On Monday's edition of Morning Focus with John Cooke
Tributes have been paid the West Clare fisherman who drowned after getting trapped by the tide at Poulnasherry Bay near Moyasta. Carrigaholt man Bernard Mahony was tending to oyster beds along with three others in the early hours of Sunday morning when they became stranded by a fast moving tide.
The three men, including the deceased's brother, were rescued by locals but Mr Mahony attempted to swim ashore and was swept away by the current. A large scale operation was launched, and Mr. Mahoney's body was recovered yesterday morning and taken to University Hospital Limerick for a post mortem examination. Pauline Dunleavy the Kilrush RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager and Fr. Patrick Culligan A.P. Carrigaholt both spoke to John following this terrible tragedy.
Heather Humphreys, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht spoke to John Cooke regarding the 1916 Commemorations plans for next year and also gave her take on the on-going plans for Blake's Corner in Ennistymon. The Minister says Clare County Council has the power to de-list protected buildings, such as those at Blake's Corner. This 'preferred option' from the local authority would have left the derelict Blake's and Linnane's buildings in place, but at least two homes and a business were to be removed. There have been strong indications until this point that the buildings at Blake's Corner could not be touched, because of their listed status, but Minister Humphreys said the Council could take a different option, if it decided to do so.
Following a news story last week regarding a tractor driver who caused an 11 Km tailback on a national primary road involving 80-100 vehicles was fined €300 and banned from driving for a year by a District Court Judge – John Cooke put this story to the Morning Focus Panel on Friday last and received a lot of reaction from road users who offered different versions of what they belief the law to be regarding incidents of slow drivers on the roads – Today, Barry Keating Road Safety Officer Clare County Council joined us to offer clarity on this. Holding up traffic on the roads by driving slowly is considered a minor offence: "Driving with Undue Care and Attention" and one can and does receive penalty points. Road users are obliged to pull in if they are holding up traffic.
Garda Focus Sergent Joe Downey Crime Prevention Officer Ennis Garda Station joined us in studio to appeal for your help in solving recent local crime.
Parry Aftab is founder of WiredSafety, the world's first cybersafety help group. It operates StopCyberbullying.org and the new site cyberwellness.com. Parry believes that with some digital hygiene and literacy training and best practices, everyone can be safe online. She believes in empowering others through digital technologies. Parry sits on Facebook's Safety Advisory Board and MTV's Public Affairs Advisory Board. Parry is extremely selective about her clients and causes. Parry often creates advisory boards for clients. Parry sat on TRUSTe's Board of Directors and the Ad Council's Advisory Board, as well. Global Stop Cyberbullying Youth Summit is taking place in Limerick and Dublin on May 7th and May 9th – she is calling for young people, students and teachers to get involved – for more information, check their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stopcyberbullying
Our Resident Wildlife Expert John Murphy of the Clare branch Birdwatch Ireland joined in studio to answer your birdwatching and wildlife queries. Today John gave the first sightings and recordings of the cuckoo from around the county and also reported on the poisoned white tailed sea eagle found in a nesting in Connemara and has urged people not to put out poison for foxes, magpies etc as it has a knock on effect on our very important birds of prey.
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