Morning Focus began with the ever loved topic of Irish Water. As you'll have heard on Clare FM News, Irish Water insists that plans to extract water from the River Shannon, in order to supply the East and Midlands, will actually benefit Clare. That's despite the argument that extracting water from the River to bolster supply elsewhere would see jobs funnelled away from the MidWest. However, the scheme's Project Manager Gerry Geoghegan insists it will provide a template to improve Clare's water network also. He's been speaking to Gavin ahead of a consultation event on the project which takes place at Limerick's Strand Hotel from 2 o'clock today (Mon. Nov. 21).
As you may have heard, Ireland has a new political party. And it's one that aims to represent Ireland's 'silent majority'. The National Party, headed up by Justin Barrett, has set out its stall, saying it's in favour of racial profiling and restrictions on Muslims coming into Ireland. Mr Barrett is a former activist with the militant anti-abortion group Youth Defence. He says that while party says is opposed to same sex marriage, it's not opposed to gay people. He's also promised to field candidates in forthcoming elections. Mr Barrett joined Gavin on the line to tell us more.
What would Irish society be like if everyone had a basic minimum income from the State? Could all forms of work, paid and unpaid, be equally valued? Could we pay for it? All of these questions will be addressed tomorrow (Tue. Nov. 22) at a conference hosted by Social Justice Ireland. The organisation is one of a number of groups who believe that providing a basic income is both beneficial and possible in today's economic climate. Gavin was joined on the line by Fr Seán Healy from Social Justice Ireland.
We then had our Garda Focus with Sgt. Joe Downey, Crime Prevention Officer.
Next on the show was someone who has battled against cancer and emerged victorious. Michael Leahy, originally from Ennis now living in Ruan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2014 but has since beaten it. The Marie Keating Foundation ‘Heroes of Hope: Stories of Prostate Cancer Survival’, an exhibition of real-life stories and photos is looking to share the story of Michael and 14 other survivors. Michael joined Gavin live in studio.
Now we've got a bit of a divisive issue here. It seems that in certain estates in the county the council will cut your grass for you whereas in others you must do it yourself. Some people are finding this a bit unfair and so Clare FM's Ronan Moyles put it to councilor Cathal Crowe for an answer.
Well, next Friday is a significant date in a number of ways. It leaves us with exactly a month to go to Christmas for one thing. It's also the deadline for those in Clare who've recently turned 18 to register to vote. The National Youth Council points out that 1658 young people in this county have turned 18 since last year and will have right to vote They're encouraging young people to make sure they are registered to vote before Friday's deadline for inclusion on the electoral register. James Doorley, Deputy Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland joined Gavin on the line.
Next on the show we had our Monday Sports Panel, joining Gavin live in studio was Seamus Hayes from the Clare Champion.
We’re used to the idea of ‘super-groups’ in music, highly acclaimed musicians coming together to form a new band; but something that’s not quite as common is that idea in literature. ‘Trouble is our Business: New Stories by Irish Crime Writers’ is the bringing together some of the best contemporary crime novelists Ireland has to offer and we’re lucky enough to have one of them here in studio with us, Cora Harrison, a Clare woman herself.
And to finish the show as we’ve been telling you all of last week when we were giving away tickets, The Fureys are playing in Glór here in Ennis. They’ve been together for 38 years and still providing the same fantastic show as always. You can catch them in Glór this Saturday 26th but for now Gavin had Eddie Furey joining me on the line.
