Morning Focus began with the world shaking news that Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. Gavin first interviewed Ed Farnan, Trump supporter and political commentator, Irish Central.
We then had reactions from Doonbeg where Trump owns a gold resort and his running mate Mike Pence has ancestral roots.
Morning Focus then turned back to the scale back of Shannondoc services. A petition calling for the full restoration of Shannondoc services in Clare has gathered over 1,500 signatures – highlighting the level of public concern about the decision to scale back facilities in Kilrush, Ennistymon and Killaloe. The organisers of the 'West Clare Lives Matter' campaign say that after decades of neglect the people of the area have finally had enough. They've contacted the county's five Oireachtas members to highlight their concerns and are calling on them to act immediately to restore services. Later this week (Fri. Nov. 11) a public meeting will be held to discuss the issue. Gavin spoke with Deridre Culligan and Aoife Taylor from West Clare Lives Matter.
Yesterday (Tue. Nov. 8) an important record was set by our region's main hospital. Unfortunately, it's not a record to be proud of, as 66 people were on trolleys at the facility, awaiting admission, according to figures from the main nursing union. Responding to a query from Clare FM, the UL Hospitals Group said it regrets that patients have faced long waits and outlined additional measures being put in place to relieve the stress on the ED. Phil Ní Sheaghdha, INMO Director of Industrial Relations joined Gavin on the line.
We then had some more Doonbeg reactions from Clare FM’s Fiona McGarry before Gavin spoke with Jason Goforth, Treasurer, Democrats Abroad, Ireland and Hillary Clinton Supporter from Tennesse.
The environment watchdog says air pollution in Ireland will soon be bad enough to kill as many people as tobacco. Smoke from vehicles and burning fuels are causing fatal breathing problems for over a thousand people per year – that's a rate of around three a day. The EPA says our water quality is broadly good, compared to our European neighbours. But it's warning that climate change is the defining issue of our times. Gavin was joined on the line by Brendan Wall, Senior Inspector, Environmental Protection Agency.
I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a rather tough year, and all over the world everyone is feeling insecure and not sure where to find hope. It’s times like these were where we look for stability and safety, and that’s now been taken from us. One of the mainstays of chocolate bars, the Toblerone, has now been altered in a disappointing way, there are now larger gaps in between the peaks in the bar and as a result, we’re getting less chocolate. Gavin spoke with David Elkin, Journalist with the Daily Edge who first broke the story.
Congratulations are in order for a local mother and daughter entrepreneurial team. Paulette and Louise Egan from Clonlara have launched Ireland’s first yoga range of clothing, I-SPY and it netted them the BOI Limerick Business Start Up Award this week. Alongside the business Paulette is a yoga therapist and founder of SportsYoga.ie and Louise is currently doing her leaving certificate. Paulette joined Gavin on the line.
Once again we’re welcoming an event to Glór here in Ennis. Sonamus, a group of four individually highly talented musicians will be playing here this Friday the 11th at 8pm. Their concert will feature traditional music, 17th century baroque from France and Ireland, Irish harp tunes and romantic arrangements. Surely something you won’t want to miss. Gavin was joined by Sonamus member Eamon Sweeney.
We then finished up with some more reactions from Doonbeg locals to the US Election.
