Morning Focus – Thursday 1st October 2015

On today's Morning Focus with Gavin Grace

Talks continue today on the Longboat Quay apartment complex in Dublin, as residents face evacuation over fire safety issues. Residents of the 299 apartments, the Dublin Docklands authority and the receiver for Clare-native developer Bernard McNamara, are meeting to discuss how the 4 million euro needed for remedial works can be found. Those living in the apartments are facing evacuation on the orders of Dublin Fire Brigade unless the cost of the work is met – an estimated €4 milllion. Speaking on the Morning Focus was Michael Clifford, a journalist with The Irish Examiner.

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An Ennis GP, Tony Cox of ICGP President and Darren O'Gorman from Kilfeonora, a second year medical student in UCD spoke about rural General Practioners. The Irish College of GPs have, this week, published a comprehensive analysis of the issues affecting rural general practice.The report, “ICGP Vision for the Future of Rural General Practice”, also announces a range of measures for Government to consider in relation to stemming the emerging divide in access to healthcare affecting residents of rural Ireland. ICGPs in Clare, Galway and Mayo were consulted on the report, which recommends a raft of measures, including special supports for medical students interested in rural practice, financial incentives for medical students and rural Gps; locum support; further resources for community hospitals and grants for IT and practice equipment. 

 

Street harassment in Ennis and Clare is an issue that is not talked about enough. 'A woman is a woman first, not what they are in relation to the men in their lives. No woman or girl should have to fear being out in public purely because there are men that think it is ok to direct unwanted comment and abuse' – so said Clare Burke, writing in the Clare People on the topic of harassment of girls and women in Ennis and County Clare in general. The issue was addressed through an art project by Clare Youth Service and Clare Women's Network and it's something that Clare feels strongly about. She joins us in studio this morning, as does Gemma Ronan of the Clare Youth Service and Clare Burke, a member of the management team of the Clare Women's Network. They spoke to Gavin about the issues women face everyday in the county.

 

Give your Bra for Breast Cancer – The Marie Keating Foundation has just launched its second annual campaign asking women to donate an unwanted bra in any size, any colour, any style and any condition to the charity during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The campaign will see the Marie Keating Foundation receive €1 for every bra donated throughout the month. There are drop-off points around the country and here in Clare, the Shannon Family Resource Centre are taking donations. Liz Yates, CEO Marie Keating Foundation and Breast Cancer Survivor spoke about the fundraiser while Collette Bradley, CEO Shannon Family Resource Centre told us about the drop off point for bras and her long-standing relationship with the Foundation.

 

On Health Matters today, Dr. Máire Finn talked to Gavin about the Flu Vaccine. Make sure to check out the podcast on the Morning Focus Podcast section in the website. Doctor Maire Finn is from the Ennis Family Medical Centre, and will be joining us again next Thursday for more medical advice. You can always send us your thoughts and queries by email [email protected], but if you have concerns or queries about your own health right now please contact your local GP. 

 

IBYE Clare Winner – A Shannon-based businessman was this week named overall winner of Clare's Best Young Entrepreneur competition at an awards ceremony at Áras Contae an Chláir. Diarmuid McSweeney of True North Technologies, spoike about his project, a developer of a grass measurement system allowing farmers to maximize their most valuable resource (grassland), was also named winner of the 'Best Start-Up Business' category of the competition, which was organised by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Clare. 

 

Kellie Maloney spoke to Gavin about the Lisdoonvarna festival that is associated the the infamous Match-Making Festival, 'The Outing'. Kellie Maloney, formerly known as Frank, is a transgender women who came to Lisdoonvarna to join Panti Bliss in promoting this new festival that invites the LGBT community to the singles match making festival.

 

Tina O'Dwyer of the Burren Food Trail and Geo Park Representatives spoke about the 'Foodie Towns' Finals with the Restaurant Association of Ireland that have announced that The Burren and Loop Head have been named as top ten finalists in the 'Foodie Towns' competition 2015, run by the RAI. Each of the finalists will receive a visit by independent assessors and this – combined with a national online public voting campaign (which is coming to an end tomorrow) – will determine the winners. Votes can be cast online at www.foodietowns.ie. Voting closes tomorrow, Friday at 5pm. 

 

Regina Nathan will be singing on Saturday October 17th 2015 at 8.00pm Glór Ennis. My World is My Song is an exciting concert performance starring Irish soprano Regina Nathan and featuring a rich and eclectic mix of songs that enhances the deep connections between the music we love, our everyday experiences and our personal stories. This unique new show will premiere in the Glór Theatre, Ennis on Saturday 17th October at 8:00 p.m. Regina will perform a thought-provoking, memory-evoking programme of songs from a variety of genres that includes classical arias and more modern hits from legendary storyteller-singer-performers including Janis Ian, Leonard Cohen and Edith Piaf. Tickets €20 / €18 concession Booking Glór Theatre Box Office.