On Wednesday's Morning Focus with John Cooke,
Families of the victims of yesterday's tragic balcony collapse in Berkeley, California begun arriving in the US. All six victims of the incident were named at a press conference Tuesday night where media were addressed by Sherriff and Corners Spokesperson JD Nelson. As the 6 victims of the Berkely Tragedy were formally identified – the media were also addressed by Philip Grant; the Consul General of Ireland to the Western United States and the Mayor of Berkeley – Tom Bates – We heard from their address.
Celine Kennelly President of the San Francisco Irish Immigration Pastoral Center spoke to us following this outlining that there's a large community of J1 students and other Irish natives in Berkeley and in California's Bay area and they've been quick to rally around those affected.
Mairead Boland from Kilkee was among the hundreds of Irish parents who scrambled to make contact with their children in Berkeley yesterday, when news of this tragedy emerged. Her daughter Laura Harvey has been there for the past few weeks, and lives close to where the balcony collapsed, though she was not at the party where it occured. It took some time though before Mairead could confirm this, however, and today she told us how she felt.
Fine Gael TD Pat Breen Chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee says he received many calls regarding Clare students on their J1 in San Francisco when the news broke yesterday and adds the support being offered to people in the Bay Area will continue.
Clare County Council says their review into the positioning of barriers at the entrances to many of the county's beaches will be a "priority". The barriers have been in place for a number of years, and were installed to curb unauthorized parking. The Council will now review the situation, and Senior Engineer Tom Tiernan admits the current situation is far from ideal, he spoke with John.
However, with the Wild Atlantic Way now bringing more visitors to the west coast, there has been a renewed focus on them and also a criticism from the likes of divers and camper van users who are annoyed at the restricted access, including Ennis man, Pat Moloney who contacted the show yesterday outlining his recent trip along the coast and told us it was disappointing to see that so many beaches a long his trip were so difficult to access. Pat added that following their experience this past weekend he and his wife would not be as inclined to travel it again.
It is Men's Health Week this week and to mark this we were joined in Studio with representatives from the Mens Shed groups from Ennis and Shannon. In studio, Frank McNamara Facilitator of Ennis's Men's Shed / Co. Clare Advocate of National Men's Shed, Tommy Whitney Ennis Men's Shed Member and Christy Collins Mens Shed Member Shannon. The concept of the Mens Shed is, men getting together, chatting together and working on meaningful projects. Men Sheds are not just for “unemployed” men but anyone with time on their hands. Simply by getting together with your peers it automatically helps with one's mental health, because they are in a comfortable, non- judgemental environment. The ethos of the groups being: Men talk shoulder to shoulder, not face to face! There are 10/11 Mens Shed Groups in Co. Clare – for more information contact Frank McNamara on 085 2360060, or in Shannon, contact Christy Collins on 086 1712200 or Family Resource Centre Shannon on 061707600
What does it take to be a Vet and what's life like for those dealing with all creatures great and small?
As two students of Veterinary Medicine at UCD joined Clare FM's Resident Vet on work placement – they also joined John for a chat about their experiences of swapping the classroom for the farms of North Clare, in studio John Underhill of Burren Vets Caoimhe Hodgins, Dublin and Sarah O'Malley, Dundalk both 3rd Year Veterinary Students
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