Gavin opened the show this morning with Neil Garvey of Muintir na Tire to discuss the Charter for Rural Ireland. According to the government, the Rural Charter will ensure that the ‘economic recovery’ is felt across all parts of Ireland. They say it builds on the work to support rural Ireland and brings forward a number of “new actions and initiatives”. Launching the Charter, the Taoiseach said that in addition to the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, the Charter makes a strong commitment to support the development of Ireland’s rural communities with a Rural Development Policy Framework to ensure the “ongoing and future sustainability of rural communities”.
Later on in Morning Focus, Gavin was joined on the line by Minister for Communications, Alex White. The minister spoke about Moneypoint and the migration to renewable energy. They also discussed mobile phone and broadband coverage in Clare.
Clare native, Shaneda Daly, spoke on the show this morning about the rape survivors press conference which takes place in Limerick, on Saturday, January 30th.
The 18th Annual West Clare Mini Marathon takes place on Sunday, January 31st. Chairperson, Will McGrath, and PRO and driver, Kevin Shalloe, joined Gavin in the studio to discuss the mini-marathon. The route this year is from Kilrush to Kilkee, which is just a little over 10k. Participants will assemble at the Community Centre, Circular Road, Kilkee, at 12 noon and will travel by bus to Regina House in Kilrush, the official starting point. Official starting time for walkers is 1pm and for runners is 2pm.
Next Monday, February 1st at 5.15pm, marks the deadline for applications for Irish college courses through the CAO system. Gavin spoke to Leaving Cert students, Shauna McMahon, Caoimhe Dennehy and Christoir King, as well as Kilrush Community School guidance councillor, Aisling Haugh. People applying for restricted application courses (those with early assessments such as interviews or portfolio assessment) must list any such course on their CAO application by February the 1st. February the 15th is the date by which applicants should have received a statement of course choices from the CAO. The CAO change-of-mind facility opens on May 5th.
Later on in the show Gavin was joined by Siobhan Mulcahy, the Clare County Arts Officer, for an arts roundup.
Gavin also spoke to a number of people for a roundup of weekend events. Tansey Watson, from Irish Seed Savers, spoke about the Irish Seed Savers fundraiser at Ryan’s Pub, Scarriff. The fundraiser, An Evening of World Music with Frank Bouchier, takes place on Saturday January the 30th at 9pm. Tickets are 10 euro at the door and proceeds go towards a new education building and an e-learning course. Karen Poland of New Quay National School Parent’s Association also spoke on the show this morning. The school will be having a table quiz on in Linnane’s Pub, New Quay, at 8pm tonight, January 29th. Proceeds go towards swimming tuition for pupils of the school. Finally for the weekend roundup, Gavin spoke to Jason Molony about the 5k Resolution Run. The event takes place at 11am, Saturday the 30th of January from Lees Road, Ennis.
As usual, Gavin was joined by a Friday panel to discuss a number of different topics, including the Banking Inquiry, Auction Politics, Denmark’s criticized move to seize asylum seekers’ assets, and what the centenary of 1916 means to you. The panellists included Georoid Howard of Crimmins Howard Solicitors, Shannon; Jim Connolly of Rural Resettlement, Kilbaha; and Mary Ellen Fean from The Poetry Collective, Shannon.
Gordon Lalor, Chairperson of Shannonside Astronomy Club, spoke on the show this morning about an astronomical rarity. A chance to see five planets is on the way; Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter can be seen with the naked eye, with the waning crescent moon also visible from Monday the 1st of February. This rare opportunity to see the five clustered in the early morning sky will last until next Saturday, February 6th. The chance to see them again will not come again until at least 2023. All will be low on the south-eastern horizon and will line up from left to right (or east to west) with Mercury first then Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter.
