Morning Focus Tuesday February 5

The town of Ennis has been given a boost with the awarding of a Purple Flag, recognising the excellence of the night time economy of Clare’s largest urban area.
Ennis is the first Irish Town to win the benchmark for good evening and night-time destinations, while Dublin city also received the prestigious accolade which is enjoyed by many UK cities.
The Purple Flag was raised at a cermoney in O’Connell Square last evening and in approving the Ennis bid, the Association of Town Management says it expects the Purple Flag title to increase visitor numbers and revenue for local businesses.

On Tuesday’s Morning Focus John Cooke was joined in studio by Ennis Town Councillor Johnny Flynn, Leonard Cleary of Ennis Town Council and Brian O’Neill, President of Ennis Chamber to discuss the significance of the Purple Flag and who was involved in getting Ennis there

John also spoke with Andrew Barnes – the lead Assessor with the the Association of Town Centre Management (UK), he visited and assessed Ennis in December
 
He is one of the assessors trained to do independent assessments of Purple Flag application areas
He discussed Ennis’ strong points and explained why it was given the award. 

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The 2013 National Famine Commemoration will take place in Kilrush on 12th May with President Michael D. Higgins leading the official representation, it has been announced.
The West Clare town was last month named by the National Famine Commemoration Committee as the host town for the event, which is the centrepiece of an annual observance in Ireland commemorating the Great Famine
This evening a public meeting ‘Famine Commemoration Community Meeting will take place at 7pm in Kilrush Golf Club – all are welcome to attend and share ideas
John spoke with Mayor of Kilrush Mairead O’Brien and Siobhan Garvey, Marketing & Development Officer with Kilrush Town Council.

The Money Doctor John Lowe joined us for his regular slot where he advises on personal finance issues
This morning The Money Doctor spoke about VHI’s fifth hike in two years and how much it will cost families
He had tips on buying a new car, he spoke about the pension crisis and the need for action and also had tips on the best fixed deposit rates
Al ways The Money Doctor was happy to answer listeners contact 
See www.themoneydoctor.ie

Amid reports of Muhammad Ali’s failing health Independent Ennis Town Councillor Frankie Neylon who was Mayor of Ennis in 2009 when Muhammad Ali was made the first freeman of the town proposed that in the event of his death the town council send a representative to his funeral
Frankie Neylon joined John in studio to discuss.

My Destination.ie is currently running a fantastic travel competition  offering the winning entrant a six month contract to be a travel reporter with mydestination.ie and $50,000 in cash when you return
What you have to do is compose a blog post about the best travel experience you’ve ever had – and produce a 3 minute video showing them the destination you love and why they should love it
Include tips and insights, what you love about it- the pros and cons, travel infrastructure and other local titbits
Gerry Lynch of My Destination dot ie explained how to enter
See www.mydestination.com/bbb 

If you have a story, comment or query for the Morning Focus team email [email protected]