On today’s show it was time for The Friday Panel. In studio this afternoon was Patricia Moriarty from Mountshannon, UL Arts Officer, Gearoid Mannion from Tom Mannion Travel Worldchoice in Ennis and Manuel di Lucia, a Kilkee Businessman and member of Kilkee Search and Rescue. They joined Máire for a discussion on some of the main news stories from the past week. Among the issues raised was the news that the murder trial of the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius will be televised when it starts next Monday. South African judges reached a landmark agreement to televise the trial live from Pretoria’s High Court. In the first ruling of its kind in the country, Judge Dunstan Mlambo has said that three small, unmanned cameras will broadcast live part of the murder trial of Mr Pistorius, the South African paralympian, accused of shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. They also talked about the latest CSO figures that show the average weekly wage in Ireland was €687.28 gross at the end of last year, down €4 on the same time in 2012. The figure represented a rise of €10 on the third quarter of 2013. New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish people are also working longer for their pay.
The panel also turned their attention to tourism in Clare following the announcement of a major 4 year plan outlining the future economic development and marketing of the Lough Derg area as a tourism destination. The plan has been launched by Minister Alan Kelly, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. Fáilte Ireland’s Plan for Lough Derg, entitled ‘A Roadmap for Experience Development and Destination Marketing 2014-2017’, includes the provision of marina and tourism related developments along the shoreline of Lough Derg as well as the appointment for the first time of a designated Tourism Co-ordinator for Lough Derg. Meanwhile Clare County Council has invested 1 million euro in the Wild Atlantic Way, which is officially open today. Landmarks like Loop Head and the Hills of Moher and 14 other Banner sites are included in an extensive list of places to visit along the coast.
To contact the show please email afternoon@clare.fm
