Community Matters 24sept2024

Connemara Credit Union sponsors Community Matters. The show covers various topics, including supports for businesses in Galway, tips on safety for winter and road conditions, recognizing symptoms of heart disease and stroke, new classes for transition year students, and the autumn program classes for the North West Adult Education Centre. The local enterprise office offers financial support, such as the Green for Business program and the Trading Online Voucher, as well as training courses, mentoring services, and business advisory sessions. There are also upcoming events, including the Design Mingle networking event and the local food and craft fair. Community Matters is kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Ltd, incorporating Clifton, Tully Cross and Carnda Branches. Connemara Credit Union is here to serve the people of the Connemara area. Main Office, Clifton and Tully Cross Branch, 19521101. Good evening and you're very welcome to this evening's episode of Community Matters. This Tuesday evening, September 24th, we have a very, very busy line-up, so I'll just quickly let you know what's happening for the next hour. First of all, we're going to be talking to Anne-Marie Coslow, Acting Officer with Local Enterprise Galway, and she's going to be talking to us about general supports that are available for businesses in Galway. After the ads, we'll be talking to Alan Murphy at Community Garda, Clifton Garda Station, and Alan will be giving us advice on how to keep safe as we approach winter with regard to potential increase in burglaries and also tips on road safety. We'll be talking to Orna O'Brien, Senior Dietitian with the Irish Heart Foundation, in or around half seven, and she's going to be talking to us about new research which reveals that half of women say they recognize symptoms of heart disease and stroke, while only 28% have ever had a heart health check. At 7.40, David Martin, Public Relations Manager with the Road Safety Authority, will talk to us about new classes that they plan to roll out for transition year students. And lastly, Janet O'Toole from the North West Adult Education Centre is going to be coming on talking to us about the autumn programme classes scheduled for 2024. But first and foremost, we go to Anne-Marie Costlow, who hopefully is with us on the line. Anne-Marie, are you there? Oh, I sure am. I sure am. Oh, good stuff. Good to hear you. Now, Anne-Marie, you've come on from the local enterprise office, and I believe you're going to be giving us an outline on supports available to businesses in Galway. Now that's not just startup businesses, but established businesses as well, isn't it? Of course. Yes. Yeah. We deal with small to medium-sized businesses here in Galway City and County. And one of our probably newest supports there is probably the Green for Business support, actually. And it's for high energy costs, so affecting all businesses, but especially small businesses. Right. And what it is, is it gives business access to a Green consultant. So we pay the consultant, and it's free for the business. And it's up to two days' consultant goes out to a business. He undertakes an energy audit on their business and shows them steps on how they can become more efficient and sustainable in their business. And the energy audit, the consultant, he will make a recommendation, and some of the recommendations will include things like, for example, the carbon footprint analysis, lighting, packaging, water usage, water segregation, domestic hot water, air conditioning, heat recovery, ventilation, and solar photovoltaic. These are just to name a few. But once they do the Green for Business program, then they can apply then for the Energy Efficiency Grant. And just in the last number of weeks, they've increased that from 5,000 up to 10,000 euro. And most businesses will be eligible for this grant, actually. And it goes towards implementing the changes identified as per the Green for Business report, the energy audit, which the consultant would have taken place. So a lot of the applications that we're getting in through the office here will be for, let's say, upgrade their refrigeration units, ovens, lighting. And it can apply for a lot of businesses, as long as they're employing between one and 50 staff members. Now you'll see business might come to us and they might have over 50 staff. And in that case, then we direct them to the SEAI for the larger businesses. But it's a great scheme, and we'd encourage small businesses to reach out to us. Because it's up to 10,000 at the moment, but that may end. We don't know when, but it's a great incentive. And especially for, let's say, B&Bs or guest houses, if they're registered with Fosha Ireland, they can avail of this if they need, because I'm sure some of them are using two fridges, two ovens. That's a great incentive. Now's the time to upgrade when you can. Well, that energy efficiency grant, that's just one of many different types of financial support you offer, isn't it? It is one of many, yeah. The other one we're doing now, we're doing this one now for quite a while. It's called the Trading Online Voucher. And it's the website grant. You might have heard of it already, actually. But it's for small businesses that's employing up to 10 employees, and it has to be six months trading. So they need to implement an e-commerce element to the website. And what we do is we pay up to 2,500. So we pay kind of up to 50%, but the max is 2,500. So if they spend 5,000 on a website, we can pay 2,500. And we'd like to see business kind of trading online. Since COVID hit there, we've seen the amount of people that avail of the Trading Online Voucher was unreal. And yeah, it just increases their sales and raise profit for any small businesses. But to avail of this grant, every business will have to do the Trading Online Seminar, which is a three-hour seminar, and it goes through the whole application. And our next one is on the 1st of October, and it's booked through our website online. And is it mainly finance? I know you give advisory services and training services, but would it mainly be financial supports that businesses would seek in the main? Oh, no, no. We do a lot of, like, I deal with a lot of our short courses, and I coordinate a lot of our training courses here in the local enterprise office. And we have quite an extensive short courses and workshops available for people to book through our website on localenterprise.ie forward slash Galway. And they can range from short courses such as, like, social media training, financials, such as tax and VAT, online revenue returns, marketing, which is key for any business, AI tools, which is very popular now, and it's new enough to ourselves. A new one now we're doing next year is employing for the first time. So if a small business wants to employ, let's say, their first staff member, it's what they need to know. Again, they're all highly subsidized to ourselves. They start from about 15 to 25 euro, and they're all online via Zoom as well, which is quite handy. Okay. And you also have a mentoring service, don't you? We do, yeah. We do mentoring as well. So we have mentoring in various different areas of business, whether it's HR, social media, financials. So any area of business, really, we provide one-to-one mentoring. So it's usually three hours mentoring for 50 euro. So again, all these mentoring training courses are highly subsidized. And we do have business advisory sessions as well, and they're booked through our website. So if a business is starting out and not knowing where to go or to point them in the right direction, they can book three one-to-one advisory sessions, book them through the website, and the advisory will give them a call. We do have in-person, but the majority would be over the phone, actually. Another popular one then as well is the Start Your Own Business course. We run that every month. It's two evenings a week for one month, and huge demand for those. They get booked out really quick. And we also do a day one, but not as often. The majority would be more demand would be for the evening one, and that one is online via Zoom as well. Just to let you know as well, we have another event coming up there in October, actually. It's called the Design Mingle, and it's a networking event. And it's tailored for craft and design entrepreneurs to share their ideas, collaborate, and learn from one another. And we have different speakers. It's usually five to six weeks. And our next one is on Friday, the 11th of October at 10.30 a.m. And it's an in-person event. And it's on in the Crewe building there in Clune, Warwick, in Galway. And we'd like to say our next speaker for that event will be Eimear Noone. And if you're lucky, you know Eimear Noone now. She's a conductor and award-winning Irish composer. And she composed extensively for films and video games. And she was the first woman to conduct at the Oscars in February 2020. So she's a great story to tell. So I certainly look forward to going to her. OK. So that's on the 11th of October in the Crewe building in Galway. Now, is that a free event? That's a free event, yeah. You just have to register online on our website. Again, it's localenterprise.ie forward slash Galway. And it's called Design Mingle. Yeah, so that's certainly a really good one. She's a great story to tell. So I'd say there'll be a big demand for that one. So later on in the year then, you know, the end of November, then it's 29th November for that weekend. The Friday to Sunday, we have the local food and crafter. And that's on in the black box. And, yes, from crafters to foodies, great products, artists. And, yeah, they're showcasing all their products. And it's two full days. You know, let people come on in and do their Christmas shopping while they can. Gosh, yeah, just in time for Christmas as well. Yeah, that's a good time to have a food fair, I imagine. Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely. It's always packed, you know, but always weather-dependent as well. And with the mentoring, then, I presume, an awful lot of people that provide the mentoring, these are business people themselves, and they're, like, giving from their own experience. Oh, they would. Yeah, yeah, they would be kind of consultants in the different areas, whether it's in marketing, whether it's in social media. Yeah, they'd all be highly skilled mentors we have, you know. And it's great because sometimes a lot of people do the workshops, you know, and you might have a class 15 on Zoom with a workshop, which are fantastic. But then after that, they may find they may need just a one-to-one, especially maybe things like social media or AI. It's so new that they may want to just tailor it into what exactly they need. So the mentoring is always a popular one, actually. And we encourage small business to reach out and to even check out our website. We do have a wide range of courses and training and help for small businesses. So what's the most recent course? Not most recent, but what's the next main course that you'll be running that you feel might be of interest to, we'll say, local businesses out here? Yeah, well, we've got tax and VAT, as always. I mean, every business, you know, they need their tax and VAT, you know, and a lot of them avoid it because they don't like it because they don't understand it. So it's always a popular one, you know, to do the tax and VAT. And the AI as well because it's so new and it's so popular now and they're hearing a lot of talk about it. We do a three-hour workshop there on the 3rd of October. And definitely, yeah, if the demand is there, we always try and put on another one so we see what the public wants. If the demand is there, we just run the course again and again. And coming up to Christmas now, we have to create Christmas-themed marketing videos, you know. So it's great for the crafters as well if they want to be selling their products online just to create kind of short, catchy videos. And obviously, at the end of October, then, we have the online revenue returns. Nobody likes doing it, but it's always a very popular course, actually, to get your tax done by the end of the year. I would imagine, as well, that definitely wouldn't be anyone's favourite. Yeah, so from financial support to training and mentoring and guidance and events and networking, you do the whole spectrum, really. We do, we do, yeah. And we have another event coming on in October, but, you know, it just got booked out so quick, but it's National Women's Enterprise Day. Okay. Yeah, it's on the Hardiman Hotel, but it's in conjunction with the local enterprise office in Mayo and Roscommon. But it's just with the demand, it just, literally, within three weeks, it got sold out. But, again, it's a little tricking event. So hopefully, we'll be doing more of those in the coming future. And, you know, since things are open again now, people like the kind of in-person feel of things. Yeah. You know, more so than doing everything online. Yeah, so it's a great range and a great variety, and we're always adding stuff. So the best thing for people to do is to follow us on our social media channels as well. We update everything there. Okay. Any new events or courses. So we're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. We're on X as well. So it's localenterprise.ie? Yes, forward slash go away. Forward slash go away. Yeah. Okay. Or you can call us on 091-509-090 or email us on info at leo.goaycocoa.ie. So it's just a little blip in transmission there when you were giving out that phone number, where you might do it again. Oh, sorry. Yeah, it's 091-509-090. 509-090. Okay. That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for coming on and talking to us about all those. There's certainly an awful lot there for anybody who would like help financially or otherwise with any business that they're setting up or indeed for established businesses. Thanks so much for taking the time to come on and talk to us. No problem. Thank you. Thanks, Anne-Marie. Thank you very much. Okay. That was Anne-Marie Costello there. So you can get all that information on localenterprise.ie or by phoning 091-509-090. We're going to go with the ads now. Job Spot on Connemara Community Radio. Cavanagh Supervalue Clifton are recruiting for part-time team members in their bakery, deli and a butcher assistant. Applicants need to be flexible, enthusiastic and customer-focused. For more information or to apply, please ask in store, call 095-211-82 or email catching.hair at cavanaghgroup.ie and that's catching c-a-i-t-i-n.hair h-e-h-i-r at cavanaghgroup.ie. Job Spot on Connemara Community Radio. Did you know Irish CityLink accepts the free travel pass on all our routes, including Clifton to Galway and Galway to Dublin City and Airport? To ensure your seat, book online at citylink.ie. That's citylink.ie. Please note that to reserve a seat, you must book online where we charge a small booking fee. Irish CityLink. Good year to Sloane. West Coast Insulation. Your local cavity wall and attic insulation specialist. 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Contact the Clifton Supply Centre on 095-214-76. When I got up this morning, the house was really freezing. I checked the oil tank, it was empty, that must be the reason. So I called up Sweeney Oil, a truly local company. And took my order for some oil and delivered straight to me. Sweeney Oil are at your service, friendly, helpful and they care. There are many easy ways to pay, now that's what I call fair. They deliver oil to homes all over Galway and surrounds. And Sweeney Oil's prices are the very best around. For the best value home heating oil in Galway, call Sweeney Oil today on 1-800-555-999. Or visit SweeneyOil.ie. Sweeney Oil, the warmer ways to heat your home. And you're very welcome back. And hopefully on the line with me now, I have Alan Murphy, Community Guider with Clifton Guider Station. Hi Alan, you're very, very welcome to Kilmarnock Community Radio. Good evening Mary-Anne, thanks very much for having me on again. No, thank you for taking the time to come on. First and foremost, I wonder could you just give us a little background on Operation Thor? Yeah, of course, Operation Thor is an operation by An Garda Síochána, which I suppose has been running for a number of years now. And I suppose it's targeting criminals of all types, I suppose, mainly involved in high-level crime, burglaries, I suppose, break-ins to premises and high-value thefts. So we have Operation Thor where we put in place different operations and different checkpoints, etc., where we would target these people. Okay, now in the greater scheme of things, I mean, we are pretty lucky around here, aren't we? Yeah, we're very lucky in Connemara. In fairness, we're really, really lucky compared to some parts of the country. But I suppose I'd like to remind people too that we're not immune to certain crimes as well, and that while I'd like to give some advice tonight, I'm definitely not trying to scaremonger or try to worry people out there. It's just simply advice there that if the situation arises, it might help us in securing our properties if the time comes that we need to do so. Okay, so I suppose winter is associated with more of an increase in burglary. Would that be correct? Yeah, that's correct. I suppose our records show that burglaries rise about 20% in the winter months, and I think that this is directly attributed to less daylight and just the longer evenings. It makes it a little bit easier for people to move about without being noticed. Okay, okay. So what then would be considered the most sought-after items? Is it still the predictables? Yeah, I suppose, just from my experience, I suppose anything can be taken. But really, if people are targeting households, jewellery and cash are really the most common items which are taken. Now, we do. It's different from years ago where televisions and making pieces were taken. It's usually smaller items that they can take quickly and can move on with, which is always jewellery and cash. And I would really urge people to try not to store large sums of cash at home. Now, I was seeing here that a huge amount of burglars entered through the front door, which surprised me quite a bit. Yeah, about a third of burglaries are through the front door, which I suppose has surprised me as well when I heard of it. We always think of maybe back doors or back windows, but I suppose things have changed now and I've seen it myself where burglars, I suppose they're not going around in black clothes like we think ourselves. They might go around in high-vis jackets, calling to doors, making up stories, and they will. They'll check the front door. They'll try and put their body weight against it, and an unsecured front door is a very easy way for them just to sneak in through. Okay. And what are the main alternative means they enter the premises by? Yeah, I suppose, as I said, about a third of burglaries are through the front door. I think about 23% are through the back door, and about 20% of burglaries are through an unsecured door or window. So I suppose if we can just maybe secure our front doors, make sure that they're locked, make sure our windows are locked when we're not there, it just makes that a little bit more difficult. And the person who's just looking for an easy target, they might move along. They might not get that chance to try and force the door because it's a little bit more suspicious looking. So if we can just do them simple steps, it might just help us in the long run. And what in relation to burglary is meant by phishing? Phishing, yeah, well, phishing is kind of what we would say is that they would use a tool to extract maybe the keys of the car or the keys of the front door. We all know when the sites come home from work in the evening and we throw our keys on the desk just inside the front door and we sit down to relax and we forget about them. But I suppose burglars, they'll look in through windows, they'll look in through letterboxes, they'll see keys and they'll use implements to try and phish them keys out and they've often taken cars or they'll use that to gain entry through a locked front door. So what, like this would be in through a letterbox or something, is it? Yeah, exactly. Exactly, they can use tools, as I say, in through the letterbox or open front windows that they can't fit in through. They'll use a tool, you can imagine like a fishing rod or something like that and they'll just try and hook the keys, take them out and then they can gain access to the house that way or else gain access to your car that way. Okay. And how much of an issue are house burglaries in Cullamara? I suppose we are very lucky. As I said earlier, we're not immune. There has been a couple of burglaries this month in the Leatherfrack area. We're not immune to them but, yeah, we are lucky in general, I suppose. I'd just like to say at this point that we did have two burglaries in Leatherfrack in business premises at the start of this month and I'd just like to ask if anybody has any information in relation to these that they can call the local guard station or call Clifton on 095 22 500 or if they feel like they prefer to talk to the Guard Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 and any information received will be treated strictly confidential and we'd love to hear from you if anybody has any information in relation to those burglaries. Okay. So what then, what steps do you think people can take in general to make their house safer? Yeah, I've just compiled a little list here just of very simple things, inexpensive things, which is what we all want to hear, what we can do just to help protect ourselves. On Gardashie Corner run a light up lock up campaign and it is exactly what it says on the tin really. Just leave, if you can do, just leave a light on in the house. If a burglar passes and the house is in dark a few evenings in a row, they'll notice that there's nobody there. What we encourage people to do is leave a light on or maybe you can get these smart bulbs which connect to your phone. You can change them, you can set them on timers, you can turn them on and off yourself. But not everybody likes to use smart phones and not everybody can. We also say that if you have a 5 watt energy efficient LED light, you can leave that on for 12 hours per day and they say that the cost of that for 12 hours a day for a whole month works out at about 4 cents. So if you're not into apps and changing things like that, do. So get yourself a very energy efficient bulb and one light on, left on, can be enough of a deterrent hopefully. Okay. We'd also say to you just make sure all your windows and doors are locked in the house if you're not there. We are generally very lucky and we all know people who do leave their doors open and windows open but if we can get in the habit, just lock up the doors and lock up the windows. I'd like to say also if we could just get in the habit of locking up any outhouses or sheds in farms because I suppose that is one item that do go missing is farm equipment, chainsaws, streamers, trailers. If you get in the habit of maybe locking them up and just making it a small bit more difficult so that we're not such an easy target. Okay. Yeah, I suppose anything at all you think. Even small things like keeping the gate locked to a farm or keeping it closed. People who are burglars or people who are criminals, they look for the easy target. They like to go in and out with as little minimum work as possible. So if they're passing a place and they look like the gate is closed and there's a light on in the background in the house or maybe that there's a box on the wall from a monitored alarm company, they'll just say, look, nope, we'll go down the road. And it's all about protecting your house as much as you can, just making it undesirable for criminals. Okay, and even like what you were saying there with the fishing, maybe to get out of the habit of throwing things immediately inside the door. Yeah, exactly. If we can bring our keys inside and secure them, just take them out of sight. It just makes it all that bit more difficult. Okay. So as it says here, if you love it, lock up and light up. Yep, exactly. Yeah, we just like to try and keep it as simple as possible. Lock up everything you can do, lock the windows and leave a few lights on. As I said, preferably on dimmers or on smart timers or something like that. But anything with all we can do just to make it look like the house has been lived in. I suppose there's nothing more valuable than having good neighbours. If your house is going to be vacant or you're on holidays, have your neighbours look at it. Don't advertise on social media that you're going away. We all like to brag or say we're going off to Spain for two weeks. But if we can keep that information off the internet, you wouldn't know who's looking. And there does be people who look for that kind of information and look through Facebook and things like that. So if your neighbours can keep an eye at all and just keep the information advertising that their house will be vacant, that's always a good idea. And you can always put up the holiday photos after the event. Exactly, we can always put up the pictures on the phone after. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Alan, that's fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on to tell us about that. And once again, for anybody that has any information on recent burglaries, the number is 095 22500. Yeah, exactly. And the confidential number is 1800 666 111. 1800 666 111. Yes. That's great. I'll get that out again at the end of the programme. Alan, thanks so much. Is there anything else that you wanted to add? Yeah, just quickly, if you don't mind. Yeah, sure. Just this time of year now, it's kind of dark from eight o'clock onwards. I appreciate the farmers are heading to the mart and that they're very busy. But what I have noticed particularly in the late evenings is with the marts being busy, is that trailers that aren't really, haven't got their lights up to standard. So if people could just maybe take a few moments just to take a look, make sure their lights are working on the trailers or that they're lit up some bit, because the last thing we want to do is go out to an accident just simply from light. It's a small thing that's inexpensive. And we do need to keep an eye on it because there's plenty of people out there who will stop and give plenty of points straight away. But if we can just take a moment just to look at our own equipment and just make sure trailers are lit up for this time of year because the evenings are going short now. Absolutely. Well, that's very solid advice there. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on. Thank you very much, Mary. I appreciate it. Not at all. Thanks, Alan. That's fantastic. Okay, so that was Alan Murphy there, Community Garda from Clifton Garda Station with some good advice heading into the winter to help avoid burglaries. We are going to... We are inviting you to become a member of Cunnamara Community Radio for only €25 a year. Your support would be appreciated. Telephone 095 41616 or you can email info at CunnamaraFM.com And you're very welcome back. And with me now on the line, I have Orna O'Brien, Senior Dietitian at the Irish Heart Foundation. Orna, you're very welcome to Cunnamara Community Radio. Good evening, Mary. Thanks for inviting me on. So you've come on this evening to talk to us about predominantly women and the risk of heart disease and stroke. Now, I know there was a survey carried out recently on which a lot of your findings are based. Can you tell us a little bit about the Ipsos survey, if you don't mind, and its findings? Yes. So the Ipsos survey showed about 70% of the public believe that women are more likely to contract breast cancer than both heart disease and stroke. Despite the statistics showing that they are six times more likely to die from the latter. And as well as that, in terms of the symptoms, only half of women say that they recognize the symptoms of heart disease and stroke. And only 28%, so only about one in four women have ever had a heart health check-up. So this all tells us that there's a huge difference in the number of women who are more likely to contract breast cancer and that there's a huge myth really out there in Ireland that heart disease is predominantly a man's disease. And when in fact we know that one in four women die from heart disease and stroke. How do you think that myth has originated? Why do women think that? Yes. So really it's for three big reasons. One is that it's under-recognized, so women tend to have perhaps more vague heart attack signs. We also have female-specific risk factors like pregnancy-specific ones, menopause-related ones that are often overlooked. And as well as that, some types of our risk factors like smoking is twice as deadly for women. High blood pressure is 80% more deadly for women than it is for men. Same with diabetes as well. So our risk factors affect women more than men. We're also more under-diagnosed, so 50% of chest pain in women can be misdiagnosed. More women are sent home from the emergency department. And then under-treated, so we see delays in referrals, less treatment being received for diagnoses of heart disease. And more women have to wait twice as long for a heart failure diagnosis compared to men. And then, in fact, many of the trials that our treatments are based on, women were totally lost out of those as well. So we've been under-researched as well just because of our complex hormones. Do you think quite possibly that women are slower to respond to their own health problems because they are more likely to be in a caring role with kids or parents or that kind of thing? Yes, I think that most women know what a healthy lifestyle is, but we do tend to put ourselves last on a very long to-do list. And as you said, those demands of a busy lifestyle can often get in the way. And so we are asking women to essentially be their own advocates and potentially save their own lives by being aware of the symptoms of a heart attack, by just taking some time out for themselves to listen to their bodies, reflect on their lifestyle habits and make small but sustainable changes that can really reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke. Now, you did make the point earlier that symptoms of heart disease can differ very much for women compared to men. Could you give us a bit of an outline of what women should look for as regards to heart disease? Yes, so it's heart month at the moment, September is heart month, and we are doing the Her Heart Matters campaign to raise awareness of the fact that too many women don't realize their risk of heart disease and stroke. But as part of this, our theme for this year is really looking at putting the spotlight on symptoms of heart attack in women. And obviously women also get the common heart attack signs, so you might see chest pain, that can spread to the neck, the jaw, the shoulders, the left arm, breathing difficulties, feeling dizzy, nausea, vomiting and sweating. But we also see less common symptoms, so back pain, stomach pain, extreme fatigue. Now, while we see chest pain, the very common symptoms like chest pain in both men and women, in up to 90% of cases, women are about 15% more likely to get the less common symptoms like your indigestion, shortness of breath, back pain, and sometimes without that chest pain as well. So you'll probably recognize from that list of symptoms that there's lots of, they overlap with a lot of other health conditions too, so sometimes it can, you know, you may not think that you're having a heart attack, but if you're experiencing any of these symptoms, it's always important to go get them checked out. If you think you're having a heart attack, call 999 or 112 immediately, get checked and, you know, potentially save your own life. And for anybody listening to this now, who feel they may have symptoms and would like to get a heart check, they'll go along to their GP, make their appointment, what will that appointment entail? Yes, so really if you are trying to take control of your heart health, one of the best places to start is to know your risk. So going along to your GP, your GP will ask a lot about your risk factors, so they'll probably check your cholesterol levels, your blood pressure, ask about your smoking history, do you have diabetes, do you have a family history of early heart disease or stroke? They'll probably also ask about your alcohol intake and look at weight and body shape and your physical activity levels and a little bit about the foods you're eating and your diet and stress, you know, what's going on in your lifestyle at the moment. So there's lots we can do there, so the good news with all this is that 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is totally preventable just through lifestyle changes and managing your risk factors. So there is so much that women can do and can control. And now, of course, the other thing is they don't necessarily have to wait for symptoms, do they, to go along and book a health check? No, no, and as you know yourself, many of the risk factors for heart disease and stroke don't have any symptoms. So often high blood pressure, high cholesterol have no symptoms whatsoever. So that's why it's so important to know your numbers and to be in control, to know your risk so that you can, you know, take steps to make those changes. And as part of the Her Heart Matters campaign that we are launching this month, we are asking women to go to irishheart.ie where they can sign up to the Her Heart Matters campaign and they can get lots of practical information and free resources to support them to do that, to look after their own heart health. Okay, so the webinar Her Heart Matters, that's October 1st, 12.30, isn't it? Yes, so Her Heart Matters 2024, What Every Woman Needs to Know. So we'll be bringing together a panel of experts for a conversation on real women's experience of heart disease and stroke and how to prevent it. So we'll have a fantastic cardiologist, a GP specializing in menopause and midlife. We'll have a mindset coach and a woman who is living with heart disease herself. So as you said, 12.30 on Tuesday, the 1st of October. And if you're, it's free of charge, of course. And if anyone listening is interested, you can register at irishheart.ie. irishheart.ie, okay. So they just need to register in advance. Yes. Okay, that's great. Well, Orna, unfortunately, I think we're pretty much out of time. We seem to be flying through the interviews this evening. But we're very, very grateful to you for coming on and talking to us. And I'll give out the details again about that webinar at the end of the program. Thanks a million, Mary. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. We are inviting you to become a member of Connemara Community Radio for only €25 a year. Your support would be appreciated. Telephone 095 41616. You can also buy your membership online on www.connemarafm.com. You're listening to Connemara Community Radio on 87.8 and 106.1 FM. If you have family or friends living away from Connemara, you can tell them to check out our website on www.connemarafm.com. Updated weekly. Okay, and you're welcome back. And on the phone with me now, I have David Martin from the Road Safety Authority. David, you're very welcome to Connemara Community Radio. Thanks very much for having me on. No, it's great. Now, I'm actually very, very interested to hear what you're going to be telling us now. So, there's going to be new classes for transition year students on road safety. Indeed, yes. So, we were with Minister for Education, Norma Foley, last week, last Thursday in Dublin, launching this new initiative. And it's been nearly a year in gestation. We've had a bad year or two on the road as well, an awful lot of tragic fatalities on the road. And Minister Foley was keen on talking to us about, what can we do to educate young people who haven't yet embarked on their driving journey as it were. And so, we met up with ourselves and our department officials in December. And we kind of thought, we quickly identified the need to, you know, really do something with transition year students, kids around 15, 16 years of age. And so, we went away and we've been working very closely with the department for the last nine months or so. And this has resulted in a new transition year road safety program. It's called Road Safety Matters. And it's really aimed at helping students become safer road users. And, as I said, there's a balance with the department, ourselves as the Road Safety Authority and Garda Síochána. And we'll be rolling that out now over the coming days and weeks under a pilot scheme initially. The pilot scheme is about 140, 150 schools. But it will be ultimately be rolled out across all schools that offer transition year to their students. Okay, fantastic. So, for the pilot schools that are going to be availing of it this year, what format will the program be delivered in? So, we try to keep it as simple and as interactive as possible. So, we've got 10 modules looking at all aspects of road safety. So, we're looking at, you know, there's an overview session just introducing the whole being safe on the road, learning to drive. There's looking at the components of a car. Then there's issues around safety, you know, with distracted driving, including mobile phones, issues of drugs and alcohol, speed. Vulnerable road users are very important. So, we're looking at e-scooters, people doing cycles, and also pedestrians. And so it's done over a 10-week period or longer, depending on the school's year's timetable. And it's actually taught in the class. And there are, you know, it will be as immersive as possible. It will be as interactive as possible. And it will, as I said, it will be introduced initially in about 100, I think it's about 143 schools nationwide. So, it will be actually like the Road Safety Authority will say and the DARTs will deliver it, as opposed to training the teachers to deliver it, is it? So, that's actually a very good point. It will be the teachers that will be delivering it. Okay. So, they will be provided with a road safety toolkit, which includes a teacher support booklet, student portfolio learning log, webinars, additional road safety material. So, the teachers, you know, there's an onus on teachers to get themselves up to speed, obviously, on this curriculum, for want of a better word. But there's a huge amount of interest in this. Interestingly enough, before we even announced this last Thursday week, it was, we were inundated with requests from schools who wanted to participate in it. And there's a huge amount of interest in it, a huge awareness of it amongst teachers. So, they will be getting up to speed on it and then they'll be teaching it in the class over a 10-week period. Okay. So, because you were saying there was 10 modules, so it's like a module per week? Correct. Correct. And look, there's no, you know, we're not being prescriptive about it. You can take as long as you want. You know, you can do it in a 10-week period. But longer, if depending on the school's transition year timetable. But, you know, it's incredibly important. You know, a lot of these kids will be thinking about taking up driving in the coming years. And we need to get across to them how important road safety is. You know, the road, the figures for fatalities on the road this year, I typed it slightly down last year, but it's still a horrible number. You know, there's been 132 fatalities on our roads this year, slightly down on last year so far. And look, there's a disproportionate number of younger people. What I mean by young people, kids under 25 years of age are disproportionately highly represented in that. So there's a lot of young people who are getting killed on the roads. So we need to get that awareness in them. Get them thinking about road safety before they get behind the wheel. Yeah, absolutely. So if it's rolled out to the pilot schools this year, so it's hoped, the plan is to have it rolled out nationwide next year perhaps? Yeah, that's what we're hoping for. That's what we're hoping for. We'll get through this year. I don't know if there will be lessons learned, you know. Maybe some things that we think are completely terrific, maybe they don't work as well. So we'll review it. We'll look at it. But it will be rolled out over the next couple of years across to all schools that want to avail of this. So, you know, we're very committed to equipping the next generation of road users just with the right knowledge and awareness when it comes to road safety. We know that they will be considering looking for getting their driving licence for the first time. So we want them to be really well prepared for that and to have road safety front of mind. I know there's a lot of excitement about it. I remember myself when I first started driving. You know, there's a sense of freedom and liberation and empowerment that comes with it. But also people need to think of the safety side of it as well. And really that's the key thing that's underpinning everything that we're doing with this programme. 100%. And I suppose, you know, coming from a personal space, I have three teens and they're at various stages of driving now, etc. But I just find that there can be a huge gap between the theory tests and when they actually go out on the road. You know, there can be a whole year there. Yes, absolutely. And, you know, they need to be aware of the dangers, as I was saying, on the road. There is, there is a, it can take up to sort of between three months sometimes, maybe a bit less, six months to take a driving test as well. So that's an issue as well. But really this is really getting through to the kids when they're 15, 16 years of age. It's a fantastic idea. Yeah. Yeah. It would be good perhaps as well if at some stage they could do that, you know, accident simulation. I know they offered that as part of Science Week in UIG at one stage. And that seemed to be quite effective, didn't it? Absolutely. And we have our own interactive unit that's going around schools at the moment. And it does actually have those 3D, you know, virtual reality simulations. And we were actually showing it to the minister last Thursday. And it's very impactful. And we also had what we call a rollover simulator, which really is if a car, particularly if the wheel is taken off, and it's attached to a device that turns it 360 degrees and shows what it's like that if you have a collision and the car goes over, the importance of wearing a seatbelt. So we're very aware of making sure that, you know, when we're talking to people that we're not sitting down or people are just lecturing at them, that they can actually make it as experiential as possible and people can really get a feel for what, you know, what it is like ultimately when they get out and start driving themselves, you know. Well, David, we're very grateful to you for coming on. Unfortunately, we're almost out of time. But that, I think, is a fantastic idea. And I think it's well overdue. I think it's brilliant. So the very best of luck. And hopefully, we'll have you on again so we can see how it's progressed. Oh, absolutely. Give me a call any time at all. Brilliant. Thanks so much. Okay. That was David Martin there. So in a moment or two, we're just going to have Janet O'Toole on the line. We are inviting you to become a member of Cunnamara Community Radio for only €25 a year. Your support would be appreciated. Telephone 095 41616. Or you can email info at cunnamarafm.com. You're listening to Cunnamara Community Radio on H7.8 and 106.1 FM. If you have family or friends living away from Cunnamara, you can tell them to check out our website on www.cunnamarafm.com. Updated weekly. Okay. So now with me on the line, I have Janet O'Toole. Janet, you're very, very welcome to Cunnamara Community Radio. Thank you so much, Mary. Very good of you to have me. It's fantastic. So you've come on to talk to us about the autumn programme classes for 2024. I haven't. It's hard to believe that it's that time of the year again. I know. It's coming around so quick. We've got, I suppose, we've got a programme. We actually have started already. We've had one or two classes already. Okay. This is the main programme that's coming now. So we have a lovely cheesemaking workshop coming up this Saturday. Okay. If that's the first time. We've a real live farmhouse cheesemaker. Yeah, if that's our first time going into cheese. Yeah, because I don't think I've heard it before. No, no, you're absolutely right. A lot of weird and wonderful things over the years with cheese. That's the first time we've gone into that. And then we're having a lovely, we've had one already. The second one with Sinead in So Easy. We're having a lovely, so many people have their own sewing machines or indeed they have access to a sewing machine or they'd like to get a sewing machine. And it's a lovely workshop where you just learn all that there is to know about sewing machines and you actually make a cushion cover as well. So you come away with a cushion cover. So that's on the following Saturday. Okay. And then we have a lovely series of writing workshops with Yvonne Cullen of Writing Train. And Yvonne's been teaching courses in writing for 30-odd years and she lives in Ischbach in Bartown. And we've had a class with her before and it was really, people absolutely loved it. We did three workshops, I think, in 2023 with her. So that's sort of spread out over a couple of weeks because obviously with the writing workshops you kind of need to go and be inspired and then go away. You know what I mean? You wouldn't have them all on the same day or your head would be stretched. And then we have another lovely lady, Claire Henderson, who's an artist, painter, printmaker. And we're going to do two lovely workshops with her. When I say that they're four weeks each of them, if you know what I mean. Okay. And one of them is, so that's really exciting and it must just be on different types of printmaking. And then we are also going to be doing a lovely four-week course with Terry Conroy. And Terry is the guru. Anything to do with herbs, anything to do with making either medicine or, you know, now we're not obviously pharmacists. It's not a course of pharmacy, but just like simple... Natural remedy. Natural remedies. Thank you, Mary. Okay. Natural remedies and just some things you have so it's not high-salute and anybody can do it and it'll be at that level very accessible. And then hopefully we're working with... And this isn't up yet now, but it will be up nearer to Christmas. We'll be working with our Ukrainian friends in Christian on a floral wreath sort of demonstration. Make your own floral wreath as well for Christmas. Basically you'll have a wreath for the price of a glass. And you'll have made it yourself. So that's kind of our... Kind of pared back a bit because we ran... We used to in the past maybe have a list of 30 classes, but, you know, there's so much other stuff happening now as well. You know, like our computer classes now, we haven't run them for years. There's just... You know, there's loads of people. I think everybody's up to speed with computers anyway, but, you know, there's loads of courses now at the GRETB and the Fertile Education Centre in Letterfrack and Clifton, and they all have, you know, computer modules attached to them. You know what I mean? So there's a lot of, you know, people that want to do that. And then there's lots of, you know, exercise classes and private exercise classes and things like that as well. So we've kind of moved out of that space a little bit and moved into other workshops. But it's always who's available and what is available and people that come to us and contact us and say, gee, I'd be interested in doing this or whatever, is how we kind of organise the programme. So most of these will take place in the Fertile Education Centre? Well, the cheesemakers and the wine go cafe in Letterfrack just because it's a more appropriate space. OK. Yeah, some of them are in the Fertile Education Centre in Clifton and some of them are, are they? They're all nearly all in Clifton, are they? There's quite a lot of them in Clifton, actually, now that I think about it, yeah. Oh, OK. No, the writing train, the writing with... the writing with Yvonne is in Letterfrack in the radio station because I just thought that was most appropriate. Yeah. Because it's creative and somebody might start writing for radio or something. I don't know. I have mad ideas like that sometimes. So for anybody, Janet, or for anyone listening who is interested in any of these courses, how do they book them? They email to culamareadulteducation at gmail.com. OK. And is there a closing date? Well, I suppose because they're all on different dates, the closing date will always be like two or three days before the course. But if you haven't booked, then, you know, we won't have the numbers to go ahead. It's not like... because we can still take bookings for our courses. I suppose we always did that in the past as well, like we would never shut down a course until two or three days beforehand if we hadn't enough people for it. We wouldn't... we would cancel it then at that stage. So I suppose the best thing for people to do would be to go onto the Northwest Culamare Adult Education website and to see them all there and their dates there. Yeah, exactly. And then just email us your interest. And then if a course has gone ahead, we'll be in touch and we'll give people a link to pay. OK. And then that way, you know, we won't be taking money off people unless, you know, a course has gone ahead. Perfect. OK. Well, that's great, Janet. And it sounds like a nice little selection. And I have to say that she's taken to me... leads out to me now as a... sounds great. That's a nice new initiative. A nice winner, that one. Oh, yeah. Well, if I don't... yeah, if, you know, if we don't get... you know, we might even run that one again a second time. Yeah. Because I think that's one that will take a bit of legs. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Janet, thanks so much for filling us in on that. You're welcome. And I'll give out those details again now in a minute. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you, Mary. Take care. Take care. Bye now. OK. So, that's Janet there bringing us to pretty much the end of the program. But I just want to say a few thank yous to people who took part tonight, to Anne-Marie Costolo from the Local Enterprise Office, Galway. And like that again, if you want any... to avail of any of the supports they offer, financial or otherwise, you can phone them on 091 509090. That's 091 509090. Or you can go online to localenterprise.ie. Thanks also to Alan Murphy, Community Guider from the Clifton Guider Station. And he was giving us advice on trying to prevent burglaries as we go into winter. So, lock up and light up. And like that again, if you have any information on recent burglaries in the area, you can phone them on 095 22500 or on their confidential line 1800 666 111. We spoke to Orna O'Brien, Senior Dietitian with the Irish Heart Foundation. And Orna has been advising women to just go and get their hearts checked and to be aware of the symptoms and how they differ from symptoms in men. But you can find out all about that on the website irishheart.ie. And bear in mind, also, there's a webinar with all this information happening on October 1st at 12.30. And in order to avail of that, you also go on to irishheart.ie to register. David Martin also was on to us from the Road Safety Authority. Thanks also to him telling us about the new classes for transition year students on road safety. And that sounds great. Road safety matters. It's going to be piloted in over 100 schools this year with a view to hopefully rolling it out nationwide in the following year. And thanks also to Janet O'Toole there from the Northwest Adult Education Center. And if you were interested in any of those programs that she outlined, just go on to their website, Northwest Cullamara Adult Education website, or you can email them on CullamaraAdultEducation at gmail.com. So that's about it from me, Mary Farrity, and from Germot on the desk. Thank you so much for listening. Good night and God bless. I request branch 195 43973. Cashless branch 195 31128.