On today’s show Clare Fm’s John Cooke spoke with Miltown Malbay GP Dr. Billy O’Connell following calls for the formation of a new Clare Health Action Group. The group has been established to fight the proposed budgetary cutbacks in the HSE West, which are expected to affect Ennis General Hospital.  25 beds are to be lost at Ennis General along with the axing of 300 temporary posts at hospitals across the Western Region.  The new group hopes to meet with the Hospital Development Committee with a view to forming a sub-committee to fight any cuts.

Clare Fm’s John Cooke attended the official launch of the Limerick PPP Tunnel in Limerick where he spoke with An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen and Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey about its significance for Clare and the entire region.  Also in attendance were local Councillors and Mayor of Clare, Cllr. Christy Curtin, who tackled the controversial Clare / Limerick boundary issue head on in his address to the Taoiseach, stating “Leave Clare Alone”.  The Mayor of Limerick, Cllr. Maria Byrne and Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, Cllr.

On today’s show Tom King, Managing Director of Direct Route spoke to Clare Fm’s John Cooke about the opening of the new tunnel under the River Shannon.  The tunnel is hoped to cut travel time by up to 30 minutes for people travelling to the Mid West by bypassing Limerick City.  The development has cost €660 million and was officially opened today by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

Clare go into this Wednesday's Munster final as defending champions and face arguably their toughest test of the past three years when they take on Tipperary in Thurles.

Tipp can count two All stars in their ranks while Clare will look to Darch Honan and the class of 2009 that remain for inspiration.

No one who attended the 2008 Munster final will ever forget the scenes of devastation at the final whistle as the county's first ever Munster title was ripped from Clare's grasp at the death.

Only ONE correct answer this morning!! It was a toughie!

What comes next in this sequence?

1, 20, 300, 4000, 2 , 30, 400, 5000.....

The answer was:  3

So we're getting all scientific on Clare FM Breakfast this week by playing our brand new game imaginatively called "Sink or Float"

It's all because we're giving away a 2 night break at the superb Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire PLUS 2 free Dry FLOATATION sessions...nice!

On this morning’s show, Minister for Defence Tony Killeen discussed numerous issues facing Clare with Clare FM’s John Cooke.  The Cabinet is meeting for the last time today before the Summer Recess to sign off on the final details of the revised €39 billion Capital Spending Plan.

Today’s Morning Focus was host to a discussion on the state of healthcare in the Mid West.  Clare FM’s John Cooke spoke with Andy Pike of trade union IMPACT about the proposed cuts to services in Clare. The HSE deficit in the Mid West (Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary) is currently €35 million, the HSE say that to reduce the deficit major cuts will have to be undertaken.

Starring:    Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Michael Keaton, Ned Beatty, Joan Cusack

Directed:    Lee Unkrich

There are very few trilogies out there that stay strong from beginning to end. Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings are prime examples. But there are some that fall at the last hurdle and make you resent them for trying to hard with one notable example being The Godfather. I suppose you could call it the law of diminishing returns.

Thankfully though, Toy Story has started strong and finished strong with a superb end to a wonderful, funny and heart lifting story.  Since its inception, Toy Story has gone from strength to strength and the only question you can ask is, why they waited this long for the third one.

Starring:    Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Sam Worthington

Directed:    Louis Leterrier

If like me, you are old enough to remember Saturday afternoons, with the rain pouring down outside and no such thing as an X Box or PS3 to keep you occupied, and nestling down by the TV to watch Clash Of The Titans or Jason and the Argonauts, then you will have looked forward to this updated version of those classic Saturday afternoon movies.

Gone by the wayside are the distinctive Ray Harryhausen stop motion special affects and the awful acting.  In its stead we have top of the range CGI which brings the old legends to life.