On today’s show Máire spoke to Brendan Rooney from the Psychological Society of Ireland. PSI is offering advice for people when making resolutions for the New Year. Setting resolutions and goals is a New Year’s tradition for many. Some set goals that are unrealistic and unachievable, whilst others set goals that are not challenging enough for them to benefit from. The PSI has devised 40 practical tips for mental health, well being and prosperity, and hopes that people will consider the advice with New Year’s resolutions in mind. The 40 tips are available on the PSI website at http://www.psychologicalsociety.ie/psychology-matters-psi. Clare FM’s Denise Woods also braved the elements to ask people on the street what they’ve planned for their resolutions – if anything, and also their hopes for the New Year.
John Sweeney is a Climatologist, based at the Geography Department at NUI Maynooth and spoke to Máire about how this isn’t the first time Ireland has been battered by bad weather in early January. This day 175 years ago, Ireland experienced the worst storm the country had seen in over 300 years, bringing gusts of up to 185 km/h. The night of the “Big Wind” took place overnight in 1839 on 6-7 January, causing wide-spread damage across the country.
Philip Moreau, our resident Gardening Expert and Horticulturist from Glenbrook Nurseries in Tuamgraney joined us to answer all your queries regarding planting, growing and all things garden related. He also tackled a listeners problem with wireworm – advising that you rotate your vegetable crop to help keep the pest at bay. He discussed how they target potato crops and advised gardeners to diversify and rotate the crop from potato to greens, then root vegetables like carrot and parsnip to pulses like peas and beans before growing potatoes on the same patch again. If you have a particular question for Philip please email [email protected]
Norah Murphy is Clare’s Women’s Christmas Tree Throwing Champion and an organiser of the event. She talked to the show about how despite the weather yesterday more than 100 people participated in the 3rd annual Irish Christmas Tree Throwing Championship held at Tim Smyth Park in Ennis. The fundraising event, based on age-old lumberjack traditions of Germany and Austria, saw members of the public compete to determine the Irish distance record for throwing a standard 1.5 metre tree. Gary O’Growney, originally from Dublin but now living in Kilfenora, also joined the show to talk about the training and practice he put in ahead of his win! He won the Men’s Championship by equalling the Irish Record set at last year’s event. Gary threw a Christmas tree a distance of 10.2 metres, beating fellow competitor Sean Jaffray’s (Scotland) effort by just 0.3 metres. All proceeds raised go toward the Clare Branch of Cystic Fibrosis.
To contact the show please email [email protected]
