Today on Morning Focus, Cillian de Gascun, Chair of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group at the Department of Health’s National Public Health Emergency Team joined us on the line following the increase of cases in Italy.
The Health Minister says it’s highly likely that Ireland will see a case of coronavirus in the coming days and weeks. It comes as Italian authorities try to contain the biggest outbreak of the disease in Europe. A seventh person has reportedly died from Covid-19 in the country, with the total number of cases there having soared passed 200.
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Before that, to open the show, we returned to the issue of flooding in the County. Bridget Kinsella, Resident of Springfield, Clonlara joined us on the line to discuss the issue and how it’s affected her. Some residents have been evacuated from their homes as water levels in the area rise, while Clare County Council are maintaining a permanent presence until further notice to fight the flooding. Rain has eased for now but it’s expected that water levels will increase again in the coming days.
Next, we spoke to Fr Ignatius McCormack, Principal of St Flannans College as the school has been partly closed due to flooding on the grounds. St Flannans College in Ennis has been flooded and students were yesterday sent home at lunchtime – with the school only able to open this morning to 3rd year and 6th-year students.
Then on the show, Deirdre Sinnot, Senior Inspector, Transport Safety Unit joined us on-air as the Health Saftey Authority are to focus on limiting vehicle-related injuries in the workplace. The HSA have kicked off a two-week inspection and awareness safety blitz. They say the focus of their national campaign will focus on the management of vehicle risks in the workplace such as driving for work, vehicle operations and load securing. Sixteen people lost their lives in incidents involving transport in the workplace in 2019.
Following the 10am News, we were joined in studio by Tommy Corbett of Carey Corbett Financial Solutions to discuss co-habiting couples in this week’s Financial Advice.
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Next, we spoke about the motion calling on RTÉ to reinstate GAA pundit Joe Brolly as it suffered a heavy defeat in the Clare County Council chambers yesterday. The controversial motion hit national headlines in recent weeks, causing up a stir locally about the use of council time. At last evening’s deferred council meeting, only the signatories – independent councillors Gerry Flynn, Ann Norton and PJ Ryan – supported the motion, with the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael party groups shooting it down.
We returned to the issue of flooding today on the show as farmer PJ Baldwin who is a resident in Gort joined us on the line to tell us what the issue is like as train services were disrupted with flooding on lines in the Gort areas. Morning Focus producer spoke to Senior engineer with Clare County Council, John Leahy for an update on the flooding issue in County Clare.
To wrap up today’s Morning Focus, we were joined in studio by Clare County Dog Warden, Frankie Coote for an Animal Welfare Update.
