Morning Focus – Wednesday 07/02/18

Morning Focus welcomed Minister Denis Naughten to studio for a wide-ranging interview, touching on topics including the National Broadband Plan, An Post and the future of Moneypoint.

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment was on a visit to Clare, where he launched elocal.ie, a scheme from An Post to enable companies to sell their goods online.

Listen back below:

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The show opened with a discussion of how Clare might benefit from the National Planning Framework. Gavin was joined by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) who told him that the county should be looking to secure €2,000 million up to 2030.

Then, the problem of defective lighting at the piers in Doolin was discussed with Mattie Shannon, Officer in Charge with Doolin Coastguard. He told Gavin how the situation was putting extra pressure on local rescue services.

After that, legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Duhan joined Gavin in studio to perform and to chat about his new album. ‘The Irish Man’s Finest Collection’. He’ll be at the UL World Academy of Music and Dance on Thursday next (Feb 8). Listen back below:

Gavin then heard the moving story of Ciara Micks who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syngromes (EDS), a group of connective tissue disorders that compromise mobility and quality of life severely. Her mum Anne joined Gavin to talk about their efforts to secure life-saving care for Ciara who will undergo surgery in Spain next month. Ciara’s surgery fund can be accessed here.

Listen back below:

Then, a Meath councillor joined Gavin to discuss the concept of using dog poo to power street lighting. Cllr Noel French (FG) told Morning Focus he’s fed up with the fact that there are so few people fined over the problem.

Then, Gavin was joined by Alzheimer’s Society Clare members Rhonda Murphy and Marie Moloney who previewed the Burren Walk on February 11.

The show concluded with a chat with John O’Donovan a playwright from Clarecastle who is taking his award-winning play ‘If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How Much I Love You’ to glór.