Community Matters 7may2024

Community Matters, sponsored by Connemara Credit Union, features interviews with local guests. In this episode, they speak with Jonathan Powell, producer of the Connemara magazine What's On, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. They also talk to Garda Alan Murphy about community policing and home safety, Elaine Connolly from Connemara Credit Union about an upcoming talk on pensions, and Father Francis Mitchell about church restructuring. The magazine provides a comprehensive guide to events, activities, and attractions in Connemara and is well-received by both locals and tourists. The team behind the magazine includes Jonathan Powell, Noel's wife Catherine, a copywriter, and others. The publication is delivered twice a month and has a digital presence as well. The magazine is known for its informative content and evocative front cover images. The team plans to continue producing the magazine for the foreseeable future. Community Matters is kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Ltd, 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 Connemara Community Radio and the programme of Community Matters here this evening with me Maureen Corbett and with Tommy Rowe on the tech desk. I hope you're all keeping well and that you'll stay with us until 8 o'clock because we have a lot of interesting guest interviews this evening lined up for you as always. So in tonight we will be talking to Jonathan Powell, the producer of the local Connemara magazine What's On, as they are celebrating a very special anniversary this year with the publication. We'll also have live in the studio the Garda Alan Murphy who is the Community Garda with the Clifton Garda station and he will be talking to us about a lot of topics but some of them will include community policing, how to keep your home and property safe especially over the summer holiday period and an upcoming property marking event that they've organised to take place on Saturday. And then we will be speaking with Elaine Connolly, the manager of the Connemara Credit Union. She has some information on an upcoming talk as well on the 14th of May about pensions and she'll also bring us any general updates that they may have on the Connemara Credit Union services that are available locally. And we will be also talking to Father Francis Mitchell, the diocesan secretary of the Archdiocese of Toom on the church restructuring that they're undergoing at the moment and what that will look like in the future and the reasons why the church is undertaking this new restructuring. But first and foremost I'd like to welcome Jonathan Powell to the program, good evening Jonathan and welcome. Good morning, good evening. How are you doing? I'm well. How are you? Ah sure, fine away, fine away. You're very busy Jonathan, you wear many many hats but we're going to focus on one particular hat this evening for the program if that's okay. It's all about what's on Connemara? Yes. So whose brainchild was this originally and why did it come about? Yeah, originally it was Noel Mannion, a local man from the Mannion family, one of the Mannion families and he started it roughly 20 years ago and he just saw, he was a very good editor, does lots of marketing and lots of bits and bobs and he was very much a local man, a bit of a musician as well in his day and he just saw a gap in the market and got it out there, it started off, I think it was like 16 pages when it first formatted, when it was first done, we're up to 32 pages there now and yeah, so it's a full guide really, it's really taken on a big dynamic really, so yeah and it's just a great sort of facility for Connemara for telling what's on, events, what to do, it's you know, obviously it's paid by advertisers, the advertisers you know, pay for the free, it goes out as a free guide sort of thing so yeah, 20 years, amazing how it flies by. Yeah, it doesn't seem like that long ago when it was first brought out but it's been well received by not only locals but also when visitors that come to the area, so they also pick up the guide and have an A to Z really from cover to cover. Yeah, it's the locals, it's all the individual B&Bs and Air B&Bs and hotels and they all pick it up and pick bundles of them up and put them in their rooms and it's very well received with visitors, you know, it's got lovely maps in it, it's got a, it tells all the events, lovely little walks as well, it's a full factual one stop spot off place for what to do in Connemara and it's digital as well, you know, everything's digital now these days, it's got a presence on a digital magazine there as well, so yeah, nice, it's gone leaps and bounds. It seems to have and as I say, there's so much happening in Connemara, it's such a wide area and as you say, from music to entertainment to accommodation, walks, events, tourist attractions, I mean, it's growing year on year. Exactly, yeah. That's right. So, who... We've got 14 events, this sort of May edition and I missed one or two as well, sort of made that sort of, you just couldn't find enough space and time. You'll have to increase from 32 pages to fit it all in. It comes out once a month then, is it monthly Jonathan? Yeah, it's monthly, it used to be bi-weekly when there was a lot more music and events and it was a smaller page and, you know, times were sort of more, had more time to do things but yeah, it comes out once a month and then it's delivered twice a month, so to stock it all in the hotels, B&Bs and various petrol stations and places around Connemara, it can't hold that much, so we deliver twice a month sort of thing, so yeah, and it's, we have like, May's issue was 11,000 publications and it goes up to 13,500 publications of copies in July and August. So a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, who helps you with it now Jonathan, who's on your team? On my team is Noel's wife, he's still in the background. Okay. Her name's Catherine, she's the chief sort of, chief designer of the adverts and then we have, the last recent years we have a copywriter that does all the reviews, so when a person advertises with us, they get a, they get the main adverts and they get reviews as well, so we give them an individual review, so if it's a restaurant, we talk about their restaurant briefly, if it's an activity, there might be a restaurant as well, they go in two or three sections, so and then we have a guy called Hilary, Hilary White, who is a copy editor for one of the big magazines, but his family and his parents are all from here, from Akros I believe, is that, I think it was part of the Coyle family as well, so yeah, and then there's Amanda, my partner, everyone knows Amanda, from the bike shop, and she sort of more or less organises the, well she's always my right hand, but always organises it, they're delivering it out there, and sort of bits and bobs, and then we have a few taxi delivery drivers and couriers that throw it round the nicks and blips of Connemara. It's a big undertaking, and a lot of work goes on to get it out on time every month and to get that much published and delivered to all the local venues around the area, it's no mean task, let me tell you, but I know it gets well received, and you see it everywhere, this time of the year especially, and everywhere you go, so what's the feedback been like from the tourists that come for the first time, do they find it useful? Yeah, very much so, because it's what people more interested in, or more go for first of course, it's got a collection map, because that's the main bucks of it, and then there's a Connemara map, so it shows you where to go, and then you've got the adventure map, so it shows you where to go, find the wide Atlantic ways, the wide out places, the beaches, the hidden beaches, the castles and venues, and yeah, so last year we brought on the children's section, so it's got a lovely little kid's corner, a Connemara journal, and an adventure map we call it, so that's great for the kids, but it's, which is all in Irish as well, Irish wording, not Irish, totally Irish, but Irish name places, and yeah, so people love that, and then individuals pick it up just for the walk, or for the events and the festivals, it's, or just want somewhere to dine, somewhere to eat, or an activity, or... A shop that they want to pick a particular item in, or where the best shopping might be? Yeah, exactly, well, we never say it's the best shopping, you know, everywhere's best in my eyes, I'm very impartial. Of course, of course, but yeah, but if they're looking for a particular item, you know, that they might have heard the name from someone, but they're not sure where it is exactly, from someone that they know who's been here previously, and said, oh you must go to such and such a shop, and they can't just remember, they're just looking at it as a reference really. Yeah, exactly, you've got a reference in the map, you've got a reference in the what's in stores section, the menu section, or the activities section, and the reviews that we write, very, like, they're impartial, and they're not, they're very, very nicely written, they've got a lovely flow through the whole guide, and it's not just, we are open at nine, and we sell baguettes set at $4.99, and Aaron's pretzels, which have been made by Nellio Marley down the road, that sort of thing, it's a very nice little flow through, that sort of thing. And the main thing that people pick up first off is the front picture. The front picture, we put a lot of time and effort into the front picture, this month, on May, was done by a local photographer called Robert Rozelle, we use him quite a bit, he's a good photographer, but you see that front picture, and it's very evocative, it's very sort of like, you want to go, it's a yellow boat, and the baby's there this month, and yeah, it's very enlightening, sort of thing. Absolutely, as I say, the picture's what draws you in first and foremost, and makes you turn the page to see what's inside. So you guys have no plans to give it up in the near future, are you going to go on for another 20 years? Yeah, oh, don't know about 20 years, I mean, retiring, I'm getting old in the tooth there now these days, but yeah, I think it's a great adage, an addition to Connemara, apart from the helm in a good few years, but yeah, I'm here for, going to be going long and strong for, yes, let's say 20 years, let's say 200 years, you know, 200 years, I don't know about 200 years, let's see what happens. When something is a success, keep it going. Exactly, exactly. Are you guys, the team there, going to have a little celebration at some point in the year, just yourselves, just to mark the occasion? We did think about doing a sort of like, get to go for all the advertisers, but you know, it's May there now, and I start this in sort of like mid-January, and you know, it goes to print in April, and I don't know where the time goes, it's sort of like before you blink and smash, now it's May, we've had two bank holidays, and just around the corner it's June, and the longest day of the year, and you go, well, where's that gone? You know, you're sort of in the midst of the peak season, and sort of tourism is flying out the road, and it's fantastic. So, yeah, we'll try and organise something, if not earlier, but later. Okay, well, best of luck with it, and thanks for coming on Community Massive this evening and telling us a little bit more about it, and congrats on the 20 years, well done, it's a great achievement, and long may it continue, and long may you have success with it. Thank you very much. Not at all, have a nice evening. You too. And a good season, take care. Yeah, good season to everyone, basically. Okay, thanks Jonathan. Cheers now, thank you very much. That was Jonathan Powell, the producer of the What's On Connemara magazine. So now we're just going to take the ad break, but do stay with us, because there's lots more to come. Jobspot, on Connemara Community Radio. Walsh's Bakery Clifton are looking for someone to work in the bakery wholesale part of the business. It is a full-time position, five days a week, hours are 6.30am to 1pm. The role involves preparing our goods for delivery around Connemara, bread and cake packaging, completing small local deliveries along with some other tasks. Applicant must have a full, clean driver's licence. If you are interested in the job, please call us on 095 21283 or email us at info at walshsbakery.com. Super Value Clifton have part-time positions available in their meat counter, for check-out assistance and on the shop floor. Candidates need to be flexible, enthusiastic and customer-focused. For more information or to apply, please ask in store or email coaching.hair at cavanaghgroup.ie and that's coaching c-a-i-t-i-n dot hair h-e-h-i-r at cavanaghgroup.ie. Jobspot, on Connemara Community Radio. Make life easy on yourself and call into Brodericks Electrical, Castlebar and Westport for the best advice and the best price. We have offers on TVs, washing machines, dryers, fridge freezers, dishwashers, you'd be a fool not to come in and grab yourself a bargain. And remember, if you can't get to us, just call or buy online at broderickselectrical.ie and we will deliver direct to you. So call us on 09828130 or 0949044735. One thousand acres of history, beauty and serenity in the heart of Connemara await you this spring at Kyle Moragie. Fall back in love with the history. Enjoy a quiet stroll on the woodland paths. Or stop for a moment's quiet reflection in the neo-gothic church. 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Call Joyce's on 095-346-58 for more information. 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 it 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 Surround. And Sweeney Oil's prices are the very best around. For the best value home heating oil in Galway, call Sweeney Oil today on 1800-555-999 or visit sweeneyoil.ie. Sweeney Oil, the warmer way to heat your home. Welcome back to Community Matters here on Connemara Community Radio. Now, on the 10th of April last, the Catholic Church announced that it was entering a period of restructuring that will see a pooling of resources and some amalgamations taking place throughout the Western Province. Joining me on the line now is my next guest, Father Francis Mitchell, the Diocesan Secretary with the Archdiocese of Tewm, to tell us more about this restructuring. Good evening, Father, and welcome to Community Matters. Good evening, Maureen. It's lovely to have you on, Father, and I believe you were a former parish priest of Brownstone as well, for anyone who's listening. They may remember you well from your time in Brownstone here in Connemara. Now, Father, you're going to tell us all about or something about the restructuring that's taking place within the Catholic Church that was announced. What is the current structure and why is the need for this restructuring now? Okay. Well, just a bit of context or background, the Catholic Church, as your listeners may know, the Catholic Church in Ireland is divided into 26 dioceses grouped together in four provinces, and the four provinces are Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Shume, and each of these provinces is headed by an archbishop. The archbishop is sometimes referred to as a metropolitan archbishop, and each bishop governs his own diocese in his own name, and the archbishop is kind of a ceremonial head, if you like, or a chairperson of their meetings, but that's the only influence he has on each of the other dioceses. And in the west, in the Shume province, or the Shume metropolitan area, there are, at the moment, six dioceses. Connery, Clonfert, Elfin, Galway, Killala, and Shume. And until February 2022, there was a bishop at the head of each of these dioceses. So there were six dioceses and six bishops in the west of Ireland. Each bishop, as you may know, just like each parish priest, is invited to tender his resignation to the Pope when he reaches the age of 75. And it's normal for the Holy Father to accept the resignation immediately, but it's not usually publicized or doesn't take effect until the Vatican is ready to announce the name of the new bishop, or until the Vatican has put some other plan in place for that diocese. And the bishop may be in office, therefore, for a year or even more after he reaches his 75th birthday. So, you might remember, in February 2022, Bishop Brendan Kelly retired as Bishop of Galway, and on the day of his retirement, it was also announced that Bishop Michael Deignan would become the Bishop of Galway, in addition to his responsibilities as Bishop of Clonfert. In other words, the two dioceses continue to exist as before, but instead of having one bishop each, they now have one bishop between them. And the Vatican uses a particular formula of words to describe this in its publications. It says, the Holy Father has united the diocese in the person of the bishop, in persona, episcopi, in Latin. So, with that change, the number of bishops in the West became five. There were six dioceses, but five bishops. So, moving now to the most recent changes made in the Tuam area, in the Tuam metropolitan area, the Tuam province, and announced by the Pope's representative in Ireland, the Papal Nuncio, announced, as you said, in the Cathedral in Tuam on the 10th of April this year. On that day, four very significant announcements were made. Firstly, Bishop John Fleming's resignation as Bishop of Calala was accepted by Pope Francis. Bishop Fleming had already turned 76, and he offered his resignation a year earlier, which is normal, and he stayed in office until the Holy See was in a position to announce how it planned to proceed. So, after 22 years as Bishop of Calala, Bishop Fleming is now able to begin his retirement and take a good rest. And on this occasion, the Holy Father did not appoint a new bishop to succeed him as Bishop of Calala. Instead, and this is the second major announcement, Pope Francis appointed the Archbishop of Tuam, our own Archbishop Francis Duffy, to look after the Diocese of Calala in the absence of a bishop there. And the technical term for this, which is something you may have seen written down, is that Archbishop Francis Duffy has been appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Calala. And the fact that Archbishop Francis has been appointed Apostolic Administrator means that the Holy See, the Vatican, has not yet uttered its final word on the future of Calala. It's a strong indication that the Vatican will keep an eye on how this works out in the early phase and conduct more consultations if it feels there is a need or if it would be beneficial to do so. In the meantime, then, Archbishop Francis has responsibility for the entire Diocese of Calala in addition to the Archdiocese of Tuam. In this way, it's kind of similar to Galway and Clontfort, but with one major difference. At this point, Archbishop Francis is the Administrator of Calala. He's not the Bishop of Calala. And then the third announcement made in Tuam on the 10th of April was that the Bishop of Alconry, based in Balahadrine, Bishop Paul Dempsey, had been reassigned to serve in the Diocese of Dublin. And that meant that the Holy See had to also consider how best to provide for the people of the Diocese of Alconry. And the decision it took, and that was the fourth decision announced, was to appoint the Bishop of the neighbouring Diocese of Elfin, Bishop Kevin Doran, also as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Alconry, in addition to his responsibilities in Elfin. I said that the Holy See has not uttered the final word on Calala or indeed Alconry, but it has been making it clear that the Holy See is looking very closely at the possibility of the union of these Dioceses, Calala with Tuam and Alconry with Elfin. So after the initial period, it could happen that the Archbishop of Tuam will, in addition, be appointed as Bishop of Calala, and that the Diocese, the two of them, will be united in person Episcopi, and that the Bishop of Elfin will similarly be appointed in addition Bishop of Alconry. And then, at some future date, the Holy See, the Vatican, may consider dissolving the Diocesan boundaries and uniting fully Calala and Tuam and uniting Alconry and Elfin, for example. That's how it looks, but it will involve careful assessment and consultation as the next steps are considered. And it's very likely that the whole process now underway could actually take several years. Now, in the West, where until relatively recently we had six Dioceses and six Bishops, now we have six Dioceses and three Bishops. Another very important point that needs to be stressed, I think anyway, is that the identities and the histories and cultures of each of the Dioceses remains completely intact. As Archbishop Francis has emphasised himself, each Diocese brings something of great value to these arrangements. And each individual Diocese is in some way enriched by it. Of course there are challenges, of course there are. And then there's a kind of grief associated with a Bishop retiring or a Bishop being moved to a new appointment and not being replaced by another Bishop. And people are entitled to feel the emotions that arise for them in those circumstances because they grow close to their Bishops. So people, and you did at the beginning, you may ask, why are these changes being introduced? And that's a very fair question. Well, I think there are three pillars, if you like, numbers, personnel and resources. They appear to me to have been the three significant considerations. The Papal Nuncio put it well when he said, and I'm quoting from his statement now, he said, we adopt new measures to meet new challenges as they arise. To meet the evolving needs of the Church in the ecclesiastical province of Tuam, it is necessary, he said, to envisage a gradual process of reorganisation, which will, it is hoped, give added impetus and vitality to the communities concerned. And he said, they say in union there is strength. Thus with pooled resources and combined endeavours and trusting strongly in the grace of God, we can look to the future with hope and confidence. And you don't need me, I suppose, Maureen, to tell you that only a percentage of the recorded Catholics are attending Mass each week, and you don't need me to tell you that the number of men coming forward to offer themselves for the priesthood has declined dramatically. However, while these are considerations and they're important ones, I have to say that I see this reconfiguration as positive and very hopeful. Because, you see, if our focus is on bringing God to his people and bringing the people to God through the proclamation of the Gospel and the celebration of the sacraments and other things, then these quite significant changes in terms of diocesan administration can assist in a very positive way. I already mentioned that the heritage, history and culture of each diocese, and that's something that's very important, it must be borne in mind. Archbishop Francis has acknowledged it publicly, too, when he said that the work and the approach taken to the question of synodality, for example, in the Diocese of Canala, is much more advanced than it is in the Diocese of Tum. So we can learn and benefit from Canala, the Canala experience, and equally, with the resources we have, like Knock Shrine and Balintobor Abbey and Maumaine and Connemara there, we have something to offer the people of Canala, too. And all of this is happening, but something else happened before, and that's at parish level. These changes announced on the 10th of April are not likely to have much of an impact, for now, at parish level at least, because life continues in the parishes as it did up to now, and indeed the restructuring at parish level has already been underway for quite a while. With the participation of many lay women and men in things like parish pastoral councils and parish finance committees, as parish secretaries and sacristans, as bishops, representatives on the school boards of management, and in so many other roles in the Church, like safeguarding and education and in the parish, you actually fill me with confidence that the recent changes at diocesan level can and will be as successful as they have been at the parish level. Parishioners and parishes have led the way, actually, on this, and when the Papal Nuncio came to meet members of the Chum Diocesan Pastoral Council and others involved in various ways, the lay people were very positive and encouraging of the proposed changes. So I think that the lay people give the bishops great confidence to accept these new appointments and to go forward with hope. Personally, I feel no reason to worry about it or worry about what's happening in this reconfiguration now, and I do see it as something that God will help and will be for the benefit of everybody in the long run. So I hope I've given you some sense of the current context and the structure, the current structure and the context and the background to some of these changes. I hope I've answered your question. You have. I'm sure. No, no, no, you have. It always helps to have the background feeding into the reasons and the situation as to where we are now and why these decisions were made and the hope that there is that it will be a positive, all the restructuring will have a positive outcome, as you say. Each area will benefit from the other and be able to assist the other with its experience and with its resources and with its heritage. So it's all positive. There may be people listening. I know it's coming into confirmation and communion time and that. One of the bishop's roles, I mean, oftentimes when we were young, the only time you ever saw the bishop potentially was at confirmation when you were confirmed. Just as an example, with the joining of Calalla with the Connery and Thune with Alfvén and only being one bishop to serve both, will he have the capacity or the time to be able to attend confirmation for everyone across both regions now, or will that be someone else's responsibility? Already. First of all, let me go back. Do you know that you do know and everybody listening probably knows, too, that the bishop is the ordinary minister of confirmation. It's usually the bishop who does it, but a priest may confirm, too, in special circumstances. So during COVID, for example, the Archbishop of Tum at the time gave all the parish priests the permission to go ahead and confirm because people had to gather in small groups and all of that. And then this year in our own diocese, Archbishop of Tum, the Archbishop had already, before this appointment came, before this news came, he had already enlisted the help of the Vicar's General. We have two Vicar's Generals who assist him in the governance of the diocese, and he had already enlisted their help to carry out the confirmations throughout the Archdiocese of Tum. So they have a certain number of ceremonies each and he's doing the rest. And at the moment, while Bishop Fleming has retired as Bishop of Canala, because the confirmation season had already begun, he very generously offered to stay on to finish the confirmations that were scheduled in Canala Diocese. So they're all being done by the bishop this year. Now, then next year, when Bishop Fleming has fully retired and gone to retirement, the Archbishop, I'm sure, will have to enlist the support of others to help him again, but that has not been decided yet, because he hasn't this year, but it's very likely that he will do a lot of them, but maybe not all of them. Okay, Father, we'll have to leave it there. The clock has beaten us to it again with time. It's been lovely having you on the program, and thank you so much for taking time to come on Community Matter this evening. You're welcome, Maureen, and my greetings to all in Connemara, and thank you for having me. Thank you, Father. Good night. God bless. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. That was Father Francis Mitchell, the Diocesan Secretary with the Archdiocese of Tum. We're going to take a little piece of music now, and it's Holiday Road by Lindsay Buckingham. Holiday Road A jack-in-the-mill, a jack with a grin Take a right on the way we're goin' skin Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Up and around, don't go wrong Don't wait down the Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road Holiday Road That, of course, was a lovely track, Holiday Road by Lindsay Buckingham. Now, I'm delighted to welcome my next guest, who's actually taken the time and the effort to come into the studio to me this evening. So it's lovely to have him here in the studio, Alan Murphy, the Community Guard with Clifton Guards Station. You're very welcome, and thanks for popping into us in person. Thank you very much. It's great to have someone in person, as it makes a change from over the phone. Now, Gareth, just for my own curiosity, and in case there's anyone else out there listening that has the same question, Community Guard, what's the difference, or is there a difference, between a Community Guard and any other guard? Yeah, I suppose we're all supposed to be Community Guards, but I work in a Community Policing Unit, which means I can dedicate a bit more of my time to call to events and maybe to organise things, to do a lot of school visits, calls to the elderly, a little bit of maybe crime advice for people as well. Okay, so you're more active in the community on the ground as such. Exactly. At events and popping in. Okay, that's good to know. And as we all know, it's been highlighted in the media recently about the increasing number of break-ins, burglaries, thefts, not only in Galway City but throughout the county, especially now when houses are vacant due to people either being away for holidays or coming in for the summer holidays. What advice do you have to listeners on how they can help prevent these types of crimes from taking place when they're not at home? Yeah, well, I suppose we are very lucky in Connemara, but I suppose we're not immune to crime either. So we do have different campaigns going on within the Gareth Shea Corner, and one of those would be the Lock Up and Light Up campaign. So what that basically means is just don't be afraid to lock up your property, lock up your belongings, lock up your house if you are leaving. We always say if you're going on holidays, try not to advertise it. Just maybe keep these things down off Facebook and off Instagram. We all get excited about holidays, but the less people who know that our house is going to be vacant, the better. Neighbours are the best security, really. If we have good neighbours, maybe let them have a key. Try and maybe leave a light turned on, or maybe if they can open the curtains or close the curtains from here to here. Just to take that maybe, I won't say derelict effect, but that vacant effect out of it. We'd always say then as well, obviously, monitored alarms are fantastic, but they're not for everybody with the price of them. So maybe just get your neighbours. Try not to have valuables. Definitely not to have large sums of money. It is heartbreaking when you go to a burglary and people have lost a lot of savings, and that is very tough. But if you can maybe keep any money you have in a safe, any belongings, any jewellery, keep that in a safe, that would be fantastic. Just the basics. Keep your windows locked. Keep your keys for cars, keys for the house, away from the front door. Keep them away from the letterbox, because there has been cases in the past where people have been able to get keys for cars through the letterbox and things. So maybe just think, we think they're the simple things, but they're not always the simple things. No, we're creatures of habit. You come in, you throw the keys inside the door, out of your hand, on the table or in the hall. We're just all creatures of habit, and it's easy to forget it, especially if you're planning on being away from home. So yes, a lot to remember. But as you say, neighbours are key in the first instance. The guards can't be everywhere at all times, or monitoring every area night and day. Exactly, good neighbours are worth their weight in gold. My own colleague is away for a couple of days, he's left a key over in my house. I'll call every day, I'll turn on a light here, I might turn that off and turn on a different light the next day. Good idea. Now, I know you have a property marking event coming up. Have you got the details of that handy for us? I recently held a property marking event in Cairo, where we engraved about 80 pieces of equipment with your air code. So what that does is obviously it creates a deterrent for criminals to take small pieces of equipment, maybe lawnmowers, trimmers, that kind of things that are easily taken. So I have two more events coming up this weekend on Saturday in Clifton Garda Station between 11am and 2pm. You'll be able to drive up there, maybe your trailer, your trimmers, your chainsaw, your bicycle, anything that you'd like engraved with your air code, and that can be a great deterrent. If something is unfortunately taken, it's excellent, it's a great way of us being able to return the property to people, because unfortunately there is stores around where we can't return all the property to people, but this gives us some chance of getting the property back to people if it is taken. So between 11am and 2pm this Saturday coming, in Clifton Garda Station, and also in Uchtarar GAA pitch on Sunday morning between 11am and 2pm, I'll be there again. And it doesn't take long to get your air code stamped on? No, it's very quick, it's great, we can do 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 pieces of equipment within a few minutes. And the thieves aren't able to erase over it or scratch over it? Well, I suppose nothing is foolproof, nothing is perfect, but what I usually do with a trailer is maybe mark it in 3 or 4 different locations, and then if we do come across something that's a bit suspicious at night time, and we see plenty of marks gone off it or plenty of attempts to conceal something, it gives us a lot more powers then to maybe act or to delve a little bit further. So it gives us great powers, it's a fantastic event really, and it's a free event. None of these things are charged, we don't charge for anything like that. And if you don't have it done, you don't have it done. You know what I mean, it's too late after the fact, but if you have it done in advance, at least you'll be able to tell the guards, listen, my air code is stamped or engraved here and there on the item, and they might have a better look at tracing it. You mentioned at the start when I asked about the community guards, that you go to schools and you go to different, involved in lots of local schemes and that, and crime prevention. Is there anything you want to tell us about any of them at the minute? Is there anything going on in particular that you'd like to let listeners know about? I suppose the property marking thing is a big thing at the moment. I call to every class in every school in Connemara, and I call about road safety, things like that, with children from all ages, which is fantastic. But another scheme I'm working currently on at the moment is our text alert scheme, and that is really just meeting a few people from different areas. We have people from Tully here in Renfrew, we have people from Clifton, we have Man, we have Clonbar. We deal with a few people, and if there is any suspicious activity in the area, people are arranging our decision, and we're able to disseminate that information via text out to these communities, and they can, like recently we had suspicious bogus callers or people we felt that were bogus tradesmen. We were able to get that text message straight out into the different communities and spread the word, so that if somebody does call, it lessens the chance of them being maybe scammed or letting somebody into their house that they shouldn't let in. I suppose the most important thing is if you're suspicious, ring 999 straight away. Ring Clifton Garda decision, what, 999 straight away. You'll never get bothered for ringing 999 if you have a genuine concern. But yeah, the text alert scheme is up and running the last few years, but I'm just trying to perfect it at the moment, and we are doing a great job at it. We are getting a few messages out. If anybody wants to get their numbers added to it, they can contact me in Clifton Garda decision, and we'll get them added to it. But that's one of the schemes that we do have in Connemara, and it is very effective. So people have to contact you and get their names added and their numbers? Well, usually what we have is maybe two or three people in each community, and they would approach me with their, just say their MAM community alert area, and I would add their phone numbers to there, and they would pass on any information to them, and that I would give them as well. So yeah, if you know there's a community alert area in your group, in your area, you can contact them, and I can add phone numbers to it, or they can add phone numbers. But it's all about getting that information out really quickly, straight out into the community, and then the Gardas can do their part then. Yeah. So are the community alert schemes that were launched a long, long time ago, are they still active throughout the Connemara area? Are some of them dying out at this point? I suppose that's why I'm revisiting them now at the moment, is because I suppose particularly COVID, and we blame COVID for a lot, people couldn't meet and people got isolated. So when I looked at these different text alert groups, some of them had died out, and some people had lost interest in it. We're just trying to reinvigorate that and get everybody interested in it again. And there is great interest because it's like everything, it's a free scheme. It's a fantastic way of getting information out there, and it does help people. And there's been a change with the people moving in and out of the area. There's been an influx of people, and people move on. And the people who originally set them up may also have moved on and not be there in the village or in the locality anymore. Exactly. So would you be looking for people to get involved now? Yeah, I suppose we can't do it without the community. There really is a community alert scheme. They usually set up their schemes, and then they contact the Gardas for help and advice. So we can run different events then. If they feel that they need a bit of advice on something, we can get the crime prevention officer out. We can get myself out, or we can frequently hold talks if we need to do something, but we can't do it without the community. So if there's a community alert group there, it helps a lot. But we do need, of course, we need new members all the time. And then just before I let you go, just another property marking event. It's Saturday in Clifton. What's the time again? From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. And you said Uchtarard? Uchtarard, GA grounds from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. I suppose what we can mark is lawnmowers, bicycles, trailers, things like that. Anything that's got metal? Yeah, anything with a bit of metal or hardened plastic, yeah. And I suppose if you have your doubts, just bring in something. If we can do it, we can do it. If we can't, we can't. But as I said, it's a free service, and I'll be there myself to do it. Okay, perfect. Have you anything else you'd like to let listeners know before we say goodnight? No? Stay safe. Lock the doors. Light up and lock the doors if you're going out, and try and stay safe. Exactly, and just don't be afraid to ring Garda Station. Clifton Garda Station is 24 hours a day. It's 095 22500. As I said, if you have a genuine concern at all, we never mind taking a phone call at all. Perfect. This has been lovely having you in. Thank you so much, Garda Alan Murphy, for coming to the studio on Community Matters this evening. Thank you very much. Now we're going to have a little piece of music. We're going to play Little Red Corvette by Prince. Love on the living bag Guess I must be dumb Should've fuckin' put a pause there Trojan summer view Friday through Saturday night I guess that makes it alright You see, what have I got to lose? The money I make Little Red Corvette Leave it in my pocket bag Little Red Corvette You need a love that's gonna last Guess I should've closed my eyes When you drove me to this place Where your horses run free I felt a little ill When I saw all the pictures Of the jockeys that were there before me Believe it or not I started to worry Wondering if I had enough class What if it was Saturday night I guess that makes it alright You say, baby, I ain't got no cash Oh yeah Little Red Corvette Baby, I might suicide In your Little Red Corvette You need to find a love that's gonna last Little Red Corvette Little Red Corvette I ain't got nobody like you When the beat's on the P.S.G. It's right on the verse But you're being obscene Little Red Corvette Give me the key I'm gonna try to tame you Little Red Corvette Little Red Corvette Baby, it's much too fast Little Red Corvette You need to find a love that's gonna last Little Red Corvette Honey, you've got to go I've got to go now Little Red Corvette I've got to go now Little Red Corvette Little Red Corvette I've got to go now Little Red Corvette You've got to go now Little Red Corvette You've got to go now That, of course, was Prince and Little Red Corvette. Now, joining me on the line is Elaine Connelly, the manager with the Connemara Credit Union. Good evening, Elaine, and welcome to Community Matters. Thank you. How are you, Maureen? I'm good, Elaine. How are you today? Good, good, good. Did you have a nice bank holiday weekend? I did. It was lovely. You got the day off yesterday. We did. Always do it on a Monday. Yeah, that's good. And the weather was nice on Sunday, so that helped. Yeah, it did. Yeah, a little bit of a taste of summer. I hope it stays with us. Hopefully, it's the start of great things. Hopefully. We won't talk too loudly now. We don't want to frighten it away. No. Now, Elaine, a lot's happening in the credit union, as always. But I think you're on to talk to us primarily about your upcoming pension information evening. When is that taking place, and what does that involve? Okay. So, it's next Tuesday night, so Tuesday the 14th, and it's in the credit union building in Clifton, upstairs from our office. Okay. And we have three experts on the night to talk to us, one on pensions for the self-employed, our private pensions. We have, then, Rebecca from the Citizens Advice Bureau is in to talk about state pensions, the old-age pension. We also have Maureen doing the new auto-enrollment pension scheme that's coming in probably January, I think it's starting, which will make big changes for anybody with employing people or employees. There's often grey areas, and a lot more questions than answers people have about pensions, and a lack of information because, I guess, there are so many different options, number one, and then there's so many different categories, whether you're self-employed, whether you're talking about the state pensions, you know, so there's so many different schemes and so many different options available that it can be confusing to those people. It's very confusing. Exactly, exactly. So, hopefully, this information evening will enlighten people and answer a lot of their questions, but they'll probably have chances to do, as well as the information that's being given, there'll be a Q&A session, I would imagine. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, so that's important. So, is it open to all of the public? It is, yeah. It's a free evening. It's open to anybody who's around. I think especially, you know, the likes of small business owners, maybe, as well, who have, you know, a couple of employees and are not sure about the whole auto-enrollment that's coming in next year, or if you have the self-employed, the sole traders, who keep putting it on the long finger that they must get a pension, must get a pension. Yeah, exactly. So, it's on until seven, it starts? Yeah, seven, and we'll probably go on until about eight, half-eight, but they're all going to do a short presentation and then be available for questions and answers. Okay, and it's for members, as well as non-members, can attend on the night? Yes, everybody. Anybody who's around. We love to see people coming. It's a thing we're trying to do with a couple of information evenings a year. I think we did one last October-November on wills and stuff, and this one is pensions. We're also hoping to launch with a new business loan product that we're going to launch on the night, as well. Okay. What's that about? To answer questions on it. Again, it's a business loan for kind of it's divided into three categories for stocking, for capital, or for assets, you know. So, it's just we're launching it. It will be a low interest rate to start with, and hopefully, we'll get a couple of people interested in that. So, we will have a couple of our loans officers. We'll be milling around on the night if anybody wants to chat with them, but primarily, it's about the pensions on Tuesday night, but we're there for other things, as well. Yeah, so after the event, you'll probably have members coming in who may have missed it looking for a refresher course from yourselves and the team there after the event. I guess there will be leaflets and information available, as well, for people to take home or share around with family members on the night. There will. There will. I mean, we're all quite interested to learn ourselves about it. I don't know a whole lot. I'm as confused as anyone else about pensions. I know I have one, but I just need to know a little bit more about it, I think, and what I should be saving to get that great retirement. Yeah, yeah. That's what we all wish for, but oftentimes, when the information, you know, for those who have pensions and have already sorted that and ticked that box, when the information comes out, you nearly need to be a banker or an accountant to be able to read it and interpret it and understand it, even though you have signed on the dotted line and you have a pension, but it's keeping abreast of that, and, you know, if there's changes that need to be made, if you need to review it, you know, after so many years, you may need to review it or switch schemes or switch investors or whatever. It always seems to be a potential minefield and a changing landscape, especially with the economy as it is at the moment. Oh, it's very complex. Yeah. That's why we get the experts in. There's no time to not trying to do it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. So I'm just saying here, see, just to recap again, if Adrian Cafferkey, who is an independent financial advisor from Churchfield Financial Solutions, will be giving the talk about the pensions for the self-employed mainly. That's right. And then Rebecca, as you say, with the Citizens Information, Rebecca Levy, she's an information officer with Citizens Information Centre, will be discussing the state pension and any questions anyone has on that. And then Maureen Maloney is a pension researcher from the University of Galway and a member of the Connemara Credit Union Board, and she's going to be discussing the automatic enrolment that you're thinking should be coming into effect, say, in January of next year. I believe so. Yeah, yeah. So is that something that's on the horizon and is coming down the tracks? It is. Or it's been signed into law, I believe. Okay. It's in access. Whether they do it in January or wait until after the general election, there might be a little bit of a cost to people for it, so they might put it off. Yeah, yeah. Depends on when they roll it out or when they actually flick the switch on that one. Exactly. Yeah, we'll have to be ready for it both. Yeah, exactly. And will that be something that will affect any of your services there? It will affect anybody working. Anybody employed who's earning more than, I think, $20,000 a year, it'll affect them. They'll automatically be enrolled into a pension scheme, and it'll be up to them topped out. They can't opt out until after six months of enrolment. I think it's 1.5% of their salary will be taken initially to be invested in it, and then the employer has to match that, and then the state, I think, 5% as well. So it could affect people's wages, you know, for a while, but definitely in the long term it's good to have it. Yeah. At least it's sticking in the box for you, if you haven't gotten around to taking it yourself then as such, and everybody's going to need it. When the time comes and the longer everyone waits, the more difficult it will be and the more challenging it will be when retirement does come upon them. So you say you're launching a new business loan. Will that replace the existing or current business loans you have on offer, or will they be running as well? No, they'll be running as well, but it's not something we've done a lot of business lending. There is definitely a demand for it, but we've had to skill up ourselves. We have to get a little bit more expertise on that. Lending officers have been attending a couple of various training courses and reading a little bit more about it, and we're getting help from a risk officer. So I think we're ready to launch into it. It'll be very different underwriting than a personal loan, so we have to get the skills right first because we can't get it wrong and put our members' money at risk. No, no. So how is business? Are there new members joining all the time? Yes, yeah, there are. Things are looking good at the moment anyway. We were out with Sue there last week talking to transition year students. We do that every year, which is great, and it's great to get them involved and get them signed up as members, and hopefully then we have some for life. They can do their savings and borrowing from us. I was going to ask you that before you mentioned it. Are you getting a lot of young people and students starting to become members and start to save? Yes, we are. We are in the last couple of years. We started, I suppose, about five years ago. We were kindly invited out to the school to the transition years, and I think it's having an effect now. Most of them come in and they either reactivate old accounts that their parents opened when they were born and then not much happened on them, and they're coming back in and reactivating them or coming in and opening new accounts. So it's lovely, and it just means even if they move away, you have to be in the common bond to join the credit union, but once a member, always a member. So no matter where you end up in the world, you can still keep your Connemara Credit Union account. And now that we're online, you see, it's easier to transact and you don't have to come into the office physically at all. Yes, if you click and if you tap on the buttons, and they have it all sorted. And especially when they start working, especially coming into the summer season, if they start to get summer jobs and things, it's a good habit to get them involved and to have a little bit of savings and that it all doesn't get spent at the weekends like we did when we were their age. It's very easy to do that. We're trying to make the next generation wiser and more financially savvy than we were. Anyway, it's been lovely chatting to you, and the best of luck on Tuesday evening, Elaine, with all of that. It sounds very informative, and I'm sure anyone that attends on the night is going to walk away with a lot more information and a lot of their questions answered, and that's the key thing, isn't it? Yes, no, that's great, and thank you very much for giving me the time. I sure will look forward to seeing you next week. Okay. Absolutely, delighted to have you. Take care, Elaine. Have a lovely evening. Take care. Bye. And that, of course, was Elaine Connolly, the manager with the Connemara Credit Union, just letting everyone know about the upcoming pension information evening, Tuesday, the 14th of May, next at 7 p.m. upstairs over at their offices in Clifton. So, folks, it has brought us back up to just two minutes to eight now, so it's time for me to thank all of my guests and to get out of the hot seat and let the next presenter in it. So my guests this evening that I want to wish a special thank you to are Jonathan Powell, the producer of the What's On Connemara magazine, Father Francis Mitchell, the diocesan secretary of the Archdiocese of Tewn, Garda Alan Murphy, the community guard with the Clifton Garda Station, and Elaine Connolly, the manager of Connemara Credit Union. A big thank you to them for coming on Community Matters this evening. And a big thank you, of course, to Tommy Rowe for juggling all things technical, phones, headphones, tech desks, music and the likes for me this evening. A big thank you to him. Thanks also to the producer, Bree Jo Malley, and thanks to the team here at Connemara Community Radio. And thanks to you, the listener, for staying with me for the Community Matters this evening. But do stay with the Community Radio here as we have the casual news that's coming up now at eight o'clock with Bernard Lee, and that is followed by the Citizen's Information slot at about 8.20, and then Colin Wolfe will be here between 8.30 and 9.00 p.m. to close out broadcast for this evening. So from me, Maureen Corbett, from Tommy Rowe, and from everyone here at the station, have a very lovely evening and we'll talk to you again soon. Take care. Community Matters was kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Limited, incorporating Clifton, Tully Cross and Carnabranches. Connemara Credit Union is here to serve the people of the Connemara area. Main Office, Clifton and Tully Cross Branch, 19521101.