Community Matters 11feb2025

The Community Matters program on Connemara Community Radio discusses various topics and services related to the community. The first guest, Des Mulligan, talks about a community-based mobile x-ray service for older people in Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon. The service aims to bring care closer to the patients, allowing them to receive x-rays at home or in nursing homes. The x-rays available are similar to those done in hospitals, and the results are usually provided within 48 hours. The service is available to anyone over the age of 65 or those with disabilities. Other services for older people provided by the HSE and Community Healthcare West include the Integrated Care Program for Older People, which offers multidisciplinary teams and outreach clinics for assessments and treatments. The program aims to improve the functioning and independence of patients. While there may be some backlog, the teams strive to respond quickly to avoid hospital admissions. The mobile x-ray service and the I Community Matters is kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Limited, incorporating Clifton, Tully Cross and Carna 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 welcome to this week's Community Matters program here on Connemara Community Radio with me, Maureen Corbett, your presenter for this evening's program between now and eight o'clock. And I do hope you can stay with me as as usual, our producer Bridget Mowey has lined up some very interesting topics and interviewees for us to have a chat with throughout the program. Coming up first, I'll be speaking with Des Mulligan, who is the Head of Older People's Services with Community Healthcare West with the HSE Galway. Now, he'll be talking about a number of issues and a number of services that they provide for older people in the community. But the main one that we will be talking about will be the community based mobile x-ray service that is operating throughout Galway Mayonas Common for the last year, and how it improves the quality of care for older people at home and in the community. I will also be speaking with Jane McGarrigle, who is the Project Officer with the organization WebWise, and they deal with all things that are internet related and how to operate and use the internet safely. And they provide tips and guidance and information to both parents and and younger people on how to have a healthier digital experience when they're online and how to stay safe. And as Safer Internet Day is the 11th of February today, she'll be on to give us some key messages for parents and tell us about the events that are taking place in relation to Safer Internet Day. I'll also be speaking with Park Fahey, who is the Co-Chair with Thrive Connemara. He's on to tell us a little bit about Thrive Connemara and the work that they're involved in, but also to tell us about a Safe Talk suicide alertness event that's taking place for everyone on Tuesday, the 25th of February next in the Clifton Town Hall. So he'll be on to tell us more about that later on in the program. And last but not least, this evening, we'll be speaking with Jerry King, local councillor for Lloyd's Council, and he'll be telling us about the new speed limits which came into effect last Friday, the 7th of February in rural areas on the rural roads. They were reducing from 80 kilometres an hour to 60 kilometres an hour, and he'll have the update on those and the exact roads that it relates to, and also to talk about the Humanitarian Assistance Fund following the effects of Storm Owen and the hardship it caused to many people in the community and any other updates that he may have in relation to information coming out of Galway County Council in relation to the area. So that's it for tonight's program. That's the lineup. So we're going to go to my first guest, who is Des Mulligan, Head of Older People's Services, and his interview. Since December 2023, Mobile Medical Diagnostics, in partnership with the HSC, has completed the rollout of a community-based mobile x-ray service which is now available across counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. I'm delighted to welcome my next guest to the program. He is Des Mulligan, the Head of Older People's Services with the Community Healthcare West in HSC Galway. Good evening, Des, and thank you for taking time out to come on Community Matters this evening. You're very welcome, and thank you for the invitation. Lovely to have you. Des, we mentioned there the recently launched mobile x-ray service for older people that's available across County Galway. This service was, I imagine, launched to improve the quality of care for older people, both at home and in the community. How exactly does it operate, and how can an older person, for example, who's living at home who may have had a fall or require an x-ray, how can they actually avail of this mobile x-ray service? Yes. So, the service really, I suppose, it's in line with the whole premise of larger care in terms of bringing care closer to the patient. And what we wanted to look at is services like diagnostics or, in this case, x-ray. How can you bring them into local communities where people don't have to go and go into a major hospital, for example, and find parking, and total disruption, and it can take a half a day. So, what happens is, so there are two routes. One, for older people living in nursing homes, the nursing home can contact the resident's GP, and the GP, once they have assessed the patient and decide, yes, there's a need for an x-ray, they can make contact with the mobile x-ray service, and then they will be on-site within 24 hours to have the x-ray done. And it's exactly the same for an older person who's living in their own home in the community, and also, sorry, for people with disabilities. So, if they attend their GP and there's a requirement for an x-ray, and the GP decides, you know, rather than having to have you either drive or get a bus or whatever it is in the hospital, we can contract this service and have the service brought to you in your own home. What type of x-rays are available? Are all forms of x-rays that are available in the hospital also available in the mobile service unit, or is there a limitation on the types of x-rays that it can use? So, in general, any x-ray that's done in the hospital would be done now, unless it's something that requires, you know, any kind of contrast or anything like that. But no, an x-ray of a, you know, a limb in terms of a query fracture or a chest x-ray or a sinus x-ray or whatever, all of that can be done on the person's own home. How long do they have to wait, then, for the result of the x-ray? So, the report will be back within 48 hours. Okay, and that comes obviously back to their GP or back to the residential care service? Yes, but in most cases, this will, you know, we have seen the x-ray with the report provided in four hours. So, that's, you know, it's a very fast turnaround for the report to come back to the GP. Just another question. Do patients need to have a valid medical card to avail of the service, or can any older person avail of it? Any older person can avail of the service. When you define older person, is it anyone over 65? It's over 65. Anybody over 65. But as I said, it's also available to people who are, who have a disability, for example. Who are younger than that. Yeah. Exactly, who are younger than that. And generally, we will be talking about people who are in residential services for people with disabilities. Now, you mentioned there that this came under the SANS care, as part of the care, the integrated care program for older people. What other services are available for older people that you would provide or would be available from the HSE and Community Healthcare West? Okay. So, we have now what's called the Integrated Care Program for Older People. And what this is, is it's the provision of multidisciplinary teams. So, teams that have OT, physio, dieticians, speech and language therapists, teams that are led by a community-based geriatrician. And they are available right across the country now. So, we have a team for West Galway, for example, that is led by Dr. Maria Costolo. And they provide outreach clinics in Connemara, in, you know, in different locations in West Galway. So that if a GP has assessed an older person and sees that they need, you know, a different level of service that she is not able to provide and, you know, the person doesn't technically need to go to an acute hospital, well, then they can be referred over to the Integrated Care Program for Older People. And the kinds of patients that we're talking about is, like I said, they do need input from multidisciplines. So, it's somebody who needs to be seen for a full assessment, you know, by maybe an OT or a physio, as well as a dietician, for example. And they are somebody who is below their baseline. So, basically, they have reduced function or reduced independence at the moment, but they have capacity to regain that function and to regain that independence. And that's the kind of patient that you want to see referred over to the Integrated Care Program for Older People. And usually, they are seen in clinics. So, like I said, there are outreach clinics in Clifton and Carrow and Moycollon at the moment. But the team also will see people in their own home where that's required. So, generally, a patient, if they're referred over to the Integrated Care Program for Older People, they will be on that caseload for a short period of time of up to maybe six to eight weeks. And so, really, we are looking at a kind of a home-based program where you would get that person back to their baseline or as close as possible to their baseline. Is there a waiting list or is there a backlog in availing of the outreach clinics at the minute? Now, I would like to say no, but unfortunately, like most services, there would be an element of a backlog. Patients are generally seen very quickly because, again, if you're trying to avoid a hospital admission for someone or trying to avoid even an attempt at an emergency department, it's important that these teams are able to respond quickly. So, we respond as quickly as we can. Time is of the essence in situations like that. Yes, exactly. So, now that it's been in operation, we refer back to the mobile extra unit and the other integrated care pairs for the last year or more, has there been a huge demand for the service? Is it actually working in not only improving the quality of care and not putting the older person or people with disability to the hassle and the trauma in a lot of cases of travelling long distances to hospitals for x-ray or for treatment? Is it actually working? Are you seeing a reduction in, A, hospital admissions and, B, people reporting at a higher level of care that are happier with this service? So, the level of service provided across Galway, May and Roscommon, because that's where the services are operational for ourselves, is approximately 100 referrals a month. And of that 100 referrals, you're looking at a 98% non-hospital visit, so about 98% of people are being seen and treated at home, which is an incredible success really in terms of that hospital avoidance piece. It's also saved on ambulance journeys, so somebody, like I said, who has a query fracture that we're now calling an ambulance to have somebody brought into a very busy emergency department to have an x-ray done, only to be told, oh, well, actually, this is a soft tissue injury. There's no fracture and you can go home. So it really is, it's doing, it's taking every box of launcher care in terms of bringing the care closest to the patient and really improving the patient experience of people rather than, like I said, that, what could be the half day or even a full day of an episode of care, it's actually, you know, it's been delivered in the person's own community and in their own home. And that has to be better. And also, it's got the double impact of reducing hospital admissions and taking the ambulance runs and leaving the ambulance available for other cases that it might be required for instead of just hospital running for x-rays for patients, yeah. Exactly. And that's a big move for us now, you know, the health service is moving into what's called integrated health areas, and so this is really about how we are integrating our hospital services and our community services. And a key aim of that is to look at what services can actually, services that would have been traditionally delivered within a hospital environment, what are those services could actually be delivered in a community, close to a patient, and really, I suppose, reduces the pressure on the acute hospital system, but more importantly, actually improves the experience of the patient, and that's really important for us. Is there anything else in the pipeline that you can mention that's coming up to add to that as an additional service, with that ethos in mind, coming down the track, so to say? At the moment, I think, because the health service is going through this restructuring, that's the key, I suppose, piece of work that's ongoing at the moment. But I do see, you know, that once you have a success like, for example, the extra service or the applied to the integrated care program, so there's also an integrated care program for chronic disease, for example, and all of these programs are showing really important successes in terms of, like I said, delivering that care closer to the patient, and that will only increase and will only evolve for other cohorts of patients as this new integrated health area project progresses. So it's a very exciting time, really, and it's also a time of huge improvement for patient and patient experience. Now, I know everyone knows about Storm Ion and the widespread damage that was caused and disruption of services to a lot of homes across the country, as well as across Galway and Connemara. I know the loss of electricity, phones, internet, water, and in a lot of cases, heating, that a lot of older people were completely isolated for periods of time. Was there an increased demand, were there calls being made, or what was the response like to that for you and your team? Yes, I'm really glad you brought this up because it really was an unprecedented event for anybody in any level of service, whether it's the health service, the Gardaí, the ambulance service, you know, all services right across the region were severely impacted by what was, like I said, an unprecedented level of storm. But what has been really heartening and what has been really great to see is the way the communities really pulled together and services pulled together to make sure that contact was made with the most vulnerable older people and most vulnerable people of any age really within our local communities. And so the likes of Clifton District Hospital, for example, you know, would have made available a space for people who, like for example, may be on nebulisers or oxygen dependent, but they'd no power at home, and at least there's a generator there in Clifton District Hospital, so we could invite people in to make sure that they were receiving the same level of care that they would normally while there was a loss of power. And I think, you know, in terms of, you know, beds made available right across the system to make sure that, you know, if people were at home where there was going to be a prolonged period where there was no power or water to the homes, well, we had to look at alternatives. So I know the Department of Social Protection, for example, has been paying for accommodation for people who ended up going into hotel accommodation, but also, you know, groups like the GAA, our own community nursing units, all stepping up, you know, providing hot meals, hot water, blankets, whatever it was, that would make sure that our people were kept safe at home. So it really has been, whereas it was a very worrying time for our older people and vulnerable people, and it was a very trying time for anybody who was delivering services, it also has been a time where we've seen services really step up to the mark and local communities really champion their own local citizens. So I think when there is a learning event after this in terms of what worked well, there will be things that aren't in place at the moment that will need to be. So, you know, telecommunications was a huge issue when you are an older person living in a rural part of County Galway and there is no way of making contact with anybody because telephone systems were down. That was very worrying. And so we do need to look at, well, how do we address that in the future? But all of this, like I said, was formed part of a multi-agency after-action review. But the key message today, I think, is that our communities were really, really pulled together and our citizens were looked after and that's the important piece. I think community, as you mentioned there, it always shines out in times of crisis like this and highlights how well and how hard everyone works and how connected everyone eventually feels once the community rolls in and does what they can to go above and beyond, oftentimes, not only what they're part of their work, if they're part of a service, but also local people who are not connected in the service anyway, who should also do their best to help people in the aftermath of something like a storm. Yes, exactly. And if I go back to, you know, I spoke about the integrated care program for older people and we also have a program for chronic disease. One of the key elements of those programs is looking at how we coordinate all of the services and supports that are available in local communities that keep people well. So all of the services around, you know, physical activity or places to meet or, you know, how you look after your own diet and food and all of those things. We have incredible services like social services and, you know, men's sheds and all of this stuff. And the key element for those programs is how you coordinate that and make sure that people are linked in to the services that are available in the local community. And we developed, actually, in partnership with Galway City and County Councils, a directory of services for older people in 2023, and that has been just updated. So that's a directory of services, you know, under headings like transportation, for example, or health services or health and well-being or, you know, civic participation. All of the services that are available in every community right across County Galway that people very often aren't aware of and don't know how to access, you know, so that's available to ourselves and it's also available on the website of Galway County Council and Galway City Council. So, you know, all of those things are so important because keeping people well and that focus on wellness is not just a remit of the health service. There are so many other agencies out there who play an incredible role in making sure that all of us as citizens are living as healthily as possible that we can in our own communities. Exactly. Now, I know you mentioned there briefly the services like having power with the generator at our local hospital here, the Clifton Hospital. Do you have any update or information on that? Because I know it's been a hospital under concern locally in the recent times as to whether it will remain open or not and functioning or not as a hospital. Do you have any update or information for listeners on that at the minute? So we got planning permission for the new community nursing unit for Clifton and so that would be a replacement of the existing beds between Clifton District Hospital and St. Ann's Community Nursing Unit and also the provision of 10 dementia-specific beds. So that, as I said, the planning permission has been approved. In the next two weeks, we would be going in doing tree felling, so kind of clearing the site and the tender for the enabling works will be going out shortly. So the call to tender for someone to come in and do the site works, the enabling works will happen in the next number of weeks and we would like to think that the actual works on the site will be commenced before the year end. So that's a very exciting prospect as well, you know, in terms of that particular part of County Galway. And I think the other piece that we need to address within that, you know, it's quite often it can be very difficult to recruit staff in the local area, so we will also be launching a bespoke recruitment campaign for nursing and healthcare assistants for the Clifton, Carrow, Connemara region and so that will be, I suppose, launching in the next month to two months. We'll have to leave it there, Des, unfortunately, but thank you so much again for coming on Community Matters this evening and giving us that information on the older people services that are available from yourselves at Community Healthcare West with HSE Galway. Thank you very much. And that was Des Mulligan, Head of Older People Services with Community Healthcare West with the HSE Galway. Do stay with us, though, we're going to take an ad break, but we'll be back shortly with my next guest. Thank you. Don't buy furniture. Wait! Austin O'Malley are closing their furniture department at their Westport store and must immediately clear the entire stock. The store is briefly closed to cut prices and prepare for the launch of the Austin O'Malley Closing Down Sale, starting at 10am this Friday. Their entire stock, including sofas and chairs, dining and occasional, beds and bedroom furniture, flooring, accessories and more will be on sale with bigger savings than ever. The massive furniture closing down sale at Austin O'Malley's Castle Bar Road, Westport sales start this Friday at 10am. E.J. King's Bar and Restaurant Clifton special offers. Two courses for 25 euro and three courses for 30 euro in our upstairs restaurant from Friday to Sunday inclusive. This offer also includes a complimentary glass of Prosecco on Valentine's Night. The offer is ideal for groups, special occasions, family gatherings or that romantic night out. For bookings or enquiries call us on 095-21330 or book via our website ejkings.com Westport based seropodist Martin McNally will be doing home visits in the Cunnamara area on Thursday the 13th of February. If you would like to make an appointment please call him on 087-222-6260. It's sale time at Brodericks Electrical, Castle Bar and Westport so call in and grab yourself a bargain. With everything reduced now is the time to upgrade your kitchen appliances or treat yourself to the latest technology. So if you're looking for the best brands at the best prices make sure to call in to Brodericks Electrical or look us up online at broderickselectrical.ie 098-28130 for Westport 094-904-4735 for Castle Bar. Welcome back, you're listening to Community Matters here on Cunnamara Community Radio. I'm delighted to welcome our next guest onto the program, Jane McGarrigle who is the project officer with Webwise. Good evening Jane and welcome to Community Matters. We're just trying to get Jane on the line there for our call as today is Safer Internet Day 2025. Hi this is Jane McGarrigle, hi Mr Cole, if you want to either name and number I'll get back to you. As you can hear there we are getting Jane's voice, Madam Jane is obviously very busy given that today is Safer Internet Day and she's with Webwise and they're very much involved in that as part of a collaboration with wider organizations in raising awareness and providing guidance and information for parents to help their children stay safe online. As we all know everyone's online now either through gaming, through business, through work, through social media, personal use and it's becoming more and more of a challenge to make sure everybody has a safe and healthy digital experience while they're online and connected to the internet. We're going to try Jane there one more time and see if we can get her on the line. Hello, Jane? We're going to take a little piece of music while the guys here on the tech desk get it sorted for us. So we're going to play a track by Taylor Swift called The Man. I'd be a fearless leader, I'd be an alphatype when everyone believes ya, what's that like? I'd be a fearless leader, I'd be an alphatype when everyone believes ya, what's that like? Hi, we have you on the line now, sorry about that, a little technical glitch on our end possibly. Welcome to Community Matters. How are you this evening? Hi Maureen, how are you? Great to be on and happy Safer Internet Day. Thanks for having me on. I always round up Safer Internet Day with a slot on Connemara Radio so it's great to be here. No, yeah, it's great to have you and as always to raise awareness on Safer Internet Day for everyone involved. What's taking place exactly, Jane, if you don't mind telling us, what's taking place this year? So this year, so it's actually, Safer Internet Day is 22 years, it's in it's 22nd year which is hard to believe now, but the theme this year, we look at a different theme every year, the internet changes quickly and things move on, so this year's theme is prepare, protect, strive, navigating the algorithms and influencers and, you know, we know research tells us 26% of children in Ireland have encountered harmful content online and we have a lot of access to information, so, you know, today was all about exploring how to protect and empower children and young people to navigate the opportunities and challenges of these powerful influences so we held an event in Dublin today, we had experts from across Europe and from across Ireland, our own Online Safety Commissioner, Niamh Hodness, gathered together today and many other experts to talk about the role of platforms, the importance of regulation and ensuring our, you know, social media platforms are safe places for young people, but also the need for digital media literacy and how we best can support children and young people online. Now you said the event took place in Dublin today, will that be available to view back for anyone that might have missed it or for anyone outside of Dublin to have access to that presentation and that event? Yes, so the event was recorded and will be available to watch back on our website, webwise.ie, but we also have scripted lessons, talks that schools can use to look at the topic of, you know, understanding social media algorithms, understanding the role of influencers and helping children and young people develop critical thinking skills when they're navigating and, you know, evaluating information online. I mean trying to get your head around algorithms as an older person or an adult is challenging enough, I'm sure it's even more complicated for children to get their head around it, or is it? No, it's not as complicated as you think, when we talk about algorithms we're specifically talking about social media platforms, there's all sorts of algorithms, but in this context we're talking about the recommender system, you know, basically an algorithm is a series of codes, it provides step-by-step instructions to tell a computer system what to do, so, you know, bringing this into real life terms, when you type in a search term on Google, an algorithm will decide which websites to show you first, or when you scroll on TikTok or Instagram, an algorithm picks which posts or videos you'll see based on what it thinks you like, so, you know, an algorithm can build up a picture of what you like based on your likes, what you're commenting on, what you're sharing on, what time on videos, search history, clicks, you know, and these can be really beneficial and they're really effective and they're very powerful as well, you know, they can show you things you like, you're interested in, it gives you information quickly, it can suggest new interests, hobbies, my favourite one is the Spotify radio function, it'll show you new music you like, but then there's downsides to all this, you know, they can amplify false information, you know, the algorithms highlight content that gets lots of likes and views, even if it's not true or accurate, they can create filter bubbles because they tend to show you more of the same type of content, which, you know, can mean you miss out on other views or perspectives and, you know, also there's an opportunity cost, they're kind of a time trap, they're designed to keep us on platforms for longer by using tips like autoplay and showing you more content you might like, but there are things, you know, we can do that we can talk to children and young people to help them, you know, gain a better understanding of how the platforms they are using operate, you know, and to, you know, remind them, you know, when they're on these platforms, you know, to be mindful of the amount of data, information they're sharing, to be critical of the content they're looking at and consuming and be able to, you know, give them tips on how to evaluate content online, you know, to read beyond the headline, you know, to take a closer look at images, images can often be manipulated now through regenerative AI, you know, so an AI generated image may miss out on some of the details, for example, they often don't get hair right, or don't get fingers right. And it can often look quite airbrushed as well. So there's lots of things we can do to talk to children and young people and to learn ourselves about this. And I'm sure parents find it challenging as well, you know, to try and make sure that not only do they protect their children from what they see and get an access to online, but also to try and help them to develop healthy digital habits as it were, when they're when they're online, is that becoming more accessible to them? Are you providing more information in relation to that, that they can access? Yeah, so that kind of healthy digital habits is a really important point, Maureen. We really encourage parents to take an active role in their children and children and teens lives. And, and really, the most important thing a parent can do is to have a good relationship with their child, and to talk to them. And so we recommend kind of taking a look at the resources and advice available. Parents can feel overwhelmed in this space, but there are lots of supports out there. Take a look at the Webwise Parents Hub. That's a great starting point. Agree some rules and boundaries with your child. And sometimes, you know, when devices are used, when they're not allowed to use, so, you know, things like dinnertime, you know, not having devices in the bedroom at nighttime, having a switch off time in the evening is really important. It's really important that our children and young people they need sleep. So we need to help them with that switch off in the evening, and to involve your child in the discussions around rules and boundaries so that they understand that can buy in. We also encourage parents to lead by example with their own habits. But also to kind of ensure that there's, you know, a balance of offline activities as well. So that we're getting a healthy diet of lots of different activities as well. And was that covered at all in the event today in relation to Safer Internet Day? Yes, well, we had our partner, Webwise, as part of the Irish Safer Internet Centre. So we work alongside ISPCC, Hotline.ie and the National Parents Council. And we had a panel discussion dedicated to fostering media literacy and exploring some of the challenges kind of faced in parents and schools right now. So our colleagues from the National Parents Council were just highlighting some of the things they're hearing from parents, you know, that they do feel overwhelmed. And, you know, highlighting the sports available. And there's a fabulous parents' hotline available through National Parents Council. And they also offer training to parents. We're also running a series of webinars across February. There's one tomorrow night, in fact, with Commissioner Mann, the New Media Commission, to talk about the new rules and please protecting children and young people online. And that's free to attend. We're also going to be hosting one with the National Parents Council later in the month on helping develop a parent-child agreement. We'll also be speaking to Mark Little, journalist, as well. So I encourage any parents listening or educators to tune in to the webinars. They're free to access and you can find out more information about them on webwise.ie. So, yeah, I can see a lot happening and a lot of supportive information and guidance and tips, which is widely requested, I'm sure, by parents everywhere on how to safer navigate the whole online platforms that are getting more complex and more and more platforms are coming on stream every year. So webwise.ie is the website. Is there is there a contact number if anyone had any queries that they can contact as well with themselves or with the anyone else? You can contact us directly on webwise.ie through the contact form. And if you visit mpc.ie, you'll find information on their parent helpline there, which is a great support as well. Listen, Jane, thank you so much for coming on Community Matters this evening and giving us that valuable information on the event today. And as you said at the start, anyone who missed it, just go on to the website webwise.ie and you can watch it there and catch up on all the events that took place in relation to Safer Internet Day. Thank you so much, Jane, and have a lovely evening. Thank you, Maureen. Thanks, Jane. That was Jane McGarrigle, the project officer with Webwise. 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. I'll see you shortly. 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 or you can email info at connemarafm.com. Now, my next guest is Pork Fahey, who is the co-chair with Thrive Connemara, and he's on the line now. Good evening, Pork, and welcome to Community Matters. Good evening, Maureen. Thank you very much for having me on. It's lovely to have you on the programme. Thank you for taking the time. Now, Thrive was introduced here in 2021, I believe, by Mental Health Ireland, with the programme being implemented initially in Soares and Balbriggan in County Dublin, with Connemara then becoming the first rural area to sign up at a launch event last year, I believe, in Clifton. Is that the story behind Thrive and its history so far? Yeah, just a little bit of background on Thrive itself. It's really an international organisation that was started a number of years ago, and it's in Philadelphia, New York, the UK, and Mental Health Ireland then brought it to Ireland about three years ago, and it was Balbriggan in North County Dublin that they used as a test bed, we'll say, for Thrive to see if it would work in the community, and after three years, it has a renowning positive effect with the community, and it's a real success story. So that's why then that they rolled out Thrive Connemara last July. We had the first meeting in the station house in Clifton, where it was well attended, so it was a best case. So that's how we got started then with Thrive Connemara. And what is Thrive? What work is it involved in, and what does it promote in the community? Okay, what Thrive is, it's community led, and it's needs led by the people in communities. There's no point in Thrive going into an area, any area, Clifton, Carrow Row, Lethermullin, and telling them what they need. What we want is the people in those areas to come to us and say, we would like to have such and such a thing, and I have no agenda when it comes to anything like that somebody wants to have, like let it be a bridge club, crochet club, a men's shed, you name it. We will support them and try to get that off the ground. It's all about the community and supporting the community and what they need. So a little bit different like from Balbriggan, which is an area like whatever that you might call like a town, village, we've got a big village with all of Connemara and the island. So if we think that there's a need for, just for an example, a crochet club in Carrow Row, do they need that on the island? They might have something totally different. So that's where we would come along and support the islands and say like that, or let them tell us exactly what they would like to see happening on the island, and then we start putting the resources together to help them to organize it and to run it. But then it will be up to them to keep it going from there on in, right? Okay. So can anyone contact Pride, like is membership open to anyone to engage with in the community or does it have to be through a local community group or an organization or a service provider, for example? Well, there's two sides to that like really is that it's voluntary run sort of. So the way I look at it is that if somebody feels like for their own mental health and well-being that they would like to meet people like that would be interested in doing something, let's say even young farmers or something like that in an area that feel that there's nothing for them, right? So one person, one farmer in one area comes to Pride and say, is it possible that we organize a meeting with these and what Pride is good at doing like is organizing these connect cafes, you want to call them that, which means people come for coffee and have a chat. So you could have a farmer's cafe where they would come together once a week, once a month or something like that and just discuss issues that's important to them. But also we could have the community that will come to us and say like that they want to do something different than what they're doing before or they need more support in what they're doing. We will help them like with all of that. So I'm not saying it has to be a community-led group. It can be an individual that can contact us and we will work with them to do whatever is possible. It's mostly like to just support like the earlier speaker that was talking there about mental health and well-being and since COVID it has been a huge problem like with mental health for people all over the country. So they are struggling. A lot of people like you think after COVID we'll get them back to normal. It's far from that like that. People need support. They need support in their community and how they can be active in the community we'll say or more active. That's what it's about is the community supporting each other and being involved, being connected to each other and supporting each other doing different activities. And since it was rolled out here in Connemara, what has happened? What has been developed so far? What has been set up or what has been helped along the path towards being set up in the area? Has it been connect cafes? Has it been knitting groups? What type of activities or get-togethers has taken place? Well, I'll be honest with you like that very little has happened because we're trying to get the word out. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Now I was on the four islands. I explained about it and every time I would explain about tribes, their mouth open, never heard of tribes before and trying to explain so we're starting to build up the momentum in the area to get people more informed that we're there to be able to support them. And in my previous life, I was involved with Parkrun and helped start up the Parkrun on Inish Man and all of the other three islands, they want to Parkrun. So that's an area where we can help them in getting the Parkrun up and running in all of the islands. And as well as that, just last week, I was up in Unikiri talking to them there about a Parkrun. So it sort of lead me, okay, a lot of the time is they see me and they see Parkrun rather than they see tribes. But we can do everything under tribe like and it would be great to get more Parkruns going like so people can get out with more just regular exercise. That's what it is. People getting together, having a coffee afterwards. So that's what we're looking at doing that sort of thing or doing anything else as well that will help them. It's all part of improving everyone's mental health and well-being, isn't it? Absolutely. And regardless of the means or the method, if it helps and it's positive in those areas, it's all to be welcomed. Yeah. And I suppose the main thing now like one of the first things that we'll be involved in is the Safe Talk in Clifton. Yes, that's coming up at the end of this month, isn't it? What date again? That's on the 25th of February from 10 o'clock in the morning to 1.30. But that is suicide alertness for everybody. It's more training for people and it's open to everybody. Anybody over 18 can attend this. It's not for professionals or anything like that. And what it is, is just suicide alertness for everyone that wants to know the signs of somebody as they're intending to commit suicide. To know the actual signs like that are going up like with somebody and then you'll be able to buy that person to suicide first aid or the other resources that are available to help somebody that is in crisis. Yeah. So knowing the signs I guess are key and raising awareness and alertness and it's good that it's coming and rolling out in the community. Is booking or registration required for this event? Yeah. Actually, I just looked there and I think there's about 18 places on that for it. So if anybody wants to do it and the easiest way for us to do it would be to go onto this website and book it. It's www.nosp.ie forward slash training and N-O-S-P stands for National Office of Suicide Prevention. So that might be a way of thinking of it. National Office of Suicide Prevention. N-O-S-P dot I-E forward slash training. And when you go in there on the right-hand side, there was like a tab there for upcoming training and you just select that and then go away. And it leads you to the event. And booking is free to book and to attend. And that's Tuesday the 25th as you said at 10am and it runs until 1.30 in the afternoon at the Town Hall in Clifton. And as you say, there's only about 18 places left. So anyone listening or would like to spread the word or knows anyone who'd like to attend if you're over 18, log on to the website and book your spot. And just on that, I'll be there that day as well. So if anybody wants to come along at around 1.30 if they weren't able to get a place and they want to talk about drive, they're more than welcome to come along and chat with them then as well. Well the more we chat about it, the more the word will get out and the more people that might come forward with ideas, you never know what will come out of it. Absolutely. Just talking about ideas there like with the Connect Cafes and things like that. It's not just a cafe like where somebody can just talk about anything and everything. We can have spun-off cafes like a menopause cafe, a mother and babies cafe, a dementia cafe, you name it, like whatever, a farmer's cafe as I was saying. So it's open to everybody to come to us and say like that, yes, we would love to have a mother and babies cafe because new mothers that are on maternity leave feel sometimes a bit isolated as well. And it's good to make friends and good to meet other mothers. Yes, I've seen that with my own daughter-in-law, like meeting up with her friends and they're sharing clothes and toys and everything like that because from one to the other. And baby tooths, which is all important. Listen, thank you Borg, we'll have to leave it there but thank you so much for coming on Community Matters this evening and the best of luck with Thrive and getting more and more things off the ground here in Connemara to promote mental health and wellbeing for all of us, which would be great. Okay. Have a nice evening. Thanks Borg. Bye-bye. That was Borg Fahey, the co-chair with Thrive Connemara. Now to stay with us, we're going to take an ad break, but we'll be back in a couple of moments. Thanks. Discover the beauty of Connemara Abbey nestled in the heart of Connemara, 1,000 acres of history, nature and civility await you. Join our series of talks and events, stroll through enchanting woodland paths and take a moment to pause and reflect in the neo-Gothic church. Indulge in homemade delights of the Kylemore Kitchen and explore the best of Irish brands and local crafts in our Craftsman's Divine Shop. Create timeless memories at Kylemore Abbey. Plan your visit now at Kylemoreabbey.com. Kylemore Abbey, a story so timeless, it's still being written. Working from home, talking to friends and work colleagues, children and teenagers, playing games and connecting with friends, it's a lot to ask of any broadband connection. However, at LightNet, we can give you the best broadband connection for your home. LightNet High Speed Broadband offers you the best solution with reliable connectivity, a fixed IP address for stable VPN connection and free high spec award winning Wi-Fi hub for all your broadband needs. Call LightNet today 091 395 804 or visit lightnet.ie. If you've just tuned in, you're listening to Community Matters here on Connemara Community Radio. Now, my next guest is local county councilor, Gerry Keane. Good evening, Gerry, and welcome to Community Matters. Good evening, Maureen, and thank you. It's good to have you back on with us again. Gerry, how are you this evening? All right, no, not bad at all. Yeah, it's been a while, all right. Yeah, we have a couple of things to chat about in the next 10 minutes or so, if that's OK, Gerry. Now, last Friday, the 7th of February, most people at this stage, if not everyone, is aware that the speed limits on rural roads in some areas have been reduced from 80 kilometres an hour to 60 kilometres an hour. Do you have a list at hand of what roads in particular are affected in the Connemara area by this change? We haven't a list given to us yet, but I can sort of explain the local roads that are, you know, we all know them, I suppose, as part of the National Speed Limit Review. It's, you know, part of the Government Road Safety Strategy, which aims to reduce death on roads by 60%. But anyway, the road, the type of roads that we're talking about are the very local roads. For example, my own village here, Arraslanam, that's a local road. So anywhere there was an L sign, L1234, L2345, whatever it is, that's a local road. So my road there will come out on to the Belleton AV Clifton Road, which is a regional road. But another example there would be, you know, the Kingston Road, that's a local road coming out on to the N59. The Cledded Up Road is a local road coming out on to the N59 there at the junction as well. So those are all basically the roads, any regional or national road are local roads. They'd be all the smaller type of roads. And they were all with the L roads, as you mentioned, they started with an L and then they had a number after it. That was their category? Exactly, yeah. So that's been, as you say, reduced from 80, I suppose, 10 years ago was probably the last Speed Limit Review and at the time the default speed was 80 for all these roads. And now with the review gone on for the last couple of years, it's been decided by the authorities to bring these down to 60 km per hour. Now I just had a quick look there at the ad break, but according to the RSA statistics they say that 9 out of 10 pedestrians that are struck by a vehicle travelling at 80 km an hour will not survive the impact, while if they're struck by a vehicle at doing 60 km an hour, this number drops to 5 out of 10. So these changes should therefore result in at least fewer fatalities on our roads for pedestrians, for example. Exactly, and one statistic there that came out of this review when I was quite surprised at it myself, maybe I shouldn't have been, but between 2020 and 2024, 70% of road fatalities took place on local roads with the 80 km speed limit at the time. So that 70% is a huge amount of fatalities occurring on those local roads. So I suppose there's another, you know, with the reduction in the speed, there also has to be, I think, you know, the road quality has to improve as well because a lot of those roads are minor roads, you know, bad visibility at times, bad structure of the road itself. So I think, you know, with the speed limit reduction, I think the quality of the road should, you know, must improve in cases as well. But, you know, and I suppose on the other side of it, there's a lot of the roads that, those local roads that you couldn't probably do 80 on anyhow, you know, you've retested them. Exactly. So, you know, it's probably overall that people will say it's, you know, it will work. Some people will say it won't, but I think, you know, overall, I think it's probably, you know, it's not a bad move. And are they in the process or have they got all of the speed limit signs changed from the 80 down to the 60 now on these roads, have you noticed? They are nearly there, but the storm, I suppose the effects of the storm cut off a lot of the finishing up of the speed limits, signs, signage, but I think they're 90, 90% plus done. And of course, the sign will change now as well. It's a round sign with a white, a round white sign with five black lines going through it. So that is your new sign now instead of saying 60 on the road. That will be the new sign as well. Oh, it won't actually say 60, it'll just have... Yes. Okay. So everyone needs to be aware of that as well. In case they're looking out for a sign that says 60 and they don't see it and they're not familiar with the new signage. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So you want to get caught with it with that. Yeah, either. And I think that's part of an international strategy that, you know, in other countries, the sign seems to be up as well for these sorts of speed limits. So it's becoming part of an international review as well as being a national review. You mentioned there the damage that was done by the recent storm Owen, which was... But following on from that, I guess, through Galway County Council, they have set up the humanitarian assistance scheme, the HAS scheme, for anyone that was affected by the storm or had a financial loss as a result of it. What are the conditions of the scheme and what does it cover and how can people avail of it, Terry? Basically, there's two parts to the scheme. It's called a humanitarian assistance scheme and there are two forms, there's a HAS1 and a HAS2 form to be filled. Now, the first part of that is the HAS1, which is a pink form, and that's one for the goods lost in your house and a lot of that, I think, is basically being applied for, you know, and the freezers and being out of power for so long. So that's a non-means-tested form, so it's a three-page form, a four-page form. You just fill that form, it's quite easy to fill, and you leave it to your local entry office, which for us here is in Clifton. And that's the first part of that, so that's for the smaller goods as we call it. The second part would be the humanitarian assistance scheme form 2, which is for the more serious damage or structural damage that will be done to your house. Now, that would be if you had no house insurance for your damage done. And that form is a means-tested form, so I think for a single person it's 50,000, and for a couple it's a means-tested 90,000. So there's pretty decent enough threshold there. So those are the two forms. Fill whichever one you want, fill it, and you just leave it into your entry office locally. And where do they get the forms? Do they get them at the entry office as well? You can get them at the entry office. Our forum will also assist you. They're assisting people at the moment in their office in Clifton. And they are open from Thursdays 11 to 1 and from Friday 9.30 to 1 p.m., and they will assist you there. So just call into them and collect the forms, and if you need assistance even in Suriname you might get some assistance from the staff there, but they definitely have the forms available for people to take home and complete. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Is there a closing date in relation to the scheme, or is it...? No, it's open until the end of January, yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's open. And if anyone else has any issues with forms, they can give us a call, and I'll get a form to them or whatever. And is there much of a delay in getting them processed, or what's the timeframe, do the council think, will be in getting a decision made? The first form, the HIS-1, seems to be getting done, getting through the paperwork fairly fast on it, in a week, maybe a week or so, two days at most. Okay. The other form, I think, will take a bit more time because there's more in it to process, and then bigger figures involved. So if it needs testing, there's probably a bit more to be processed in that form. Okay. So I would expect maybe that could be a couple of weeks or three weeks. Of a timeframe, yeah, it would make sense. Yeah. Okay, thanks for those two updates, Gerry. Do you have any other updates for listeners in relation to what's happening in the area or anything that's coming down the line from the council in relation to local information for people? Well, just briefly, I'll just touch on the telecommunications issue at the moment in the area, where a lot of people are, most people are back with their mobile phone service, but a lot of people aren't back with their broadband service. So just, you know, I've been in contact with AIR for the last number of days, and I have a fixed line issue with AIR. So they are, I am hoping tomorrow to have a better update on exactly where they are. But in the meantime, they have advised me to, for people that are still out of broadband, to ring your provider is probably the best localised way to get an answer at the moment. What I'm just getting is a broad answer. So if you'll just contact your local provider, or your provider, and they will have a better idea as to the more localised area where the problems are. But it is an issue, and I think, you know, it may be one answer in another week or so. Before everything is back up and running. Exactly, yeah. Pre-storm is levelled anyway. Okay. So that's just one of the things there, and obviously, because, you know, a lot of structural damage done all over the place, and I've actually been on to AIR previously over their infrastructure, and yes, so I think the senior manager, I've had to come in and meet with him, and it's a monthly meeting, if it's always a monthly meeting, but I've asked for a senior manager to come in and explain how it is, the whole infrastructure, you know, got to this point, without any investment in it over the last probably 20 years at this stage still. And that has been reported now. Okay. We have to leave it there as we're coming, just coming up to 8 o'clock, but thanks so much for coming on the programme this evening, Gerry, and giving us those updates. No problem. You're welcome. Take care. Bye-bye. Thanks, Gerry. And that was Gerry King, local county councillor with Galway County Council. Now, as I said, we're just coming up to 8 o'clock, which means we'll be going off air, but do stay with us here on Connemara Community Radio. As coming up next, we have the Casual News with Bernard Lee at 8 o'clock, and that will be followed, as always, by the regular Citizens' Information Programme at about 8.20, and then last but not least, Colin Wolfe will be here at 8.30 to do his programme between 8.30 and 9.00 p.m. this evening, so lots still to come here on Connemara Community Radio. But before I go, I would like to thank this evening's guests for coming on the programme. They were Des Mulligan, the Head of Older People's Services with Community Healthcare West, Jane McGarrigle, Project Officer with WebWise, Poirac Fahey, Co-Chair with Thrive Connemara, and Gerry King, local councillor with Galway County Council. My thanks to Dermot Dunyon for doing the tech desk this evening, and to Pat Coyne also for his assistance with the tech desk. My thanks to Bridget O'Malley, the producer, and my thanks to you for listening. So from me, Maureen Corbett, have a lovely evening, and we'll talk again soon. Community Matters was kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Limited, incorporating Clifton, Solicross and Carna branches. Connemara Credit Union is here to serve the people of the Connemara area. Main Office, Clifton and Solicross Branch, 09521101.