We opened the show by covering the news that the government has done a deal with the makers of cystic fibrosis drugs which will make them available to CF sufferers from May 1st. Robert Cooke, who has Cystic Fibrosis, joined Gavin to tell him about the impact this will have on his life, and we also heard from Kieran McCarthy from Shannon, whose young daughter has CF.
Following this we heard from Ger Dollard, Director of Economic Development at Clare CoCo about the suspension of new licenses for day trip buses at the Cliffs of Moher. He explained that this was in an effort to try to reduce traffic congestion at peak times, and that peak time buses were also being rerouted to off-peak times.
Susan Griffin, the co-founder of Fracking Free Clare also joined Gavin to respond to a government watchdog recommending a ban on fracking. The watchdog also warned that it would be irresponsible to allow it as it has the potential for groundwater contamination, leaks and surface chemical spills.
Speaking of the environment, we heard from Bríd Fahy, the Chairperson of the Burren Ecotourism Network. They had welcomed a decision by Clean Ireland to adopt more environmentally friendly trucks which emit 22% less Co2, 70% less Nitrogen Oxide and 80% less Sulphur Oxide.
Daithi O’Connor, the MD of Revive Action spoke to Gavin. They were listed in Financial Times as one of the 1,000 fastest growing businesses in Europe, at 414th. O’Connor spoke about the challenges faced by being based in Galway, on the West of Ireland rather than having a base in Limerick.
We also heard from Alan Buckley of Vape Business Ireland who had a discussion with Gavin about if vaping leads to smoking. Vape Business Ireland believe vaping is a legitimate way to decrease the number of smokers, saying that 99.9% of vapers are ex-smokers.
Gerry O’Callaghan also joined Gavin on the line. He’s from the Limerick/Clare area of the Revenue Commisioners and spoke to Gavin about the upcoming deadline for declaring foreign income and assets.
We heard from Patrick Curtin who is organising an event to bring everyone with the Curtin surname to one place in the world – Ennis! His reunion hopes to trace the history of the Curtin family as well as allowing for family networking and social events.
Reverend Chimwe Obadeyi and Kate Njoku (pictured) were in studio ahead of their concert at glór on Good Friday. The Afro-Irish Easter concert will take place on April 14th at 4pm in aid of their drop-in centre for the homeless and the alcoholic in Ennis, and an orphanage in Uganda. Musician Jack L also spoke to Gavin, he’s performing at glór on Saturday evening.
We ended the show with our weekly feature from John Underhill from Burren Vets. If you have any questions for John, you can send them to [email protected].
