know again any chemicals lighter fluids any kind of you know gardening products make sure that they're out of reach out of sight of children in the shed yes because I would say quite a few of the calls that you would get as well is that you know maybe the child had a small taste of something and the parent gets it off their breath or something and then the the panic sets in do you have an idea of how many of the calls require you know sort of a referral to it to a medical setting well in terms of the calls about children about one in five of the calls that we get we would send into hospitals because they would need observation and medical assessments and those children the most common things that you know we would be referring them in for the the laundry detergent capsules and paracetamol containing medicines the read diffusers and hand sanitizers so I mean what is the advice is it as simple as you know put locks on your cupboards make sure these things aren't within easy reach even you know if you know a child will at some point will learn to drag a chair that's just a fact because they'll see something on a shelf and they'll go I want that there's a chair and I can can become taller so is it a case of just looking around and making sure things are locked away out of reach in a locked away out of reach in a high press or a press with a child's lock on it but remember no child's lock is going to be 100% impenetrable you know there are children who work out how to open them but they are going to hopefully slow them down make it harder for them to get hold of these products so that you have a better chance of spotting what they're doing and and getting to them before they get to the point where they're going to eat or drink something that you don't want them to to get hold of and just finally and it kind of ties into the bloom side of things a lot of what we talk about often through these pieces it is things like that we buy from shops and bring into the home how do we find out you know what's in our garden and what potential what potential danger it could offer to children like in terms of plants or naturally occurring stuff and in terms of the plants as there are good resources online we put information up on our our website listing some low toxicity plants if you're thinking about you know what to put in your garden these three plants that wouldn't cause serious problems if a child was to to eat them and they might have a little bit of a tummy obsession they might feel sick or they might vomit a little bit but it wouldn't cause any life techniques they won't cause any life testing problems so that list is on our website which is poisons.iu we also have some information on the more toxic plants so again if you're planting maybe think about avoiding them or at least making sure that they're not accessible to children if you have children playing in your garden and again supervision just keep an eye on the children when they get a little bit older you know you can talk to them and just make the points and repeat the point to them to always check with the grown-up before they eat something that's growing in the garden particularly if they're used to picking berries with you they might think that any berry they see is okay to eat so have that conversation with them and have this on a regular basis that it's always best to check before you eat something that you find in the garden whether it's something growing or something that's lying on the ground and it's about educating them as when it's age approach it's not instilling fear we don't want to wrap our children up in bubble wrap but it's just to let them explore but teach them how to explore safely and also to supervise them absolutely you've really hit the nail in the head there we want them out we want them exploring and enjoying their gardens and there are things that people can do to make sure that there's a very few risks in those environments so that they can let them have fun to keep you and I in them but you've done your best to make sure they're not going to come any too soon okay Patricia Casey thank you very much indeed Patricia is manager of the National Poisons Information Centre and sometimes we do have to check ourselves don't we and that we provide information on programs like this is to inform us and to double check things and what have you between that or we do awareness about ticks and things like that as well for a very good reason but we also want to make sure and I'm kind of speaking to myself at the same time as the parent of a toddler that we don't get so fearful that something could happen to them that we inhibit them or that we sort of take away that natural bit of exploration that they have and wanting to visit and learn about the world and stuff right okay let us take a break and I'll come back then with comments on our next guest I just want to say quick good morning to Marie, Paul, Annie, Audrey, Beth amongst those of you watching the show on our social media and our website you're very welcome along and just to remind you that you can watch the program in its entirety every day and get subtitles by the way if that would benefit you by going to YouTube Highland Radio Ireland on your phone tablet laptop smart TV most TVs as I say have YouTube built in now or your fire stick or your Google box whatever it might be and we're also across Facebook as well Highland Hub Highland Radio News and Sport and there's a watch live link on our website Over recent months we've all been dealing with the reality of rising energy costs and we've all been making changes to reduce our energy use however if you are having trouble paying your energy bills be sure to talk to your supplier as soon as possible there are a range of protections in place for customers organizations such as maps and alone can also help for information on these and all other supports available visit gov.ie forward slash reduce your use brought to you by the government of Ireland will devalue farmland department moves and hedgerow removal rules as summer silage sizzles we examine rising diesel prices and Ireland leads the way in sustainable farming read our exclusive interview with the EU commissioner for agriculture all in this week's Irish farmers journal on sale now two three two three simple numbers but for Audi they signify more more innovation and excitement an invitation to experience progress you can feel and a shift in mindset to greater expectations like the competition edition on the Audi A4 and A5 S line models all part of our two three two range discover how progress makes you feel in a two three two Audi and book a test drive today In each tractor run malon Sunday 4th of June live chardy auction lost barbecue with pig on the spit live music from 6 p.m with Mike Denver and his band Jim Devine Liam McDermott and Shunny Cramsey proceeds to the Donegal Hospice Huey's Corner and the intellectual disability play area in Cairndonna that's Sunday 4th of June in each tractor run with entertainment live in the marquee at Malon Stables this ad is kindly sponsored by Milbrook Joinery Malon Now a new survey has suggested that the rise in the cost of living is having a significant effect on people's holiday plans this year according to the survey of 2008 people conducted in May 2023 by leading property website myhome.ie nearly half of prospective home buyers that's 47% so there are holidaying different this year because of the cost of living crisis Joanne Geary is managing director of myhome.ie and is that the big takeaway start there Joanne good morning to you Morning Greg and yeah I think this survey was very interesting for us to do you know as we can see the cost of living crisis is having a significant impact you know in a number of different aspects of our lives but now it's also affecting the holiday market what was interesting to me was as you say almost 50% said they're holidaying differently but 63% of the 2000 respondents told us that they think that holidaying abroad represents better value than staying in Ireland and I think we can see that certainly you know when you also read about the numbers going through the the various airports you know over the last number of weeks that would hold true and also what we're seeing on the site is that inquiries for holiday homes in particular have been up pretty dramatically in the year and that's what prompted us to do this survey so my home would have over 2600 rental holiday home rentals listings on the site and you know from various kind of different price points and lots of different choice there but we're seeing a big increase in inquiries for those holiday homes in Ireland even though people are generally saying that they would expect that there's better value abroad they're also telling us that 46% of us they're telling us that they would rather rent a holiday home than stay in a hotel again you know cost savings, cost to living crisis driving that feedback and I wonder how much of this is perception and sentiment if you know what I mean that in some way someone might feel that they're looking to buy a home sure we'll stay in Ireland and have a few days away when really in reality if you say they probably could go abroad for cheaper do you know what I mean I wonder how much of it's researched out and how much of it is sort of when you're in that nesting mode if you know what I mean yeah I think what we can clearly see is people are doing the research you know and they're looking for deals and they're looking for that value for money piece we can certainly see that in terms of stats that we would have on my home in terms of the number of searches and the time on the site that they would spend researching holiday homes on the site so people are being careful they're certainly voting with their their pockets you know they're voting you know 63% of them are saying abroad and they're also voting for holiday homes and I think generally people would do the research you know would stack up okay if I'm staying in a holiday home maybe I can eat in a couple of evenings you know I'll be saving some you know some of my hard-earned cash in that respect as well especially for families or people traveling in groups they do tend to prefer you know a holiday home solution to their to their holiday well it's likely if you go abroad you're going to stay in an apartment if you've got a couple of children even you know a relatively spacious one it's it's awkward living for a week or 10 days don't we go on one of the top holiday destinations for is that for and some people hate this phrase staycations or for or generally right across the tourism industries mostly people traveling within Ireland is it yeah I mean we asked our survey respondents you know in Ireland if they were staying in Ireland just give us your top three preferred locations and Donegal, Galway and Curry were the three so great to see Donegal up there obviously a great holiday destination for people and interestingly I was looking on the site on my own this morning and we have 76 holiday homes available to rent in Donegal still at the moment for the summer and a variety of prices there you know I just looked at a few listings actually so up in the downings really nice beach location you know you can get a three bed chalet rental there during the summer for 639 euro but that looked like good value and another really nice beach run property the beach house in Maroarty I'm not pronouncing that right Maroarty you're not far off it go on ahead yeah okay so that was 811 euros for a week a nice three bed family type property beautifully presented on the size and really good value a lovely quaint updated cottage in Cancassla for 411 euro per week that's a three bed so you know people are doing that research they're seeing the value there you know and I just picked those three locations yeah I get you you know it's a good sense and just to give you a favor you know okay now there's cheaper than that there's more expensive than that depending on what you're after but good good value there I thought you know and certainly a lot of stocks 76 listings so there should be something for everybody on the slide all right Joanne thanks so much for your time Joanne Geary managing director of myhome.ie a call I said here I'm really upset my house insurance was 339 euro last year and this year I got a quote for 1374 that's effectively a thousand euro increase when I rang my bank they stated that they agreed it was pretty high but there was nothing they can do and didn't provide me with any excuse just that it has to be paid now can I say one thing firstly here the relationship with your bank and who you get your home insurance get that out of your head get onto a website if you can't we'll help you if you want to give us a ring one of our team will help you here to get a sense of cheaper house insurance there lots of people have experienced huge jumps in their house insurance but if you shop around you should get close to what you paid for last year I've done it I know people around me have done it and others have done it so A make sure you know exactly what your rebuild cost would be to your actual rebuild cost not your value of your house to rebuild cost and B ring around and if you need a bit of help with that please get in touch with us and we'll help you because I don't want you worried for no reason whatsoever I can't guarantee that you can get cheaper but it is unless you've claimed or something I don't know did you make a claim and now you're trapped in on that if you did that might be something of a problem but you say I've never paid more than 400 euro for my insurance so this has greatly upset me and has me worried about my own home and costs is anyone else experiencing this there are a lot of people in the home insurance market you can shop around there are websites that you can go on put in your details and it'll come back with your best quote if you haven't made a claim and if you're still stuck and you need some help with it please get back in contact with us and we'll try and help it shouldn't be that high and as I say if you haven't made a claim you should be able to get it much much cheaper but I can't guarantee that but I would hope that that would be the case and could eliminate some of the worry for you okay back with more after the news and obituary notices mum hi I'm at the guarder station but it's nothing I told this girl I was seeing for a while that I put shots of her up online shots she sent me so they're mine really I only said I'd do it but the guards are saying that's a crime now it's not my fault mum then do anything I I only said I would threatening to share intimate images is a crime with serious consequences contact your local guarder station if you need to report it brought to you by the government of Ireland why did I choose Ulster I wanted a university who could give me the biggest possible future but also the best possible time now somewhere I could make friends and have good crack but also to set me up for the best job possible I'm planning to take up one of the study of broad options and then my big plan is to specialise in media law in LA but for now N.I. has one of the lowest student living costs in the UK so night markets here I come learn why over 30,000 students choose Ulster at ulster.ac.uk slash go north apply now for this September planning on renovating your garden this summer then look no further than dalesite garden furniture with a full range of sizes and garden sheds wooden and steel summer houses playhouses outdoor canopies fencing and much more find us on social media made to measure and one-off designs or our speciality call today on 087 double one two four seven double six recently engaged and planning your wedding if so they encourage summer wedding showcase takes place this June Bank Holiday Monday from 12 till 6 come along and we are stunning wedding venue and meet our dedicated wedding team this Bank Holiday Monday at Anchorage Hotel is your home or motor insurance up for renewal now is the time to check if your policy still offers you the right cover and the right fit at the right price to be sure you're getting the best deal take this opportunity to shop around it's easier than you think simply contact your insurer or broker today remember don't just renew review for more information visit understandinginsurance.ie brought to you by Insurance Ireland live on air online and on the Highland Radio app this is Highland Radio News Good morning I'm Akilah Clark with the news at 10 o'clock the doll has been told that it would be impossible for a single person on the median wage in Donegal to buy a house in the county Deputy Thomas Pringle told TDs that based on recent CSO figures which showed Donegal still has the lowest income in the state he sat down with some mortgage calculator programs and started looking at a state agents to see what could be bought Deputy Pringle says his findings were stark the median Donegal weekly wage translates to 26,889 euro per annum a single person on this wage with no dependents and no monthly outgoings at all may be eligible for a mortgage of 89,000 euro I look to see how many homes were for sale in the entire county of Donegal 35 were available for under 100,000 euros four were available for under 75,000 euro and I'm sure there's no stretch of the imagination to picture how derelicts are known for habitation these four would be without considerable renovation and expenditures a letter Kenny Milford Municipal District Cancer says he's flabbergasted after Iske Aaron told him that the water supply at Ross Bracken Manor Cunningham did not make the cut for inclusion in the 2023 mains rehabilitation program and that there are no plans to replace mains in the area this year Cancer Jeremy Monaghal says there needs to be more accountability and that he will be pursuing the matter at the highest level he says given that there have been two outages in the past seven days alone his question what needs to be done in order for work to be carried out I sent an email off requesting that information what needs to happen for an area to make the cut as they put it I'll take it as high as I can get it within Irish water but I think there needs to be some government intervention here someone has to be able to hold Irish water to account and that needs to happen very very quickly a post-mortem will be carried out today on the body of a young man who died in a jet ski accident in County Clare the body of the 19-year-old was recovered from the water of Loch Derg close to the bridge at Kililow last night two girls were also on the jet ski when it flipped over however they were wearing life jackets and managed to make it to the shore with the help of bystanders Keirlock of Clare County Council Cancer Tony O'Brien says the young man was a visitor to the area our thoughts and prayers are definitely with his family and his friends and everybody that knows him at a sad time it's it's a terrible terrible time for them I believe he was just a visitor um and that would that would be quite common we do have a lot of visitors to the area who would launch their crafts either in Balana or at Belly Coghren where their slip was available for them the Keirlock of the initial municipal district has described works approved for Newton County him as a game changer Donegal County Council has given the go-ahead for works as part of the Tynes Main Street active travel project improvement and upgrade works are to be carried out and traffic calming measures installed Cancer Paul Canning says once complete in Newton County him will hugely reap the benefits Street is very low and a lot of vehicles use it because anybody's coming from Derry through the Calais road will come through Newton and there's a lot of vehicles in that street we have about six raised tables to call them and that will slow down the the traffic this system is also to encourage people to walk more than in the vehicles and also a lot of the footpaths are getting ready to shoot people go in the school Farmers say their worried rewetting plans will lead to land values being slashed the EU wants Ireland to start saturating peatland to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions it's part of the nature restoration law which hopes to restore at least 20 percent of the EU's damaged land and sea areas by 2030 but the Irish Natura and Health Farmers Association says rewetted peatlands could result in the market price of upland and bog falling dramatically Declan O'Brien news correspondent with the Irish Farmers Journal says farmers are worried about who would want to buy flooded lands there's going to be um a devaluing of the asset value of the farmers lands that are selling now for six seven eight thousand an acre they will go back in value how far back they will go nobody knows but who's going to want to own a bog outside of the state potentially that is effectively rewet weather and I am mostly sunny day today with Clyde clearing this afternoon top temperatures of 21 to 26 degrees that's all from Highland radio news for now we'll be back with an update again at 11 o'clock until then good morning the obituary notice is for this Thursday morning at June the first the death has occurred of Leanne Marie Stapleton in Greensboro North Carolina USA formerly Kilklinny Port New County Donegal her remains were opposed at her family home in Kilklinny from two o'clock until nine o'clock today and tomorrow funeral from there on Saturday morning at half past 10 to St Connell's church Kilklinny for 11 o'clock recreation mass with burial afterwards in the old abbey cemetery Donegal town family flowers only please donations in lay of desire to the Kevin Bell repatriation fund care of any family member Leanne's funeral mass can be viewed live on Shovland's funeral home Facebook page the death has occurred in her 106 year of Rosie Keeney named McLeod late of Parkview High's Care Home Castle Derg and formerly of Hawthorne Park Castle Derg proposing at Lynch's funeral home Castle Derg removal from the funeral home this afternoon at quarter to three to arrive at St Patrick's Church Castle Derg at three o'clock to repose overnight recreation mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 12 noon in term and afterwards in the adjoining church yard the death has taken place of Mary Heritage Nate Bradley Castle Park, Bunkranna remains reposing at her residence removal from there to more warning at half past nine going to St Mary's Oratory, Bunkranna for 10 o'clock recreation mass with burial afterwards in Cock Hill Cemetery the service can be viewed online at churchservices.tv family flowers only please donations if desired to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member or McLaughlin and McLaughlin funeral directors the death has occurred of Danny Malley Farragans Lecture Mac Award his remains are reposing at his late residence funeral mass this morning at 11 o'clock in St Bridget's Church Lecture Mac Award with interment afterwards in the old cemetery family flowers only please donations if desired to the intensive care unit letter Kenny University Hospital care of any family member or Shawn McLaughlin funeral director the death has taken place of Alice Brue name a cue old Carter and Sligo and late of Francis County Donegal reposing at Sean Feely's funeral home Carter and Cross Sligo from half past seven this evening removal at half past eight to St Joseph's Church Ballet Tivnin Sligo mass of the resurrection at half past two to more afternoon burial afterwards in Sligo Cemetery funeral mass will be live streamed on church TV dot IE family home private please family flowers only donations and live desire to the Northwest Hospice Fund or the Irish Heart Foundation care of Sean Feely's funeral home Sligo and the death has taken place of Stephen Montgomery Ballymore Don Fannahy his remains are opposing at his late residence funeral service in his family home at Ballymore tomorrow at 12 noon burial afterwards in Ballymore graveyard family time please from 10 o'clock until 11 o'clock family flowers only please donations and live desire to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member or James Harkin Funal Directors for more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to heinanvideo.com they might have been your best buddies since you were babies they might be the only one who knows about that thing you did they might be your boo your home girl your moochacho but you've just got six deliciously crisp chicken McNuggets so you have to ask yourself are they McNugget worthy served after 11 a.m. subject to availability with all the stories that matter across the northwest it's Greg Hughes on the 90 noon show on Highland Radio you're very welcome back to the program I just want to let you know that the Lyford Health Centre GP surgery phone lines are down this due to an internet outage the surgery can't make or accept accept calls at the moment should you need to reach them please contact the following mobile number it's 0870644316 so the landline for the Lyford Health Centre GP surgery is down at the moment a caller says I'll use chill insurance comparison website I was given six or seven different quotes and saved myself 630 euro my quote was 980 and I paid 350 and that sounds about right so for that person that was stressed out about an extra 1,000 euro for Bill please go on to a comparison website and as I say it's possible you don't have access to the internet if we need to help you to relieve that stress on you in terms of searching or helping you in some way or other please get back in contact with us but you should be able to save money shopping around and maybe even possibly save money on what you were paying last year Paul McLaughlin of Ballard Dure Garden Centre is taking your gardening questions after 11 so we're in the full swing of things now no fear of frost or anything like that but we're in a drier spell of weather there's not going to be rain now there hasn't been for a week and there's no rain forecast for another 10 days so that creates a different set of problems potentially in the garden and around it on your window sills inside your apartment or your flat or on your little balcony whatever it might be any questions for Paul McLaughlin get them into us now if you don't mind to 08 660 25000 and the reason being I want to be able to answer every question that comes in a caller said I priced a hotel in Arden the expense is crazy the choice of hotels has been restricted because many of them are used to house refugees I can go to Thailand pay paying 600 euro for flights and 130 euro for a hotel a hotel here wants 840 euro for two nights another wants 600 euro for the Friday and 700 for the Saturday now the bottom line is is at that price hotels are not an option who could or would pay 600 euro for a bed and that's effectively what a hotel is isn't it you get out of the bed and you bang your knees off the cupboard where you're supposed to put your clothes but you never put them in there because you can't afford to stay there any longer and you know the tea made or whatever it might be called you know it's ridiculous like I if I'm if I have said this before and you know maybe people think I'm tight I don't know but I can't find it in my heart to pay any more than 200 and that would be an absolute once off for a concert in Dublin or something I don't know how people can fund hotel stays for 840 euro for two nights my mortgage is up 300 euro since last year yet my wages have remained the same is that 300 a month if it is that's 3600 euro of a pay cut effectively because you don't pay down the capital any quicker that's just extra interest payments it's like dead money it's crazy isn't it that the system but that's the way it is a caller says if you rent out a house full-time the house deteriorates and you have to pay for repairs tenants have rights and you cannot get the house back if they don't pay rent it's more hassle than short-term renting Thomas is wrong in thinking of making the people do the government's job Donegal is dependent on tourism yet the hotels are full of refugees well the half full in Donegal if you remove tourism people will lose their jobs hands off private property they say another hi Greg I don't think it's fair that tax has to be paid on inheritance gift especially a house where tax was already paid on building materials and property tax etc sometimes the person inheriting has to sell because they cannot afford the tax yes indeed you will get someone who is gifted a plot of land and the tax could be 60, 90,000 euro they don't have anything and they can't accept the land reprices in Ireland you can have a week in Glasgow City Hotel for the same cost as a weekend in Sligo Ireland is a rip-off they say another hi Greg totally agree with your sentiments about higher tax for Airbnb the public have to pay the price for government failures to provide public housing there to blame for it it was our own fault for electing them such a statement it's the same old story fair play for sticking it to Thomas Pringle and it's anyone any elected politician they're in a position and you know we'll question them and it's a healthy debate Greg mentioned Thomas Pringle what next will the government be allowed to come into your house and take half the food in your fridge will the new housing referendum wording will potentially allow the government to take you out of your house where it's deemed to be more than your needs I hope people understand this this is not government you know there's a lot of people in government against this this is a proposal that's stalled as far as I'm aware from people before profit this is not actually government legislation as they say I think they're trying to actually block this legislation but I noticed on some telegram channels and elsewhere unless I'm very much mistaken it's been shared as a government policy to effectively to be able to take your house off you but my understanding is it's a a just a motion from people before profit and there is little to zero appetite in government for this but anyway I'll read on the new housing referendum wording will potentially allow the government to take you out of your house where it's deemed to be more than your needs transfer you to a smaller property and give it to a resident of the country not a citizen a residence that's the type of lunacy that makes up the government ethos in its duty of care to citizens again I'm going to dig into that my understanding is is that's an opposition party propositioner one the government is not in agreements with oh my god Greg I can't believe what I'm hearing this morning I wonder does himself have extra property he has a nerve is there not enough tax on people i.e property tax we all have to pay this the government needs to get a grip and sort the housing problems this is going on for years and years and yet the government did no checks proper checks and assessments in the quarries and look where that has left poor people that can't afford to pay big money to mend the situation this has left a complete and utter mess in housing the way it stands homelessness is a big mega mess the poor people of Ireland again to sort out government problems and it's just important to note that the level of homelessness in the northwest here any person homeless is one too many is actually on the decline it declined month on month the prop the homelessness crisis is contrary to what of course but it is primarily centered on Dublin and the rate of homelessness per 100,000 people in Donegal is much lower there has been a slight increase you know what while I'm here I might rather than pontificate off the top of my head I'll give you the statistics here the level of homelessness in Donegal and the northwest has decreased month on month by eight it increased by 67 though over a year 60 percent of homeless people in Ireland are Irish by the way again I thought that an interesting statistic I don't know what it means but the rate of homelessness in the northwest here is approximately for every 100,000 people in the population 106 are homeless now that figure might not take into consideration those who are bonking in someone else's house or couch surfing but that's the actual statistics for this area for every 100,000 people 106 are homeless and there has been a slight decrease month on month on the level of homeless now I'm not in any way trying to say this not a problem I'm just so there's I do like to sort of put facts out there in case it helps Hi Greg have one beside me this must be an Airbnb no planning for these and had a party of 15 partying all night lovely that comes in from machine yeah okay I totally agree and a crackdown on Airbnb houses the one next to me was converted into two flats and from Thursday night to Monday morning it's a party house well you see that's how they're running their Airbnb as well because you can put in rules and regulations and you know I think because there's a person next to you who's effectively running a party house in the weekend is that justification for a crackdown on everyone that's providing Airbnb accommodation it would seem like an over reaction I think that needs to be looked at and call the guards as well you're entitled to your peace and sleep you know Greg use water from your dryer in your steam iron slot keep it in a bottle no problem with brown blobs then your clothes on your clothes when arning I'm lucky enough that I have good water and I don't have that problem but okay thank you I'll pass that on to Lee Gooch because he has a problem with brown spots Thomas is an on the fence man say so listener and other the problem here is that people did not elect this government it's proportional representation and you know as I say a lot of people elected independence and they opted chose not to go into government to try and affect change from within for their own reasons and the they get elected or deselected on those grounds a caller says I don't have property to rent but I don't think it's fair to punish people using their property for Airbnb it's less headaches and cost for the owners and other fair play holding the Irish government to account and asking Mr Pringle the difficult questions the Irish government's answer to absolutely everything is up the tax and people are sick of it you know and even in I heard this morning even in a country that we're the 26th most wealthy country in the world can you believe that or the strongest economy and we know there's a separation between us here on the ground and where this money is we don't feel it do we we don't see it in our services we don't see it in the housing we don't see it in health you know I mean that's the truth I'm not I don't think I'm saying anything controversial here yes there's been great advances in certain areas a lot of work to do but I beck are saying now is the time to increase taxes on people and we've got calls in the paper today to tax older people more because God forgive them for living longer and want to retire and actually have some time to themselves when when they're not breaking the back so we've got this situation where the country has never been richer we're told a lot of things have never been worse and we have organizations and think tanks calling for tax now extra tax now it's crazy we're all paying extra for our petrol and diesel this morning why you know the government made more money on petrol and diesel over the last year than it had in previous years because the price was high and they get more vat from that this is just this this it's like living in an alternative universe I'm disabled and I have no income says listener this listener I plan to rent my house an Airbnb to make some money over the summer why does Thomas Pringle want to reduce my potential only income build social housing hands off mind they say and on they come in right let's take a break for the bingo numbers we'll be back shortly the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on Highland radio it's time for NCBI bingo on Highland radio it's Thursday the first of June jackpot day you're playing for the jackpot prize of 17,500 euro on the pink sheet the reference number is s9 it's game number 22 the jackpot number is 39 this number can come out in any position from the next 10 numbers drawn and now here are your daily numbers 43 78 27 34 71 88 1 42 82 and finally 66 phone your claim to 9104833 before eight tonight leave in your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchase your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your NCBI bingo information at Highland radio.com we examine rising diesel prices and Ireland leads the way in sustainable farming read our exclusive interview with the EU commissioner for agriculture all in this week's Irish farmers journal on sale now 9122 700 for your free delivery okay you're very welcome back to the program we welcome on to the program now the founder of website autismdad.ie John Joe McGinley good to have you back on the show John Joe thanks for taking the time out well good morning Greg and good morning to all your listeners and thank you so much for having me on the show I really appreciate it right okay we're going to be talking about July provision now and and we'll talk specifically about the situation that you're encountering but I want to widen the conversations so that everybody understands it and they have other parents and guardians are affected that they can get involved in the conversation so as best you can John Joe describe to us what the July provision is July provision is something that's given to children with additional needs and my boy elders but that with two boys with autism and the eldest boy James was applying for the July provision he's had it every year from school what happens is the at the end of the school year they are normally allocated two weeks of additional school support this is provided by a special needs assistant or a teacher who can then help them transition from that period of adjustment into the school holidays which can be a major impact for children on the autism spectrum who rely on that routine okay so the the end of the school term would be seen like as a cliff edge and this is a a period of time to transition to the that where things change routine change they're not going to school for the rest of the summer holidays and it's also to help build on some of the weaker aspects that they may have within their educational or even their their social makeup it can be about focusing on a Pacific thing like a like maths it could also be about just to socialize the child the help and the other thing is it's a bit of a respite for the parents as well but I think the key aspect for it is it's it's something that has been very very beneficial for children with additional needs especially autism it helps with that socialization it can also in a more one-to-one environment give them that little boost in certain areas of weakness that can be discussed in advance with parents teachers and then it's all about getting the right person to help them be it through socialization or even through that additional educational requirement okay so who makes the so reliant on parents sorry John Joe who makes the call then is it the school is it the Department of Education is this like something you have to apply for and it's allocated or is it at the discretion of the school principal and their staffing resources so and as I say we'll get to your specific case shortly but I just want to get a broader understanding of it's a it's a combination of all three schools can especially the the junior schools can actually provide two weeks in house so again it's a transition for the children that they're in an environment that they're very well used to but also as the children go get older and also if the school doesn't have the facilities to provide the July provision in house you can apply for in-home July provision where you can apply to the education department for that two week period and then you have to go and source be a special needs assistant or even somebody with the educational requirements to then offer that support to the child in the home and that can really help with the socialisation because again in that two week period not only can you have that educational balance and that uplift you can also get the child out and about social situations it might sound simple but for children with autism even just being in a cafe ordering food for themselves is a major step it's a milestone it's something that that really builds their self-esteem helps them to socialise reduces the anxiety and that's the key thing because during that long period of the the school break where routines are out of kilter anxiety can increase within children so any support that's offered even for such a short period is so welcomed by the parents and also so appreciated by the children so it's a combination of all three where the school can decide if they have the resources and if not you can apply for in-house at home July provision now the whole purpose of this conversation too is always to get an education Junjo for those who aren't aware but also really to tell people that if you are refused don't necessarily just accept that as the final answer so what was your situation with you and your boys? I think the key thing is if you're a parent of any child with additional needs you have to become an advocate you might not want to be you might not have the skill set or even sometimes the confidence but it will grow over time and you have to become that advocate and we became the advocate for our eldest boy when they were actually he was actually refused the in-home two-week July provision after we'd actually sourced a special needs assistant from his school who was willing and able to provide that two-week support now the education department had deemed that because there was an existing summer school in his high school that that was sufficient and that meant that he didn't qualify for the additional two weeks of July provision now the key thing for our child is that he suffers from OCD and extreme anxiety which is very very common in young teenagers with autism so as everything as over the years when you have to realise you have to fight for everything in this state for our children with special needs we didn't accept that refusal we went back to them and highlighted that the whole reason that he was going to participate in the two-week summer school at his existing high school was for that socialisation to try and overcome that anxiety and he might not even be able for it he might even after a couple of days decide that it's too it's too overwhelming it's too intense for him we went back and stated that we also identified the key areas where he was suffering from anxiety and OCD and how that impacts and gets worse over the long summer period and how he could regress as well too you make that point which I think is a really important point it's not about standing still it's the fact that he could regress in the absence of this provision yes it was fundamentally important he's had it since he was a young child and thankfully with the very fact that we mentioned your show we mentioned the TDs and we worked very closely with the school to go back to the education department and they very very quickly changed their mind and the moral of the story is that any parent with children with additional needs if you are giving a refusal for be it for diagnosis be it for support be it from the education department we should we have to be the advocates for our children we are their voice they are they are entitled to this support as citizens of the state not only to deserve it they're entitled to it and we have to be that voice but do you find John show that you find we can get to the that we'll finish up with the how you can urge me but do you find with people dealing with everyday life you know we've been talking about on the program today cost living maybe the extra challenges of having a child or children with additional needs that they feel jaded for the fight do you know what I mean that they go I just don't think I can sort of start entering into a back and forwards email Tete Tete with the department of education do you come across that that people just you know just feel they can't fight another fight I think it's very very common and fatigue is there you know most parents with children with special needs they're not our only child so we have a family life we have we have the same challenges as everybody else and there's also increased costs that are brought about by support that you have to have in for a child with additional needs and it can lead to adjading but you then have to look at your child and you have to look at how you want to make sure that they can progress as best as possible and not regress and regardless of how jaded you might feel and if anybody's ever had to fill out a form for support for their children they know what I'm talking about and how jaded they can actually make you you just have to pick yourself up and look at the bigger picture and the bigger picture is that we're the voice of our children and if we stay silent they're not going to get the support that they require and deserve yeah so what's your final part in advice then for parents? I think the most important advice for parents is not to be alone I think if any out there who is looking for support for their children they have to create a support network you can do that face to face with other parents but more importantly you're not alone join the many Facebook groups that are out there you can also look for information from my website autismdad.ie join as many Facebook groups as you possibly can and the most important part about it is to realise that you're not alone create a diary of what the requirements are for your child look at the support that that diary means that they have to have and write down the key individuals that can help you get that support be it the Child Disability Network team be it CAMHS be it your local politician make sure that for every need that your child has you have a route to get that support for them and the most important thing is never ever accept the word no from anybody because our child are citizens of this country and they deserve the support that they're entitled to all right well I'm very glad that you for you and your son particularly that you were isolated yeah in terms of your success with the Department of Education so thanks very much for joining us good to speak to you again John Jones well thank you very much Greg and everybody have a fantastic day thank you so much bye bye that's John Jones McGinley Fander of Autism Dad.ie Hello Summer, Hello Sunshine, Hello to a fantastic range of summer bedding, baskets and containers lovingly grown in Lettercanny at Alcorn's Garden Centre Choose from thousands of perfect plants and shrubs with expert advice and everything you need to plant and care for them open every day and now accepting shop LK vouchers Alcorn's Revalu grows every day Time is ticking on the sizzling summer sale at Easy Living Furniture with absolutely everything reduced now is the time to spruce up your space with stylish furniture and unbeatable savings from cozy sofas to elegant timing sets we have the perfect pieces to transform your home but hurry this sizzling sale ends this Sunday Don't miss out on the hottest prices of the season Visit Easy Living Furniture presently Retail Park Summer sale now on in Milford Tiles 20% off Wall and Floor Tiles 15% off All Bathware 10% off All Wood Flooring Footers and delivery service available Call Milford Tiles on 0830910707 Be there and show your colors in Croke Park this Saturday June 3rd for the GAA Ring Record and Marr Hurling Finals It's Dairy vs Meath in the Christie Ring Cup Final at 5 Donnie Gall take on Wicklow and the Nicky Record Cup Final at 3 and it's Monahan vs Lancashire and the Lorrie Marr Cup Final at 1 These are our countries these are our colors Advanced ticket sales only Get yours at gaa.ie or select at Centra and Super Value Stores GAA where we all below Okay we're going to head now to Balabafe and we're speaking to Tracy Alexander owner of a shop that everyone will be familiar with is a great shop in Balabafe it's Alexander's of Balabafe Tracy thanks for joining us and good morning to you Good morning Greg how you doing? I'm okay I'm alright Now you know often when we talk about traffic disruptions and omelettes and eggs and all that kind of stuff we're speaking really maybe solely as motorists but as a business person has your business been severely impacted by the ongoing works in the Twin Towns? It has Greg it has others and everybody's business really has been affected and the last few weeks really have been a nice move and I spoke with one of the local restaurant owners there just recently and he said I mean these are the worst weeks he's had since Covid you know it's been it has been tough yeah I mean there's two things going on northbound traffic you know you don't want to stop is there a parking space you want to just make sure you get through and there's a huge reduction in southbound traffic as well because I think the majority of traffic is going around Balabafé really That's right that's right and then we also have the fact that local people you know some of them we do have quite an elderly community here in Balabafé in Stranora and you know it's difficult the one way system now I'm not it's brilliant it's very good but some people do find that difficult they're out of their normal way of working of going wherever they usually go and the whole town is kind of upset if you like the whole town has a huge towing ache really everybody's upset everywhere yeah but it's kind of bittersweet isn't it because I think you've been full of praise for local people for making the effort even if it takes a little bit more time to continue to shop local absolutely absolutely as always in Balabafé I mean we have an we have an amazing community here we have an amazing local community and we have an amazing business community here in Balabafé so we're all trying to support each other as much as we can local people again are fantastic and I think and I put out a Facebook post there recently just about the guys here and the town here doing their work not only the work and the traffic management the real traffic management I've actually never seen anything like it it has been running so smoothly and I think that's actually all down to guys that are doing it they're it's really a it's astounding they're they're so how does it they're so helpful to everybody to motorists they're so quick to spot where a traffic jam could happen or even the last day I was thinking I had to go down and just an order down past the Fun Valley Centre and out at Dreaming are you familiar with that road? Yes too familiar to let you go on, yeah so it's been a nightmare getting out at the top of that road but the next day I went down they had two guys there doing road traffic management they see things and they act on them I mean it's just been amazing and the work is actually going really quickly they hope to be off the streets now I think this weekend because we have a huge weekend and time this weekend with we have athletics we have football we have blessing degrees we have there's two big weddings I think as well in town local weddings you know so we have a lot going on and so it's actually really tracing an important message you know because people change their travel habits when there's long-term road work so effectively all being well fingers crossed Balaba Faust and all are open for business for this busy holiday weekend yeah absolutely and another thing as well that I think local people maybe weren't aware of is the road works are going on I think I think it's eight to nine months but that's not eight to nine months on the main street you know there's maybe six weeks in the main street they're moving now in behind Alice Bonner's shop there in Sternorder that's where the next section is you know there's different sections all over the place so it's not just on the main street yeah they do and I think credit where it's due is Jennings O'Donovan engineers and Wodenburg contractors and we can be critical and you want to be appraising of them so that's good before we move on Alexander Tracy do you think that businesses as part of a contract should be considered you know you referred this or referenced this being like COVID do you think or is it unrealistic to sort of suggest that maybe I don't know a break on commercial rates or water rates or or some sort of state support is that would that be too much to ask when there is definitely going to be long-term disruption to businesses no I don't think it would be correct to be honest I mean businesses have really they've had so hard this year you know we had the wages increased in January which was quite significant and the rates bills are all actually coming out we've all been re-rated this year and the rates bills are coming out you know we have water bills coming you know and everything's getting more expensive but yet our take-ins aren't going up because obviously we've been affected yeah you know and I mean that's not just me I mean there's we don't have a huge amount of businesses in this turn order but they have been really badly affected because nobody's going to stop you know yeah yeah yeah and listen it's not hard to work at any you can look at the bottom line from one month to the next and on on previous years so you know yourself you know yourself the drop-off in footfall or passing trade the impact it has okay right so it's a mixed message it's been a tough time but credit where it's due and on to better and brighter days is that an assessment Tracy oh absolutely and another thing as well is that our local chamber of commerce is we have a great chamber of commerce here in town and they have been great at liaising with the contractors and the engineers so we have been updated we've been getting emails and text messages constantly to let us know what's happened which has been fantastic that has been a great bonus it's even for your staff to let them know like listen the streets closed tomorrow morning you know come in some other way or something as simple as that you know so that's been a huge part of it as well but I know we're so grateful for all the local people you know for still coming into time and supporting us you know which is great so tell us why should we call into Alexander's of Balabafay what can we get oh Alexander's a big place to be Greg you have to go to Alexander's is it for all you everything needs yeah okay you can get everything you can get lots of different stuff can't you absolutely downstairs we have grocery and we have convenience and bits and pieces we also sell coal and animal feed and then upstairs we have a beautiful coffee shop we just opened the coffee shop of course at the start of the pandemic we'd realized there was a pandemic coming we probably wouldn't have done it but we have a lovely coffee shop upstairs and we sell books and gifts some nice little bits of furniture and the staff our staff are amazing that's why you want to come to Alexander's because they go the extra mile they're brilliant all right good stuff right okay it was worth coming on is that a good enough reason to call in hey come here I'm all about supporting business well done to you Tracy and I love your I love your I love your realistic balanced approach you know what I mean and providing credit where it's due as well Tracy continued success there and hopefully now two lanes open up and down traffic and it's a great weekend for everyone all right Tracy bye bye take care of yourself lovely to speak to you Tracy that's Tracy of Alexander's of Balaba Faye Councillor Patrick McGowan joins us now Councillor Gowan Good morning I mean obviously it has been it is an interesting proposition isn't it you know when there's clearly going to be some disruption to business incomes if the council could work with them on rates or something of those along those lines to accept that you know it's a pain in the bum for a motorist but you know it's a pain in the pocket for for businesses it's not is do you think anything like could possibly be looked at I don't see it happening from the council point of view but it's certainly from the government to look at maybe one of these one of these big jobs these big national primary road jobs or or like what's going on there in Larrakema here previously it happened in Balaba Faye but even some of our smaller towns and villages they're in the schooly way back a couple of years ago like it was a shop there like and like for nearly nine months like they were virtually closed or barriers up around it and and I would say it was a lot worse than tough to be sent they lost a lot more and and you know an end like it's loose the costum at the end the fact that you you still have the same overheads the bills the staff and then the council comes with the red so I think it's something should be built onto these these big contracts you know where you're on the streets for for a long long time and we obviously had that but there's a big change this year is to say from from a couple of years ago when the big jobs come on they've only got a road in to Balaba Faye and then what's been going on for the last five or six weeks and even if it was done even if it was done retrospectively do you know what I mean that a business could prove a loss of earnings they wouldn't all be met by government but you know what I mean that there would there would be some sort of a compensation because it is they that are making some of the greatest sacrifices what is the situation then into the how this work is progressing they seem to be cracking on with it at a great pace once they get off the main street is that the back broken of it do you think or what's the story oh it is it definitely has no that that a couple of years ago we got an upgrade there of the sherry statement plant now it's a massive big new statement probably one of the best in the county and it's a it's both for the future it's not for I'm not sure in many thousand people I think it's around nine thousand that's both for the problem was particularly in stanarder there was quite a few businesses flooded up there over the years and properties where the old sewer and the storm drain were mixed together and this was a priority so there's a massive job that's gone for about a year now and there'll be more worked on around navney around the fun park new pumps and new pipe and but the the main that's the main street in stanarder now is all bespanished this weekend they're moving on now and to as I say and to andy's alice bonus shop down the back of that and they're going up the back of the buildings there up up across some keys hotel on the back and right up to the top of the street so that's all off the street now now the world will occasionally have to come back out for for joining up on pipes and that but no the as you see yourself the back of it's broke now literally on the world they come out to see out the fun park there's a there's a job there's new pumping station out there to service all them houses it's under pressure at the moment and they have to take a new pipe and by navney and down by chestnut road there and and past fun park that'll be done later on but this this is the biggest inconvenience and as I say it's gone very well but one of the reasons and the place you talked about there there was good communication for over a year ago with the chamber of commerce ourselves in the council and and uh I was water that this is what brought this down and there was good communications beforehand plans this this one way system was agreed about a year ago we actually thought this job would start earlier but even the time of the job was agreed when the the best time of the year when it wouldn't be too busy or too quiet you know I mean before the summer rush and and kind of the whole thing was well planned and it was well executed which which they sent together but it's good praise too to the the way the chamber of commerce in the town they kept updating the businesses every day any wee problems were tweaked and I must say that the people and and the contractors they were very amenable they answered the phone straight away and when there's a long tail backing out they've only got a road because before the work started in Balvae as we know the traffic jams are ready there in the morning and in the evening so it's how to manage it so look I certainly wouldn't be against the huge build on that of costing to so the compensating some of the business some of the small business could not carry that it's what we're asking when next time we have the the business minister on we'll ask them it's the two-way traffic it's not a big figure it's the two-way traffic in Stranola just for the weekend or for longer so you know hopefully it's going to be longer now longer okay it's going to be longer that they're out there now the road now now they do have to come back out onto the street just for the turn of none intersects and stuff at the Alice Bonner Serges there'll be maybe a stop go over something like that but they they hope now to have it all family savings going well they're on schedule okay well they've got the weather for it anyway a caller says doesn't it prove what a bypass would do to the shops in Balabafe you'd drive it would drive them all out of the town you just wouldn't stop I disagree with that though because I think I don't think so I think to be honest with you if there was less through traffic it would be more attractive place to drive into and shop now some bypasses kill some towns they don't kill the other I think Balabafe Stranola would actually benefit greatly from it I think they could well I don't think this proves anything in that regard there will be there will be challenges and the town will have to change with it and prepare and hope to ride them the other thing is when the T.A.I. are no longer in charge of the road in Balabafe do you see the likes of the entrance there to Shopping Centre there at going to McLeanies and you see there at the bank of Ireland and up there and up at where Lidl is we'll be able to start putting on roundabouts and different things the locally in the council we can't do nothing at home about park there's a lot of things where our hands are tied because the T.A.I. decids the way the town is they want to travel them through where when the town is bypassed we will be able to change to make it more customer friendly pedestrianized areas and do a lot more hopefully then it'll be good shopping space they'll kind of enjoy the day and there are parks now for more plaza areas and family friendly as you shop so look we'll meet them challenges from the column and we do need the bypass call us us there's a serious pothole at the junction between Charles Charles Bonner's factory and Trust Road in Ballabafay cars are getting damaged please fix is that as you would turn off at Finn Park and then turn right up into Navany car park you can't use the left lane there because the road is in bits is that that is that where they're talking about do you know well could you say you're not really because I'm not from the area so say you're say you would say you're at Finn Park right and you head out towards Sessio Neil but you turn right into Navany car park there out towards the Liddler Aldi that's there at that junction you can't use the left lane heading towards Donegal town because there's a map of the roads in bits there and you find yourself having to cross over into the to the other lane it would be well worth getting it fixed I think okay I know I they're they're they're turning the roads at the moment and they're one day a week to do a pothole so I'll I'll be sure to get out there and last one why did the council close the bridge on the back road out of Ballabafay especially now when there is roadworks on the main road I'm not familiar with that well it's what has been on your reel there for a couple of weeks there maybe someone put up the big sign about the bra that that was because that's that road has fallen apart and we promised to get it done we couldn't hold the back and you see this weekend a lot of people using that road as well as a bypass so we have to do it so it was to avoid the bra straps happen to be tightened and the the denser is okay all right good stuff all right thanks very much indeed Councillor Patrick McGowan there love alexander's best shop about and as tracy says lovely stuff you can get anything you need in there in the best cafe about okay right let us take a break Tesco Club Guard gives you the power to lower prices for an amazing bank holiday weekend like tesco farfetch tomahawk beef steak was 28 euro 35 now 18 euro 99 per kilo coca cola cams 20 back was 18 euro now 10 euro and hind squeezy tomato ketchup 460 gram was 4 euro 60 now 2 euro 50 lower the cost of your shop with your tesco club guard or app the power to lower prices Tesco every little helps product subject to availability excludes express stores new multi-million euro cattle tagging scheme launched for more in your farmers journalist paul mooney we reveal how farmers will be incentivized to DNA tag animals find out how many farmers applied for the new suckler scheme in your county fears grow that rewetting plans will devalue farmland department moves and hedgerow removal rules a summer silage sizzles we examine rising diesel prices and ardent leads the way in sustainable farming read our exclusive interview with the eu commissioner for agriculture all in this week's irish farmers journal on sale now are you looking to make a difference in your community your local daycare center needs committee volunteers like you whether you have skills in administration it finance or marketing you can make a huge difference in the lives of the elderly in our community a part of your community's story for 9127056 to find out how you can help this project is co-funded by the government of Ireland and the european union he's back come on mario rosenstock is back live on stage in 2023 what a lovely surprise gift probe live 23 the brand new show give us the gory details what's enough go on buy friday 30th of june mount erigal letter kenny can't wait to hear this Dennis he he he this should be interesting right tickets from 39 euro on sale now from venue box office and ticket master additional charges may apply the brand new show gift probe live 23 bring it on how you going to see mario hey you're very welcome back to the show and it's that time of year again where robert o'connor chair of relay for life joins us you're very welcome on to the program robert how are you keeping i'm good greg thank you for having us it's great to have you with us okay so it's just around the corner now relay for life done a goal takes place this year from five p.m on saturday june third to five p.m on sunday june fourth and it's at the beautiful grounds of the atu the donnagole campus there in letter kenny yep we're so privileged to have the facility there in the atu formerly elway at we've been there every year and paul hannigan and staff have been so generous and so good to it's been tremendous right so tell us about this year or i'll leave that up to you because it because it goes on for so long you see there's so much that goes that does go on so how does it kick off kicks off five o'clock with our survivor's lap there's a bit of music on stage with leon boil beforehand but officially it kicks off at five o'clock where our survivors people in purple t-shirts have the first lap of the field followed by their caregivers and then the team parade and then the survivors are taken for a banquet in the elway atu halls what do we call it canteen area yeah there and then music starts on the stage and coming up to about 10 30 at night moya brennan and is there for the candle ceremony which is narrated by highland's own donald cavena and that's you know really one of the highlight of the whole event very emotional thing where people take time to remember you know the loved ones were earlier at the survivors lap that actually celebrating you know cancer survivorship and people going through their journey through the night sort of comes down a little bit then the morning we have mass at 70 a.m we have a really lovely two hours then from nine o'clock to 11 o'clock with aiden murphy our gospel or an incremental service and it really is lovely and we invite people to come into the hall and be part of that audience if they're there for about a quarter to nine in the morning it would be great and it's out live and the whole event is streamed live as well so we hope to have that link for highland tomorrow you've been good to was promoting that in the past and hopefully we'll have that tomorrow and it concludes then on the sunday even at five o'clock but one of the things this year we have for the first time is around 12 o'clock on sunday Moonshire Lee Gooch from Roll Call for Relay is there with a school disco for the kids and that was a great initiative a better man than he absolutely a great initiative and thanks to Linda and Lee and Highland for promoting that it's lovely to listen to oh it was fantastic it was really fantastic and one thing which share with all the best organization in the world is that you can't organize the weather but the higher paris have done that for you so anyone attending you're actually going to have to bring you some block or a big hat absolutely reality because the weather's going to be lovely yep and we believe that the higher paris have done that Seamus Devine on our committee believes he has done it like you know but however Seamus is from Castle Finn Castle Finn our he's our weatherman yeah okay and one thing he did ask me to do not go on without asking for volunteers he still needs some volunteers okay well can we how do people volunteer if they get in touch either directly with Seamus or through Relay for Relay for Donegal at gmail.com right okay so there is an amazing list of of artists so don't want to leave anyone out but on saturday at four p.m. Elaine Boyle The Survivors The Career Lab John Lowe's doing the opening ceremony David Craig's there Donald Furglen Richard McConnell Seamus McGee Hugh McLean Gareth Kerwin Hugo Duncan Amy Mehan Wild Flowers Breed Carr Callum Keevney Moia Brennan and on it goes you know what I mean and then on Sunday from one to six p.m. Team rest six a.m. Wakey Wakey Sarah Marie seven a.m. Mass as you mentioned nine p.m. The Gospel Hour ten economical service and then eleven twenty there's a Keith Fletcher uh Lee Gooch or Keith Fletcher I don't know which I both leave leave oh not the two of them not the two of them yes at the same time at the same time oh my god people think we believe about all right that's going to be good fun for stroke chaos and on it goes ukulele group Norman Borland Noel Shevelins in there Ann Biddy Simon Peters and so on up until the closing cemetery my apologies of a ceremony my apologies if I've left anyone else but it's for people to dip in and out so what's the relay side of it you just talk because we often don't talk about that mean you so yep the the relay side is it's a walk around the track for 24 hours and it was started by a doctor Gordon Klatt year in 1983 I think it was in America and uh he raised about $20,000 that year running and I decided that it was easier to walk it from then on and now it's in 30 it's in 32 years yeah 32 counties countries sorry in the world and how do people raise money they raise money about all sorts of things you know over the weekend that the teams all have a little fundraiser at their gazebo and uh but it's more fun than actually fundraising at the weekend because by that stage they have it all done there's been pub quizzes there's been cake sales there's been and uh done low the little band school band over there did a fundraiser for us with a drone and everything where they actually you know spelt out one at one and the thing there's all sorts of things face painting you name it and you've struck the balance now and and we want to see huge year this year because like many annual events Covid sort of threw a spanner in the work and then when you come back people are out of the routine and stuff I don't know what the figure I'm not saying that's the case here but anyway the weather's gonna be great we want this to be bigger and better than ever so many of us will either get cancer be affected by cancer or lose someone to cancering in fact I can safely say that there's no one listening that doesn't fall into those categories so this is striking the balance as well between remembrance hope the future research you know what I mean it's it's all encompassing and I think that's right across the program you see that yeah I mean the statistic show that now one and two of us will get cancer in our lifetime but on the positive side the treatments are so good that survivor it's are much are much better and people are living longer not as much in the western north west so we have to keep that separate fight going and we're going to do that here on this show as well so together let us celebrate remember and fight back and that's what it's all about absolutely you know stay tuned to Highland radio if you can't get down because some people will want to get a sense of what's going on and they can't travel for one reason or another and people get a real sense of what's going on here as well absolutely and Highland have been so supportive of us since 2012 we're part of it we're all it's we're all the same people that could get cancer have gotten cancer survived cancer died because of cancer and our loved ones we're we are the community we're all together we're working with you and do you know what I mean that's what we do here because absolutely and that's the benefit of you know community radio and local radio as opposed to sort of national radio like you know yeah it's it's for the people yeah we're all each other's friends and neighbours and families and you know we're not separate we're part of it as you get I know you get that so that's why we're all anyone would do anything to to support Robert thank you thank you Greg well done enjoy it enjoy the weather Robert O'Connor chair of Relay for Life it's been great having you on the phone thanks a minute Greg as always thank you as I say stay tuned to Highland radio for more information watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com okay it is 11 o'clock time for a news update and it's over to Michaela Clark thanks Greg good morning the doll has been told that it would be impossible for a single person on the median wage in Dunningall to buy a house in the county Debra Thomas Pringle told TDs that based on recent CSO figures which show Dunningall still has the lowest income in the state he sat down with mortgage calculator programs and looked at estate agents to see what could be bought he says his findings were stark a young man who died in a jet ski accident in County Claire yesterday evening was from Limerick city the 19 year old was killed when the jet ski flipped over in the water on Loch Derg by standards managed to help two teenage girls who were also in the jet ski safely back to shore the gear luck of the initial municipal district has described works of proof for Newton calling him as a game changer Dunningall county council has given the go ahead for works as part of the town's mean street active travel project improvement and upgrade works are to be carried out and traffic calming measures installed a group of European politicians which finnegale is a member of have walked away from discussions on major EU plans to reduce green house gas emissions the European people's party which represents around represents around a quarter of MEPs has left talks on the nature restoration law Dunningall is one of three top staycation destinations this year according to new report from my home.ie the cost of living crisis is having a major impact on holiday plans this year with 47% for those surveyed holidaying differently this year as a result the logfoil and swilly ferry services have resumed today the service linking Greencastle and McGilligan and the swilly ferry service linking Bunkranna and Rathmullen will operate a full service for the season seven days a week and finally a statue has been stolen from outside a motor shop in Letterkenny it comes a mere matter of days after plastic ice cream corn was stolen from outside the Circle K guide in Letterkenny which has night since been returned the one stop Man's statue was last seen outside the shop on Tuesday evening at around half past five those are the latest headlines what's going on I don't know so this is like will you call it a statue yeah you know it's this is like a big advertising thing coins right okay what is going on here so we've got the ice cream cone back and now we're looking for the one stop Man so hopefully he'll be returned as well maybe right okay so they said that they've seen two men in a van that may have taken it as a joke yes but you see the thing is that these things are very expensive and we can have a little bit of fun with it and the headlines and what have you not you obviously but at the end of the day these things could have been in the business for an awful long time so whilst we can see the humor side of this because there seems to be a trend of oversized advertising things going we have to get this back it's quite distinctive it's a one stop man and it may have gone into a van with two other fellas yeah right okay and cctv is currently being examined yeah they did say that it is sentimental of sentimental value and they're appealing for information right let's we need to get hopefully we get it back yeah indeed okay listen thanks very much chef for that Michaela Michaela back with you at 12 noon so the one stop man has been stolen last seen outside the one stop motor shop in letter Kenny on Tuesday evening at around about 5 30 cctv seems to suggest two men in a van took him possibly it's a joke but it's not funny it is funny it's not funny you know what I mean it is if you're not directly affected by it but it's got sentimental value as you can imagine financial value as well it's really quite distinctive if you know where that is let us know we'll let them know okay you've got about two minutes to continue to get you can rely on a gig a home you can gig a stream or gig a weekend you can feel gig as safe as your kids hop online to have gig a fun and you can gig a boogie in your gig a basement Vodafone gig a home combines super wifi always connected and secure net for a broadband connection you can always rely on so get on the gig a train search Vodafone gig a home to find out more Vodafone together we can subject to location and availability gig a home is subject to subscription cancel anytime eligibility limitations in terms apply see Vodafone.ie there's fantastic value at homeland letter Kenny garden center this Saturday 3rd of June with our final garden Super Saturday all hedging buy two get one free cool flame solar lights buy two get one free sizzler barbecue was 299 euro now 249 euro pad store bistro set was 99 euro now 79 euro shop in store at homeland letter Kenny with expert advice from her experience team offers mentioned available this weekend only holiday sunshine fly from dairy to New Yorker this July or August with Atlantic travel in letter Kenny save up to 20% with rates not available elsewhere also exclusive discounts for parking call Atlantic travel letter Kenny on 9 1 2 6 1 9 3 or visit atlantictravel.ie the muck plant what 100% vegan even the cheese but how can't be it really is the muck plant from McDonald's with melt in the mouth vegan cheese a delicious sesame seeded bun vegan mayo and a juicy beyond meat patty it's our iconic taste plant based served after 11 a.m subject to availability Okie doke into the last hour of this Thursday's show and we welcome into the studio Paul McLaughlin gardener at Bogdard garden center Paul good morning to you good morning Greg what about this weather the weather is glorious at the moment so it is yeah and because of this high pressure stubbornly stuck off the north coast it's really quite predictable and they're saying they're not going to be a dribbler rain for a week at least no I think so alright either I can most next week it's going to be fairly fairly dry as well so it's important to keep up in the water and I suppose yes the flowers the plants are thirsty yes absolutely I am supposed to think now at the minute the kids are out do their paddling pools and stuff like that so it's good actually if you're removing it to use that water for the plants you're sort of making the most of the water they don't mind we then the plants no they'll be around they'll thrive on us do they all right that's alright and what about lawns like I listen I would never water a lawn I could I would say it's a terrible waste right but that's me personally I don't I don't tend to judge other people but I presume lawns are starting to go hold on a second here we're drying out generally you see that in sort of the verges along the road and stuff you'll see the grass started gradually turning yellow and yellow to be honest I wouldn't be a big man for water and water if it's well established if it's like new grass that you've sown this year that'd be a good idea to go to e-drinking just to establish it but on an established lawn I wouldn't be bothered yeah it'll bounce back and we will get rain yeah exactly as much as we want to and it's interesting to see the the amount of rain in Spain and Italy at the moment and yet here we are sitting and and it's great to see us getting good weather in the west and northwest and them freezing their boobs off in Dublin yes absolutely I aim the south England like you usually associate with almost like a French weather but they seem to be we're getting it far better at the minute what is that you have in front of you that plant this is an Alvira plant hello Alvira yes and my wife uses that one quite regularly it's annoying isn't it I do it all the time yes it doesn't like hello Alvira does she ever then start talking about hot pots and stuff I do that I go hello Alvira do you want hot pot yes the coronation street think of it didn't you yeah that's a pretty soft pot so what do you call it but they left me with the pigeons that's billus I was going to say you mustn't warrant it than I was I'm here all day right okay so so let us can you hold it aloft a little bit yes right so where's your camera no it's it's so you're right not very much right because someone broke my cameras right so what is that then that is this is an Alvira plant it's a tropical plant it's a succulent which means that it stores water within itself yes so it's an almost like a desert plant so brilliant plant to have in the house thrives in the lect because if you forget the water it's happy enough right so it's like those other tall ones that people have it lives on the moisture in the property effectively almost every month maybe okay so how do you derive Alvira from it yeah pretty much the way it's had stored moisture within it and it stored all sorts of antioxidants and stuff like that there so Caroline very kindly meant let me borrow a knife here so you're going to open it yes so okay let's tilt this down and then we'll watch it okay go ahead uh something like that you just cut off a leaf particularly and usually do generally use a bit an inch of it an inch and a half of it at a time cut off that wee bit yes and cut it apart okay and you can see that the inside was covered in gel oh can I have it yeah absolutely but that's why that's actually very gooey yes but it's absolutely brilliant for any sort of skin conditions or if it's actually for sunburn particularly this time of year that's brilliant there's no particular smell of it now yeah but no i'm smelling that i think i'm smelling the actual structure of the plant yeah you could rub that into a burn sunburn exactly first your second degree burns yeah like you scald in the hand or something like that there's perfect for it heals generally cuts even as well it's really running now it will heal a bit nine times quicker than normal stuff you know yeah so but sunburn particularly is very good for soothing it and treating it a bit right and is it a moisturiser as well yes absolutely so it's supposed to have a lot of beauty products made out of it yeah there's no smell off it actually no it's your aloe vera smells it's scented yes well what do you call it but no it's there's no no real thing of it but no it's absolutely brilliant plant to have about the place so it is and this bit the excess bit of the leaf yes you can actually leave in the fridge for up to a week just wrap it and cling film stick it in the fridge so that that plant that you have that we're looking at here it's got like one two three four five six seven eight well it used to have nine kind of branches to it right how quickly does that return or grow I presume it's a slow grower of it it's quite a slow grower but that they will grow to about 12 inches or so so we can actually just cut the ends off them yeah wouldn't be so bad but they also also reproduce but put the re-side plants and you can actually just add certain time of year just take them off and replant them into their own separate pot yeah and they'll be happy to grow so in just cutting that little bit and it's really it's it's got a constituency to it with that I wasn't expecting is like a moisturizer yeah that's a real jail and it's not really liquid so even yeah exactly um so you could just rub that straight on then yeah exactly you're not going to rub it onto the affected area and and just keep rubbing it because I presume that the leaf is sodden in it as well because it's going to soak up that's the way they store their water basically in the desert conditions um and no problem growing those indoors in this country yeah yeah exactly that has to be indoors it won't stick the frost outside but they love it okay oh absolutely yeah and how old is that plant that you have there would be suggestive maybe two or three years old yeah I would say it's quite uh octopussy looking isn't it it doesn't but alright it's very very desert looking it's going to want to get cactus all right okay brilliant stuff all right uh 08 660 25 000 one second here 08 660 25 000 if you wish to get in contact with us right moss on the lawns is is is going to keep coming and I can and I and I get that because people are you know they're well into the sort of the probably on the third cot at this stage right and they're still seeing the blade goes down and that's just under the carpet yeah you're into the carpet there now so what what can people manageably do I wonder to address the problem probably the easiest way of dealing with it is to hire a scarifier as a machine just hire it and go over in that pose actually the moss from between the things yes any bare patches then treat with um treat with grass seed because any where you leave a bare patch is going to the moss is going to recall this basically but to be honest going back to your point earlier in terms of lawns been sort of dry and under stress I would nearly leave it at the stage until we get a bit of rain yes because you're gonna and you're actually ripping ripping at the lawn about yeah while it's under stress you don't want to be more stressing it basically and do you think we're too frosty maybe sometimes too a little bit I don't mean that nicely like I mean I kind of come to terms with what I have in front of the house it's never going to be a bowling green do you know what I mean and it's short you can kick a ball on it you know that sort of I suppose it's just what what people are into basically some people expect a pristine lawn to be honest my lawn is far from it the more cloverant than anything else but like say it's green you cut it every so often and you can do wins play away at it that's everybody's happy enough no more may no more may yes very popular there has become more and more popular so it was such a success for me I'm actually going to do no washing up June oh excellent yeah so and I can't wait to figure out what I'm going to do in July you've just got to justify it to yourself but now the no more may is actually a lot of people have embraced it and I see a lot of like areas within housing states and stuff you see the pollinator signs up on that so apparently it is very beneficial it is kind of interesting because I did notice that one local multinational has adopted that approach right it's kind of like wildflowery stuff but they put a sign up to state that because I presume they don't want people to think that they're neglecting the property exactly so it's kind of a double advantage to seem to be doing something for the environment but at the same time they're saying it's not that we're lazy here it's just that this is what we're doing yeah I see that's it I mean it's coming to terms really with the fact that it's not going to maybe depending on your what you like it's not going to look as nice as a lot as a as tightly cut grass yeah pretty much but a lot of people are sort of like big companies especially they're trying to offset carbon and stuff like that so suppose any wee bit helps and it saves them on maintenance costs as well Neighbours cat coming into my garden from next door what do we do about that yes cats cats can make huge problems sort of be divisive between neighbours and stuff generally there are a few sort of repellents you can get and actually the last time I was on you were we were discussing this fantastic I have a poo for every okay okay exactly so the new one I've seen online actually it partly works very well is lion poo lion's poo yeah basically you can get essence of it now you buy it online and spread it about and the theory is that the cat actually smells that there is a predator about or a lion about so he says oh there's a bigger fellow about here the meese will stay out of that so that really is because I mean obviously a local cat's never seen a lion that really gets into sort of you know yeah apparently it's in their DNA in their DNA that's exactly it right so how do you source lion poo the minute I've only seen it online now but it's I suppose it's distilled and that's how I was going to actually get a jar to bring in if I had was very expensive no we'll stick with the aloe vera plants if that's all right yeah so I'm going to go bought them the thing about that do you know the repellents you can buy a certain garden centre's hardware shops they're based on citrus fruits yeah I mean cats I mean you can you know you take them a cat and it's house pets and all that but I mean by nature they retain it's not like a dog like a cat does retain an awful lot of its instinctive behaviour doesn't it absolutely you know what I mean I'm not sure really you can train that out of them as such you know they go off and do their thing and all right no funny I actually the whole lion poo I had a million dollar idea one day there go on the biggest problem we have right here is deer gardens and I thought I wanted a deer be afraid of a wolf or something like that the wolf poop that's exactly what I thought oh yeah I chatted to a wolf expert because it wouldn't work because wolves have been gone out of the environment for so long yeah but look how long lines have been removed from cats true true so it's worth it I mean there's a wild ardent yes that's it was him who was talking to you oh him right oh well forget it then so but no he reckoned he reckoned it's out of the it's out of the deer's DNA recognize what a wolf is right okay be fascinating though to get a bucket of it wouldn't it absolutely because deers are the main problem people's gardens around here at the minute really unbelievable yeah it is thousands for young trees and stuff yeah but getting back to the cats the thing I've found most reliable would be just basically get the hose or get a water pistol yeah and if you see the cat coming in discourage it just exactly and sort of he negatively associates your garden we're getting wet and if you keep that up for a bit a week and also it's not easy for people that aren't there all the time but once he gets that negative association he'll find somewhere easier and more pleasant he'll choose the path of least resistance exactly yeah I had a load of flowers on my apple tree but there appears now or they appear now to be falling off so no apples appearing what's going on there yeah it would be natural for the flowers to fall off and generally what what should have happened was that the flower could pollinate us and then that sort of feeds the seed that's behind the flower so given another few weeks you might see the wee apple starting to form so it's not it's not over yet it's not lost yet yeah okay so it's not but if you don't as possible there were didn't get pollinated enough so it might be an idea to actually just maybe introduce another one next year I'm trying to grow a hedge planted it earlier this year should I put grass cuttings around the roots so keep the roots clear of all grass I would tend to keep the roots clear of all grass generally if you bought a plant there someone like poultry manure someone would get to put on it but what can happen is the grass cuttings become sort of very stodgy and very they'll retain a lot of moisture and if they're up against the trunk of the plant I can actually sort of rot the bark of it so now I would tend to leave the grass cuttings fairly well away I'm trying to do a bit for wildlife and I'm wondering at the moment I've just left a patch of the garden on cut but should I plant some type of flowers or plants in it? Yeah well generally what you're doing if you actually read on a lot of stuff the best thing you can do for nature is to do nothing yeah so just let it go and let whatever natural flowers native to your area come up so chances are just leave it the way it is if you want to make it a bit more attractive you can introduce some stuff but generally you're doing your bit by doing nothing relatively speaking because we're talking about something that's not important but I'm tortured with little white fluffs coming off trees they're blowing into the back of that as they're sticking to everywhere you know everywhere there's a cobweb they stick in it they're sticking to any furniture that's there what are they? Do you know what you're saying you're probably thinking it was a dandelion no they're coming off a tree it's like a tree with a white flower on it they're coming off Sallys or wolves right I would say yeah they think we can be quite sticky all right then things then and is that how it populates the world with itself pretty much that's what I got back about sort of March April forms these we sort of yellow catkins and the white fluffy bits come off but I think that is the seed distributing itself or less but they seem to be more like I've had it in the past but it was like for a short period of time they've just floating around the place now for weeks on end yeah I suppose I would say what happened there is we have had no sort of big sort of spring storm or such yeah wind and it wouldn't come along and clean them off in one day whereas now it seems real because there's been no one that's just sort of prolonging the process any advice on growing gooseberry bushes and a blueberry bush we used to have them in my grannies and I'd like to grow them for my grandchildren what's the best time to plant them best time to plant them once again garden centers have them now in pots so you can plant them any time of year probably I'll don't have to plant them just now because it's very hot if you know what I mean but sort of getting into August September would be a perfect time to plant them they're hearty aren't they you know I've seen them next to the sea you know producing grapefruit yeah the gooseberries in particular yes gooseberries are actually very easy to grow they won't grow pretty much anywhere and you could plant one in any stage of the year the blueberries different kettle of fish it's an ericaceous plant it actually doesn't like lime sort of makes real acidic soil sort of the their natural habitat would be baggy ground and pete ground which done it all should be quite good for growing them you know but so if you're planting a blueberry bush it'd be important to get a bag of ericaceous compost to put around it what feed would be best for a cherry blossom tree a cherry blossom tree probably once again your poultry manure just a generally but well balanced fertilizer something with an NPK that's sort of fairly regular like 777 which the poultry manure would be but generally something that's got to be organic as well and I think it's fairly balanced that you're going to sort of feed the the whole aspect of the tree and the the whole aspect of the tree and the flowers isn't interesting well actually and kind of timely because it is the first of June I did no more May and as you can imagine my lawn is like a mini jungle for all the bees etc June has come so what's the best way to tackle it mow without a bucket on and rake it up stop start what I do what I've done is actually stick it at its highest height now it depends on how long it is stick it on its highest height and you have to go over it a couple of times but I don't know is there a better way to do it pretty much if it's very long what you could do actually just go in very high with a strimmer or something actually strimm it off quite high like you're chatting maybe six eight inches up and then take that stuff off I think going without the bucket you know without the the collector at its highest setting it might be alright but the thing is now that now it's so dry this is the optimum time to cut it because the grass is actually less bulked or less moisture in the grass yeah because sometimes when I've had to cut it when it was high the ground the grass is always got some sort of a moisture to it in the ground and it gets very buggy then and it sort of mulches yes the grass into the because like the heat doesn't get to the bottom of the grass so it's going to be naturally wet anyway so if you cut it at the highest setting maybe left at a day yeah and then actually cut it lower yeah it's going to take a couple of days so take the long way just let it dry out as you go alright okay may I ask what happened the mantanas this year no flowers at all I cut it well back thank you yes a very good question because I actually my next door neighbour has actually lost hers as the climatist Montana Rubens she's lost hers I think it was a frost and mines is looking very sad of itself so it is now um I think there's a very hard frost just before Christmas and I think that's what's done for them and they're sort of struggling to come back basically but they're not performing anyway like what they should be yeah so one event can disrupt absolutely there's a very sudden frost just a bit of week before Christmas seems to have destroyed a lot of plants even the card lanes around the country a lot of them are destroyed as well right okay listen we better just talk about watering then because there's very little air moisture either yes just briefly so whether your stuff's inside or outside as they say not everyone has a garden some of we balcony or just the windowsill or a place by the by the window in the kitchen whatever it might be they need a lot of water at the moment because the the the soil it will dry out and actually when it dries out if you just pour it on the top sometimes the dry soil can repel it to some extent so we have to give it a little bit of extra attention to our little flowery friends exactly so now generally the best time to water is morning or evening if you do it in the middle of the day you're scorching the plants and the water evaporates too quickly so generally if you can do it morning or evening and at this in this sort of current heat we've definitely pretty much bedding plants that every day and generally get in other plants in the garden get into the habit of checking them sort of pretty much every day if you can and if it's a newly established plant definitely watered every couple of days all right Colette McCrae is out in Saloo and she says good morning Greg from Sonny Saloo yes lovely spot okay well I'm looking at the so it is I'm looking at the way the forecast here 22 degrees and cloudy but it's Sonny cloudy do you know when there's a half a sun behind the cloud so I'm glad you're enjoying your holiday Colette if indeed it is a holiday but I'm looking at the window here now and there is not a cloud in the sky and there is no wind and I think it's probably around about 23-24 out there right now so Colette whilst normally I'd be very envious of you on this occasion I'm envious probably at the pool exactly imagine watching me and you at the pool in Saloo surely there'll be better things no never all right okay but we're matching you Colette for the weather just at the moment but enjoy your break it is indeed a holiday and it's great to have you on yesterday in the polytunnels was 45 down the garden isn't it lovely it's like being in Dubai yes exactly as grand if you weren't working all you needed now was a bottomless brunch yes exactly and you would be in Dubai listen thanks very much Paul Paul McLaughlin at Balakdur garden center all your bed and plants and everything all ready to go and all that yeah pretty much all gone the stage all gone all right pretty much well that's been a good season yeah that's a lot of work got them to that to that and a lot of money yeah a lot of money okay good I hope yeah I hope it worked worked very well for yous Paul McLaughlin gardener there at Balakdur Garden center he'll be back with us in a few weeks or a week or two weeks having a clue but for now he's away and we'll be back with more after this break the county's number one talk show the 9 till noon show on Highland radio this summer enjoy the tastiest burger in town for less at Kelly's Diner letter Kenny with Jake's famous burgers there's your choice of burger beef chicken or veggie all freshly prepared with your pick of delicious toppings and sides selected burger deals every weekend find the best value burger in town Jake's burgers at Kelly's Diner mountain top letter Kenny Mark Paul Mooney we reveal how farmers will be incentivized to DNA tag animals find out how many farmers applied for the new suckler scheme in your county fears grow that rewetting plans will devalue farmland department moves and hedgerow removal rules as summer silage sizzles we examine rising diesel prices and Ireland leads the way in sustainable farming read our exclusive interview with the EU commissioner for agriculture all in this week's Irish Farmers Journal on sale now Oak Fest the family friendly music festival is back for two days September the 9th and 10th at Oakfield Park on Saturday join the legendary Susie Quattro the lineup also includes the Bay City Rollers the Davy Kay Project the Whaling Banshees and local favorites Sheer Buzz then on Sunday there's Boys Life with Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden Lisa McHugh Anor Rory on the Island and more Oak Fest Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th of September at Oakfield Park we'll phone tickets now on sale at OakfieldPark.com Highland radio time checks with Expressway travel route 32 from letter Kenny to Dublin when you book online and travel for less Expressway bringing you the time us radio 27 minutes past 11 I want to say a big happy birthday to our Judith Wilkin in Drumada who will be the big 50 this month from your fabulous friends okay any chance oh that's something else let me see here hi could you please wish Bill and Breed Porter from Montcran I'm happy a massive happy 52nd wedding anniversary love from their daughter Nairene and the rest of the family thank you well done be Bill and Breed would you be able to reach out would you be able to be able to read out the following about the Church of Ireland church farts taking place this Saturday the 3rd of June at the church grounds and hole in Kilmackrennan okay get along to that if you can Padda McDade in Brocker in Chrysler happy birthday from Granny Grandad Aunty Bridget and Godfather Lurkin Padda McDade have a wonderful birthday there uh good morning Greg just seeing the one-stop man thumbing out the dual carriage where you think he's heading for dairy no that must be someone else it's not our guy he's not that unamated what about the road from Balabafe to the cross it's in terrible condition since Irish water put in the pipes indeed hopefully that gets sorted sooner rather than later I'm after waiting on the phone to the Intrio office for near 30 minutes to be told they can't help me it's a total disgrace you can get a contact number for a local office instead having to talk to the national intro office I misplaced Son's appointment letter to get the PSC card was trying to get time for it he took day off from apprenticeship to get the card for a theory the lady said they will get back to me by email but she said it won't be today and sorry I asked her can I contact a local intro office and she said they have no contact only by email they can be contacted it's a total disgrace how people can't directly contact for local services I'll go up later but for something so simple they make it so complicated now I had to register for a PSC card recently and I just called them in Donogholtan and set up an appointment now the appointment wasn't until the following week I think I called in a Thursday but I didn't speak nationally on the website if this is to if I'm if I'm on about the same thing I just called Donogholtan and there was a list of numbers for all of them a caller says maybe all this money that we are flushed with in nonexistent these multinationals that get huge tax cuts and low interest rates are of getting away with everything and the workers getting hammered why increase everything across the board when we have so much well you see the problem is is not the problem but the reality is is that all our excess income in this country that none of us see comes from multinationals that are invested here and it's a tax on their profits and if I think two or three companies make up a huge proportion of the excess income coming into the country the government's coffers are swollen they're swollen it's not a it's not a myth or a theory they're swollen with cash but it's just some might say not filtering down to the man and woman on the street I agree with you Greg why did the council hand back surplus money instead of allocating it for more houses for the community and the mica people and why they added three million to the funds at Donary Fort instead of helping the housing situation I can't work it out thank you I get you and I think maybe you've text on this Donary thing before and I've said my feelings on that in the past look at it's not about saving three million from that project and all of a sudden it fixes the mica crisis it just doesn't work like that well Don Greg I'm putting it to Thomas Pringle about taxing Airbnb's the housing crisis is of the government's making it's a pretty our national broadcaster doesn't ask hard questions it seems they're afraid of offending their masters well you see what happens sometimes is if you ask hard questions people refuse to be answerable to you or the general public of Donegal isn't it strange so maybe that's why RTE doesn't ask hard questions because when I do ask hard questions certain people run for the hills and won't speak to the people of Donegal that elected them so anyway that's just the way it is I'm prepared to if that's what happens that happens but I'm here to represent the people it's not I'm not self appointed in doing so I'm on about ask the questions that affect us all all right so maybe that's why the national broadcaster doesn't because they're afraid that they won't get their minister every other day on to Morning Island I have no clue right okay we are going to be talking about the water situation in Letter Kenney after these watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com for the biggest names into perfume and aftershaves visit McGee's chemist Letter Kenney Dolce and Gabbana Paco Rabanne Carolina Herrera Calvin Klein Jimmy Chu and Burberry Ariana Grande Jean-Paul Gaultier Vera Wang and many more from timeless classics to celebrity favorites there's a perfume or aftershave for everyone at McGee's chemist Letter Kenney and online at McGee's.ie 30th of June and Saturday 1st of July get your tickets now at BunkranaMusicFestival.com who said electrification can't spark excitement from introducing Arland's first EV to redefining the family car Nissan has always led from the front and now we're breaking new ground once more with e-power Nissan's unique hybrid driving system fueled by petrol driven by electric no need to recharge giving you the pleasure of electric driving without the need to plug in new Nissan Kashkai and X-Trail with e-power drive it to believe it at your nearest Nissan dealer Nissan innovation that excites don't waste time have your say on the national waste management plan this plan by the local authorities of Arland sets out a path for our transition to a circular economy to reduce pressure on our natural resources increase reuse repair and recycling and promote sustainable growth we want your view on Arland's plan go to mywaste.ie at Centra feel good and shop smart with great offers this long weekend like inspired by Centra's Sirloin steak 440 gram only 8 euro selected chocolates soft drinks and hunky dory sharing bags any 3 for 5 euro and Centra retail 120 selected range 8 euro each Centra live every day enjoy alcohol sensibly the reverend Jim Lamont presents an evening of music and song an angrily theater letter Kenny on Friday 9th of June at 8 p.m with UP and Maria Doherty Deanne and Iona Holt Deanne Lecky Andrea Long Amy Mehan and the region quartet tickets 15 euro on sale now from the theater box office proceeds in aid of the Dunnegal Hospice and the evening of music stories and a Dunnegal farewell at angrily theater letter Kenny on Friday 9th of June okay Amanda joins us on the program now she's uh living in the bottomy area of letter Kenny thanks for taking the call Amanda good morning Greg nice to speak to you right you've had problems with your water supply talk to us about the problems the outages and and your interaction with Iska Heron aka Irish Water so I suppose we've been having these problems for going on three and a half years now but most recently in recent months they've got really bad we have had outages in the last month for nearly every second day if not nearly every day sometimes and I know that you had my neighbour on the show a couple of weeks ago now in saying that for the last two weeks we have had no water outages at all so it's just it's miraculous really um but for the last three days since Monday morning our water went off due to a large burst in Lisbonna and I believe but it still took 48 hours before our water supply was restored so where there is an outage or a burst it seems to take that length of time before it gets to to our properties and our neighbouring properties so this situation has been on going for three and a half years but certainly deteriorated for the last couple of months and it falls on deaf ears whenever you contact Irish Water I used to ring them I stopped doing that now because you just spent so long on the phone they ask you the same questions it's just the bureaucracy is is unbelievable I email them now instead and you just get these generic text messages from them but I have lots to complain with them on numerous occasions the results of the most recent complaints then came back on to basically tell us that we're on our own financially we have to sort this out ourselves so they never talked about any future investment any future plans they're saying because of your location that they can't presumably guarantee a water supply and for you to try and source or invest in one for yourself correct yeah they said that they had a field engineers investigation carried out and that there was no operational solution on the ground now let's point out we are connected to the means planning permission was granted for our property and Donegal County Council were paid a water charge for the connection to supply water to our property and to all of the other properties on our road but to say that there's no operational solution is just it's infuriating and it's a slap in the face for us when you know we've been through so much trouble and we are really at our what's end we have children we have our house just shuts down when there's no water supply but what they've told us is that we need to invest privately ourselves for private water storage and for pumping systems okay that line is failing us it's awful yeah I mean there's a human right to water though and sanitization so they're effectively saying and they are an arm of the state and you paid your water charges to get connected and everything else as I say it is human right but they're saying it is not their responsibility to provide you with an adequate water supply for you to do that yourself that's really unbelievable it really is unbelievable I mean we were totally shocked when we received the email and we circulated it among our neighbours and you know apart from taking to the streets we just feel where do we go from here our house and our neighbours houses back onto a forest that the forest is only about 15 feet away so if there was a fire particularly given the warm weather you know it's there actually isn't any fire hydrant visible on our road either so that's another issue that we have with Irish water which is besides the point but it's there's a lot that's wrong with all of this and we just don't know where to go now after this no and I think Irish water can't be let off the hook on this either stay where you are Amanda the mayor of let it Kenny municipal district is Councillor Donal Mandy Kelly I mean I've heard a lot of things attributed to Irish water but nothing like this before Donal I mean it's a dereliction of duty is it at the very least that's absolutely unbelievable Greg that's what it is that's ridiculous and that's this is the firm that that the talks is about that their duty go over four less fall control of the weather supply with unbunny goll and the county fat matter and for for any residents and in particular for Amanda and I want to welcome her on there and they can be fully engaged with Amanda and the residents there of Balmoney Newmills Cornwall Tully gay and these people are suffering day in day out as Amanda every second day was there without water and we were in 2023 and this carry on or still go wrong and absolutely ridiculous and as well as that too if Irish water are not capable of maintaining the water network which Amanda is connected to well then we need to make sure that they do not take over the running of that network because by their own admission they can't fulfill that commitment So it's not a doubt Greg and Greg you're fully aware this is something that I'm very vocal on I've had my way and I'm pushing as hard as I can Irish water would not be taken full control but listen I feel myself Greg and there's come to a point that I have had a wall and you know for Irish water they come back with a response to arrest and such as that that the more they have to put their hand on their own have pocket to resolve this problem that's absolutely shocking and I mean Greg we have TDS there as well and Dahl, Aaron and Dublin and their actors and I feel they need to be making more noise of this as well because they're too quiet and much to go on here and should Irish water get full control of our water here within the county of Donegal that's going to be nothing less of a disaster it'll be a catastrophe because I feel I mean we have great men on the ground here within our own local authority that is more than one I'm trying hard to get all these problems resolved within these areas that we're talking about and again and Ross Bracken there as well and an issue that I went to as well there as well as the reservoir and our Dahl where it's being leaking come the heavy rain there and I mean they're not lost and they're not coming out they're not getting these problems addressed and as I say Greg and I can't see it highly enough of our own men that don't go county council they are doing their damnedest but just on the point of on the point of national representation I mean obviously you have access to a minister's office in Minister Charlie McConnelogue what is have you made contact with him or his office and what's he going to do about this issue because he's the most senior politician in this county I have Greg I have and I've been fully engaged with Charlie and Charlie and Charlie our minister has pushed him very hard on us but Greg I'm going to state it again there's not more than Charlie McConnelogue in this county that's in Dublin and Charlie McConnelogue is doing as damnedest for me I'm in contact with him and his office very regularly on us but I'm yet to have a call or engagement from any other TD that's representing the people of Donegal and that's something that I find about alarming and that's why I would like to have more engagement than the rest of our TDs within the county have them come out and be vocal on us as well we can't we can't offload everything on there Minister Greg you know at the end of the day there's a lot of other issues that he's trying to resolve as well and you know we have other TDs there and I think everybody needs to pull their own weight on us be vocal get out and get the points addressed and hold Irish water accountable because what's gone on here that's absolutely shagging all right well I mean Amanda separate from the political side of things at this stage you know what I mean this is everyday life for you you just want a resolution to this and it seems a bit hopeless at the moment I mean what can we do to better hold Irish water to account I mean I want them to release to us in a press release what they said to you that I think it should be publicly on the record to a media organisation that they are saying that it's not their responsibility that it's down to residents to do this and then we need to start talking about getting your fees restored to you if that's the case because you paid for a water supply they're saying that they can't provide it so you know what I mean like this this opens up an awful lot of avenues that we need to pursue here Amanda absolutely I mean we certainly don't want to give back the fees we just want our water supply yeah but you know what I mean if they're saying that they can't do it you know what I mean like I'm not putting words you know like yeah absolutely no we just feel hopeless we really do and it's just it's fine when the water is back but then once the water goes off again you know everyone is just put it back into the same position again we all have young families we have lots of things to do in the house and connected with water and as I say our house just shuts down I had to replace the dishwasher two weeks ago because the one that we had just cut out because it was been starved of water and you know these are the practical day-to-day things and the motor burned out it could happen to an electric shower you know you're heating then you wonder can you put it on or off or on and all that stuff okay well we're going to make our inquiries to to irish water as well Amanda with a view to to as I say at least getting that shocking statement from them on the record as well as I know they've already informed you of that and from your perspective Councillor Kelly what can you do next do you you said you feel you've hit a brick wall on this issue with irish water well yeah I may have had a brick wall but I'm not going to stop to get through it I can assure you that I mean for irish water to turn around and say that that there's no that they can't find a solution there's always a solution there's always a way around things and I have no doubt in my mind there's a solution to this as well and irish water needs to get the finger out and get it resolved and and I mean as Amanda stated there the water Boston and the smaller one now you could have been a factor to this but outside of the Boston and the smaller one Greg this has continuously been going on and I feel personally myself this is only my own opinion but I feel that the infrastructure that's in place there within them areas is not adequate enough to do the job it should be doing and on top of that I feel that the reservoir up around the speed in these areas is far too small now to hold the capacity of water that is needed for something like this I find it amazing that irish water can pump water from the eddy fulettan dam in Anishone all the way down that road in across the dual carriageway up and into homes in letterkenny and they can pump it all that way and that is the future of development in letterkenny seemingly but they can't get water from a local reservoir up to Bonomy I mean that is just bloody remarkable to me Greg that's just on that point and I mean that's the point of time to make I mean at the end of the day you know you talk about the development that irish water is the elephant in the room here you know that's not only what the supply that the control of that's why the connections that the cost that they're pulling out of the sky is unbelievable you know our construction our planning you know that's all revolver in irish water and make no doubt about it all right you know that's the fact should irish water get all controlled I think there's housing developments that are being refused housing developments in the show and are being refused because there's inadequate water supplies so your point is is there and mate Amanda thank you for joining us I appreciate your time Jackie I'm not sure it's you're in the conwall area and you've kind of pretty much got the same message from from irish water it's like you know there's nothing we can do tell us the situation with you Jackie yeah Greg I just probably now going back over a year and a half we start contacting them basically every weekend we have no water it just stops no pressure you see so there's Saturday Sundays you'll go for maybe most of the day without any water washing machines nothing's you know nothing's working and when we contacted them you know we were just logged a call and given a residence number kept ringing them back got no got nowhere with them basically said to us you know user at the end of the line we use our and that's it there's nothing we can do bar putting in maybe a pressure pump somewhere along the line but it's just gone over so and that's it I mean you know you sometimes you can go right well I'm going to kick up a fuss and maybe make some progress they've effectively said that's it so in terms of solutions I just can't understand like moving water that they can't put something in between you and where there is decent pressure to get it further up the line that probably is a solution to Amanda's problems as well like it doesn't it can't be beyond us from an engineering perspective if they wanted to Jackie and I wonder is the the wills not there it doesn't seem to be it doesn't and you know it's very frustrating you're getting nowhere and you know he spent hours on the phone waiting to hear back from somebody in these places and trying to get through to them it's disheartening and I mean you know I mean like everybody else you need to line your water supply but I know I know Donna's looking into it and that it's just but it's very frustrating and this has gone on like every weekend and you're on the week as well when you're out of work you don't notice it as much but when you're in the house you do yeah and Jackie too it's not just the inconvenience it is the dishwasher the washing machines the showers it's the value of your property as well I mean this is probably your fear for every home but say you wanted to downsize or move somewhere I mean you know like you don't have a house with a proper you know what I'm on about like this is really impacting the value of your property and your lifestyle you know what I mean it's not just an inconvenience we invest in a huge big tank a new tank because just to have you know so it would fill up and you'd have that for the showers but the mains like that come in for the rest of it that's that's still an issue yeah you know yeah okay okay Jackie listen thanks for that as I say it's frustrating normally like to see the wood for the trees or a solution or something we can do but for Jackie and Amanda Donal it does seem a little bit desperate helpless you know and the problem is is getting answers from Irish water they seem to be especially for a semi-state body they seem to be a a lore into themselves in terms of whether the answer you or or meet local councillors or speak to the media that's unbelievable Greg and you know I totally understand the frustrations of Jackie, Amanda and every other resident out that area I mean the state there about the responses are getting from Irish water it's hard to believe that Michelle and my colleagues as local representatives that's the same responses that we get you know and it's absolutely shocking and you know I'm a firm believer Greg in common sense and on this day and age and on this issue here common sense seems to have gone completely out the window and I mean it's time that Irish water all the upper sleeves come out and get this resolved once and for all because these people's paying their taxes they're paying their water bills they're doing everything right and they deserve to be treated in the same manner as every other citizen was on the country and that's not happening and it's not good enough all right and thanks very much for that councillor Amanda Kelly as I say access to a good water supply is a human right I don't know if this is something that actually needs challenging in the courts or something because obviously what we're doing already is not working but I mean can Irish water because there's a they're bound by you know code of practice or what have you I don't know exactly what the terminology might be but is it challengeable in the courts Liam before we take a break Liam good morning to you what's your experience well I mean the experience of everybody is is that Irish water is set up not to be contactable not to respond it sets up would you have to go through central call centers or emails and they simply don't respond and if you do get anybody that we passed it to the local operation so you don't know where it's hanging up and Irish water was created for one purpose it was created for Enron off the book accounting of all the capital that has to be spent to do up the water system you know that was the only purpose of it because if it could claim that it was a commercial operation the debts wouldn't go on to the state accounts so that we would keep within the 3% normal EU limits that was the only reason it was created it was for finance purposes and for what is essentially false accounting which was allowed under the system the function doesn't exist anymore relied on water water charges to do that there are no water charges so it's it reasons for its existence have disappeared so Irish water should disappear it's a disaster and you believe you believe that the responsibility should return to the councils and that they should be properly financed in terms obviously of the infrastructural financing and staffing financing to address the problems locally I don't think the council would get away you see it's interesting because I don't think the council could get away with saying that it's not our problem we can't do anything about it build your I don't believe so but Irish water is so it's so mysterious and it's that they can get away with it because you know they have us chasing our tail just to get an answer the councils have their own problems but the Irish water is the worst of both worlds it is a big anonymous thing you cannot approach anybody locally to get anything done you can't get a response even the councillors can't get a response out of them to say what needs to be done locally and this thing operational issues that's that's effectively a lie I mean as Vandy says there is an engineering solution it may be a very expensive engineering solution and nobody has probably looked at but there is a solution for this problem I mean we have but see we have a scheme in this country and I and I agree with it and it's not perfect but it is working to connect broadband at a certain minimum speed to every house in Ireland now that doesn't even matter if your house is three kilometres the scheme is there to attach you to that with minimum skis with minimum speeds yeah here we have what gives us life water okay and there doesn't seem to be any actual unless Irish water are misleading Amanda and Tracy there doesn't seem to be anything that guarantees a service of a certain level to every house in Ireland now we're not talking about on the north tip of an island off the coast here we're talking about houses that are in and around letter Kenny and I can't like I appreciate what they're doing with broadband that don't get me wrong but there are minimum requirements and obligations so you can go on the internet we're talking about water here Liam I have to go unfortunately it's been lovely having you on and you made strong points and I appreciate that The Northwest Opera returned to a Greenin Theatre this June 2nd and 3rd with the musical comedy Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with music by Steven Sondheim and the iconic film adaptation by Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp this chilling tale of revenge will leave you breathless book your tickets now at Angrenin Theatre don't miss Sweeney Todd at Angrenin Theatre June 2nd and 3rd she cuts in for the wing oh that's superb she's through and go she's scored a world-class win Sarah huh oh Capri Buns or Dairy Milk oh gosh sorry uh don't dream about a world-class win enter to win one meet a world-class footballer and win an epic holiday worth 8k only with Cabri T's and C's apply visit worldclass.cabriFC.com National Heritage Week returns from August 12th to 20th and this year celebrates living heritage organize an event by exploring and sharing the traditions, crafts and skills passed down through generations in your family or community visit heritageweek.ie for more National Heritage Week is a program of the Heritage Council supported by the local authorities Heritage Officer Network and the Department of Housing local government and heritage The Cob Dunlowe's bank holiday sale is now on in-store and online massive savings across all departments 25% off homeware 50% off selected furniture 30% off lighting and there's 30% off selected wall art for more deals check out their website thecob.ie or call in store today Shop LK at Brian McCormick Sports and Leisure Main Street, Lerick Annie All the kids are back playing football with longer days and shorter nights Kids football boots from only 25 euro available in Velcro or lace check our new range of kids boots shorts socks and accessories Visit our new club room with quarter zips t-shirts and matching bottoms for your favorite local clump Click on team wear at vmcsports.ie for more details OK that's pretty much where we have to leave it on the 9 till noon show for this Thursday as I glance out the window the sun has broken through the clouds across Lerick Annie here on the mountain top Don't forget we're back with you tomorrow morning from 9 am We have a brilliant Friday panel in studio or joining us remotely or in studio I don't know it doesn't matter anyway they'll be joining us one way or other to run through some of the big stories and topics of the week or of the day so stay tuned for that always a popular item from 9 Michael and Fanoodle Fanoodle Michael and Fanoodle will join us then from 11 o'clock and there's so much besides guests between 11 and 12 and other things to keep you informed and entertained between 10 and 11 so for me and the team Caroline Orr who researched and produced assisted by Neve who is also working in our social media have a wonderful day stay tuned John Breslin is coming up around the Northwest after the news at 12