Clare Fm - Podcasts

It is time for the twenty-sixth episode of our newest feature on Morning Focus, Village Tour, where Alan Morrissey paid a visit to Kilkishen. With The Village Tour, we here at Morning Focus are aiming to highlight the smaller villages and townlands around the county. By doing this, we hope to showcase their unique character, while also bringing their diversity and individuality to life for you, the listener.

Glór will play host to a rehearsed reading of a forgotten play with a Clare connection this weekend. On Saturday, Clare Youth Theatre will publicly read - for the very first time - a one-act play called Róisín's Robe. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by the producer of the play, Jessica Curtin and cast member, Aimee Shannon.

Kieran O' Loughlin, who lives in Ennis, has run into difficulties in getting Speech and Language Therapy for his young son. He has been told that his son Jack, who is autistic, cannot currently be provided with speech and language therapy due to staffing issues. Picture (c) Elena KHarchenko via Canva.com

Izabela Knotowska has organised a couple of fundraising events in aid of her cousin Sara Fodrowska who is battling cancer. Izabela has spent nearly all her life in Shannon but is originally from Poland, where her cousin Sara lives. To find out more, Alan Morrissey was joined by Izabela Knotowska on Thursday's Morning Focus. Photo (c) Sara Fodrowska via Instagram

Clare people attending Electric Picnic this weekend are being reminded that drug testing facilities will be available on-site. Drugs.ie will be operating two tents from 11am to 9pm each day of the festival which will provide harm reduction support while two surrender bins will be available where people can deposit drugs for analysis. Gardaí are reminding the public that drugs remain illegal and anyone found in possession of illicit subtances will have them confiscated and will be arrested. Managing Director of Ennis drug harm reduction company Atlantic Clinical Packaging, Michael Considine, says given the critical safety risk attached to consuming any type of drugs, availing of testing facilities in vital.

Clare FM Preview Of 2024 Clare Senior Camogie Championship

A Clare-based GP says Ireland has always relied on national healthcare workers to maintain services.  It comes as recent statistics from a Medical Workforce Inteilligence report show that a quarter of doctors in Ireland obtained their qualifications outside of the country. As well as this, according to the Irish Medical Organisation, 25% of General Practioners are currently at or approaching retirement age. Lahinch GP and member of the IMO's GP Committee Dr Michael Kelleher says it's vital we boost the number of doctors being produced in Ireland.

Morning Focus was broadcasting live from the community centre in Clonlara. Firstly, we revisited an issue we discussed earlier on in this week regarding the pilot school bus scheme for South-East Clare students. Clare FM's Daragh Dolan spoke with Sixmilebridge parent, Aoife Koegh. After that, Alan was joined by Senior Executive Engineer for Shannon Municipal District, Tom Mellett to find out more about Clonlara and the work he does. Following that, we highlighted McKernan Woollen Mills and Craggaunowen as part of our Best Daycation Ever segment. Next, Alan was joined by Councillor Michael Begley, to discuss his re-election and the community in Clonlara. Alan was then joined by Peggy Ryan from Clonlara Development Group to tell us about the the group and the Clonlara Community Heritage website. After that, Alan was joined by Izabela Knotowska to discuss the fundraising she has done for her cousin Sara Fodrowska who is battling cancer. Alan then spoke with the Clare Ladies Soccer League Officer, Paul Fit

A North Clare councillor claims he's stopped drinking the tap water in his home as water supply issues persist in this county today. Homes and businesses served by the Ennistymon Public Water Scheme are still experiencing discolouration, taste and odour issues in their water supply this week. Uisce Éireann issued a notice last Wednesday responding to these reports - stating "all chemical and biological results are compliant with legislative requirements" - but no update has been issued since. Lisdoonvarna Fine Gael Councillor Joe Garrihy has been telling Clare FM's Seán Lyons "there isn't a word bad enough" to describe the standard of communication practiced by Uisce Éireann.

A Shannon pharmacist believes a newly-proposed Government initiative will put pressure on pharmacies already struggling to recruit staff. An expert group has recommended pharmacies be allowed to prescribe for common conditions without the need for a patient to visit their GP. The taskforce, established by the Health Minister, has initially provided eight conditions for which pharmacies could prescribe - such as cold sores, oral thrush and shingles. Pharmacist at Ballycasey Pharmacy, Pharmacystore in Shannon, Anke Knight, says the initiative may ease the burden on GPs but will shift it to those in her line of work.

A Clare resident is set to host a fundraiser in aid for her relatives cancer treatment. Izabela who is currently living in Shannon, has organised an auction for a Clare jersey signed by the whole All Ireland Winning team, in efforts to raise important funds for her cousin Sara's Cancer Treatment. Sara who currently lives in Poland, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 23 and has been battling cancer for the last 5 years with 70 percent of her total treatment cost raised so far. Sarah's cousin and Shannon Resident Izabela Knotowska says, they they were not expecting the diagnosis when it was made.

Fr Gerry Kenny leads our Sunday Prayer for Sunday 11th August 2024.

We are out and about across County Clare, experiencing some exciting adventures this summer. We have teamed up with Fáilte Ireland to help you experience the ‘Best Daycation Ever’. This week, we highlighted McKernan Woollen Mills and Craggaunowen. Photo (c): www.craggaunowen.ie

Parents in South East Clare are still experiencing uncertainty and frustration regarding plans to overhaul School Bus transport in the region. Following the meeting this week, Bus Eireann confirmed it could not guarantee a seat for students on the new service and that there's no plan B in place if the service fails, but that tweaks will be made along the way as appropriate. For more on this, Clare FM'S Daragh Dolan spoke with Sixmilebridge parent, Aoife Keogh.

A Clare-based former President of the Assocation of Secondary Teachers in Ireland claims students are taking up roles they have no interest in due to teacher shortages. A new poll has found that 82% of schools had no applications for vacant posts in the 2023 to 2024 school year while 87% of schools said there were no substitute teachers available to provide cover. It's also been reported that one fifth of schools have had to remove subjects from the curriculum due to not being able to recruit a teacher. Kilkee Community College teacher Geraldine O'Brien believes students with a clear vision of what job they'd like to pursue are being forced to compromise.

The Friends of Ennis Hospital Group has reiterated its called for the CEO of the UL Hospitals Group to be answerable for issues with Midwest healthcare. One week on from the indefinite deferral of scheduled care at University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital and other Midwest hospitals, Minister Stephen Donnelly has said it'll be a "short number of weeks" before services return to normal. 25 step-down beds are to come on stream in Clare in the coming weeks. Friends of Ennis Hospital Group Chairperson Angela Coll believes the crisis at UHL is the fault of management.

Fiona McGarry spoke with Clinical herbalis, Julie Ann O'Connor from Feakle. With over 20 years experience working in holistic healthcare, as well as a lifelong love of the outdoors & natures healing medicine, Julie Ann O' Connor offers walks which bring you on a journey of exploration, rediscovery and healing. You get to learn about the plants you encounter, about their medicinal uses & what you can make with them yourself at home. Photo (c) Clareherbalist via Instagram

It's predicted rejuventated empty homes could be the "single largest source of housing in County Clare" by next year. It comes as the Hardware Association Ireland has launched its pre-Budget submission which contains the key proposals of including empty homes in housing targets and improving incentives for converting "above-the-shop" properties. The organisation anticipates that of the new homes in Clare across 2024 and 2025, 41% will come from rejuvenated empty homes. Chief Executive of the Hardware Association Ireland Martin Markey has been telling Clare FM's Seán Lyons he believes grants for vacant properties are working well in this county but there is work to do to make "above-the-shop" premises more accessible.

Fears have been raised that the introduction of extra grants for purchasing electric vehicles in rural Clare would be 'open to abuse'. This comes in light of calls for people living in outside of urban areas to receive extra funding towards the cost of buying an electric vehicle. This week former environment minister Richard Bruton has called on the government to 'double down' on the process to move towards the wider usage of electric vehicles. The government expressed the aim of having 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, which looks set to stall given the reluctance of people living in rural areas to make the switch and the preference for hybrids over fully electric cars. Clare's Rural Development Forum member, Fianna Fail Cllr Rita McInerney, believes the funds made available for the grant could be better spent elsewhere. Meanwhile in this county the sale of electric vehicles has seen a steep 60% reduction since 2023, while the latest monthly comparison show 46 electric vehicles purchased

A "super-levy" for online banks has been proposed as a way of revitalising Clare's towns and villages. Wicklow Fine Gael Councillor Peter Stapleton is calling for the Irish bank levy, which produces a fixed annual yield of €150 million, to be re-structured so online banks such as Revolut pay a larger share which is then channelled into communities. Bank of Ireland branches have closed their doors in Kilkee, Miltown Malbay and Tulla in recent years. Councillor Stapleton believes re-structuring the levy could see more physical branches open in areas such as these.