Today on Morning Focus, we were joined in studio by 5 of the 15 General Election Candidates, David Barrett, Independent, Martin Conway, Fine Gael, Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil, Róisín Garvey, Green Party and Trudy Leyden, Independent, for the first in our series of Debates to take place ahead of the 2020 General Election.
The Election candidates will square off in a series of cross-party groupings, chosen by Clare FM, before coming together once again next week for our People’s Forum Debate. This week’s debates are designed to give you the listener, an opportunity to hear the candidate’s views on the issues that matter the most to you, as you prepare to cast your vote on February 8th.
We began the debate by inviting each of the five candidates in studio this morning to outline their own policies; why they’re running in this election and why they think you should vote for them. Each candidate had a maximum of 60 seconds.
Each candidate was informed in advance of the topics we’ll be discussing but they have not been given the questions. Both the topics and questions have been chosen by Clare FM, and are an attempt to reflect some of the most important issues facing voters here in Clare. If there are any topics you’d like us to raise in next week’s People’s Forum, email them please, for our consideration, to [email protected] or you can write to us at Clare FM, Francis Street, Ennis.
The four topics for today’s debate were:
· Health
· Crime
· Shannon Airport
· Tourism
We began, by discussing Health one of the biggest issues affecting the people of Clare.
A consistently overcrowded Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick; a lack of hospital beds; a shortage of GPs in the county are just some of the issues the Clare public continues to face.
Following from that the candidates discussed the issue of Crime, highlighting points such as the closure of Garda Stations, Garda numbers in Clare (310 – up 18 since the end of 2016) and how there is one Garda for every 383 people in Clare.
Our next topic was Shannon Airport, as the candidates discussed the issues involved with passenger numbers not being in line with expectations, Shannon versus Dublin Airport, the marketing present in the airport and the how the Boeing 737MAX issue has hit Shannon particularly badly (Norwegian & Air Canada).
To wrap up the debate, Tourism was the topic posed to the candidates as they spoke about how to get people to stay in Clare and persuading people to fly from Shannon rather than Dublin.
If you missed today’s debate, you can listen back below:
Following our News Headlines, we took a break from discussing the election and Film-maker and Author, Ken O’Sullivan joined us in studio to tell us about the Ennis Book Club Festival. The event is in its 14th year and runs over the first weekend of March and its programme is jammed with events, tours and talks, with something for everyone. Rosita Boland, Rachael English, Sean Rock and my next guest, Ken O’Sullivan are among those whose name features on the programme. The Festival is being launched tomorrow evening (Jan 30) in the Temple Gate Hotel.
If you missed it, you can listen back below:
Next on Morning Focus, Geraldine Brosnan, Director of Student Life at Mary Immaculate College joined us in studio as the CAO deadline is fast approaching. A very important time for Leaving Certs students as the sprint towards the state exams begins now. This Saturday is the closing date for applications for the CAO – and while a students’ choices can be changed again after that, they have to at least have made draft list. Students who are filling out their college places are being urged not to undervalue the importance of the CAO.
If you missed it, you can listen back below:
Lastly, Anne-Marie Flanagan of the Clare Leader Forum joined us on the line as the Clare Leader Forum are holding an Election Hustings which they would like to invite people to as it is open to all. Their pre-election event is being held in the Temple Gate Hotel at 10:30 am tomorrow morning (Jan 30).
