On today's Morning Focus with Gavin Grace
A North Clare GP has warned that the ongoing presence of raw sewage in Liscannor Bay poses a health risk to water users. Dr. John Duncan says exposure to water contaminated with raw sewage can lead to exposure to a number of potentially severe illnesses, including Gastroenteritis, Salmonellosis, Aspiration Pneumonitis and Giardiasis. Dr. Duncan, who says that a number of people have experienced ecoli-related Gastroenteritis in the Lahinch area in recent years, makes the claim in a new video outlining the extent of the raw sewage problem in Liscannor.
The latest Live Register figures for Clare show that a drop in the numbers signing on right across the county. In Ennis, 391 people came off the Register, with drops of 71 in Ennistymon; 58 in Kilrush and 94 in Tulla. On the face of it, this is welcome news. But is this really a sign that the recovery is reaching this county? Or are things like seasonal employment and other factors masking the real picture? Community Activist, Dermot Hayes from Ennis spoke with Gavin about these figures.
Last Thursday sevens vans left Ennis in the first leg of a trip to Calais to provide household goods to refugee camps in Calais.An appeal for food, clothing, medical supplies and other essential items was made in Clare in recent weeks as part of a larger national effort to help suffering migrants at the French port and donations from across the county were collected. Co-ordinator of Clare to Calais Róisín Garvey is in Calais this morning and spoke with us about this.
Clare FMs Sean Reidy went along to the INMO protest. Sean spoke to some of those on the frontline at the protest last Friday. The Health Minister announced a new maternity hospital at UHL, midwives at the existing facility staged a lunchtime protest over what they describe as inadequate and unsafe staffing levels at the hospital. The midwives said care at the hospital is compromised because of a significant increase in activity, and the complexity of mothers who present at the hospital for maternity services. The hospital deals with over 5,000 births a year.
As the postal strike continues and An Post asks people not to post itmes, a group representing older people has called for clarification on how long the suspension of postal services is likely to continue. Active Retirement Ireland said it is worried about the uncertainty around the instructions issued by An Post to the public last week not to post items until further notice. Active Retirement Ireland Spokesman Peter Kavanagh said the suspension of services disproportionately effects older people, particularly those in isolated rural areas and those with no experience of, or access to, broadband and computers.
It is Fire Safety Awareness Week. The dangers of smoking in the home and the importance of having working smoke alarms installed will be the key messages promoted during National Fire Safety Week 2015, which takes place this week (Oct. 5). The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will host the 15th annual all-island initiative from this Monday to Monday 12th October 2015, in association with the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service and locally with Clare County Fire & Rescue Service. The theme of this year’s safety campaign is “Smoking at Home Can Cause Fatal Fires”, which takes into account the significant number of domestic fires started each year as a result of burning cigarettes. On average 36 people die in Ireland each year as a result of fire. Denis O'Connell the senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Clare County Rescue Service spoke on Morning Focus about the dangers.
Eilis O'Carroll, better known as Winnie from Mrs Brown's Boys had a chat with Gavin this morning about her very own show. Eilish O’Carroll’s one woman show, Live Love Laugh comes to Glór on Friday 9th October. Live, Love, Laugh was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, and has been drawing huge audiences in venues nationwide since. Best known as Winnie McGoogan in her brother Brendan’s successful BBC sitcom, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Eilish comes into her own here with this reflective look on an eventful life that includes a strict Catholic upbringing, two failed marriages (one of them abusive), and coming out as a lesbian at the age of 50.
The death was announced on Friday of Brian Friel, one of Ireland’s best known playwrights. The Co Tyrone-born writer who was 86, was best known for his plays Dancing at Lughnasa and Philadelphia, Here I Come. Over the course of his career, the Derry native wrote more than 30 plays and Dancing at Lughnasa won three Tony Awards in 1992. Friel died peacefully at his home in Greencastle, Co Donegal, early this morning after a long illness. His wife and his surviving daughters were with him. Mick O'Dea, an Artist and member of Aosdana from Ennis, was commissioned by the National Gallery of Ireland to paint a portrait of the late Brian Friel. Brian visited Mick at his Henrietta Street studio in Dublin to pose for the painting. In memory of Brian Friel, Aoife Cahill from Ennis who is a lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies in UCC read a moving extract from Dancing at Lughnasa.
