Morning Focus – March 7th 2019

Picture (c) stevepb from pixabay via Canva

Thursday’s busy edition of Morning Focus kicked off by hearing from Dr. John Hillery, from Spanish Point, who is President of the College of Psychiatrists. He gave his thoughts on an RTE Investigation which looked at the rising rate of prescriptions for antidepressants in each LHO (Local Health Office) and found that Clare has had the lowest rate of prescription of anywhere in Ireland.  However, he felt this wasn’t all good news:

Next, Anthony Moloney – who owns a B+B in Doolin – told us of a newly-established Community Group in the North Clare village. They’re looking to meet with local election candidates in the coming weeks with a view to pushing forward their calls for better services, including footpaths.

CONTINUE READING BELOW

Former Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara is advocating for Ireland to take on board a system from New Zealand whereby drink drivers who have been disqualified can apply for a limited license to allow them drive to and from work, in order to avoid hardship. He also spoke about hsi political future after his failure to secure the Labour Party nomination for the upcoming European elections. You can hear that interview in full below:

After 10 a.m., Paula Carroll told us about, and shared some audio from, an event to mark International Women’s Day. She’s drawing on the archive of Cuimhneamh an Chláir to share memories of some of the many women they have interviewed over the years, as part of the oral history project. The event takes place in Waterpark House, Ennis on Friday from 6 p.m. and you can hear that interview below:

The search is on for ‘beardy men’ ahead of the All-Ireland Beard and Moustache Championships, which are held during the annual Festival of Finn in Corofin. This year, organisers are holding a poll looking for Clare’s Greatest Ever, and Greatest Living Beards, and we were told that there is still time for men (and maybe even women and children too, if they are creative!) to get growing and take part. Gavin spoke with organiser Martin Waldron, and barbers Micheál Malone and Nigel McCarthy.

This coming weekend sees the Learning Landscape Symposium return to the Burren. Events will be held in Kinvara, and throughout other parts of the Burren, and will bring together leading national and international specialists on the theme of how best to use our local places as a learning resource through different principles and practice in place-based learning. Gavin spoke with Paddy Woodworth and Áine Bird. You can find out full details about the event here.

Finally, we rounded off the show with the usual weekly arts slot with Siobhán.  We’re back on Friday from 9:00 and you can get in touch with the show at any time on [email protected]