Joining Clare FM’s Máire Moynahan on today’s Afternoon Show was Neil Cusack, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1974. The Limerick native, who is now living in Cratloe, spoke about his shock and upset following the bombings in Boston on Monday. Neil has pledged to return to the Boston Marathon next year in a show of solidarity for the people of the city who are still reeling from Monday’s bombings. Neil has kept in touch with the race organisers over the years and was horrified that the marathon was targeted. Neil won the race on April 18th 1974 in a time of 2.13.39 and also won the Dublin marathon in 1981 – he also represented Ireland in the Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976) Olympic Games.
Mark Fielding is the CEO of ISME and joined the show to talk about his group’s proposals to help undermine the black market in Ireland. According to ISME, it is difficult to put an actual figure on the costs of the black economy, international estimates suggest that in Ireland it amounts to 16% of GDP, which would equate to €25bn this year and the figure could be much higher. The amount of lost taxes is conservatively estimated at €5bn, which they say would go a long way to reversing the current exchequer revenue shortfall. ISME yesterday met with the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation and are calling on the Government to introduce a tax and social welfare amnesty for individuals to allow them to legitimise their ‘hidden economy’ tax or earnings status.
Arwen Foley from AA Roadwatch also spoke to Máire about how we are often to blame for avoidable and costly damage to our vehicles. According to their latest figures Clare is among the top offenders for certain types of damage including putting the wrong fuel in the tank – forgetting to switch off lights and letting the battery run down and also locking things into the car like keys,, children and pets!
Aidan Courtney from The Ennis Book Shop was also in studio for his weekly book review. Today he looked at Limerick Leader Journalist – Anthony Galvin’s “Blood on the Streets”, a true crime book featuring notable crimes in Limerick and “Tick Tock Ten” by Gerry Duffy, which is about how he strived to complete extreme tests of endurance in running and cycling.
Dr. Kevin McCarthy is a Senior History Inspector with the Department of Education and apart from work he has a special interest in the Olympic Games. He joined the show ahead of a special talk in Tulla this Friday. He is particularly interested in those Irish Athletes who won Olympic Medals before the foundation of the State when they had to represent other countries. His book, Gold Silver and Green detailed all those achievements between 1896 and 1924. Prior to the formation of the State Irish Born athletes had won 66 Olympic medals with a further 9 medals won at the special 10th anniversary Games in Athens in 1906. He also spoke about Doonbeg native Pat MacDonald and his prowess on the sports field. The illustrated talk will place in the Courthouse, Tulla on Friday April 19th at 9 pm, hosted by the Tulla Historical Group.
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