Clare Fm - Podcasts

A Lahinch campaigner insists religion should have no bearing on the legalisation of assisted dying. It comes as the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying has published a 96-page report which recommends allowing those diagnosed with an incurable illness or medical condition that will cause death within six months to apply for assisted dying. The report has caused much division however with Committee Chair Michael Healy-Rae, Deputy Robert Troy and Senator Rónán Mullen expressing their opposition to it on various moral and ethical grounds. Lahinch healthcare campaigner John Wall believes one person's convictions shouldn't affect another person's access to what he sees as a vital service.

The Clare Pyrite Action Group claims the county's elected representatives at all levels have failed to champion their cause. It comes as the European Union has published a new report recommending that affected homeowners receive 100% compensation for remedial works to include foundation repairs, and the cost of provisional accommodation. Over 1,000 properties have been affected by the defective mineral in Clare and so far its understood that just four grants up to a maximum value of €420,000 have been paid out here under the Enhanced Defective Blocks Scheme. Clare Pyrite Action Group Chair and Crusheen native Dr Martina Cleary will be running as a Sinn Féin candidate in June's local elections, she says affected homeowners need a real voice.

Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis is the venue for the Ennis International Tattoo Convention. It will take place this coming weekend. There will be over 100 artists in attendance, with the event bringing the best Irish talent and international artists together. To find out more, on Thursday's Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Silvia Butkiewicz the Co-organiser of the Ennis tattoo convention.

On Thursday's Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Clarecastle Tenor, Dean Power, and James Hurley, a Newfoundland pianist and composer, to discuss their upcoming performance at Glór. We also got a sneak peek of what you can expect later this evening! Picture (c) Glór via Facebook

Our new series, ‘Clare Women in Business’, seeks to showcase the accomplishments of women in business, foster gender equality, and inspire future generations of female leaders. This week, Pat Flynn meets Maeve Sheridan, co-founder and director of Western Herd Brewing Company.

On Thursday’s Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Canadian chef and owner of Randaddy’s in Lahinch, Randy Lewis. This week, Randy shared a recipe with us that he came across while travelling to Hong Kong!

The next week or so is going to be extremely busy for St. John’s National School in Shannon. They have not one, but two different fundraisers coming up; this evening their Bingo Night in collaboration with Shannon Town United will take place. Next week, they will host a coffee morning and bake sale for the Irish Cancer Society. To find out more about both initiatives, Alan Morrissey was joined by Kevin Toomey, Principal of St Johns National School and Noah Casey, a student from ASD class.

On Thursday’s Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey spoke to Clinical Child Psychologist, Dr. Toby Sachsenmaier about the language we use when we talk to children. Toby also discussed the impact that language can have on relationships and their development.

The 75th Clare Drama Festival will get underway in Scariff this Friday. The renowned festival will be held at Scariff Community College Hall. Beginning in 1947, the Clare Drama Festival is now one of the longest running festivals in Ireland. To shed some light on what we can expect from the festival, Alan Morrissey was joined by is Tom Hanley, the PRO of Clare Drama Festival.

Leo Varadkar has announced he is stepping down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael. He made the shock announcement outside government buildings at midday on Wednesday, saying his reasons were both personal and political. His resignation as Fine Gael leader is effective immediately, with his successor to be elected before the party's Ard Fheis on April 16th. A new Taoiseach will be elected following the Dáil's Easter break. Alan Morrissey spoke with former Clare Fine Gael TD and Senator from Kilkee, Madeline Taylor Quinn and Meelick Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe. Picture (c) finegael.ie

The HSE is awaiting Cabinet sign off to extend operating hours at the Ennis Medical Assessment Unit to a 24/7 service. Government had initially pledged to implement the measure last April as a means of alleviating overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick following a private members motion on the matter. It's among a series of 'interventions' to be rolled in the MidWest under the HSE's National Service Plan, along with a new step-down care facility at Nenagh. Responding to Clare Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway at the Oireachtas Health Committee, HSE CEO Bernard Gloster says the expansion of services at Ennis, Nenagh and St.Johns should happen soon.

The HSE has been accused of neglecting North Clare. The Health Service Executive is still awaiting national approval to hire 6.5 additional Whole-Time Equivalent nursing staff for Ennistymon Community Hospital, despite being in exactly the same position one month ago. There are plans to add a six bed extension to the long stay ward, bringing total bed capacity to 31 there, but this is entirely dependent on staff recruitment. Lahinch Fine Gael local election candidate Bill Slattery says vulnerable people are now being forced to all sides of the county bounds to receive care.

Leo Varadkar has announced he is stepping down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael. It comes less than a fortnight after the Government inflicted some of the heaviest defeats in the history in the state in the referendums and family and care and one day after Galway East Deputy Ciaran Cannon announced he would be the tenth member of the party not to seek re-election. Mr. Varadkar assumed the office of Taoiseach in June of 2017 and will continue to represent the Dublin West Constituency as a TD, with a new leader expected to take office after the Easter Break. In an emotional speech at Government Buildings in the past hour, he outlined the moments he's most proud of while in office, as well as the areas where he says the Government has been "less successful." His party colleague Ennistymon Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway has been speaking with me in the past few moments about the announcement. He's confident the Government will still last its full term.

It's claimed the purpose of public transport has been defeated by a failure to implement flood defence solutions at Ballycar. It comes as the Ennis to Limerick rail line is expected to be closed for weeks due to the latest installment of legacy flooding problems. Over 1,800 commuters travel by rail from Ennis to Limerick every single week, however for the at least the next fortnight this figure will reduce dramatically to zero, as the rail track has once again become submerged. It's the first time in four years that flooding has occurred here, something Iarnród Eireann attributes to the cumulative affect of rainfall, and the slow drainage associated within Ballycar’s geological environment. But for locals, the closure of the line has been all too common of late and Newmarket On-Fergus Fianna Fáil Councillor Pat McMahon says despite promises over the years, no progress has been made on solving the problem. Back in 2003, Iarnród Eireann carried out works to raise the track height at Ballycar by some 60cm t

A Clare family carer believes the government's latest support proposals are a shameless attempt to backtrack. It follows a humbling defeat for the state in the recent carers referendum which received the highest rejection rate of any vote held in the country of 74%. Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced this week though that Cabinet will be hoping to introduce a state-contributory pension and improved tax-credits for stay at home parents. But Newmarket-on-Fergus native and former Netwatch family carer of the year Sinead O'Brien says these proposals have been on the table before and it's simply a case of electioneering.

A former RTÉ Broadcaster and journalist who is set to run in the Ireland South Constituency in the upcoming European elections claims advancing tourism interests in Clare will be among her key priorities. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú who currently works as a Barrister will be standing for Fianna Fáil when voters go to the poles in June. The Carlow native claims she will be championing farmer's and women's rights and will hope to spearhead the implementation of the EU directive on combatting domestic violence. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú says increasing investment at Shannon Airport will be high on her agenda and Europe is the place to secure funding.

On Wednesday’s Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Tommy Corbett from Carey Corbett Financial Solutions. This week, Tommy joined Alan to talk about the importance of financial planning through the decades.

The third round of this year's Zimmer Biomet Run the Banner series takes place on Sunday afternoon in Quilty. The 8k route will be hosted by the Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare Athletics Club. Clare FM's Derrick Lynch met up with club stalwarts James Sexton, Sue Garrahy and Tom Mackey to chat about the club and their involvement in it.

Have we long since passed the point where a decent home is available to all but a select few in this country? Increases in Ireland’s house prices have vastly outstripped any rise in wages seen over the past 10 years, according to government statistics. Two new reports by the Parliamentary Budget Office, the Oireachtas’ independent economic analysis arm, show that average house prices doubled from €153,000 to €305,000 between 2013 and 2022. However, at the same time, the median salary of a single person increased by 26% from €33,000 to €41,800, while the income of couples increased from €66,100 to €83,600. To discuss this further, Alan Morrissey was joined by Diarmuid McMahon, from Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon in Ennis. Photo (c) Shisuka via Canva.com

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has announced her intentions to run as a Fianna Fáil candidate for the European Parliament Ireland South Constituency. To discuss this further, Alan Morrissey was joined by the former broadcaster and now barrister, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú. Picture (c) by Leonid Andronov via Canva