 That week was 29. Meanwhile, a consultant in infectious diseases says COVID-19 vaccinations should remain voluntary. The National Public Health Emergency Team is considering mandatory vaccination. However, the Taoiseach and the chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee are among those who say they oppose such a move. Infectious Diseases Consultant Owen Dupara agrees, but says some restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary in the future. It might mean that being unvaccinated might mean that there's certain areas of work or society that are too risky to let you be part of, like working with high-risk patients. How exactly we go about that isn't quite clear to me, but I think we have rates of vaccination that many other countries can only dream of, and we have that by having a society that are following the science and listening to the advice, so we're very lucky. The social democrats believe the leaving certificate will not go ahead in its traditional form this year. The party is calling on the Education Minister Norma Foley to make a decision on how the leaving certificate will be delivered in order to alleviate the high levels of anxiety experienced by students, Education spokesperson Gary Gannon says the Minister must make a decision as quickly as possible. I have no doubt that the traditional leaving certificate in the form that we all understand that that happened won't take place this year. And actually beyond that, even if it does, I think it will be grotesquely offered because of the means in which students have been interrupted. So I think the Department of Education and the Minister need to make this decision really quickly to offer some degree of choice of hybrid for leaving certificate students this year. Irish Congress of Transunions says any changes to isolation rules for COVID close contacts must be led by public health advice and not the demands of business. The cabinet will this week consider new advice from experts on easing restrictions. And the clear look of the Donegal Municipal District says it's vital that a major safety programme take place at the Castle Garden Junction outside Ballet Shannon. There have been fatalities in the area in the past and Councillor Barry Sweeney says there were two very serious incidents over Christmas. He says preparatory work on a new scheme must begin soon. This really has spurred on from two accidents that happened over the Christmas period. There were very serious accidents and we wish the people involved in them well. To be honest, we're lucky that they weren't worse. Unfortunately, this is a big job. It's going to take a significant amount of planning, design, tendering, talent permission and construction to come up with the right solution. But that's what I'm asking for is to take steps towards this. It's really important that we get it done and we get movement on us from now. Dry and bright for most people this morning, some good sunshine developing, some isolated showers possible in coastal areas a little later on. High temperatures today, seven to nine degrees Celsius in generally light south-western winds. That's how the radio news were back with news again at 10 o'clock. Well, Davey, brilliant that you weren't in work today. We had some crack. It was Petters last shift, so we all went out for lunch. Thanks for staying away. The lads are delighted. Chat you soon. Mind yourself. No one will thank you for turning up to work or anything else when you're sick. Stay at home and get a test to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. From the HSE, for us all. The Nine Till Noon Show brought to you by Kelly's Toyota, Port Road, Letter Kenny. Explore our wide range of virtual tools at kellystoyota.com. And now, it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The Nine Till Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, good morning. Five minutes past nine. It's Tuesday, the 11th of January. And you're very welcome along to The Nine Till Noon Show here on Highland Radio. The lines are open for you right now to get involved in the conversation. Already some of you texting in on various issues. Keep that coming into us. It's nice when you get in before we get on. You can watch that, protect the program. 0866025000. 0866025000. If you would prefer to call the show, Michaela taking your calls today on 07491 25000. Your comments come into us via comments at highlandradio.com. And welcome to you as you join us to watch the program live across our social media. We're broadcasting live on Facebook via Highland Radio News & Sport or Highland Radio. And you can also watch us on YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland, or on Twitter, if that's your thing, Highland Radio. OK, lots to get through today. So we'll start with a look at the newspapers. We always do. The Donagall People's Press tells us that the people of Donagall are stepping up in force to climb with Charlie on April the 2nd. Former broadcast to Charlie Byrd, who's suffering from motor neuron disease, announced on The Late Late Show in December that he was... He has his intention to climb Cro Patrick on April the 2nd. He returned to The Late Late Show studio on Friday night to officially launch the event, which is a fundraiser for motor neuron disease Ireland. And Peter has Mr Byrd's courage and determination in the face of adversity has triggered phenomenal support. And Donagall was quick to respond with... Climb with Charlie events being organised for Sleeve League, Carnowheen, and Mockish. There's also talk of a climb at Eregal and other peaks across the county, which is lovely to see people getting involved and I'm sure very encouraging to Charlie Byrd as well. The Derry Journal, a Boncranagh teenager, diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and his family have thanked everyone from the bottom of their hearts for supporting a fundraiser set up to pay for treatment. Rocco McGinley, 14, began presenting with symptoms last summer and an MRI confirmed the worst fears of his parents' weight and a vaune in October. The avid Manchester United fan was diagnosed with an extremely rare life-threatening brain tumour, which is particularly aggressive, difficult to treat and affects many major brain functions. Since his diagnosis, the Skulmura Boncranagh student has had fantastic care from hospitals here at home and his aunt, Audrey Gallagher, told the Journal how he has met his treatment and procedures in his normal, brave and courageous manner and without a day's complaint. Onto the national newspapers now and if you're a public servant, you could be in line for a shorter week because the government is likely to accept a recommendation from an independent body to shorten the working week of many public servants. Under the recommendations, additional hours for some public servants, accepted in lieu of pay cuts during the economic crash under the Haddington Road Agreement, will be discontinued. However, the cost of the concession will be significantly less than the 600 million euro plus the Department of Public Expenditure had warned about last year. Instead, the government estimates that accepting the recommendations will cost about 180 million euro this year and 360 million in a full year. The 2013 deal increased the working week to 37 hours for those who had been working 35 hours or less up to that point. Those working more than 35 hours faced an increase of up to 39 hours but that's gonna be rolled back. They're gonna get two hours. Those working in that area, two hours off per week or a return to where it was before, some might say too. The Irish Independent, this is an interesting story if not somewhat bizarre. In the medical first, U.S. doctors have transplanted a pig's heart into a patient in a last effort to save his life. And the Maryland hospital said that he was doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery. While it's too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection. The patient, he's David Bennett in his 57, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying ineligible for human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told the Associated Press. It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live, I know it's a shot in the dark but it's my choice, Mr. Bennett, said a day before the surgery according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Obviously it's a huge shortage of humans, human organs donated for transplant, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead and he has within him now for three days so far a genetically modified pig heart or a heart from a genetically modified pig. It's a bizarre one, isn't it? I wonder, you know, I mean obviously you'd have to be faced with that life or death question but would you accept such a transplant? Is it a way forward? If you have any ethical concerns about it, what do you think, 08, 6, 60, 25,000 to text or call 07, 491, 25,000. The Irish Daily Mail tells us that the Pope has intervened with his views on vaccination. Pope Francis declared yesterday that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 was and these are very strong words coming from the leader of so many in a religion a moral obligation and he denounced how people had been swayed by baseless information to refuse jobs. The Pope's statement comes as the chair of the National Immunization Advisory Committee, NIAC, said that mandatory vaccines were being looked at here but Taoiseach and Micheal Martin stressed that it's hopeful that Ireland will be able to get through the Omicron wave without mandatory inoculation or further restriction. In fact, both NIAC, the head of NIAC, the head of the HSC and the head of the government, Micheal Martin have all said that we are not going to go down the road here of mandatory vaccinations and I think it would be foolish if they did. I think it would damage public trust and there would be a massive kickback by both those who chose to get vaccinated and those who chose not to. Now, there are people probably would feel, well, it is mandatory because you can't do this, that and then unless you have a COVID cert. Hopefully that doesn't last for too much longer but it would be a big mistake. I think most people would agree here and the head of NIAC, the head of the HSC and the head of the government have all said it will not happen here. More on that Taoiseach and Micheal Martin and they've used the language that Micheal Martin actually did use. Taoiseach and Micheal Martin has ruled out mandatory vaccination and said the government will maintain a voluntary vaccination system. Minutes of Neff, its latest meeting show the public health emergency team considered mandatory vaccination and a new paper is being prepared by the Department of Health on the legal and ethical aspects of such a move which would have to be done so there is an official stance on that. In other words, they would outline all the scenarios and then those who make the decisions and they've already said they will not make the mandatory but speaking in court, the Taoiseach said I favor the voluntary approach to vaccination and in fact we've done extraordinarily well as a country. From my perspective, we've achieved one of the highest rates in the world through a voluntary system and that's the system we will maintain. This is going to be good news for some and it's in the Irish sun today. Sick children will be able to see their pets while they undergo treatment after a campaign by the parents of a dog-loving child who died from cancer. So it's too late for him but his parents bravely campaigned and now they're going to bring happiness and joy to children hopefully already in very difficult situations. Building started yesterday on three holding kennels at the children's health island in memory of Kean Neary. Kean 15 died in September 2019 from lymphoma having undergone treatment at CHI at Cromland formerly known as Our Lady's Children's Hospital. Now Kean's kennels, a charity set up by Evelyn and Endon Neary in March 2020, has led to the start of a phase one of ambitious plans to bring pets closer to sick children and their families, especially designed 100,000 euro holding kennels at the Dublin Hospital, complete with a seating area for families and indoor and outdoor area for pets and bathroom facilities to allow children at the hospital to see their beloved pets on the campus in a controlled situation. That seems to me anyway, like a nice idea. So I wonder what you agree. The inevitable has happened and off licenses along the border are, particularly in Northern Ireland, are seeing a boom in trade. A cross border off license, not far from here, said it is expecting a 40% increase in sales as southern shoppers flock to stock up on booze following the introduction of minimum unit pricing. Dolan's Nisa, is it N-I-S-A? Is that Dolan's Nisa? Is that how it's pronounced? Dolan's Nisa in Strabane is located just 500 yards away from Lifford, of course, and has already seen a 20% uplift since the Republic's new laws came in last Thursday. Shop manager Alan Carr said, we're in that dry January period now, but we're up about 20% on this time last year already, just on alcohol alone. You wouldn't want to own an off-fly since in the Republic of Ireland close to the border. He said, there are a few not far away and they've experienced that straightaway since Thursday. Now anyone who operates businesses on the border would be well used to that sort of swings and roundabouts, you know, fluctuations in sterling or Euro or whatever way that works. You know, sometimes businesses close to the border in the North have it their way and then, you know, sometimes businesses in the South have it their way. This is different now though because businesses in the South are being forced to mark up a product much higher than that in Northern Ireland in some cases. And of course, what will happen, and we were talking about this in December, is that people will, might as well go and do the big shop while we're at it. So it could have a bigger impact on the economy and bigger impact on jobs. I'm not against minimum unit pricing of alcohol. I don't really know enough about it to form an opinion, but I suppose if it stops, people drinking too much will then maybe it's a good thing. But, you know, we live on one island, currently with two jurisdictions and you would need the same measures in both for it to be fair, to be a true level playing field, I think most would agree. All right, anyway, it is what it is. If you have a view on that, either from the North or the Republic, 00353866025000. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra, Mount and Top, letter Kelly. The Nine Till Moon Shop brought to you by Kelly's Toyota, a test drive Toyota's incredible self-charging hybrid range at our showroom, Port Road, Letter Kenny. Enish Fitness Dunlowe are now offering class-only memberships, register in person with reception to get access to the convenient Enish Fitness app for booking and paying for classes. It's final clearance time at McElhaney's biggest ever winter sale. Grab your bargain of the year with up to 70% off on our women's, men's, kids' jewelry, home and footwear departments. Loss and joy, great sterling exchange for one pound by your one Euro 20. So go get what's yours at McElhaney's Ballet Buffet or McElhaney's.com with fast delivery and click and collect. At Cherrymore Kitchens and Bedrooms, we are now operating out of one new state-of-the-art showroom in Donegal Town. 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With the onset of different variants of coronavirus, it is vital that your business, office or school has the most up-to-date air purification device. McDade's bathroom plumbing tiles introduce the Daikon air purifier. It eliminates 99.9% of coronavirus in under three minutes. Ideal for residential settings, offices, classrooms and waiting rooms. Priced at €495 is a great investment. For more details, contact McDade's bathroom plumbing tiles from Cranough. We're only a phone call or email away. Highland Radio Time Checks, brought to you by Letter-Kennie Shopping Centre, the centre of shopping in Donegal. Free parking and shopping all under one roof. Letter-Kennie Shopping Centre, bringing you the time at... You're very welcome back to the programme as the time reaches 18 minutes past nine. Hi, Greg. In relation to the man's heart transplant, if it helps him and progresses medical science, there's nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Best of luck to both himself and his recovery and medical science going forward. Thank you very much for that. Greg, our car tax is due, and we didn't get a bill. I don't know if the office is open. We can't go online. We don't know what to do. Leave that with us. Michaela might just check if that still can be done in person, just a car taxation, if that's OK. We'll try and get an answer for you. I believe those offices are open, but I'm open to correction, but I'll find that out for you so you don't have to stress. Right, Noel Daley is General Manager of the Northwestern Simon community, and he joins us on the programme. Thanks for taking the call this morning. Noel, it's appreciated. I think you might be on mute. Noel, I'm sorry if you don't mind just on muting. I'd appreciate that. Right. OK, I'll wait for you to do that, Noel, and I'll just carry on with some of these comments. Hi, Greg. Now I have you there. I'll continue with you then. So right now you have issued a warning that micro-rent allowance is going to push HAP renters out of the market. I mean, this is an awful lot of people looking for accommodation. And I suppose there's a limited amount of accommodation. Is it as simple as that? Not really, but that's a good starting point. On average, at the moment, there's about 30, 35 people in emergency accommodation in Donegal every week. And the last assessment of housing needs show that there was 440 people living with family and friends in the county that are entitled to local authority housing. And all of those would be entitled to the HAP allowance, which is set at like 400 nature for a single person. The majority of the people that would be experienced in homelessness would be single individuals. So a 400 need per month is their standard. Last week, I did a search online in Donegal near to Menzligo for rental properties. And I found 55 apartments and houses in total in the three counties. And the prices being asked range from 550 year to 700 for a single bed to a bed apartment for an individual. So we already have a problem, obviously. You have a problem. Yeah, just in terms of the willingness for landlords to actually take HAP, I can't not to judge those 55 because we don't know. But people contact us all the time saying that, although I believe it's not within the law, that people have difficulty in getting landlords at times to accept HAP payments. Yes, we regularly experience that. Landlords are aware of their constitutional obligations. And they know they cannot tell people directly that you can't. They won't take you for HAP. But I mean, with this amount of people looking for accommodation at the moment, landlords regularly tell us and letting agents tell us that they will limit their viewings to any property for 20 people. So that's the kind of quantity of people that are looking to rent properties at any one time. And every single place that comes up for rent, there's about 20 to 25 people looking for it. So landlords are asking for three references. They might be looking for an employer's reference, et cetera, which automatically excludes the majority of people on HAP who are on social welfare. I mean, the maximum income for a family was four children. To qualify for HAP is 30,000 euro. Single individual is 25,000 euro. So there's a problem there anyway. Legally, landlords are entitled to review their rents every two years and two childs. The market went at the time. This is what the RTB have told us. And my concern is that the mica allowance, which I mean, in effect, the government actually recognizing the true cost of renting in the legal and region at the moment. They're saying that the home owner whose home is affected by mica is going to require 15,000 euro. Now, if you do the basic calculation that if the work can be done in 12 months, that gives the tenant 1,250 euro to pay for available to pay a rent. So that's effectively setting the market price for the future and HAP doesn't come anywhere near that. Now, I mean, obviously we're looking at and if the scheme is launched and there's a big take up, we hope for those people that there is. We are talking, although it'll not be 6,000 or 5,000 people all at once because the worst houses will be... But it will be ongoing, an ongoing increased demand on rental properties. That's inevitable. And to bring houses available to the market to rent through any schemes or whatever, it's going to take a long time anyway. So a major increase in the problem or at least an increase in the problem is inevitable. Yes, it would seem to me that there isn't any other way around that. I mean, we have the editing now that they've added 700, sorry, 900 rented properties onto the scheme. So that's another 900 tenants who may lose their tenancy. It's a disaster, to be honest. I think we need some kind of urgent house building programs when we got to correspond with the crisis and the repair of the mica because we already had a huge shortage of housing in the county before we started to talk about mica at all. And the government building program of 9,000 houses a year for local authorities across the country isn't going to cut the ice and must need it at the moment. So what is the solution here as far as you see it? Well, immediately they can give the people a reasonable chance of competing by increasing the hapt of the same level as the mica allowance. But I think we also need an option. You see, how do you even set that? Because the mica allowance is up to 15,000 euro, but we don't know if a house would take six months. We don't know if it would take two years. We don't really know how that plays up to 15,000. So I'm not sure. I haven't seen the figures if a weekly or a monthly rate is set. It's not, look, there's 15,000 euro and do with it what you may either. You know, I'm not sure we've seen the detail. So I don't know how you could align a hap payment with this rental allowance. You know, how you could easily say set them equal to each other. Does that make sense? It does, yeah. I mean, the only information we have is the frequently asked questions on the departmental website, which says that the homeowner will be entitled to an allowance of 15,000 euro for alternative accommodation and 5,000 euro for storage. And I think I need further detail. And I don't, as I say, you know, I'm not being defensive either, but you know, obviously say, for instance, mica homeowners in leveling the playing field as you described it, many of them would already, you know, be continuing to pay a mortgage as well. So this is not 15,000 euro that pops into their bank account. You know, they're paying a mortgage and another cost that will be associated with this scheme and simply could not pay, possibly rent without this allowance either. Yes. Yes, it's a hugely complex problem. It's like somebody said to me last week it's like peeling an onion. The more repeal it, the more problems we're finding. And all I can do at the moment is identify the problems that I see arising now. But I mean, the very interesting element of this is that 55 properties across three counties were available, yet we know, you know, there are an awful lot of vacant properties. Is it, do you think that, you know, a lot of these vacant properties are holiday homes that people don't want to rent out or perhaps are lying vacant? Is it Airbnb? Is Airbnb and other ways of, you know, renting your property for more money for shorter periods of time? Is that taking an awful lot of stock? I know you're not a housing expert in terms of the market and I respect that. But I mean, anecdotally, you know, 55 houses over three counties is minute. It is, yes. Well, the residential tennis is brought, they should report it before Christmas, which had found that landlords had indicated they were waiting for the market to rise, that they felt it was simply more productive to keep the properties vacant until the rents wise to a level that produces an acceptable return for themselves now. It's helped to quantify that. You know, there's a lot of things that we can't answer about the problem. But I think really the government approach has to look at the housing crises in total rather than sort of a series of separate issues. This is something that requires a look at an overview, you know, that everything is taken into consideration and that every action has a reaction and what is our reaction to that reaction and so on? Yes, that's true. But I mean, the government should have been looking at this crisis for the last 10 years. Of course. They've had plenty of time to look at the crisis, you know, at some stage we got to get to the point where we make decisions and start doing things. You know, the new housing strategy was released in September. It was originally slated for release last May. We've been looking at it for a long time. So at this stage I think we need to start making decisions and finding some answers because we are getting to the point where we can't, people can't get housing. We don't have emergency accommodation in the Northwest. People are being told to stay in places where they seem to feel unsafe and because we can't advise them to leave. Yeah, and then of course you've got charities like Domestic Violence Charities as well that are also seeking, you know, emergency accommodation from this pool which is effectively, I think statistically Ron Dry, you know, when you talk about the level of availability of over three counties at any given time. Okay, listen, Noel, thanks for joining us to discuss that. I appreciate it. Unless there's anything you feel you need to add before we finish. Not at the moment, I mean it's an ongoing measure. Yeah, it is indeed. Listen, thank you very much indeed and it is. Probably a lot of you out there listening who were landlords previously over the last four or five, six years and sold your properties to get out of it too much hassle probably would be saying to yourselves we told you so. It was just too difficult to be a landlord and we pulled out and I'm not saying that's what's caused this but it's certainly gonna contribute to it. A caller says, I have two grandchildren. It'll be two years before they get into a crash. I have another grandchild and they haven't done one full week in the crash this past year. My son and his partner are both working and then are struggling to find someone to look after the children. The amount of staff off with COVID is annoying me as it's having a knock on effect. Well, hopefully the staff off with COVID are well and aren't sick but I understand your frustration. Bancrana Leisure Club, this caller says, I've often wondered why this facility could not have remained opened and operated in the condition it was. The children have lost out so much by not getting their swimming lessons such a disservice to the local community. The money issue should have been sorted before closure. It's a disgrace indeed and that is something we committed to have a look at again in the new year we certainly will. Hi, Greg, our children's education has been and continues to be compromised due to COVID-19 and this ridiculous practice of random people just supervising our children with no experience, no knowledge and more often than not, there are not much older than the children that they are supervising a return to online schooling is needed with genuine teachers coming in from a very angry parent. Well, obviously those teachers that are absent are absent with COVID so could they be at home teaching your children online if they're sick? They'll be back in school in the next four, five, six days hopefully but I take your point but as I say hopefully this January, the first two or three weeks is gonna be a bit of a nightmare but people will start to return to work they're not out forever. Lots of people including in this building you see that little line on your test you're gonna get your PCR and you're out of work for 10 days. You hope to get back in and hope that you're in good health but it's just gonna happen across the board it seems but hopefully it's limited to the early part of this year. On the issue of dogs off leads says this textor I walk my dog on the beach in Rathmullen on the lead and it's scary the number of times I've had to lift my dog because other people who let their dogs run loose I was tumbled onto my shoulder trying to protect my dog last year and I'm still getting physio I mean that's serious and we hear about that all the time people think it's the beach you know let the dog off let it run free but they don't take into consideration the problems that can cause in terms of getting involved with other dogs but also scaring people that are afraid of dogs and I suppose it's just a shared space and we have to be as much as we can be respectful of each other. 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Don't sleep in and miss the very latest beds and mattress offers from dfibeds.ie Ireland's leading online bed and mattress retailer. You'll get a comfy Irish made mattress, upholstered base and headboard from an amazing 229 euro. Check out the full range at dfibeds.ie Delivery free and guaranteed to you within seven working days. DFI beds, sleep well, live well. And you are very welcome back to the Ninetal Noon Show here in Highland Radio. Later on we're going to be discussing what kind of leaving cert students will be sitting. It's an ongoing issue. There are various views on this. Of course, we've spoken to leaving cert students that want some certainty. They want the hybrid version. If you want to have a view on that or if you have a view and you want to share it with us, I should say, text 08 660 25000 whether you're a student, a parent, a guardian or a teacher or someone involved in education and you want to have your say because calls have been continuing for a rethink into how this year's leaving cert exams are conducted as principles. Well, in this group of six year students is so far the most adversely impacted by the COVID pandemic. Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail from which I'm reading, Paul Crohn, director of the National Association of Principles and Deputy Principles says the NAPD is seeking a form of hybrid assessment for this year's leaving cert students but acknowledged that it can't be accredited grades because of the lack of junior cert data. What we have noticed is that the current group of sixth years has been the most adversely impacted by the pandemic. He said the ones that didn't do transition year have done no junior cert. They've had remote learning for a portion of fifth year and they've been impacted this year due to teaching or teacher absence and teacher supply. They are at a disadvantage compared to the groups that have gone on before them. Mr. Crohn said the NAPD is fully supportive of them sitting the exams in June but all things being equal it feels like they need something more. He said their anxiety levels, the pressure they are under they need something in addition to just that final exam. The students are at serious disadvantage and that needs to be acknowledged, he said. Now, of course, we're hearing from GPs as well who have, we have hearing from GPs as well who say that they're seeing more younger people presenting needing support for anxiety levels and what have you. So something needs to be done to address that. She and fame leader, Mary Lou MacDonald, by the way yesterday called on the government to provide clarity and I think most people would agree that clarity is what is required. Okay, right. Now, the Drombo Woods are beautiful but the public's views, your views on the future of these woods are being sought as part of a new consultation exercise. Ronan Freel of Pasparakis Freel Architects. Am I right there? Am I close Ronan, my apologies. Pasparakis. That's right, I'm great. Yeah, that's very helpful. Thanks, Ronan. It is, it's a lovely word. It just takes a little while to get used to. Right, you're leading the survey on Drombo Woods in Sturnawler. So, I mean, is this about enhancing what's already there or are there clear and obvious deficits that need to be addressed and a general improvement? What's the situation as you see it as things stand? Yeah, so for those who don't know, Drombo Woods is effectively sort of 200 meters on the main street in Balibu Bay. It's a wonderful asset. There's about sort of 50 acres worth of woodland, magical woodland today, that people know that is a Drombo Woods but our feasibility study extends much further than that and it covers an area of approximately 300 acres of woodland. And now to sort of put that in context again, that's about the size of 230 football pitches. It's a huge, huge area. And people really love it today, that the sort of traditional Drombo Woods, as we know it, it's sort of magical, tranquil, peaceful place and that's the feedback we've had from the public. So for a large part, we don't necessarily need to do a whole lot to Drombo Woods. It's well-developed, it has beautiful walkways through it and it's much loved, but we have an opportunity here to extend that network of pathways, better connected to Balibu Bay as an order so that the towns become synonymous with the woodlands. So that connection component is key. So one of the sites that we are the main study of the feasibility is a new site which is being acquired by Denigala County Council immediately adjacent to Drombo Woods and that's opposite for the site of the Drombo Castle would have been and that's a 13 acre site. Again, large just by comparison, letter Kenny Tom Park is about 10 acres. So we're keen to get people's thoughts and feelings on what uses should be incorporated into that site and the consultation boards, the study sets out a number of options, four different options, different levels of sort of intervention for proposals on that site. But yeah, but this large sort of 300 acres of woodlands, it's six different woodlands and we'd like to sort of connect them much better together. So pathways is a key part of it. They've each got their own character within that. So we have sort of one of sort of magical woodlands but we've got sort of history and heritage as well. We have the site of an old Drombo Abbey. We have Drombo Castle. We have Civil War monuments. So we're really, this is a sort of moment in time. It's a real opportunity for us to sort of get feedback from the public on the concepts we've developed so far but equally to garner more sort of thoughts on what else could be incorporated there. All right, I'll come back to you in a moment. I want to welcome on to the program to as well Leah Fairman, manager of Basic who are commissioning this study along with Donegal County Council. Leah, I mean, you know, this facility, this amenity would be the envy of an awful lot of places to have it right in your doorstep, to have sort of this urban area and this wooded natural area so close to each other with the nature and of course the history as we've been hearing as well. I mean, it's a case of maximizing it and making sure that whatever changes are made, local people feel they've had their say and had their influence. Absolutely, it's a brilliant resource. I remember when I was at Cub Scout a long time ago and said how many years running through the woods, the den was right beside the woods and there was no pass or anything developed at that stage but even then it was brilliant and culture I've done a fantastic job of bringing it to the stage where it is now and it remains a bit of a hidden secret. So it's one of those little corners that's tucked away if you don't know the right road to go down and if you're not local you probably don't know where to find it. So what we really want to do, as you know, Greg, we've been working with the last three to four years on an overall regeneration strategy for the Twin Towns and what came up time and time again was the amenity in the woods and making the woods more linked to the towns so that they become one place instead of these little fragments. So we have been working with the Donegal County Council on the overall regeneration strategy. We've also put in place the seed project which we'll hope to kick off soon and then the final bit that really jumped out from a consultation, the whole thing that kicked this off was a consultation in Keyes Hotel about five years ago with 70 people in the room. Drumbo Woods just kept coming up as a huge theme. So we felt that was the next thing that was right to pull out of the overall regeneration ideas and really focus in on. So what we're looking to do is make sure that that process that kicked off in Keyes Hotel is followed through so that the ideas that come up from Drumbo Woods are linked and embedded into the community. It's important that this is a site that attracts visitors but it's more important that it's there and used by the community year round. Yeah, and is this sort of seen or does it naturally ties in or is it being done in sort of an administrative sense? You know, the future bypass of the town, the big investment in developing the outside space in the town which funding was announced for last year. Do you see this as all part of, not maybe formally, but part of the future of the Twin Towns area? Very much. So when it is a formal thought process, so we work very closely basic with the Chamber of Commerce and one of the things that we've been trying to do instead of being reactive and looking for bits of funding here and there to do small things is to really look forward and say, look, we've got the bypass potentially coming. It's gonna give opportunities as well as challenges for the towns. We're gonna have to be an attractive place for people to want to stop. But for residents in the community, I think it gives a lot of opportunity because you take all that volume of cars out. You take, I'm sure- I think it's a huge- It's more an opportunity almost to walk around and enjoy- Exactly. I think it has huge potential to be even more of a destination town because I know people won't be concerned that, well, you just keep motoring to Lederkenny, you just keep motoring to Derry in the event of a bypass. But with some of the stuff we're talking about here, it's in a superb area to become even more of a sort of a destination location. Yeah, and also it's really important. Visitors are important, but the community and the people who live here are important. And we're seeing, and as you know, more and more people are choosing to move back to Ireland, more and more people are choosing back to move back to Donegal. So if you look at the SEED project, we've got the Ritz building in there with the potential for 200 jobs to be located at the town centres. We've got the base with our new digital hub with a lot to co-work in different facilities there. So we're seeing, we want people to move back and we want them to work in the area. We've got fantastic schools, all those types of meanages already, but it lacks this little bit of cohesiveness and it laps that kind of, do you want to say that ribbon around the edges that things like the Jumbo Woods and the other recreational amenities can really bring to it. So if we want to make sure that in five or 10 years, the towns are the best that they can be, these types of projects, like the ones we're doing on Jumbo Woods are really, really important. All right, Ronan, we're not looking to create centre parks here, I presume. So what are the sort of criteria for which people can make submissions under? Is it about, well, you give me an idea and the difficulty is when it's a consultation, you don't want to sort of be sound like you're influencing what people might suggest or what they feel, but could you give us a sense of what's open for public consultation and how people can feed into the plans and what potentially might be achieved if the will is there? Yeah, so what we've developed so far is on the back of listening to 2019 feedback as part of the town centre regeneration. So it's very much derived from that. And nothing is set in stone. We have put some concepts together, four concepts for that particular site across from Jumbo Woods, but they're not fixed. If someone calls back with a better idea, we're more than happy to take that on board. And they range from the sort of, there is an option which says do nothing, let this site re-wild itself. And I think that sort of is appropriate given the sort of context of the world we're living in today and the environmental pressures that we're under. So there's a sort of do nothing, let nature take its do its thing. And that extends sort of incrementally to a larger option then, which looks on that site developing a sort of a woodland interpretation centre. So we're keen to get people's thoughts on what level of intervention we should do on that site. One option as well is just extend the woodland with native species of wood. So with a larger space to walk through and enjoy. Otherwise then we go further to the west into an area known as the Armworks. There's an opportunity there. There's an old culture and nursery site that if subject to acquisition of the site through culture, an opportunity for that to become an outdoor adventure centre, for instance, and linked back to the town centre via river walks and walks through the woods. And we're working with the TNT bypass. I think there's an opportunity there. As you say, it sort of cuts down through the site, but through that there's an opportunity to actually make the place even more permeable. Biodiversity links are a key part of it as well. We've got these six different woodlands disparately placed, as we said, but creating links for both people and wildlife is a significant part of it. But it's all for grabs. We're really keen. This becomes a much more richer process when more people get involved. People who know the woodlands and the site's better than us. So we're really keen to get people to come and look at the board's experience of space itself or look at it online. They're available online. There's an email address that they can give their thoughts back to. It's mydrumbowwoods at gmail.com. So please do get involved. Please, as I say, it's a moment in time to define the future of the woods. So people can sort of see that, you know, everything has to have a starting point because it stimulates, presumably stimulates ideas as well. Where can people sort of view what's there with a view to sort of saying, no, I don't think about maybe that not there or this not there or this would be good here. You know, is there an actual website? People can go to Ronan or? Yes, there are boards, consultation boards are right in the woods themselves. Oh, right, okay. From the avenue entrance next to the scout's den. So we can go and see those in person and drop a little post-it note through a consultation box there. There's an email address. You can sort of ping an email to us. Give us your thoughts there and then or take it home, dwell on it and give us your thoughts. There's a website. Leah might give us the link to that. So people can go and view it online. It's a slightly complicated one. So it's a site.google.com forward slash view forward slash my drombo woods. So sorry, that's a little bit long. So we'll link that address. They can, we'll send out the link to them. It's probably the best thing. So email my drombo woods at gmail.com. Yeah, we can link it on our social medias as well. And it's one of these things, Leah. You know, the more people get involved, the better. This is particularly for people in that immediate area. This is their amenity. This is their history. This is their memories. You know, everyone have a say here because the idea is that whatever comes to pass is what the absolute majority of people want and that it's enhanced and that it's an addition and nothing is taken away or people don't feel like, you know, something negative has happened. Absolutely. And we really want people to think about, you know, it's been so important. The woods have been so important to us over the last two years for the community. And you see it's an incredibly social space. We can't walk around drombo woods without seeing people who've bumped into each other and are just standing, having a chat and catching up with neighbors. So we do want to make sure that we're capturing all generations. So we want people to think about how they use the woods, how their children and their grandchildren might use the woods. And if you're somebody who hasn't been to drombo woods but you've been to other woods around Ireland or even abroad and you think this was a great space, I would love it if this was on my doorstep. You know, come with those ideas to us as well because this is a chance for us to really think big and create something for the county and not just for the Twin Tones. Lovely stuff, yeah, indeed. Thank you very much indeed, Leah Fairman. We appreciate your time as always, manager at Basic, have a great day. And also to you, Ronan Freel of Pass Baracus, Freel Architects, we really appreciate your time as well this morning. And best of luck with this project and hopefully there'll be tons of engagement. Great, thank you very much. All right, take care, bye-bye. All right, Ronan and Leah there. 08 660 25,000, your WhatsApp's and texts to that number. We'll give us a call in 07 491 25,000. We'll be back with more shortly. The Nine Till Noon Show brought to you by Kenny's Toyota, Port Road, Letter Kenny with offers on a wide range of passenger and commercial vehicles. Enish Fitness Dunlow are offering half price programs on Saturdays this month. That's a one hour consultation and a four week plan for just 10 year old this month at Enish Fitness Dunlow. Loganair's biggest ever sale has landed. We're taking off 15% from a whopping 2 million seats for 2022. And you can book and travel with confidence with our Flex Protect cover and Fly Safe protocols. Plan ahead and get the best fares today at Loganair.co.uk. Sale ends the 11th of January. Travel from the 10th of January, subject to availability, T's and C's apply. Loganair, we make it personal. Another Christmas gone, another year begun. Another opportunity to do those things you've been meaning to do for so long. Maybe doing something about your hearing loss is one of those things. At Hidden Hearing, we are the hearing experts. 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Okay, so we're talking earlier on about the inevitable situation as people, hopefully if we get a scheme that is agreeable and people take the scheme up because they believe it is, that we will inevitably see more people seeking accommodation as they move out of micro-affected homes whilst their homes are being repaired and we heard earlier on that there's already a shortage of housing. One search through up just 55 rental properties across Sligo, Leechrom and Donegal available. Aimen Jackson is chair of the Micah Action Group and joins us now. Aimen, I mean, obviously, you know, this is a problem that exists. It is going to worsen and it needs a solution. This is not obviously about pitching one cohort against the other. This needs to be looked at in the round and resolved as soon as is possible, Aimen. Yeah, there's many different options. I was listening to Jerry McMonigal yesterday and yes, the council have to go out and they have to do their temporary homes that can be built around the area. And also, you know, within HAP, yes. Aimen, before you move on to HAP, can I ask you, what is the attitude to... I mean, obviously you can't speak on behalf of everyone but you'd have a good sense of what people's views are. What would the attitude be to, you know, say a site in Bonkrana or somewhere else and it's shown over in Latter Kenny with, you know, 15 wooden homes on temporary accommodation, people moving in that potentially for, you know, a year, could it even be a year and a half, maybe two years? Do you think there'd be a big uptake in that? Would that be seen by homeowners in the round as an acceptable way to address an inevitable housing shortage? There has to be different forms of accommodation made available. I mean, some will look at mobile homes, others modular homes, maybe they'll even refit their garages and, you know, it's up to the homeowner what they believe is suitable. You know, I don't think anybody really wants to leave their home, Greg. And, you know, and you could be spending a Christmas in one of these temporary homes. And, you know, it's not ideal, I have to say, but, you know, with the situation that we're in, we've got to come up with as many solutions as possible. And, you know, the one that I mentioned on the back of the hat this morning, and also with Jerry McGonagall, Jerry Rachmonagle, is that holiday homes exist now, Greg. And some of those holiday homes may be affected by mica. They're not included in the scheme. Let's get them included in the scheme. Let's get them available for, you know, they're ready to go. They're ready for people to move into. And they're not too far away from town centres. So, you know, it's not as much of a displacement. But I think the majority of holiday homes, I would imagine, aren't affected by mica. Are you saying incentivise the people that own those homes to make them available for the rental markets? Or, I mean, obviously, we're not, you know, working in that Department of Housing or what have you, but how would you see that working? And I know that those homes are affected by the open port island with mica. And they're not included in the scheme. But if we can contact the homeowners of those homes, maybe get them available, you know, just talk to them, get them to give their home maybe for five years to homeowners. And then at the end of it, they're promised that they will be included in the scheme as a normal homeowner if they have made their property available to residents. And that would one be, that would be one strand of sort of trying to think outside the box a little bit. I mean, obviously, that's not going to fix all the problems, but it could be one strand of a solution. Greg, you know, I mean, and people don't have that kind of money readily available. And, you know, I think the 15 grand that was mentioned for rent this morning, I know that the gentleman was trying to spread it over 12 months, but on the working group, we agreed that it was the 15 grand that came from 1,000 euros a month for a maximum of 15 months on the property. What we have yet to discover is whether that 15,000 can be put towards modular homes, mobile homes, refitting of garages, whatever is available. And... That would make a lot of sense if it were able to be applied in that way. Oh, absolutely. But I mean, I have 15 grand for it, but maybe you don't, maybe you could be in and out of your home in 10 or 11 months and you only get 10 or 11,000. So it leaves you with a shortfall. But again, it has to be flexible. We have to look at this in a, you know, it's not black and white. We have to have the ability to say, to adapt to each individual situation, I would imagine. Is there any updates and time frames aiming as to when we might get a further announcement from government or any movement? Obviously, you know, people are through Christmas and wondering what this year holds. Any official update from the micro-actual group in terms of progress at this time? Every. So it's a year that will be available to homeowner and will make whatever will make kind of sense to people. And people will be given the allowance and it's up to them to spend it as you see fit. And, you know, we're trying to help things in the future as well by going to suppliers now and to speaking to them and saying, you know, is there any way that we can get kickbacks or discounts decide that, you know, the SESI allowance isn't enough where do people get the money from? And, you know, if we can go to the suppliers and see if they can give us both deals and go from there and the Micah Action Group are working at that in the background for a play. All right, thanks as always, and I appreciate it. Amon Jackson, who is chair of the Micah Action Group, it is the 9 till noon show. We'll be back with more after the news at 10 and the obituary notices. Stay tuned. Live on air online and on the Highland Radio app. This is Highland Radio News. Good morning, it's 10 o'clock, Donald Kavanaugh at the news desk. A consultant in infectious diseases says COVID-19 vaccinations should remain voluntary. The National Public Health Emergency Team is to consider mandatory vaccination. However, the Taoiseach and the chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee are among those who say they would oppose such a move. Infectious diseases consultant Owen Dubara agrees, although he says some restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary in the future. It might mean that being unvaccinated might mean that there's certain areas of work or society that are too risky to let you be part of, like working with high risk patients. How exactly we go about that isn't quite clear to me, but I think we have rates of vaccination that many other countries can only dream of and we have that by having a society that are following the science and listening to the advice, so we're very lucky. County Kerry had the lowest incidence of COVID-19 over the Christmas period. Figures released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show the seven-day incidence rate in Kerry was 884 per 100,000 population between St Stephen's Day and New Year's Day. It was followed by Wexford, Waterford, Cavern, Wicklow and Kildare. West Mead hit the hardest with COVID during the period with incidence rate more than double the national average at 3,056 per 100,000 people. Donegal had 2,537 cases of COVID, a seven-day incidence rate of 1,594. That was higher than the national average of 1,366. The average age of those contracting COVID in Donegal over the period was 29, the same as the national average. With the easing of rules on COVID close contacts is said to be considered by Cabinet tomorrow. It comes as many businesses report difficulties delivering services because of high staff absences. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is warning the safety of workers must be prioritised. Spokesperson Dr Laura Bambrick says the government must approach any change with caution. Those numbers are continuing to rise. We haven't reached the peak yet. So we don't know what the knock-on effects are going to be for our ICUs and our high dependency needs. But our health workers and our health system have been under extraordinary pressure for two years. So that's why we have to continue to be cautious at this point. Neffat says higher grade face masks may offer more protection to people at greater risk of getting COVID-19. It says FFP2 masks should be considered by anyone who's a confirmed case, a household contact or is visiting a vulnerable person. However, Neffat has stopped short of recommending such masks to everyone ahead of cloth masks. Paul Moyna, Professor of Immunology at Mnuth University, says there's clear evidence that the higher grade masks are a better option. Certainly the evidence base will be there to support their use. And I don't really understand in terms of why it has taken so long. It seems to be we're coming to this very late. I think the wood help is not the panacea. The career look of the Donegal Invisible District says it's vital that a major safety programme take place at the casual garden junction outside Bali Shanan. There have been fatalities in the area in the past. And Councillor Barry Sweeney says there were two serious incidents over Christmas. He says some work has been done in terms of road markings and signage, but a major scheme is necessary to improve sightlines and to make access onto the main road safer. Councillor Sweeney says it's vital that preparatory work for a new scheme begin as quickly as possible. This really has spurred on from two accidents that happened over the Christmas period with very serious accidents. And, you know, we wish the people involved in them well. To be honest, we're lucky that they weren't worse. Unfortunately, this is a big job. It's going to take a significant amount of planning, design, tendering, planning permission and construction to come up with the right solution. But that's what I'm asking for, is to take steps towards this. It's really important that we get it done and we get the movement on us from now. Whether forecasts dry and bright for most people this morning, good sunshine will develop with isolated showers near northwest fringes. Highest temperatures of five to eight degrees Celsius winds generally light southwesterly are variable, but more moderate near northwestern coasts. Tonight, again, dry with long clear spells, a chance of a light shower in the northwest coastal area, lowest temperatures minus one to plus three degrees Celsius, a little milder the further west you go. Tomorrow, dry with good spells of sunshine, cloudy or later with the odd spot of drizzle developing highest temperatures tomorrow, six to nine degrees Celsius. That's Highland Radio News. We're back with news headlines again at 11 o'clock. The aboriginal is for this Tuesday morning, the 11th of January. The death has occurred of Derrick Day Reed, Baron Amona Balebuffet. His remains were reposed at McCool's Chapel of Rest on Thursday with visiting from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for family and close friends, only please. Fino will from there on Friday morning at half past 10 for 11 o'clock Requiem Mass in the Church of Miriam Akeletz, Drone Order followed by interment in Seshia O'Neill Cemetery. Requiem Mass will be streamed live on churchservices.tv. To nations in Louis-Flores if desired, directly to the Donegal Hospice or care of any family member. The funeral home and funeral are strictly private to family and close friends, only please. The death has occurred of Bridget Kavanaugh, Afford, Aaron More Island. Her remains are reposing at her late residence. The house is strictly private to family and close friends, only please. Fino will mass tomorrow morning at 11 in St. Chronos Church, Aaron More, with interment afterwards in the local cemetery. The death has taken place of Rosalind McCool, formerly of Backshore Road, Coulmore, Derry. Rosalind's remains are reposing at her son, Michael's residence at Kill Derry Lane, Moff. Requiem Mass will be celebrated in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Ardmore, Moff tomorrow morning at 11 followed by interment in the Adjoining Cemetery. The death has taken place of John Quinn, Kingarrow, Fintown. Fino will mass at 11 o'clock this morning in St. Colomkill's Church, Fintown, with burial afterwards in the Adjoining Graveyard. Fino will mass can be viewed live on Chuck Publicolokal Neafa Facebook page. The death has occurred of Patrick Lynch, Mahrabbeg, Burnfoot. His remains are reposing at his late residence. Removal tomorrow morning at 20 past 10 to St. Murlis Church Fawn for Requiem Mass at 11 o'clock followed by interment in the Adjoining Cemetery. Patrick's Requiem Mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Family time, please, from 11 o'clock tonight. Family flowers only, please, donations in lieu of desired to care of the aged, care of any family member or Murphy funeral directors. The death has taken place of John Dunne, a.k.a. Ashley Close and formerly of High Road Letter Kenny. Fino will from his residence this morning for Requiem Mass at 11 o'clock in St. Union's Cathedral Letter Kenny followed by burial in Conewell Cemetery. Fino will mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Family flowers only, please, donations in lieu of desired to Hillcrest Nursing Home Comfort Fund, care of any family member. The death has occurred of Patricia Ward, Glenview, Ardra. Removal from her late residence this morning at half past 10 to the church of the Holy Family, Ardra, for Fino will mass at 11 o'clock interment afterwards in the family plot in Glenty's Cemetery. The death has occurred of Peter Watson, eight Figory Heights fawn. Removal from Murphy's Fino will home this morning at quarter past 10 to St. Mary's Church, Cock Hill for 11 o'clock Requiem Mass followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery. Peter's Requiem Mass can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Family flowers only, please, donations in lieu of desired to Bunkranna Community Hospital, care of any family member or Murphy funeral directors. The death has taken place of Bernadette McConway, Lyma Croson, Quigley's Point. Bernadette's remains will leave her son John's home in Lyma Croson this morning at quarter past 10 for 11 o'clock Requiem Mass in St. Columbus Church Drung followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard. Fino will mass can be viewed live on MCN media. For more details, including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals, please go to highlandredio.com. A very good morning to you once again. You are welcome to the second hour of the 9 till noon show on this Tuesday morning, the 11th of January. Your texts and comments keep them coming to 08 660 25,000, many of you have already. Here are some of those. A lot of people have second homes that aren't registered and perhaps they get cash in their hands for rental. I feel that there will be a fear on those homeowners to offer their homes for rental. Thanks, just my opinion. Thank you and thank you for your opinion. If you put them in holiday homes, where do the children go to school? But I presume it'd be holiday homes close to, you know, where it'd be close to the general area that they're moving from. It's not going to be, we're not going to be able to put people in houses and we actually can't already put houses, you know, right beside where the house they're moving out from. It's just not going to be practically possible, I don't think. This morning it was reported that all the appeals board resigned from disabled drivers government board as they felt the criteria was too stringent. It is disappointing to note that the motorized transport grant was removed a few years ago to be replaced by a more inclusive grant. This never happened to date and indeed it's something we talk of on this program quite regularly. If you have a member of your household that tests positive, does everyone in the house isolated? Was the person who contracted COVID-19 isolated in a room on their own? Well, look, I think it depends on your vaccine status and all that stuff. It's five, if you're fully vaccinated, fully, fully vaccinated, I think booted as well, you have to be. It's five days, isn't it? And three antigen tests. If you're a close contact, if you're a household contact, you're going to have to go on the website because there are so many criteria, it is incredibly complicated and very hard to actually contact someone to ask. As a dog trainer based in Balabuffair can tell you an off-lead dog should never be allowed to approach a dog who's on a lead. Your dog should also never be left, sorry, your dog should never be off the lead unless you've trained a reliable recall. On-lead greetings should also be avoided too. Dogs don't need to say hello to other dogs. That's quite interesting. A lot of that's common sense, but the idea that people might bring two dogs together, we might, it's interesting to talk about that a little bit. Why, what's the problem with bringing two dogs on a lead to say hello? Who is going to profit by putting more paths into drumbow woods? Which contractor leave the woods alone? No tree felling or cycle roots or anything that disturbs wildlife, please. Well, I appreciate you texting into the wasps, but hop on and make your views known as part of that process as well. Right, okay, as a drumbow person, I love the idea that drumbow woods area will be improved as a recreation area. The woods have been a grounding area for all of my life, even when I was living in London as a child and coming here for holidays. I loved it. Now I'll walk the excellent path through it nearly every day. Please, please contact our counsellors so they sort out the right of way path from the top of Den's Bray around the back of the new tech first. This would increase usage plus greater shortcut to drumbow woods. Sorry, drumbow avenue in Balabafay for local residents. We've been waiting on this path to be opened since the new tech was opened. All the counsellors know this and need to get their acts together. And more coming in and we'll get to them. Someone said reusing a pig's heart in a transplant will the recipient be treated with oinkment? I'm not quite sure, but I appreciate your comments. All right, good luck. If you are playing the bingo today, here are the numbers. It's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Tuesday, the 11th of January. You're playing on the brown sheet. The reference number is S7. It's game number two. The numbers are two, 79, 62, 84, 26, 22, 29, 53, 69, and finally, nine. Phone your claim to 9104833 before it's night. Leave in your name, contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day. Get all your NCBI Bingo information at HighlandRadio.com. The nine till noon show with Kelly's Toyosa Port Road Letter Kenny, where you can care for your Toyosa with a two year service pack from 299 euro. 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It's Tuesday, the 11th of January, 2022 and it is time for the Community Guard of Slot with the latest appeals and information from Encada, Chicago. We're joined in studio by Guarda, Grania. Daherty, great to have you on the program and I suppose the window has closed but I haven't seen you since, so happy new year. Yeah, and a very happy new year to you too, Greg and all your listeners. It's good to have you with us. Right, let's start with how the public might be able to help, help, sorry. And we'll start with an appeal as it relates to a theft at Brookless Pier. Yeah, so Guarda, you're investigating the theft of 35 muscle floats from an area called Darnay at Brussels Pier. The theft occurred between Saturday the 18th of December and Wednesday the 5th of January. The theft of these floats would have necessitated the use of a lorry. So we're appealing to anybody who may have observed any such activity, you know, a lorry in the area over the past number of weeks at the pier and around the pier. To contact Guarda, the owner of these floats has suffered quite a substantial loss as a result of this theft. So we're appealing to anybody who has any information at all to contact Guarda in Valley Shannon on 071-985-8530 or of course the Guarda Confidential Line can be reached on 1-800-666-111. It's a big enough window there but you would hope someone would have seen something. It's a small enough community and people might have spotted something over that pier that said, well, that's not really what I'm used to seeing and it's those people you want to hear from, isn't it? Of course, yeah. And the fact that a lorry would have had to have been used and possibly may have had to have been there for quite some time lifting these floats we're hoping that somebody may have some information in relation to it. That's a big hit for anyone in any livelihood. Okay, criminal damage at Market Square Letter Kenny. Yeah, this Letter Kenny Guarda, you're appealing for information in relation to this one. This happened at a home in Market Square Letter Kenny. This happened the early hours of Sunday, just past there the 9th of January. So the front window of a house there was smashed between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on that date. So we're appealing to anybody who observed any activity in or around Market Square between those times, between 4 and 6 a.m. to contact us in Letter Kenny on 074-9167-100. All right, now, it's back to Aaron Moore Island and appeal as it relates to criminal damage there. Yes, this criminal damage incident happened between Friday the 7th of January at 9.30 p.m. and Saturday the 8th of January at 9 a.m. in an area called Fala Gowan on Aaron Moore Island. So an Ivor Williams trailer had been parked up at that location. The owner returned to the trailer the following morning and discovered that the two tires on the trailer had been slashed. So if anybody has any information in relation to this incident, we would ask them to contact Milford Guardi on 074-9153060. Okay, now, down to Donagall Town, what criminal damage appeal as it relates to there? Yeah, another recent one actually, this happened on Sunday, just Sunday past there, the 9th of January between 4 to 5 p.m. in the evening. So this happened at the car park to the rear of the diamond there in Donagall Town. I think it is known locally as the back car park. You may know better than me in relation to that one. The car park there just to the rear of all the main businesses on the diamond. Yeah, behind the Mill Court Muse, that area. Yeah, so a black Astra had been parked in the car park between those times, between 4 and 5 p.m. We also want to return to find that the rear window had been smashed in on the car. So we're appealing to anybody who may have been in or around the car park and possibly it may have been busy enough, you know, a Sunday evening and it's quite a busy car park at the best of times. Especially anybody who may have had a dash cam may have captured any activity in it to make that footage available to Guardi. So if anybody witnessed this incident, if they have dash cam footage or any information whatsoever that would assist us, we would ask them to contact Bali Shannon Guardi on 071-985-8530. All right, now, some information as it relates to, and there's new ones coming out all the time, this one's called a grandparent scam. Yeah, and we had highlighted, we regularly highlight on our own social media channels in relation to any scams that we become aware of. But we're aware not everybody has access to social media, so we like to include them in the slot every so often as well. So this grandparent scam, so this is where members of the public receive a random text message purporting to be from a family member. It would be an urgency attached to this message. You know, the family member would state that they require urgent financial help or that they're in some sort of trouble, and they would ask the recipient off the text to keep the matter secret, to keep it between themselves. So the person pretending to, the person sending the text, sorry, will pretend to be a relation of some sort, son, daughter, sibling, grandchild. They may say they've lost their phone, that this is their new number that they're making contact on. They're usually based in a foreign jurisdiction. This text will state that they require urgent financial assistance, maybe to pay an urgent medical bill or to pay a fine of some sort. So victims of this type of fraud will often make a direct payment immediately to the fraudsters' account. You know, out of worry and out of concern, for their loved one who they believe sent this message to them. So we're just advising the public to be wary of unsolicited text messages from unknown numbers. And again, it's so bloody clever because it's not a name. It's not like Grania or Greg. It's granddad, grandma, I'm stuck, blah, blah, blah, blah, this is my new number. Can you help me? Don't tell mom and dad. Something like that there. And they can send that to many, many multiples of thousands of people. And randomly, they are going to hit on people that that text makes sense to. Of course. And maybe the people, the recipients of these texts may have had similar sort of texts from their grandchildren or children in the past, you know, and they believe it then to be credible and they transfer the funds on. So we're asking people never volunteer information because fraudsters are known to fish for facts. And they use this information then to make themselves sound more credible. Resist the urge to act immediately. However urgent the text message sounds, resist the urge to act immediately, no matter how dramatic the story is. Verify the person's identity. You know, ask questions that a stranger couldn't possibly answer. Call another family member to verify whether or not this person is operating from a new number, even if you've been told to keep the story a secret. Don't send cash, gift cards, or money transfers. Once the fraudster receives your funds, that's it. It's gone. Trust your instincts, really. Yeah, and take a breath because it'll happen. As you say, they're banking on people going, right, I'll do anything I can immediately to help. Right, it's not just SMSes, though, obviously. No, no. These people can also make contact via social media platforms, such as Facebook, using a fake profile. We would ask people, really, and truly, to talk to their elderly or more vulnerable family, members, neighbors, friends in relation to this type of scam. Just make them aware of it, that it is happening, and offer them advice in relation to it. And if anybody has fallen victim to a similar scam, we would ask them to contact us and to contact their bank immediately. I think scams are a good thing to have a conversation about, not the most scintillating conversation in a family, of course. But we can't presume that everyone will see what's posted on the Godashiyakana socials or listen to this. So it's a case of, did you hear about this and just have the conversation and spread the warning there? It's a little bit like the new Naudok number. Lots of people missed it, yet it was in a lot of places. It's important we just talk to each other and say, did you hear that? Did you hear the other? And share the information out that way as well. Yeah, and because scams are so prevalent at the moment, it's so important to have these discussions. And I was going through the incidents for today's notes on our own system. And I've been off the last couple of weeks. So I was just checking in relation to the amount of fraud-style incidents. And there are a serious amount of people falling victim to scams on a daily basis. And I know it sounds repetitive. We're talking about scams. And we're highlighting it in social media. But unfortunately, there are people out there who need to hear the advice. Is it dozens a week in Donegal that are affected by these scams? Quite a number of people are falling victim to the text message type scam from banks, AAB, Bank of Ireland, those-style messages. And a lot of those text messages now are being followed up also by a phone call. The person will receive a text message within a few minutes. They'll then receive a phone call from the same bank, purporting to be from the same bank, which makes it seem more credible again. And a lot of people are falling victim. That would be the main type of scam that they're falling victim to. I had a random payment come out of my account, which was listed as Amazon. And it looked like all the other payments for Amazon. It was only a small amount, a relatively small amount. But Amazon had no knowledge of it whatsoever. They weren't able to determine whether it was them. Able to determine it wasn't them. But it had all the numbers they would expect to see, but it wasn't on their system. The bank themselves, the only solution they had was to cancel everything. Do you know what I mean? Because they couldn't really determine where this payment came from. And if I had spotted that, there could have been multiple little amounts taken out over a very long period of time. It's an absolute pain in the backside, though, to start cancelling cards and stuff. But we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves. Because I don't know how they got this information. Because I'm pretty careful. I know you've had a similar case, haven't you? I mean, you're ultra careful. And they can still manage it to get access at times. They can. It just highlights the fact also it's so important to keep an eye on your bank and online, on your balance, go through the transactions regularly and just check to see. Because that is also quite common. We've had regular complaints recently of people maybe having, and as you said, small amounts taken out. 32-year-old, 56-year-old here and there. And down the road, then, possibly, once these transactions are going through successfully, a larger amount will be taken. So it's paying to keep it. And if you do a bit of shopping online, it's hard to keep track of what is a legitimate debit and what isn't. OK, so we just have to keep a really close eye on it. And as well as that, you talk about the amount of people that are reporting this to the guards, I don't know, percentage-wise. Not everyone will. We've talked previously about how people can be embarrassed and they shouldn't be. You know, I mean, that might be, not I wouldn't say it's the tip of the iceberg, but there's probably very many more affected that aren't contacted in the Guardi, but they should, of course. They should. You know, regardless of the amount that has been taken from your account, it's important to notify the guards and also your financial institution. OK, right, schools did reopen. A lot of conversation about that, but the fact remains they are open, which means there's more of us out and about on the roads, be it in cars, on bikes, on foot. Buses out there talking to some bus drivers, it's astonishing the experiences they come across of pulling into the side of the road and cars just bombing past them. Yeah, but really, we just want to highlight the fact people are well aware that the schools reopened last week. So we just want to ask all drivers, just be mindful of this fact when you're traveling, you know, to and from work, or just be careful. Slow down in the area of bus collection and drop off points. And in the general area of the school themselves, you know, that's common sense to slow down when you're approaching the school. Always expect the unexpected. Prepare to stop suddenly. You could have children maybe exiting buses, you know, coming out from the rear of the bus in front of traffic. Just always prepare to stop suddenly. Leave extra time for essential journeys. There will be extra school related traffic as expected on the roads. We would ask people not to park in an illegal manner while doing the school run. Don't block driveways or park and footpaths. You may restrict emergency access if you're just doing so or force others, especially people with buggy's, push chairs, people in wheelchairs out onto the road, you know, which could prove very dangerous. So we would also ask parents to speak to their children in relation to safety on the roads, regardless of whether they travel to school on foot by bus car. There are very helpful resources available there on the RSA website, www.rsa.ie, that can assist with this. And lots of activities, fun activities there for kids as well that you can print from that website, you know, to make your talk with them a bit more fun, maybe, and a bit less boring. Come on. It's going to be tough and boring, but it has to be done. It has to be done. It's such an important matter as well, yeah. Bonkranah District Placing Plan 2022. What's this about? Yeah, so Superintendent Gretty Sherrod and they're the superintendent in charge of the Bonkranah District. So she has asked me to highlight this today. She is in the process of developing the Bonkranah District Placing Plan for 2022. And she wishes to just invite the public to make submissions in relation to local policing issues that they would like to see addressed within the Innishon area. The Placing Plan is utilised to focus attention on the most important local policing issues in the Innishon area. And the input and views of the public in that area would be gratefully accepted and will be considered. So in order to make a submission, send an email to bonkranah underscore ds at garada.ie Or send a letter, just address the letter to the superintendent's officer at Bonkranah Garada Station. If you have a submission alternatively, you can give it to any Garada member at any station and we'll forward it over to Bonkranah for you. Unfortunately, the superintendent is not in a position at the moment to meet with people in person. So, you know, and she would appreciate if people would send their submissions in. The closing date for these submissions is January 20th. Brilliant stuff as always. Granny, thank you very much indeed. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. So that was Garada Grania Daharty with the Highland Radio Community Garada Slot for Tuesday, January 11th. Then it'll be back with you just after 10 o'clock next Tuesday. We'll be back on this programme after the break. 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Letter Kenny Shopping Centre, bringing you the time as... The time is 10.32. You're very welcome back to the 9 till noon show. We are going to take a piece of music now, so if you're watching us on our social media platforms, unfortunately, there'll be a bit of dead air for three minutes, 23 seconds, but stay right where you are because more of your calls and comments coming up very, very shortly. Here is Terry Jackson. That was Terry Jackson, their seasons in the sun. Write some of your comments here on the programme. What about buses pulling sideways across the road, blocking the roads and delaying people who've jobs? Surely that's not safe or fair practice. I don't know if that happens. To stop cars, obviously on some of these back roads, children have to run from maybe a side road that is on the far side. There's no footpaths or there's no verge. They have to run from a side road on the off side. In the early mornings, dark, maybe they've seen cars come bombing past the buses and they thought, right, we're going to pull across here, it'll stop that happening. I don't know, I've never seen him. Greg, can you find out what's happening with unpassed, posted a letter in letter Kennedy to Port New last Tuesday? A week later, it's still not arrived. Thank you. Well, on post, like every other company, are down a tremendous amount of staff because of, well, everyone's getting on my cron, aren't they? I presume that has something to do with it. I know they're sort of breaking up the work as it relates to regular post and parcels and stuff. And also now, of course, they're being asked to deliver antigen tests. So you add all that in. I'd imagine the majority of it, though, is down to staff shortages. Also, a caller says it's not safe letting children off onto the road, surely safer for children to disembark onto a footpath. That's if you have footpaths. Certainly, if there is a footpath, that would make sense. Many of our roads, many of the students that avail of buses don't have footpaths or even hard shoulders. Why can't Guardi with telecom suppliers stop these scams? I don't know. Well, whatever about the Guardi, the phone companies can stop whatever they like, whenever they like. And I think if they put a bit of effort into it, I mean, if a company, well, a lot of it's done now, not by booking a physical phone line. This voice over internet protocol means you can sort of just make phone calls from anywhere and create numbers or clone numbers. It's much more difficult now. A caller says, I think students should sit the leaving in junior cert grinds. Should they be, they should sit the leaving certain juniors that grinds should be there to prepare them. If we've enough people to prepare them with grinds, but they have been out of school an awful lot, and I wonder how much work has been done so far in January. But I take your point. Back to Drombo Woods. More paths means less, sorry. More paths means less wildlife. Leave Drombo alone. Woods are not recreational centers. They're for wildlife. These guys just want to make money out of nature. I don't think that's the motivation. I think the genuine motivation is to make a natural local amenity more accessible to more people. But everyone has their views, of course. The landowner should be informed personally of what is in the project. Also, the map isn't totally right as to ownership of certain areas. The land is farming land. So who's going to be responsible for animal safety? Another interesting point. Hi, Greg, I paid my property tax in December last year. No letter arrived this year. Tried to pay it online yesterday. My daughter is, I don't do online. Can't be done as you need a security code, which comes on the renewal letter. Is there a number I can call to pay? Somebody, anybody else having the same problem? Thank you. Well, I wonder if your letter has been caught up in the slowdown in the postal services. That's very possible. There are numbers there. We can try and dig one out, but I would give it a week and see if that code comes to you. Do GPs have contracted ours with the government? A local GP to the caller is only open for a couple of hours a day. I'm not sure how that works. Right, okay. I'm all coming in. What we'll do is take a break. We have to catch up on a break here. Stay right where you are. Much more to come on The Nine Till Noon Show. The Nine Till Noon Show brought to you by Kelly's Toyota. Port Road, Letter Kenny. Explore our wide range of virtual tools at kellystoyota.com. N.H. Fitness, Dunlowe are inviting you to bring a friend for free to a class with the purchase of a bundle of eight classes this month. Terms and conditions apply. The Holland and Barris one cent sale is back, with buy one, get one for just one cent on Vitamin C, Manuka Honey, natural skin care and much more. 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Now the Blue Stack Special Needs Foundation was established in 2002, 20 years ago now. It's a voluntary organisation and it's run predominantly by parents of children with special needs and professionals who work in the disability sector. Now they have launched a new training and progressions programme aimed at young adults with special needs and runs throughout this year. Fintan Galleher is training and progression officer with the Blue Stack Special Needs Foundation and he joins us on the programme now to discuss this. Thanks for joining us, Fintan. Good to have you with us. Hi, Greg. Thanks for having me on. No, it's our pleasure. It's our pleasure. Right, okay. So talk to us about this training and progression programme. So the programme is funded through the Dormant Accounts Fund and it's going to target young adults with additional needs and we've got like three key objectives to find employment for their education or to maybe start their own enterprise. So our aim is to work with them on an individual basis and a group setting and to help them to set some goals, find out what their aspirations are and work with them to try and fulfil them best we can. Now is this primarily targeted at people who already sort of avail of the services or engage with the Blue Stack Special Needs Foundation or is it open more broadly? It would be open to anyone who would be willing to join the Foundation to become a member and to not only just don it all the time but the core county. We're hoping to cover as much of the county as we possibly can. And of course, you know, things are a little bit different at the moment. Is this done remotely in person or a blend, Fintan? We're going to be doing this in-house so we're going to be doing self-training and learning programs. The elements of it will be done in-house by our own staff, mainly. We'll be having some guests in to cover some issues like IT skills, staying safe online, personal safety, money management, communication and literacy issues and we'll be adding to that ourselves with our own staff. Right, so I think you kind of mentioned it but what age group of individuals is this targeted at? So we're looking at a 16 age group up and so as long as you meet the criteria which would be that you're in our target area which is County Donegal and that you're within that age group then you would qualify to join us. What, is there any supports in place for those who are taking part? You know, I'm thinking, say for instance, someone from Kili Beg's wish to enroll or Balabuffet or even maybe, you know, Leto Kenney, you know, is there any sort of assistance from the foundation or the state to support them in this? That's something we're looking into at the moment but are you talking about transport wise? Transport, casts or assisted transport or whatever it might be, Fintan? Yeah, that's something that we're looking into at the moment and yeah, it's definitely something we're looking into at the moment and I'm sure you're aware at the moment with the way things are. Funding for any of these, particularly transport would not be so easy to get at the moment but we're definitely looking at it and if we can secure funding for that something will definitely be offered. Yeah, and maybe there are other avenues that can be explored as well. Now, just in terms of, you know, local skills, people with the skills that you talk of IT or whatever other local businesses, maybe even, I don't know if you're looking at workplace opportunities, are you engaging with the local business community? Are you calling on them to engage and support the Blue Stack Foundation, a special needs foundation in its work? Absolutely, we're looking for members of the local business community to, if they could possibly have a look at maybe kicking somebody on for training purposes, we've contacted the local chamber office and the local business groups and we're working with them to see if we can place some of our candidates in some local. Yeah, and as I mentioned, businesses, there's a huge range of businesses. Yeah, and as I mentioned, you have some slight delays in your line, but it's fine, we're coming towards the end of it now. Anyway, it's grand. It's worth remembering, and I think we should remind ourselves that the Blue Stack Foundation is a voluntary organization. This is being done off their own baton. As I mentioned also, you know, it's primarily run by parents of children with special needs and professionals who work in the disability sector, and it is an annual struggle to get funding. So to see extra services being, you know, provided I think it's truly impressive. Well, I mean, we wouldn't be in a position to offer any of these programs if it wasn't for our community, you know, the local community and even the wider community have supported us since conception, and they have been absolutely amazing, I have to say. And we just wouldn't be still here without them. All right, so the plan is to run this program throughout the course of the year for two or three days a year, 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. in the main foundation building. There is the potential for additional work placements, as I mentioned, to follow soon after. There might be a small charge, a small charge that will be payable weekly. If people want more information to see if it's for them and maybe to sign up, how do they get in contact, Fintan? Well, they can contact us directly. They can follow us up if they like to the phone number is 0749740828. They can also find us on our Facebook page and they can go to our website, which is pleasestackfoundation.com and all the information is on the landing page there. And as you mentioned, more broadly speaking, this service is run primarily through fundraising, some big blue ribbon events that really haven't been able to run as they have in the past over the last couple of years. So anyone who wants to sort of assist in the work they're doing financially or whatever, I'm sure that would be more than, that would be more than greatly received. Certainly would. I mean, on our Facebook page, you can make a donation at any time if it's something that you'd like to do. We'd be very happy to receive it. And also just in terms of businesses or people with certain skill sets, is it an open invitation for them to contact you to see if they can support you to work with you in this project? Absolutely. If there's anyone in the business community out there that would be interested in taking part in this project, they can also contact us using the same method. Yeah. You know, they can either phone us directly or the website is a good starting point. Yeah, and people with additional needs can really struggle to get work placements. We've covered it many times on this programme in the past. So we could get in early and sort of alleviate that problem if people are prepared to get involved and to help. I'm sure, Fintan. Okay. That would be great. We really appreciate you giving us the airtime today as well. No problem. No problem whatsoever. Just stay in touch with us. Know if you need any further assistance. Fintan Gallagher, Training and Progression Officer with the Blue Stack Special Needs Foundation. You can contact them on 0749740828. Okay. We'll be back with more of your comments after we take a short break. The Nine Till Moon Show brought to you by Kelly's Toyota. 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OK, now continuing our conversation as to how will we satisfy the increased demand on housing particularly in the micro context if the scheme is approved and signed off and agreeable and there's a big uptake invariably, inevitably sorry, it is going to see an increase in demand for temporary accommodation. You know, when I say temporary accommodation I'm talking rental properties or whatever might be the solution. You know, people might choose as we've heard earlier on to put mobile homes on site or temporary structures or convert to garage. But that's not going to be for everyone. Some people are going to need a roof over their head. Councillor Michael McBride rejoins us on the programme. I referenced your earlier proposals for temporary modular homes. I suppose we're almost looking at mini villages on service sites where there is a demand. I mean, is this getting legs? Is this going to happen? Greg, good morning to you. First of all, I just heard you on that discussing this earlier this morning. You asked that question about what kind of uptake would there be on temporary accommodation that would be about, let's say, modular homes or log cabins on sites. Now, I suppose going back about three months ago I put this motion in to the municipal meeting and really, I haven't heard anything back on it. So I put on a question for today's municipal meeting on this afternoon, just asking what progress had been made on it and I've got no answer back on it. Well, see, that's really quite frustrating because, you know, we elect you guys to bring forward motions. Those motions get discussed and passed with the expectation something might be done of it. My expectation would be that since that you raised this issue a number of months ago, there would be an audit of maybe sites in the areas. We know where the areas for demand might be. So we'd find out, audit these sites, find out what's the situation with, you know, water, sewage, access, that type of thing. Secondly, you know, try and ascertain what an estimated cost of this might be, how many could be put on each side. You know, maybe even a survey of, you know, people affected by my could see what the uptight take might be so we could have demand matched to supply. That's kind of the basic response I would expect to a motion being passed at a sitting of a local authority. That's what I think a lot of people presume might happen. You're saying what has happened since, nothing. That seems to be the situation, Greg, and I will be questioning that at today's meeting. Whenever we get to the housing agenda, I'll be putting that question forward to see why there is no answer to the question. And, but just maybe to go back on it again, Greg, when I put that motion on the last time, I got quite a number of phone calls from people who have made in their homes and there seemed to be a great support for the idea. Some people thought it maybe, you know, taking people slightly out of their, you know, their local area, but at the same time, they would be able to stay in the same schools, like we'd be able to go to the same national schools, stay in their secondary schools. And, you know, a lot of our sports clubs are involved with and sticking out in their own environment. And those are very, very positive response to it. And actually, I had one person from Bunkrana rang me saying that they're the site that would be suitable. So, you know, I think it's something that all the councillors seem to be agreeing that we should have this, and no councillor, Martin McDermott, better than after I did at their full council meeting. And no councillor, Mark Monagall. Well, that's it. I mean, Councillor McMonagall, if we're gonna bring party politics into it, Councillor McMonagall, it's Fina Fall, you're an independent, you know, Councillor McMonagall. Please, Sinn Féin, there's cross-party support for this now, but still nothing being done to at least even explore the possibilities. Now, I don't want to do any wanted disservice, but the answer that you're going to be given today, and I know you get them in advance, suggests that nothing has been done since this was mentioned. Well, that seems to be what I'm raising to myself, as an answer to that would be wiser this evening, but at the same time, you know, we do know that we don't have the houses, we don't have the excess housing there for the accommodate, the people who are gonna have to move out of their homes, it has to be demolished. And I mean, something will have to be done about that going forward. I think it's a very sensible, you know, solution to the problem. There's plenty of sites around that are suitable that have all the infrastructure and place are very close at hand. Is there a problem in Fenn as to the council that sometimes things are not under their remit? They can't advance something necessarily, you know, go on a solo run without approval, I don't know, from the Department of Housing or the Housing Minister themselves. Is it a case that we need to elevate this to a national level so that if it is national heads that need to be banged together, that we're doing that? Maybe it's not in the gift of the council to do this, no more than if we asked them to, you know, build a main road that would be the TII's job. Are we barking up the wrong tree, I wonder? Greg, I don't honestly believe we are, because the county council have a director meeting with the civil servants in Dublin, along with the make action group. And I would have expected, you know, since that motion of mine was passed at municipal, at term municipal meeting, that that question would have been raised, you know, with the civil servants. I would have expected that they would have the courtesy for to give us an answer back and that there's no where all that stands. If they think it's a runner, if they think it's another runner, if something will get involved, well, I think we have the avenue and to the correct channels. And I mean, just totally, it's totally unacceptable. All right. But some kind of a response back at this part in time. I was just trying to be as far as possible, which you'll see, maybe we'll learn more when you actually have an opportunity to have a discussion later today. You'll keep us updated, of course, independent councillor Michael McBride. Stay where you are. We've a very interesting and busy last hour on the programme. You won't want to miss it. We'll take a break, come back with the news and then crack straight on. The Nine Till Noon Show brought to you by Kelly's Toyota, with over 45 years of experience. Trust us to help you on your electric journey. Enish Fitness Dunlowe are now offering class-only memberships, register in person with reception to get access to the convenient Enish Fitness app for booking and paying for classes. Payment of the local property tax for 2022 is due by Wednesday, the 12th of January. If you haven't yet paid or made arrangements to pay or haven't already filed your LPT return, please do so now. The easiest way to file and pay is online through my account, Ross, or the LPT portal. If you select the annual debit instruction option, your payment won't be debited until the 21st of March. If you need help or can't go online, call Revenue on 01-738-3626. 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Start something good today. OK, it is 11 o'clock time for the very latest news, and it's a good morning once again to Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. There were 35 admitted patients waiting beds at Letter Ken University Hospital this morning, five of them on emergency department trolleys. The figure at Stalinga University Hospital was even higher today, 39 patients waiting there, according to the IMO, 28 of them on emergency department trolleys. That's a combined Northwest total of 74 patients, accounting for almost 19% of the national figure of 400. Meanwhile, there were 71 patients being treated with COVID-19 at Letter Ken University Hospital last night, at eight o'clock, two of them in the intensive care department that remains the highest figure in the country. But a consultant in infectious diseases says COVID-19 vaccinations should remain voluntary. The National Public Health Emergency Team will consider mandatory vaccinations when it meets this week. The teacher and the chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, however, both oppose such a move as does infectious diseases consultant, Dawn Dabara. However, he says some restrictions for unvaccinated people could be necessary in the future. County Kerry had the lowest incidence rate of COVID-19 over the Christmas period. Figures released today show the seven-day incidence rate there was 884 per 100,000 people, between St Stephen's Day and New Year's Day. The highest figure was recorded in West Mies with an incidence rate of 3,056. Donegal had an incidence rate of 1,594, slightly higher than the national average of 1,366. The average age of those who caught COVID in Donegal over that period was 29, the same as the national age. The easing of COVID rules on close contacts meanwhile will be considered by Cabinet tomorrow with comes as many businesses report difficulties delivering services as a result of high-staff absences. The Irish Congress of Trade Union, however, is warning that the safety of workers must be prioritized. NEVET says higher-grade face masks may offer more protection to those at greater risk of contracting COVID. It says FFP2 masks should be considered by anyone who's a confirmed case, a household contact, or visiting a vulnerable person. However, it's stopped short of recommending them to everyone ahead of cloth masks. Gardier investigating the theft of 35 muscle floats from Darnay, Proclas Pier, the theft occurred between Saturday, December 18th, and Wednesday last January 5th. Gardier said the theft of the floats would most likely have necessitated the use of a lorry. They're urging anyone who may have observed any such activity near the pier in the past weeks to make contact with them. The Cairlough of the Donegal Municipal District says it's vital that a major safety programme take place at the Castle Garden Junction outside Bali Shannon. There have been fatalities in the area in the past. Councillor Barry Sweeney says there were two serious incidents over Christmas. He says some work has been done in terms of road markings, but a major scheme is necessary to improve sidelines and make access onto the main road safer. And we're back with new sidelines again at 12.00. Thank you very much indeed, Donegal. There are silent conversations that happen on our roads every day between drivers and older pedestrians like me. When we catch each other's eye to say, do you see me or I'm crossing? But when people don't look out for each other, those connections can be missed. And so can I. Too many older pedestrians are being killed on our roads. When we look out for each other, we keep each other safe. Please look out for older pedestrians from the Road Safety Authority. Visit orsa.ie. Now, you may have heard that Emerald Airlines has been announced as the new operator of the government-funded Donegal Dublin PSO route, which I think is what we'll teach you that now, the backbone really of Donegal Airport. Ailis Docherty is managing director of the Donegal Airport and joins us now. Good morning to you. Thanks for taking the call. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. And I must say the airport is looking beautiful behind you. Is that a live shot? Are you currently floating in the sky? No, it's just a nice background image. I thought I'd share with you all. I appreciate it. And you can see why it's classed as one of the nicest approaches of any airport. Right, so, I mean, there's still getting away from it. The Donegal Dublin Dublin Donegal route is incredibly important, isn't it, to the future, the stability of the airport going forward at this time, at least? Absolutely. I mean, the PSO route, the Dublin Donegal service is the backbone of all of our operations. So, you know, to get the announcement now that we have a new operator commencing in February and, you know, stability for the next three to four years. So it's great for us to be able to build on what we've had in the past and hopefully, you know, be able to increase passenger numbers now going forward. Yeah, because it was a terrible blow when Stobart Air went to Boston and just literally almost overnight. And, you know, there's, I mean, obviously it's a great facility and it's important it's maintained. But also, you know, there's people working there, their futures, their stability. So all question marks get thrown up when you have, you know, the likes of Stobart going to Boston. Yeah, 2021 obviously was a really difficult year. Frozen and Stobart went into liquidation in June. And we, you know, we were left without any service for a period of six weeks. And then thankfully we got an interim operator in Amapola and they've provided a very good service over the last number of months. You know, we're very grateful that we had that service and that we're able to continue. But obviously the pandemic's off. They had a big impact as well. And, you know, it's curtailed our passenger numbers significantly over the past two years. So, you know, we're really hoping that 2022 is going to be a better year and that, you know, we'll be able to provide very good service on the route between here and Dublin. And, you know, that those passengers have to travel for social reasons. You know, going to hospitals, going to colleges and things that they'll be able to use the service again. Tell us a bit about Emerald Airlines. What do we know about them? Yeah, they're a very new airline. They've only been established in the last year or two. They've got a very strong management team. Connor McCarthy is found at the airline. He's got a very strong aviation background. And they've taken quite a lot, a number of the management team from the likes of Stobert Air, Ex-Aerolingus, Ex-Rionair. So, you know, they've a good base there. At the moment, they've got two aircraft available and they're hoping to, well, they're planning to increase that to 12 within this year. So they're going to be operating under the Aerolingus Regional brand, which is, you know, it's excellent for us because it gives us that connectivity to the rest of, to Europe and worldwide, basically. If you look on the Aerolingus website now, you can book from Donegal right through to 11 different destinations transatlantic at the moment. And we're also looking to provide some sort of facility to be able to book European connections going forward as well. In terms of cost, do we know how a ticket prices will compare to, say, Amapola or Stobert? At the moment, they've brought in a lead fare on the Dublin-Donegal route for 27 euros one way and from Donegal to Dublin it's 35 euros one way. So, very competitive fares. And, you know, we think that that's kind of similar to what Stobert operated in the past. And, you know, it was a very good fare structure. We don't have the full detail on it yet, but those are very, very encouraging fares. You know, I mean, it seems that one way or other, hopefully, we're going from pandemic to endemic through the course of 2022. It might be a little bit early, but in terms of, you know, planning to broaden out the offering from Donegal Airport, are things too uncertain at this time to even talk about that? Or are plans afoot for anything new in addition to this core route? Well, at the minute, I mean, our passenger levels dropped by about 70% last year. So, at the moment, our focus is entirely on regaining what we've already lost. So, you know, we can build back the traffic to the 2019 levels on the Dublin route. We're obviously looking to try and reinstate a Glasgow service as well. Unfortunately, Loganair pulled out on that service in October last year. So, you know, those are the two main areas that we're focusing on at the minute. And hopefully we can build from that then. You know, because access is improving all the time. There's major work that will be coming to an end in the not too distant future, improving access, you know, from the south of the county into the airport as well. All those things make a difference, presumably. Absolutely. I mean, as we all know, living in Donegal, the road infrastructure and the rail, you know, there's an absence of any rail infrastructure, and roads infrastructure has been a lot poorer in this county than in other areas of Ireland. So, you know, we're glad to see that there have been improvements in the road infrastructure making easier access. And that's, you know, that's why we have a PSO service on the Donegal Dublin, because, you know, there's lack of other infrastructure there. So, PSOs are quite common throughout Europe. They're not so common in Ireland, but, you know, throughout Europe, there's over 180 PSO routes operating. So, you know, it is, it's a recognized way of providing a direct connection to the capital for people that would be otherwise disadvantaged. Right, so the flights onto the new airline begin from the 26th of February. Twice daily, do we know the times at this point? Yeah, it departs. So, it's an early morning departure. You're going to Dublin. It departs here at 7.55 in the morning. And then the late evening flight coming back, leaving Dublin at 10 to 7 in the evening. So, that allows for full day as business to be conducted in Dublin, or there's also a lunchtime return. So, it leaves Dublin again at 12.40 in the afternoon and then straight back out to Dublin again. So, they're very good flight times. Do people use it for shopping and stuff, or is it mostly business use? It's, there's quite a mixture. It's, you know, you'd have a certain amount of, you'd have quite a lot of people travelling to work in Dublin or to travel onwards, connecting out through Dublin to areas in the UK. And then we'd have, traditionally, we would have had a lot of people travelling for hospital appointments, people travelling to go to college, and then just visiting friends and that sort of thing. And then tourism, obviously, in the summertime. And with the transatlantic connections, we had been seeing quite a growth in US visitors up to 2019. So, we're hoping that we can regain that market as well. And when you look at the 70%, how much of it will be a struggle to regain? Do you think, you know, I mean, I'm thinking people are adapting to remote working. Maybe they feel that, you know, less of a need to travel to Dublin. Like, is there a concern that, you know, it will be difficult to get back to pre-pandemic levels? I think because it's primarily a domestic route to although people do connect onwards from Dublin, I think that we're possibly better positioned than if it was an international route to be able to, you know, people, there's a pent-up desire for people to actually be able to move about again. So, you know, we were really hopeful that we will be able to regain that market quite quickly. Obviously people are beginning to work from home but even working from home, we find that, you know, people still want to go to the office maybe one or two days a week and the flights are perfectly suitable for that as well. So. Right, so in terms of the future, this obviously provides some stability. Do you look at it short to medium term, medium to long term? You know, obviously we would hope that the PSO, you know, there's no threat to that into the long term. I don't know what is the situation in relation to Emerald's commitments, the PSO and time frames there. Yeah, well, the PSO has been awarded now from starting on the 26th of February and that's a three-year contract. And there's an option from the department to renew it for a further year, so potentially a four-year contract. So we'd be hopeful that there would be a further PSO after that time. Obviously it depends on, you know, on the situation in terms of roads infrastructure but I don't see things improving in Donegal that quickly that, you know, that we wouldn't still meet the criteria for a continued PSO service. No, and I think you're right. You talked about the ambition to establish a Glasgow route. I mean, is there any irons in the fire in relation to that or is it very difficult at this time? Well, obviously we've been speaking to Emerald about any opportunities that we have gone forward. They're concentrating initially on getting the Dublin service up and running quite rightly. That's, you know, that's what they've been awarded. And then it's quite short time frame, you know, the announcement was only made last Friday and they start the service on the 26th February. So there's a lot that needs to be put in place prior to that. But yeah, we will continue to look to try and get that route reinstated. And beyond that finally, are there any other realistic opportunities? Is it about growing the traffic sort of from Donegal through Dublin or through Dublin to Donegal or are there any other realistic opportunities? Any, I mean, there were flights to Rotterdam at some point, I can't remember off the top of my head. Like are there any plans in that regard or is it realistic at this time or any time? We had actually been looking just prior to the pandemic, we'd been looking at the option to renew that Rotterdam. It operated over three European in the summer season. And it was pretty successful at the time, but then there was a downturn in the economy and it wasn't continued after that. So that's something we would really like to try and to look at again this year. But obviously everything depends on how things go with COVID-19 and, you know, if we're able to progress that then we certainly will. And just my own curiosity, it's not really for any business planning. What size of a plane could actually, what's the largest plane could land at that airport? Well, at the minute, the ATR 72 is the aircraft that will be operated by Emerald Airlines. That's a 70-seater aircraft. So we're looking typically at up to 100-seaters, that's, you know, so the RJ 70s, that type of aircraft, small, medium-sized turbo prop or small jets. So we won't see a jet from Faro landing there any time soon. Unfortunately, that's not on the plan at the moment, no. It's okay. Oh, bugger. Oh, no, I'm only messing. Listen, that's great stuff. All right, it's good to have that, but it's stability. And as I say, you know, it's a business, it's connectivity, it's tourism. We sell all that kind of stuff, but also it's people that live and work in the community and their jobs and their mortgages and their credit union loans and their families. And it's great that there's some stability for your workforce as well, I think. Absolutely. All right, listen, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it greatly. Okay, take care of yourself. Thank you very much indeed. Now that was, of course, Ailey Stalkerty, managing director of Donegal Airport. Any views on that? 08 660 25,000 or give us a call on 07 491 25,000. The Nine-Till Nune Show brought to you by Kelly's Toyota Port Road Letter Kenny, stock is of a wide range of used passenger and commercial vehicles. Enish Fitness Dunlow, offer yoga, Pilates, circuits and women's only weight training class to find out about their class's only membership calling to Enish Fitness today. 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Right, now, just to let you know that we got a telephone number in here for the lady or the gentleman who was trying to sort out their property tax. They hadn't received a code, wasn't it? What's the number? Yeah, the direct number to the property tax office is 01-738-3626. Do you need permission to organize a climb on a small hill for Charlie Byrd? I don't know the answer to that question. Maybe if you consulted with the landowner. Maybe I'm behind the times, but I discovered yesterday that when you take a photo with your phone and then go into photo details, the exact grid reference of where the photo was taken is recorded. Therefore, if someone is lost while mountaineering or in a vast national park hall, they have to do is take a photo and relay the grid reference to the rescue services. Yes, and then you can take a photo and relay the grid reference to the rescue services. Yes, indeed. It's though you could forward on your location many, many other ways. That might be a more complicated way to do it, but yeah, that data is captured in a photograph. Right, we're joined on the program now by businessman and former presidential candidate, Peter Casey. Thank you very much for joining us, Peter. I appreciate it. Morning, Greg. How is life treating you? Well, we had a very big day in Georgia yesterday. We won the national championship. So three of my children went to the University of Georgia. So we were up till midnight last night and it beat Alabama. So a good night in the Casey House. You really have a fully immersed yourself in American lifestyle now, haven't you? Oh, you know. Why not? When in Rome, is that what they say? Why would you want to be in Ireland? Well, it's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful here. I'll be there next week. You're going to mention restrictions there. They're different over there. Is it they don't talk about COVID in America anymore, do they? No, we've moved on. We don't have COVID anymore. You just don't talk about it. It goes away. Is that the sort of not literally, but that's kind of what you hear back from other countries, you know, not just the United States. Right, OK. You are coming back here. And of course, as you do regularly, but you also always keep a strong interest in matters this side of the water, I'm sure. The latest is your comments as it relates to fishermen, Donnie Goll fishermen, fishermen from wherever they might be. What's your particular concern in relation to them? Well, I like yourselves, I'm sure. Greg went to the shop and buy Donnie Goll catch fish, you know, thinking that I'm buying Donnie Goll food. Straight off the peering keelie bags. Yeah, you would think, wouldn't you, you know? You would actually genuinely, yeah, that's what you would think. You would ask. Most people would think that when you buy Donnie Goll catch it, you're actually buying fish that are caught in Donnie Goll. But in actual fact, there's a little small label of the very and it's, you know, it's on. It's genuinely printed on it in very, very small writing. This is Alaska and Pollock, you know, caught in Alaska. Packaged in Poland and then distributed in Donnie Goll, you know? So Donnie Goll catch is actually a brand of Green Isle Foods, which is owned by Ray Coil and Morris Hickey. And the largest investor in the business has turned out to be the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, which is of course controlled by the National Strategy Management Agency. So you've got a government agency is funding an Irish business, which is buying Alaskan fish, transporting them to Poland and then marketing them in Ireland. And when you, when you talk, and I mean, we can talk about the consequences obviously for the fishing industry. But when you, when you see that we're sort of banning, you know, the likes of, you know, harvesting peat here, but yet importing it from in massive tank loads from the other end of Europe. And then you see that we, I think anyone within, I think most people would be perfectly entitled to believe that Donnie Goll catch was landed on in Kili Begz, if not caught off the waters of Donnie Goll. I think that would be a fair assessment. Instead, it's Alaskan catch, it's going to Poland, and then it's being shipped over here to be sold in Kili Begz, Donnie Goll, Tan, Bunkrana, Dunlowe, wherever. It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't sound very green, does it? Not very environmentally friendly, you know? I mean, it's, it's bonkers, you know? To put it mildly, it's like, and the fact that the Irish government is the largest shareholder, you know? So the Irish Strategic Investment Fund is the biggest investor in the company, which, and by the way, they also got debt from, I couldn't make this stuff up. They actually got debt from the Ulster Bank, which is pulling out of the Republic of Ireland. So you've got the Ulster Bank, which is pulling out of the Republic of Ireland, investing with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, which is obviously, you know, controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency. And they don't even have any, they don't employ a single person in Donnie Goll, you know? Like if you, if you invited, say for instance, you had friends from Germany or France over, and you, they were in your house in Donnie Goll, and they saw you open the, the packet of, now there is fantastic fresh fish available locally, by the way, which you can be assured where that comes from. But if you had French or German cousins over, and you ripped off of this Donnie Goll catch and sat down, they might say it's beautiful to be sitting here in the Northwest of Ireland eating locally caught produce. They would probably fall off their chair if you told them that it was caught in Alaska, packaged in Poland, and shipped to Donnie Goll to be called Donnie Goll catch. Like they would laugh, they would laugh at you. They wouldn't believe it. I don't know, is that acceptable in any other place, except here? Well, you know, it's almost as stupid as that clown, the guy who runs the HSE, you know, Paul Reed, he's on, he earns more than the US president, and he's given a BMW car free by BMW, and he's driven around by a soldier chauffeur, and he claims 19,000 car allowance a year. In fairness, I do have to be clear, he did respond to that and said it was for a period of time when they were very busy at the start of this, and he was concerned that he might fall asleep while driving, but I think people will, I have to say that, but I think people will take your broader point. You know, like people are being paid to tie, and I'm not sure what the sentiment is amongst all of the fishermen, but people are being paid not to catch, you know, they're being paid compensated to tie their boats up. We're seeing, I think, a break in the chain of a tradition, and I don't think the two ends of that chain can be reconnected once this generation are sort of stopped from fishing, you know, there's the business under it, there's a culture end of it, we're losing it completely. Greg, you have to remember, when we joined the EU, we were with 17.5% of the fishing rates of the entire EU, you know, I mean, the Irish fishermen have been completely screwed by the EU, and you know, there's no other way of seeing it, that's basically what's happened, you know, so, you know, yes, Ireland benefited initially, I would have been a member of the EU, because we got a lot of investment money from the EU originally, but for the last four and a half year, five years, we've been a net contributor to the EU, you know, so it's, you know, it's no thing needs to be looked at. And when you say that, I mean, are you talking Irexit or are you talking us taking a hard line, like we might see the French do and say, hold on your second, enough is enough, we are not going to agree, you know, with these quotas, or we're not going to agree with this protest, you know, and make a big international deal out of it, or are you saying, are you at the point where you think that Ireland would be better out of Europe? I've always said that Ireland would be better off doing whatever Britain does, because Britain is our, you know, our closest... Surely you're not saying that now. I've always said that. But sure, look at the state, look at what's happening over in Britain, that was the biggest mistake they ever made. I don't think you'll find that, do you wouldn't say that if you talk to the Australians who landed a massive deal with the US? I mean Britain... And Pittons compared to their, it's Pittons compared to their imports, their imports and... Not it. Our biggest top, the top 10 taxpayers in Ireland, corporate taxpayers, 80% of our tax is paid by US companies. So, you know, we should be aligned with the US. You know, 80% of all of the corporate tax revenues that are paid in Ireland are paid by US companies. You know? So we should be absolutely more aligned with the US than the EU. I think we should be embarrassed just to end where we started. We should be embarrassed that we're selling Donegal catch and it's Alaskan Pollock packaged in Poland. I think that's something that we should actually say, you know, we're going to have to... Because the writing... I don't know if it's my age, but the writing on the back of food, I can't read at all anymore anyway now, so... Well, you'd think that the Green Party would be open arms. I mean, it couldn't be very environmentally friendly, couldn't you know? I mean, we've got Donegal food, fish off Donegal. And instead, we're getting them from the US, Alaska, and then shipping them to Poland, and then shipping and packaging them and shipping them to Ireland. I mean, it's... Talk about the environmental footprint of that, Greg. Right, Jo. Camere, you're about to fly back from America. I don't know. You're hardly using your arms as wings, but I do take your broader point. You were inducted into a significant Hall of Fame recently, weren't you? Yeah. So the Irish Business Institute, yeah. So it's a very nice honour, you know. It's really recognising just Irish entrepreneurs and people who operate on a global basis, you know. Nice. Well, congratulations on that. We'll throw it open to our audience to see what they think about this Donegal catch situation. So thanks for your time today. Thanks, Greg. Take care. And safe journey back home. Thank you very much indeed. That was businessman and former presidential candidate Peter Casey. 086625000. It's no joke either. Donegal catch, there's a label on the back at least, some of it that's been circulated, which states that it's Alaskan Pollock, which are then processed in Poland and sent over here. All right. 086625000. What's up some texts? The 9 till noon show with Kelly's Toyota Port Road Letter Kenny, where you can care for your Toyota with a two-year service pack from 299 Euro. Enish Fitness Dunlow are offering half price programs on Saturdays this month. That's a one-hour consultation and a four-week plan for just 10 Euro this month at Enish Fitness Dunlow. Don't be without your favourite brand toiletries, cosmetics and fragrances with McGee's Chemist, where you can click and collect or have them delivered to your door. Email your list, no matter how big or small, to cosmetics at McGee's.ie or send a text to the dedicated order line. See McGee's.ie or Facebook for more details. 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If this is for you, email your CV to Michelle at highlandmotors.ie by Friday the 14th. All fitted and tailored to your needs. Call in today and see for yourself the fantastic offers available this January. Call Florid today on 087 1617 008 or visit florid.ie. Okay, you're very welcome back to the nine till noon show here on Highland Radio. To be a flight to Berlin from Belfast, this no longer runs, could be something Donegal Airport could look at. I think it's the four might be the issue there. Hi Greg, did you see the TV program on RT1 last night? Our justice system was a disgrace. Very sad to think the people there to protect the people were doing this to people. Now I didn't see that. It's something I might look back on. But if anyone else did and they want a comment, get in touch. Who owns the car park in Glencar Shopping Centre? The potholes are an absolute joke. They'd nearly put the council roads to shame. That must be bad. This will drive people to drink pot sheen and other dubious alcohol. Just the same as what price jacking of cigarettes has done, where people are smoking smuggled Chinese cigarettes that have God knows what in them. I think, you know, there's a lot of cigarettes. It stops people smoking the more you put the price up. There are always going to be those who just simply don't want to give up and will source cheaper cigarettes elsewhere. And they are, you know, even in moderation, pretty damaging. I understand where you're coming from. I think drink is a little bit different. I'd be more concerned that people won't go to pot sheen or alcohol. I think it'll push more young people towards drugs, easy, cheap, accessible, very, very dangerous, highly addictive drugs. That's where my concern lies. But I don't disagree with you that it could also encourage home brewing. I do remember there was a period. Was it during the recession where home brewing went on a big peak? Hi, Greg. I was off with COVID last week, so I was unfit for work. My company now want proof I had COVID. So I gave them a copy of my text from the HSA. It's not good. They want to start from a doctor. It's going to cost 20 euros. This normal, Greg, if it's what, well, listen, if you've got a positive PCR test, okay, and they won't accept that, speak to HR or speak to the health safety authority and say, well, it's probably not the health safety authorities responsible at this point, but speak to HR or tell them that you are. You are not allowed to go into work as mandated by government for a period of time. Once you've had that PCR test or from the onset of symptoms, so they have no leg to stand on. Don't let them roll or walk over you. You know, stand your ground. Let us know how you get on. Right, okay. Now, we were talking last week about the controversy and the concern as it relates to as it relates to exams at Leather Canyon Institute of Technology. I was inundated with contacts from people unhappy with the way things were going to be run. Things are going to be run differently. I'm joined now by Anna, early childhood student at LWIT in Class Rep. Anna, thanks for joining us. I appreciate your time again this morning. Hi, Greg, how are you? I am good. Before we talk about the developments that have emerged, can you remind us what was proposed and why it was being resisted by so many students? So, Greg, due to start on the 6th of January before Christmas, you know, we have been notified of that. However, as everybody knows, the case numbers have been rising and 21,000 each day, with just there two days ago seeing 1,000 people in hospital with the coronavirus. On the 1st of January, we were informed by the College from the Department of Further and Higher Education that scheduled and house exams would be deferred to later in the academic year. Five days later, we were informed of, we were given two options by the College. Either to come into the College, option one was to come in on the 17th of January for in-house exams and pods or to have our exams in May. And obviously, as you can imagine this, there was, because of the growing numbers, the students became very concerned that we were being asked to come in on the 17th of January or to leave it to May. Now, of course, a lot of people may not have been able to have made the 17th of January exams because they could be close contacts or confirmed cases. That would have caused complications for them. And it would have been a significant number. Yeah, Greg, you know, I know in my group alone, there was five people who had tests of positive, and that's not including the people that was close contacts. And basically, their option for them at the time was to do them in May. And but not to forget in May, you would be doing two semesters worth of exams. So some courses could be doing maybe eight exams. So I am a class rep for my class. So yesterday, we had an emergency meeting with the student council. And there was the College, I suppose the first thing I asked was, you know, out of the 90 plus class reps who were in the meeting, we're all, we all want to know why we can't be given online. And unfortunately, there has been no hard statement as to why there's been a lot of... But where is the resistance? Because GMIT, Sligo IT are amongst those that are doing that. Were you told if it's a technical issue? It's just not a policy, it's a policy issue, a practical issue. Like, have you been given any explanation as to why that option was not being given? So there has been a few, it depends, you know, one way the module content was delivered. Would it be fit for online exams? To be honest with you, Reg, I couldn't give you one straight answer now as to why. And you know, I suppose we asked Student Union, can they ask the College to give us a reason why the Student Union, you know, I can't commend them enough. They've been fighting for this since the 2nd of December. And even yesterday, they were... They're still kind of not hard concrete as to why we can't be given online. Right, so what has been agreed now following these talks? There were three options yesterday. One was we start exams on the 24th of January. Now, it comes to each board's decision on whether they feel that they can give the students of each grip, basically it'll come down there to the lecturers, can the lecturers release the exam paper online. That was the first option. Now, obviously there will be some in-house exams. There will be some online and some alternative assessments, but it all comes down to each department if they feel that they can release the exam papers online. The second one was to do them in May. And then there was a third option that was talked about where there would be an industrial action. And the outcome yesterday before Student Union went into the meeting was basically that we would do the exams on the 24th of January. Right, and is that agreeable? Is that... Does that address the students' concerns? Unless, you know, basically in the email that was furnished to the students yesterday, it was word for word, following discussions with the LIT management of Student Union. It has been agreed that assessment of the deferred winter exams will take place over a two-week period from the 24th of January to the 4th of February. Opportunities for alternative assessment if feasible will be considered by programme boards. Right, okay. So, I suppose we have to rely, we have to hope now that with the rising numbers that the lecturers will see that we're concerned about going in with the high numbers and that if possible to release the papers online. And that's kind of where we're at now today. So, it says rescheduled in-person exams will take place in pods with no mixing of classes groups that have not been taught together. Any students unable to sit exams due to contracting COVID-19 or being a close contact will be able to take a repeat exam as a first sitting and no repeat exams fees will apply. Does that not address the public health concerns that you have, though? But Greg, see that the repeat exams, they're not to May. Okay, right. So, as I contract COVID-19 now on the 22nd, I can't do my exam to May and then I have another three exams on top of whatever exams I have must to do down in May. So, what happens next? What's the resolution here? Because this doesn't sound like it's resolved and I'm going to be completely honest with you. Anna, I'm not a student or a teacher at LYIT. I don't understand what is being proposed here. I don't know if that's a deficiency within me or if it is actually quite complicated. But I can only speak for myself as a student here, Greg. To be honest with you, I could have cried yesterday when this news was released. This is not because I was very, very ill with COVID last year and intensive care. Now, with a new variant out, I am afraid of maybe contracting COVID again. For me personally, this is not the option that I wanted. I wanted to do my exams. I want to study. I'm not looking for an easy option. None of us are looking for the easy option. We're looking for the safe option and the safe option is to sit within your home and do either an alternative assessment or do an exam. But it all comes down to it. In some ways, LYIT's hands are tied because the Department of Further Higher Education has said that basically we're okay to go back to college. Yes, but there are other institutions, either or not, that have come up with alternatives themselves and are not contradicting, aren't contradicting the Department for Higher Education. Yeah, exactly, Greg. And I can't even comment on that because I'm not even sure if Student Union is 100% aware as to why we're not given online. And like today now, we don't find out our exam timetables to the 18th of January. The academic staff come back in the 17th. There's going to be emergency meetings. So on the 18th of January, I find out am I in campus? Am I online? Which exam am I doing online? Am I? You know, so that's leaving me from the 18th to the 24th to be prepared. Okay, right. Listen, stay in touch with us and keep us updated. And we're trying to get someone from LYIT to speak to us. We're having no success in that regard just as of yet, but we appreciate your time this morning. And Greg, I just want to say like just to all the listeners, you know, we can't commend Student Union enough because they have been fighting for this on the 2nd of December, you know, and really, you know, pay Anna and Edward and Adam, you know, without them, where will we be today? But I suppose it's not the decision that every student is happy with. Okay, Anna, thanks for your time. Thanks, Greg. Thank you. All right, take care of yourself. Right, just before we take a break, a couple of comments here. Hi, Greg. Just wondering, instead of asking Micah families to look for rented accommodation, could they give them the 15,000 allocated for rent to buy a mobile home? Lots of them would be able to stay on their site. This would free up houses for others, just an idea. And indeed, Amy Jackson mentioned that earlier on. But that in itself is complicated because, you know, they, a mobile home or temporary accommodation on site could be more expensive than that. And they might not need it perhaps then for the full 15 months. And that would all have to be sorted out. I call it says I'm a mental health professional for over 20 years working with young people every year. There is an influx of young people with anxiety from the time of impending leaving certificate exams. This was prior to COVID. Now, this stress and anxiety is magnified and the mental health of this age group is so fragile. Please make a decision on the situation and introduce a more youth-friendly approach such as the hybrid model. All right, keep your calls and comments and requests. So whatever you want to coming into us, you can call Michaela on 0749125,000. If you want to text the show, it's all WhatsApp. In fact, it's 086625,000. And if you're watching the program on our social media, on Highland Radio News and Sport or Highland Radio on Facebook or Highland Radio Ireland on YouTube, you can engage and comment with us there. We'll be back with more on the program after this break. At Lidl this week, Irish lean diced beef is now only $229. If you're hitting the gym this year, it's a perfect way to get the lean protein you need. But if you're more into hitting the couch, it's perfect in a chili with a half kilo of cheese. Whatever you're into, you can't argue with Lidl prices. Lidl, more for you. It's final clearance time at McElhaney's biggest ever winter sale. Grab your bargain of the year with up to 70% off in our women's, men's, kids' jewelry, home and footwear departments. Plus enjoy great sterling exchange for £1 by your €1.20. So go get what's yours at McElhaney's Ballet Buffet or McElhaney's.com with fast delivery and click and collect. At Smithsdale site, our range of high energy beef diets will give you increased daily live weight gain and quicker finishing times. Talk to our sales team at Smithsdale site about our range of beef feeds. On 074-9171-300. You know it's time. You've been thinking about it, talking about it, and dreaming about it. It's time for a new car. Come visit iMotors in Malin and Lederkenny for a fantastic range of new and pre-loved vehicles. iMotors, your home for Kia and Nissan in Donegal. Do you currently have vacancies that need urgently filled? Have you tried various ways to find new staff but didn't succeed? Let Highland Radio help you source and fill your current vacancies in the most cost-effective way. Simply sign up to our new job spot and we will tell our listeners about your vacancies both on air and online. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during our prime time shows we will broadcast the latest job opportunities across the Northwest and into County's Derry and Taroan. All job listings will be available online at highlandradio.com. For more information contact the advertising team on 07491-253-22 or email advertising at highlandradio.com. Highland Radio, we're here for you. Now plans have been submitted for a new high-tech alpha innovation centre in Lederkenny, the enterprise campus which is estimated to cost 3.7 million is set to be built in the heart of the town on the former ESB premises on Pierce Road. Now the development is set to include a seven-story building and offices and research and development facilities providing space and opportunities for new and existing businesses to work and network. Michael Margay is head of business faculty at LWIT. He joins us on the programme now. Good morning to you Michael, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. Good morning Greg, all good. How significant is this? I mean the application in of itself is significant because it could be the start of a process. These are tried and tested. These centres do reap rewards, is that fair to say? Yeah I mean I think on the one hand I mean I seen the announcement that was there and I read my way through and I came to the bottom of it and it said you know for people who make submissions obviously they're looking for the planning etc etc and I thought well the first thing I'd be saying is wow really great idea, great vision, a great ambition for Ladder, Kenney and Donegal and really really great to see it. I think for most from the business faculty perspective you know we're doing a lot of research in this area about entrepreneurship, second chance entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial universities, accelerator centres and incubator centres, something like you see here in terms of an innovation centre and female entrepreneurship but this whole area of having innovation hubs that are very close to town centres, very close to city centres is a more recent development and when you might wonder what does that mean in terms of businesses it really is about a change in about the people. That's what it's about that you know in the past we would have had you know out of town science parks you know you would have heard of you know industry clusters or corridors or regional hubs and stuff like that there but this is a change that's coming it's a mega trend that's out there at the moment where you see people know some of it because the pandemic as well disruption change, people changing from where they live in big cities but this provides the opportunity now for people to come back to Donegal be close to a town centre because what did they want? Well they wanted to have bike ability, they wanted to have walk ability it's lifestyle, it's a social aspect as well for us in letter Kenny it's really really close to our town centres which is great but that's what those people want they want to be able to have that coffee culture they also want that gastro variety that's around them as well and they want to be able to do that as part of their work-life balance that that's all part of the experience that they get in these centres and I'm not in any way being negative but a theme throughout the programme today has been on something as simple yet as important as accommodation though you know like do we have the infrastructure to you know when people look at the options you know make sure that the likes of this centre is a success you know I mean it might have all the bells and whistles and the coffee shops and everything around it but there's practical stuff people look at like access to a region you know connectivity and the availability of housing yeah I mean I didn't get a chance to tune in this morning but those were things on my mind absolutely but I think you know that as opportunities come your way you have to take them right and you have to be in the mix and you can see from this one here there's a lot of collaboration there's cross border collaboration involved in it as well and this is something that you know I would say Doney Gold's good at is when we work together the things that we can achieve and I think it's part of a bigger plan for Latter Kenny but in terms of innovation hubs in terms of enterprise development and it's one of our research agendas here this sort of development here is really what you want to see this is you know slap bang in the centre really really close to the centre of Latter Kenny it brings vibrancy as well around to the shopping aspects that are there the retail aspects the restaurants and the coffee shops and all that there but the entrepreneurs want that type of lifestyle they want that type of mix so what are we looking at then you know because obviously we don't have a crystal ball but we can see to what happens elsewhere are we talking you know you know new digital businesses maybe you know maybe could be a computer game development located there or something to do with architecture what kind of business and employment to these centres you know from the get go create yeah I mean that's a good question I think it's a I mean a lot of these innovation hubs tend to have a digital focus right but but it's not exclusively that when when we were looking around across this area you know if you look at say you know Belfast City has a very close innovation hub that centre Toronto has got a very successful one you've also different corridor approaches as well and in Boston and the London stands that Cambridge one is a corridor one but the ones that are really close to the city centres like within a kilometre or two kilometres or town centres it's about the people it's the next generation coming up it's the millennials that are coming up there that they want that mix they don't necessarily want to get in a car they want to take their bike they want to have a within walking distance and they want all they want a density as well of lifestyle amenities around them so you know and what does letter Kenyan Donegal offer you can have all that here now plus proximity to the great outdoors you know it's only a short drive away to get out around the rest of Donegal as well but but but do do businesses locate in this centre or do they get their feet in these centres are they startups are they established businesses I'm trying to sort of in my own yeah okay I got you now I think these centres in terms of what what you see them is that they also have to have grow up space right so you know if you look at accelerator incubator centres that are out there some of them are called incubator centres right and it really is about incubating the business to a certain size from a startup and then they have to move on right and in this case here and in these types of innovation helps close to town centres you have to provide the grow up space as well because the people want that sort of the employees and the business owners want that type of experience where they can have their fitness centres close by their coffee shops the experience of walking through the town and all that as well that's all part of the experience they want in their in their work environment in their work experience so it will be startup businesses but it also has to provide grow up space as well and the people that you look to go here will want walkability will want bike ability that's in that and there were some of the things I was looking at when I went through the plans and there's a provision for bikes in there as well you know so it's a type of entrepreneur who will be coming there and what they're looking for but I mean it's a really good news story and Donegal County Council you know when I look at it from the research we do around these spaces it really is about what's happening out there at the moment and it's great to see it yeah you talk about what's already happening and I think it's the co-lab isn't it it's called down close to you is this in the same space does this type of a centre consume not literally co-lab but that space or is that a smaller feeder up to the centres you know do we have to work out what the relationship is between what's already there and what's being proposed yeah another good question you actually need a stratified approach when you look at innovation or business startup hubs right and if you look across say Donegal or Latter-Kennie at the moment and look at what's happening internationally as well I mean do we have industry clusters here as well that have innovation ecosystems we've once had straddle the border here in terms of tech do we have the co-lab centre you know they talk about these university campus based innovation hubs they talk about urban regeneration innovation hubs they talk about innovation hubs that are near transportation hubs they talk about you know and pulling together these and innovation parks they're slightly further out in suburban areas etc you actually need a mix and I don't think anybody will be in competition with everyone but it feels you know between significant financial announcements for you know the regeneration of parts of Latter-Kennie you know the ongoing consultation for a wider plan for its development the likes of this the likes of LWIT securing university status it does feel like things are moving in the right direction and I mean obviously that would be you like the direction things are going but you know what I mean is there is there momentum building or am I being overly optimistic here I think there is you always have to be optimistic Greg I mean but I think there is a real opportunity you know in terms of when we look at what's happening in terms of it's often called the big resignation or the big pivot you know loads of people changing their jobs or looking for remote working where they want to come back to Donegal or move out of the city areas etc there is a lot of change and this pandemic has brought a lot of disruption and disruption brings up opportunity so you can see that in terms of the digital homes it's like sales say never never waste a good crisis well I mean I think that's just by people's nature when you have change it presents opportunities and you have to be ready for them and you have to avail of them and at any one point in time you'll always have two screens in front of you one with your opportunities and one with all the challenges and all the problems and issues that you're dealing with on a regular basis that are there they never go away they're always coexisting at the same time but when I first seen this I thought it was a bit superb absolutely well we'll see how it develops thanks for your input and your insight into that I really appreciate it Michael okay have a good and take care of yourself that's Michael Marguer they're head of business faculty at LWIT it seems like a pipe dream at this stage but it looks like it's gone to be progressed and it'll be interesting to see what it ends up producing no wonder Peter Kasey is but no wonder Peter sorry he's laughing we have people in power bleeding us dry greed has taken them over I'm really shocked to hear Donagall catch not from Donagall hi Greg could you ask Peter what would his thoughts be for our young either to head to the USA or stay in Ireland these come in a little late good point and on the ads on TV it's Donagall Fisherman Donagall food frozen chicken is from Brazil it's written on the package it might be but it's you know not everyone checks the package and its perception as well Greg can you say a big hello and thank you to Nicola but she was the triage nurse in gynecology clinic yesterday I don't know if she picked up that I wasn't in the best of form but she was extremely kind and helpful which I really appreciated that comes in from a grateful patient so well done to you Nicola if you're the triage nurse in the gynecology clinic or maybe some of your colleagues are listening you made someone's experience better there our government has sold out the fishing industry and next it's the farming industry very hard to put a counter argument to that on the spot what are we paying property tax for we pay our mortgage and have to pay for all services such as bins separately what is this money going towards they say it's ring fence stayed in the county it's topped up from some of the leafy suburbs from Dublin and it is used by the council to progress projects like you know the development of sleeve league or mall and head or whatever it might be that's what they say it's being used for why it's then called a property tax I don't know I posted a Christmas card on the 17th of December and it wasn't delivered till yesterday the 10th of January and that was to a local address all right listen that's where we have to leave it on the program today thank you to all of you who took part in the