On The Afternoon Show today, Crime and Drugs Correspondent with the Irish Examiner, Cormac O’Keeffe spoke to Gavin Grace about how almost €130,000 has been spent replacing footballs in jails over the past three years. Cloverhill, Cork, and Limerick prisons are the biggest buyers and have spent nearly €55,000 between them in the past two years, accounting for two-thirds of the total bill. The correspondence said the vast majority of balls purchased were priced at €2 each, plus Vat (23%). This would suggest that if only cheaper balls were bought that the €127,000 bill over the last three years would translate to roughly 51,600 balls.
Mary O’Connell and Clare Finucane are Second Year Students at Kildysart Community College. They spoke to the show live from the annual BT Young Scientist Exhibition where they are showcasing their project entitled – ‘A Study Of Curvature of hair.’ Their teacher Leo O’Donoghue also spoke to Gavin about how the competition is going and about the preparation that went into the projects. Clare is strongly represented at this year’s Exhibition in Dublin. A total of 550 projects qualified for the event, 18 of which come from schools in Clare. Students from six schools in Ennis, Ennistymon, Kildysart and Lisdoonvarna will display their efforts at the RDS through to Saturday. The feasibility of harvesting rainwater in North Clare and an examination of factors, which influence the sound quality of a mandolin are among the works, which will be displayed by students from the Banner County.
Tariq Malik is the Managing Editor of www.space.com. He joined Gavin Grace on The Afternoon Show to discuss how the Milky Way galaxy is home to at least 17 billion planets similar in size to Earth, according to a new estimate. Not all are potentially habitable, but the huge number is a starting point in the search for worlds like our own, which could be home to alien life. Scientists have yet to find a twin Earth – one that is not only the right size but also located in a zone that is not too hot and not too cold where water might exist in liquid form.
Kevin Rushby is a Travel writer and an ‘Explorer’ with The Guardian Newspaper, and has written an in-depth piece about the tourism offerings of Clare, and his search for real Irish music and culture in the home of Father Ted. In this, the year of The Gathering, how does this seasoned ‘explorer’ rate the tourism offerings of the Banner County? He joined Gavin to discuss.
Joe Moran of the Ennis Musical Society also joined the show this afternoon as the Society is looking for new chorus members to sign up this January for “Me and My Girl”. You do not have to be a confident singer or dancer, just be available for rehearsals and up for a laugh! If interested check the website www.ennismusicalsociety.com. Me and My Girl will run from 5th-9th March 2013 at Glor, Ennis.
To contact The Afternoon Show please email afternoon@clare.fm
