Today on Morning Focus, Independent General Election Candidate, Michael McNamara joined us in studio.
McNamara says Clare tourism is an area that needs to be focused on by the members of the next Dáil. Scariff’s Michael McNamara is running as an Independent in February 8th’s General Election and says it is a priority for him.
If you missed it, you can listen back below:
Before that on Morning Focus, we opened with a discussion of the results of the latest opinion poll figures with Political Editor of the Business Post, Michael Brennan.
The figures have revealed there’s been a drop in support for Fine Gael and a surge in Sinn Féin’s popularity. The Sunday Business Post/Red C poll of a thousand voters was conducted between the 16 and 22nd of this month. Fianna Fáil is up by 2 points to 26 – ahead of Fine Gael on 23, which has dropped 7 points. Sinn Féin has gained 8 points and is now on 19 per cent.
Next on the show, Deputy General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Diarmaid de Paor joined us on the line as the ASTI is to ballot for strike action on pay. The ASTI says it won’t lie down until secondary school teachers get equal pay for equal work. The union’s planning to put its 17 thousand members to a ballot on whether or not to strike. They’re unhappy that some new entrant teachers have less pay even though they’re doing the same work as their colleagues.
Following from the 10 am news headlines we were joined in studio by Sergeant Tríona O’Rourke as Gardaí look for your help in solving local crimes in our Garda Focus slot.
Next on the line, Victoria Ward, Carer Supports Manager for Clare and North Tipperary spoke about how Family Carers Ireland are calling on Dáil hopefuls to commit to ten pledges over the life-time of the next Government. Reforming the means testing, providing a statutory basis for home care, abolishing waiting lists for essential therapies and publishing a ‘refreshed’ national carers plan for the coming decade are some of the pledges they’ve outlined.
Then on Morning Focus, we heard all about the ‘Healing Programme’ which is an eight-week programme designed for those who have been affected by suicide. Clinical Psychologist, Bríd Kennedy joined us in studio to tell us about the programme which is being run by the Clare Suicide Bereavement Support, it begins next Monday, February 3rd and is open to all.
It will take place in Innovation House (door to the left of Liddy’s Eurospar), Roslevan Centre, Tulla Rd. Ennis, starting at 7:30pm, and continue then for 8 consecutive Mondays. For further information, you can phone 086 0565373 or 087 3698315 or you can visit the Clare Suicide Bereavement Support website here.
To finish up today’s Morning Focus, we took a look back on the latest action in sport. Tommy Guilfoyle, Clare Hurling Analyst joined us on-air as it was a busy weekend of sport for Clare teams. In hurling, St Flannans of Ennis secured their place in their first Harty Cup final since 2007, while Brian Lohan’s first National League game saw a strong win over Carlow in Ennis. The Senior Footballers were defeated by a point by Westmeath, while the U20s were stopped just short of a O’Connor Cup title by the reigning Champions Offaly. The Scariff-Ogonnelloe camogie side saw a goal deny them a place in the All Ireland Senior Club final, while the Ladies Footballers were defeated by a dominant Armagh.
Briefly, Kieran Shannon, Columnist with the Irish Examiner joined us on the line following the tragic passing of basketball star, Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in California. The 41-year-old, a five-time N-B-A champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, is considered one of the greatest players in the sport’s history. It’s reported nine people were killed when the aircraft came down, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
If you missed it, you can listen back below:
