Thursday’s Morning Focus had a compelling special report from Fiona Cahill who attended a hard-hitting road safety demonstration in Ennis, alongside hundreds of school pupils from around the county.
The public event, which is organised by Clare County Council, Clare’s Emergency Services and the RSA, was aimed at improving road safety awareness and reducing road deaths. Listen back below:
The show opened with a chat with Clare’s Junior Minister Pat Breen, who responded to criticism from Labour Party Health Spokesperson Alan Kelly over the pace of progress with the new ED for the region’s main hospital.
There was further discussion today of Clare’s illegal dumping issue. Gavin heard from May from Tulla who’s a member of the local angling club, an organisation who often have to clean up after fly-tippers.
The show then heard from Cllr Pat Daly who got in touch to warn those travelling to Dublin to be careful about parking at the Red Cow Roundabout park-and-ride service. After making an error and entering the letter ‘O’ in his car registration details (instead of the number 0), Cllr Daly was clamped.
The Burren Life project is up for a prestigious European award and Gavin was joined in studio by programme manager, Dr Brendan Dunford and Carole Gleeson of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark. Listen back below:
The topic of dog fouling was next up for discussion. A councillor from Kerry believes that special canine nappies could be the answer. Cllr Michael O’Shea joined Gavin on the line to discuss the idea. Listen back below:
There’s been controversial advice given this week by researchers on heart disease. The British Medical Journal of Sport published an article challenging the link between saturated fat and heart problems. However, as Janis Morrissey of the Irish Heart Foundation told Gavin, there are some concerns about this latest advice.
Today also saw the gathering of the Morning Focus Book Club who discussed ‘Days Without End’ by Sebastian Barry. Listen back below:
We learned this week that fewer students are opting for Science subjects in college, believing it’s too difficult. Gavin spoke to a passionate advocate of the subject, John Simms, a teacher from Mary Immaculate College in Lidsoonvarna.
The show then took on the topic of Shakespeare. A new play devised by award-winning playwright Tim Crouch comes to glór, Ennis and reimagines ‘Twelfth Night’ from the point of view of the controversial character, Malvolio.
This edition of Morning Focus rounded off with a chat with Rob Partridge who’s behind the ‘parkrun’ phenomenon. It’s been very successful at the Vandeleur Gardens in Kilrush since it was launched there in March of last year.
