The Great Outdoors 10oct2024

The transcript is about a radio program called Radio Phobos Calamara. The host, John, introduces the various guests he will be speaking to on the show. One of the guests, Monica Mullins, is the Climate Action Officer for Gold Recollect and will be discussing the Climate Ambassador Program and Climate Action Week. She encourages listeners to get involved by attending events or joining the program. The aim is to raise awareness about climate change and take action to reduce emissions. Monica mentions various activities and initiatives that individuals can participate in, such as sustainable travel, reducing energy usage, and tackling food waste. She emphasizes the importance of communication and spreading the message about climate change. The host also mentions other guests who will be discussing topics such as astronomy, environmental groups, and sustainable gardening. The program aims to highlight the importance of environmental sustainability and the need for collective action. This is Radio Phobos Calamara, and this is how you escape the shape that you hate, FM. Welcome to the great outdoors here on Calamara Community Radio, 87.8 and 106.1 FM. Good evening listeners and you're welcome to the great outdoors with John Staunton here with you until 8.30. So, as usual, let me tell you who we will be chatting to tonight. In our eco-slot, I'll be talking to Monica Mullins. Monica is the Climate Action Officer for Gold Recollect. She's with the Environmental Education Unit within FASCA. So, Monica is going to be talking to us about applications open for Climate Ambassador Program Climate Action Week. So, Monica is going to tell us all about that. That will bring us up to the ads. After the ads at 7.30, I'll be talking to no stranger to Calamara Community Radio, David Moore, our Astronomy Ireland. And this week is Space Week, but we'll be hearing all about that from David. Now, this is a hard one for me because I hope I won't get the pronunciation wrong. I'll be talking to Pranjali Zabe, maybe. Anyways, he's the Communication Coordinator with the fantastic Byrne Bureau. It's a great environmental group down there in the Byrne. And it's a very exciting time in the Byrne where we'll be talking about the Byrne Winter Weekend. Where they bring cattle up on the Byrne where they will happily overwinter on the Byrne. Then after that, I'll be talking to Aoife Munn, Sustainability Consultant. It doesn't tell me who Aoife is with. But she'll be talking about holding the Sustainable Gardening Workshop on the 22nd of October as part of the Calamara Sea Week coming up here in the village. And then, after the news and all that, back to you again at 8.15, I'll be talking to Alina Andrienko. She's a member of the National Ukrainian Choir. And Ukrainians Living in Galway feature in a new documentary with Phil Coulter. So that will bring us into our evening. I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful October weather. Driving back tonight, the sun was setting between Diamond Hill and Dothru, lighting up Kylemore Lake. And, you know, we don't appreciate at all how blessed we are. With the fantastic scenery, when you hear the terrible hurricanes out in Florida. And so much of the world at war, the lovely, quiet, peaceful time we have in Ireland. You know, we take it, we complain, it's human nature. But I hope you're all in good health, that you can enjoy this beautiful weather. It's definitely a lift to us after a rather dim summer. But anyways, my technician, as usual, is Ann Norris. And I think Ann has lined up Monica Mullins. The Eco Sloth on Calamara Community Radio. A weekly program focusing on environmental and climate sustainability. This program is co-funded by Commissioning the Mons to the Sound and Vision Scheme. So, good evening Monica, can you hear me? I can indeed, John. Thanks so much for having me on the program. No, it's our pleasure to have you to tell us about Climate Ambassador Program. What is going on at all, and what's this about? Yeah, so the Climate Ambassador Program, it's Ireland's first ever initiative to train and support people who are taking action on climate change. And we're the National Climate Change Action and Awareness Program, set up in 2017 and we're funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communication. Since 2018, we've trained over a thousand climate ambassadors all around Ireland. And I'm hoping some of your listeners this evening, John, might consider applying this year. Okay, so Climate Action Week is taking place on the 14th to the 20th of October, Monica. Yes, indeed. So we're kicking off on Monday the 14th. And we're going to have events running all through the week up until Sunday the 20th as well. So it's a good week for people who maybe want to get involved with some climate action initiatives to lean in and celebrate the work that we're doing all around the country. And where will the leadership come from? Like out here now in West Galway, you know, we're based in Leicester Frack. How will our listenership know if something is really happening between the 14th to the 20th? Or will they have to take the initiative themselves? Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. So there's a couple of things people can do. We have events on our web page as well. Loads of events are happening online and collaborations across the country. Maybe listeners are doing some of their own events as well and they want to share and spread the message. So they can do that by, you know, just tagging us on social media at the Climate Ambassador as well. And we can spread the word if you have any events happening. And then another option would be to maybe join the Climate Ambassador program. So we'll support you through your climate actions all through next year. Maybe making a pledge to do a climate action yourself. Up on our website we have over 18 pledges that, you know, people can do. They'd be ranging from things like maybe cycling more or walking more maybe and driving less. So maybe looking at sustainable travel. Maybe you could tackle something at home like looking at maybe energy usage or food waste. You know, like a third of all food is wasted globally each year. So that's a massive thing someone can look at as well. Maybe they're looking at waste, you know, ditching disposables, things like that. Simply just bring in a keep cup or reusable bottles to maybe your school or work. There's a plethora of things they can do. But a big, big part of it is actually, you know, communicating and talking about climate change. You know, if you're doing some actions at home, talking to your friends and neighbours and family, you know, spreading the message and the awareness about it all. Yeah, I suppose that really what the aim of it simply is to make us more aware of all these little actions that can influence climate change and that we're all part of it. Exactly. So yeah, it's Ireland's Climate Action Week. It's Ireland's largest pop-up climate festival as well. So it's really to celebrate everything that's happening. And, you know, we'll be organising a number of events throughout the country. We've a lot of them lined up. If people want to log on to our website, it's www.climateambassador.ie and we have a schedule for the week lined up. Something lifters might be interested in as well. We have the big swap shop party is kicking off. This is a really good opportunity to, you know, declutter your wardrobe, maybe catch up with some friends and then look at getting maybe some new sustainably styled clothes as well. And then, you know, you can do these things at home. You know, you don't have to leave your home as well. You could host, swap and chat all about things climate and, you know, the circular in slow fashion as well. Or make a pledge or you could listen as well. We have our podcast that's running for a number of years now. So you could catch up on a topic that, you know, would be interesting to you as well. And we have a number of online webinars happening too about all about climate communication, biodiversity as well and nature's resilience and nature's resilience to coping with climate change as well. And I'll be hosting a film screening on Thursday as well. So it's all about film wilding, which is a really interesting story about a young couple who are restoring the land. They have a 400 year old land and castle as well. So they're restoring that back to nature, you know, taking down the fences, letting nature come in and restore the land in a kind of holistic way. Well, there's a lot of things they can do. Yeah. So Ireland, I think, is slowly coming round to the thinking of getting involved. Like I think for the first year, last year, we had a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. And I just think that we're kind of getting the message in little, little steps where there is improvement. I'd like to have kind of a bit of positive news. So would you agree with that, that we are slowly improving our actions? Yeah, for sure. Like I think a big part of the Climate Ambassador program is all about climate literacy. You know, we do a lot of work with schools and also people, you know, universities, jobs and a lot of work with climate leadership as well to really instill these skills in people that they can spread the word and can trickle out themselves. You know, a big, big measure for Ireland would be our agriculture sector, followed by, you know, our transport and energy and our homes. So, you know, a lot of people are installing things like smart meters at home. There'll be more grants available for farmers and people working in the agriculture sector as well, maybe reduce their emissions. So slowly but surely, I think we're getting there, but there's much more work we need to do. And, you know, we need to come together as climate ambassadors. We work with people from all areas of life. You know, we're feeling the effects of climate change, you know, on the local, national and global scale. So now more than ever... Yeah, and with the terrible hurricanes out in the highest ever, I think out of Florida, so it might be a good time to try to reinforce them that something is happening all right. You know, sometimes we kind of live in a dream world that I don't believe in climate change, you can hear people saying, but there's too much evidence backing up, I think, you know. Yeah, I think climate justice is a big part of that, too, as well. You know, we're not really feeling the effects in Ireland, but the small things we can do really together have a big, big effect. And it's about doing something that, you know, you enjoy as well, something that brings you joy, something you're good at, and then, you know, looking at what needs to do. And then that makes the action all the more meaningful and sustainable when people are doing things they love and things they're good at as well. Yeah, I think farmers, there's a bit of fear with them. We won't go into this now, it's too big a topic. But I think individually, they like to do their own small things. But they're afraid because they think it will have, as any sector, will have more of an impact on their way of life. But that's not the case. But I think individually, people are thinking, I'm conscious of the time, Monica. So I want to ask you a little bit about the Climate Ambassador Programme and who should join it. And what are you looking for there? Yeah, so it's open to everyone. I mean, you mentioned farmers. So, you know, we want more farmers to join the programme as well. You know, the custodians of the land, they know the land more better than anyone as well. It's open to anyone. It's open to anyone. We often have transition year students, both secondary students applying, people from universities, workplaces as well. Over the years, we've had people from, you know, all walks of life, to mention a few. Last year, we had Hilda O'Grady from Kinvar as well. You know, she's really involved with her local farmers market, you know, showcasing local food. She brought in loads of circular economy initiatives. You know, a clash for clobber for GEA and swap shops as well. She planted over 800 native trees to Kinvar as well, and then got cycle parking grants from their local council. We've had Climate Ambassadors set up their own podcast as well, Economics. I'll do a quick plug there. And, you know, from the perspective of two busy working mothers as well. We've also had Stephen McBoy as well. He's from the Midlands. He's a mountain biker, but, you know, outdoors, loving nature, seeing the big issue of litter, you know, on mountains and the tracks as well. So, joined together to do a big, big clean up for National Spring Clean with all the mountain clubs across Ireland. Yeah, it's just amazing how, you know, people are still, I don't know how they can do it, can't leave litter behind them wherever they go. I just want to zone you in a little bit, Monica, as we're zoning your time. Some people might be afraid, if I joined this, I won't have time. Everyone seems to be mad busy, and you have young people with school pressure and that. Will it take up a lot of time? They might love to be at it, but they might be afraid that it's too time consuming. Are there any fears there? What I mean is they want to join the program. Yeah, so, you know, the only requirements are to attend a training day, and we'll always have one in Galway. So, you know, so that should hopefully suit with people, you know, Connemara as well. And then we ask them to do or to log two actions each year. But, you know, they're naturally probably doing a lot of these actions at home anyway as well. And then we hopefully get them to join our awards ceremony in November each year, which is a great way of celebrating all the hard work. And then we host network gatherings throughout the year, many in Galway. I'll be hosting a number throughout the year. So if they can attend them, great as well. And just is there a closing date for this to join or to attend? Yes. So if you go to our website, climateinvestor.ie, it has all our social media handles as well. The closing date and application form is up at the moment and will be closing on the 20th of October. And then my contact is there as well. So it has my email and my phone number. If people have any questions or your listeners want to give me a shout, please do reach out as well. Yes. Will you just give us that link again, Monica? Yes. So it is www.climateambassador.ie if you, you know. Ok, climateambassador.ie, yeah. Yeah. And do a quick online search. You'll find us up there as well. Monica, thanks a million. We could keep talking but our time is cut up on us. Thanks for joining us and very interesting thing there if you get into that link and join up. And you can be doing these things on the phone, but at least you'll be more focused and you know you're part of a bigger group. So thanks, Monica. It was a pleasure, John. Thank you so much. Thank you indeed. You've just been listening to the EcoStoss on Connemara Community Radio, a weekly program focusing on environmental and climate sustainability. This program is co-funded by Commissioner Lamont through the Sound and Vision scheme. Jobspot on Connemara Community Radio. King's Paper Shop Clifton are looking for part-time staff. Applicants must be over 18. To apply, please send your CV to joan.king at hotmail.com or drop into the shop. Experience is preferred but not necessary as full training will be provided. Killary Adventure Centre are a Booking and Sales Coordinator on site at our Adventure Centre in Stunningly Now. This is to manage bookings, assist customers and promote activities. Whether you're looking for part-time or full-time work, this role offers flexibility based on your skill set. Flexible hours Monday to Friday with weekend availability during peak season. To apply, contact adventure at killary.com or just call 095 434 111. Jobspot on Connemara Community Radio. Free Me Oil Mega Giveaway. This year the competition will run for one week only from Monday the 14th to Friday the 18th of October. Four 300 euro Free Me Oil vouchers have been given away to four lucky listeners. Four names will be drawn daily and these names will be included in the grand draw for the vouchers on Friday the 18th of October at 12 noon. All runners up will receive a 25 euro voucher for the service station. To begin with the chance to win one of these vouchers, listen to our morning shows from Monday the 14th to Friday the 18th of October from 11 to 12 noon. And when you hear the Sweeney Oil beep, get calling on 095 416 16. Please note this competition is not open to Sweeney Oil or Connemara Community Radio employees or immediate families. Good luck everyone and remember it's for one week only. Leiden's Carpets and Flooring by Cullen. Excellent service to the Connemara area since 1994. Call us on 091 555 962 or email leidenscarpets at gmail.com. West Coast Insulation, their local cavity wall and attic insulation specialists. Walls pumped with Kingspan Platinum Ecobead. We also supply and fit blown rockwool and mineral wool in attics. Grant of up to 3,250 euro available. For more information or for a free quotation call West Coast Insulation on 087 142 1414 or visit our website myinsulation.ie. For more information or for a free quotation call West Coast Insulation on 087 142 1414 or visit our website myinsulation.ie. Birthday packages will have your little monkeys zipping through the treetops for a birthday they'll never forget. Perfect for kids, teens and adults alike. Call Killary Adventure today at 095 434 11 or visit our website to learn more. Adventure begins at Killary. Bounce Back Recycling can collect old mattresses and furniture direct from your address. Recycled materials are recovered and diverted from landfill for a more environmentally friendly option. So go green and get in touch today. Collections across Connemara every Friday. Bookings are subject to availability. To get a quote or make a booking call 091 7608 77. See bouncebackrecycling.ie or message bouncebackrecycling on Facebook. Joyce's Bar and Grocery resets. Services include grocery, wholesales, petrol and diesel, lottery agents, bar and live music at the weekends. Bar food daily until 6pm. Sunday lunch specials serve from 12.30 until 6pm. Call Joyce's on 095 346 58 for more information. When I got up this morning the house wasn't freezing. I checked the app with one quick tap the Sweeney Oil Smart Saver. Control your costs and monitor your oil levels with the Sweeney Oil Smart Saver. Call Sweeney Oil on 1800 555 999 or visit Sweeney Oil.ie. Sweeney Oil, I'm Alicia Strolley. Now welcome back, this man is no stranger at all to Connemara's miniature radio here. Of course I'm talking about Astronomy Ireland's David Moore. So hello David. Hi there. How are you today? Fantastic, thank you. Yes, you know I'm going to start with something I'm passionate myself about. And no one better than yourself to tell me what's in the sky for October? Wow. Well the big thing is Comet TA. It has a long Chinese acronym name called Siu Chin Shan Atlas. I just call it TA for short. It just passed between the Earth and the Sun the last few days. People were hoping to see it in daylight. A few experts did but now it comes into evening skies. I was just down a few minutes ago trying to get the first glimpse of it. It's just a bit low. It will be much higher tomorrow and then gets fantastic as the days tick by. We might even see it with the naked eye until the end of October. That's the big story for this month. And that's like a space station David, isn't it? Sorry, say again please. What exactly is this we'd be looking at, a space station? Oh this is a comet. Oh comet, oh sorry. Yes, a comet. The word comet actually means hairy star. I'm hoping this one is going to have a fine tail because it passed relatively close to the Sun. About a third of our distance from the Sun. It gets really strongly heated there. It should boil off lots of material and the radiation of the Sun then will blow it into a beautiful long tail we hope. In fact people were seeing it in the Southern Hemisphere before it went close to the Sun and they got great pictures of it with a long tail. So we expect that tail will continue. And the lovely clear skies this week, will that be a help to us? Oh yes, we have to have a clear sky. Often what happens in Ireland is something spectacular happens. What I mean by that David, is it after dark? Is that when we have the best chance to see it? Oh yes. It's a night time object. As I said some people were attempting to see it in daylight but that's very difficult. Best you see is a very small smudge if you know exactly what you're doing and exactly where to look. I had a giant telescope on it today and I couldn't see it. I have to confess. So give that to the experts. You might just see pictures online about it. So you're those because what you're going to see with the naked eye is a comet where the Sun goes down over in the West. So start looking in twilight. It's actually gone down now already for tonight. But tomorrow around, well whenever the Sun sets, around 6.30, almost 6.30 for an hour or so. And it'll get higher and higher. If you get Astronomy Island magazine, you've got a fantastic star map showing you where it is. So you'll see from the bright naked eye star and you can see where the comet is relative to those. If people know the star, there's a bright star called Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the sky. That's over in the West and it's directly below that. So look between the star Arcturus and the horizon, much closer to the horizon. And start sweeping in the strong twilight with your binoculars. And hopefully as the twilight gets dimmer, then you'll be able to put the binoculars away and enjoy the spectacle. I remember we had in Astronomy Island magazine back in 2020, four years ago in the summer, a comet called Neowise. And it was in the North Sky in the evening. It was during lockdown. So if you were stuck in a town or a city, you couldn't get out to see it. Fortunately, being a journalist, we were allowed travel. And I got some incredible photographs of it. As did people who could see it from their rural backyard. And if you look at the September 2020 issue of Astronomy Island magazine, you will see an incredible comet, photographed from Ireland, with a huge long tail on it. Four years, every four years, actually quite frequent. We'd only expect comets like this once a decade, or once every second decade maybe. So make the most of the rest of October. Yeah, and I think that there's a great attraction to comets. They really are very delicate and magical looking when they appear. Now, David, I'm going to cancel time again here. So I want to give you a chance to tell us about the Beginner's Astronomy Online Zoom Class. Yeah, because we have two big events coming up. The Saturn Watch in Leinster. So if you're not in Leinster, don't worry about that. Check it on our website, astronomy.ie. That's next Tuesday. But the big thing you can do online from anywhere in the world, let alone anywhere in Ireland, are astronomy for beginners' classes. These have been running for decades now. Thousands of people have taken them. And the whole idea is, you know, I've just discovered an interest in astronomy. I want to know in the course of eight Tuesday nights, what's out there, what the universe is all about. Everything from using telescopes to explaining the Big Bang, and all points in between. And we don't assume any knowledge of science, or certainly not astronomy. So it's very much aimed at beginners. The whole family will enjoy it. You can register online. You go to astronomy.ie. You'll immediately see the link there on the website. And sign up for classes. You'll get a subscription to Astronomy Online Magazine in the price. And that will then keep your knowledge up to date every month thereafter. So it's a great way of getting into astronomy. Some people even give it as gifts to young people, or for Christmas or birthdays coming up. So you can do all that on astronomy.ie. And we'll cover everything. The Sun, the Moon, the planets, manned space exploration. And that's Tuesday 22nd, not too far away at all. Exactly, so it's Tuesday week. We're only a few days away now. Northern Lights, and that's Monday and Tuesday for various parts of Ireland. Yes, and we're expecting a huge display tonight or tomorrow night. We'll just about post that on our social media. So if you watch out tonight, you might see rays and streamers. It might not happen until tomorrow night. There's always a small chance it won't happen at all. Various things have to happen in space. But the Sun belched out a huge cloud of radiation a couple of days ago. And that's expected to hit us, and that's what causes the Northern Lights. So I've already seen them from Ireland eight times this year, including the Irish weather. It's been clear every night. You can imagine how often you would have seen them. So this looks like a really big display if conditions are just right. So we really want people to get out and watch tonight in particular. And if you do see them, you can photograph them with even a camera phone these days. And we want you to send your best photograph to Astronomy Ireland magazine. Again, go to astronomy.ie. You'll see them to contact us where to send magazine photographs. And tell us where you are, tell us what county you're in. We'll publish the best in the future issue of Astronomy Ireland magazine. Even last weekend, my neighbours in Calmore in the Quieshness there, they had Northern Lights pictures up on Facebook of the Northern Lights in the area. Well if they're Irish photographs, we want them to send them to Astronomy Ireland magazine. And they'll go into the magazine, they'll be archived in the National Library for all time. I know people think the internet is great, but remember, you're posting pictures that belong to private companies. How do we know they'll be around in a hundred years' time? The National Library will be. David, just a minor confirmation, it is a rather, I think, very exciting, me listening to you here, it's a very exciting week in the Irish sky. Oh yeah, this October is going to be incredible. If we have that aurora tonight, it might be delayed until tomorrow night, and the comet for the rest of the month, and everything else that you can see, Saturn and everything else, I'm not going to be getting any sleep at all. Thanks a million Dave, and no doubt you'll be back to us again in the near future. I hope so. Thanks David. There's loads more happening November, December, January, February, March, and I can tell you about that. Our radio staff will be lining you up. Thanks a million Dave for sharing that great... Bye bye. Thank you so much. Now that was David Moore from Astronomy Ireland. Now, we don't often do this, but to come in from radio, a special man, John O'Keefe, I think it's John that I know down in Dogs Bay, in Arraspeg there, but John has a rather big birthday today, and Christine and Seamus down there, I think, in Brownstone, and all the neighbours and friends of the great John O'Keefe, we're asked to play a song from. Now, I heard this song wind up already, it's a great fan of mine, I'm a great fan of hers, I'm talking about Joan Baez, and the song is Farewell Angelina. I think you'll like it John, I think everybody will like this beautiful bit of music. Farewell Angelina Farewell Angelina The growls of the crowd Are being stolen by a bandit I must follow the sound The triangle tingles And the trumpets play slow Farewell Angelina The sky's on fire And I must go There's no need for anger There's no need for blame There's nothing to prove Everything's still the same Just a table standing empty By the edge of a sea Means farewell Angelina The sky is trembling And I must leave The jock and the queen Have forsaken the courtyard Fifty-two gypsies Now file past the guard In the space where the deuce and the ace Once ran wild Farewell Angelina The sky is falling I'll see you in a while See the crawl of fried hearts It perched in the sun Shooting tin cans With a thought of shotgun And the neighbors they clap And they cheer with each blast But farewell Angelina The sky's changing color And I must leave fast Kings cry a little out On the roof while they dance Valentino tight tangles While the makeup man stands Shut the eyes of the dead Not to embarrass anyone But farewell Angelina The sky is embarrassed And I must be gone The machine guns are roaring In the puppets he brought And scenes nailed time-bound To the hands of the clock Call me any name you like I will never deny it But farewell Angelina The sky is erupting I must go where it's quiet Now happy birthday again to John O'Keefe Down there in Dogs Bay I think That's the same John I'm thinking about And I hope you enjoyed the lovely Joan Baez singing there Farewell Angelina A song suitable for the times we're living in I think Now I'm going to talk to I hope I say it right, you can correct me, Pranjali? Yeah, you're very close, Pranjali Pranjali And the second, I like these names to get them right Introducing you, I said Zabe Zabe, yeah, Zabe Say it once more please Zabe Okay, lovely Pranjali, okay? Yes, yes Now you're telling, you're going to talk to me Something that's really, even though I live far away Quite far away from the barn But I think I'm very interested in this In this winterage of the barn I think we all know now that the barn That rocky or limestone outcrop In, I suppose, South Galway North And North West Clare That it looks real bare and it's full of wildflowers For the botanists But farmers are very interested And it's a very powerful outdoor winterage for cattle In that part of the world Yeah, I suppose the barn, you know The common perception of the barn is Rocky, limestone hills Which is true But it's also full of beautiful wildflowers And grasses And really high diversity of plants and insects And one of the reasons, one of the main reasons That it's possible in the barn Is because of the farming methods So for thousands of years the farmers in the barn Have used their upland farms Which they call winterages For winter grazing their cattle So they move their cattle up to the limestone uplands And leave them out to roam and forage over the winter And bring them down again in spring So what that does is The cows graze out all the rough grasses And leave space and light For the beautiful orchids and wildflowers To arrive in springtime So there's a really beautiful connection And a positive connection Between farming and biodiversity in the barn And I think the Barn Winterage Weekend Is an occasion to celebrate that connection I think we all need the positive stories And need positive narratives Of how farmers can help nature And I think this is one of those examples So it's a nice occasion Yeah, like it's a lovely symbiosis Between farmer and nature Because often the farmers and the agriculture body And the environment are at loggerheads But here the actions of the farmer Is really the sustainable life of the barn Which is a lovely marriage if you like Yeah, yeah, exactly Yeah, and I like there I like the last thing around there Because this is what we need We need to preach really That farmers shouldn't be afraid of the environment And the environment should understand farmers But it's really the barn Is the perfect example of how the two work together And I like how you said that The cattle have to graze out To let the light down to the tinder The plants that will be all the colour in spring And ginseng and what have you Yeah, I mean years ago the farmers did this Not for the flowers of course They were responding to the geological conditions The limestone offered like a warm dry place For the cattle to lie in the winter And also it was the one time the water table was high enough That there was enough water for the cattle to drink In the upland areas And it all soaked away in the summer So the cattle couldn't be sustained In the upland in the summer So what the farmers were doing Were responding to the local conditions The environmental conditions In order to make a living But I think inadvertently It resulted in a very positive outcome For the biodiversity in the area So it's a beautiful example Of how farming and nature can work hand in hand And I think we like to highlight it Because we use it as an occasion To broaden the dialogue around Well you know there are farmers out there Who are doing really a lot of work To enhance nature on their land So this is also a chance to celebrate that So you know this is the occasion Where we bring people together To celebrate the cattle Moving the cattle season Herding the cattle to the winter But also have other events around that To talk about this through various means Through arts and music And discussions, panel discussions And awards There's a whole list of events there Around this weekend And also maybe some people might think That you have to have cattle inside In slatted sheds And housed over the hard winter But there's nothing will beat A natural winteridge Like the barn Of course it's very high in lime I'd imagine and minerals So well known is this winteridge That I believe that Midland farmers Would bring cattle down there In big numbers I don't know if that's still going on or not But I know some big beef fatteners In Meath would use the barn I don't know if that's still going on or not There's certainly historical evidence of that Of farmers from Meath up till there Bringing their cattle over here Sending their cattle here over the winter Because it was just a low input Low cost way of Keeping the cattle alive And well over the winter So it was sort after land If you like It has it's own challenges today It's not easy Maintaining winteridges So there are Kind of schemes out there to support farmers To do that But I think the larger aim of the festival Is to get community buy in In order to let people make a living I think what's happening now is that There's an effort to encourage buy in I think it's the local farmers now Lots of smaller operations And I think that's really The interest of it Am I right in saying that this Practice was kind of Or did it decline there Maybe 20 years ago and that the scrub Got all out of hand Yes Was that kind of the Burren project Yeah so the start of the Burren farming for conservation Program that was around 20 years ago And it was started by our colleague Brendan Dunford And he was completing a PhD in the Burren And talking to a lot of farmers And he did a study on the relationship Between farming and environment And it kind of Brought together the evidence That look we need to continue certain practices In order for the beautiful biodiversity To survive and thrive And there was EU life funding Then made available for the farmers To support them In maintaining these vintages And you know it means herding the cattle And maintaining the cattle And also you know Maintaining tracks and water troughs And all other kinds of things That farmers need support for And the farmers have received Support in order to continue But it's challenging and The scrub is encroaching all the time So it's not something we can get complacent About Yeah I know we brought down I was part of a group but I didn't organise it Now I think Brendan and Mally might have organised it But we Went down here once And we had a very interesting lightning day And we were, Brendan Dunford Met us and gave us a lovely presentation And brought us up on the burn slopes And so It's a very wet country up here Rather than the burn But it's a very interesting place What I was going to say there Is there goats then? Would goats help the scrub Or would they be too invasive Or would they do too much damage Goats are a bit more controversial They are indiscriminate in what they eat And you know of course They knock down walls and stuff So yeah Ironically they don't They're not as helpful In maintaining the cattle are Yeah it's a lovely tradition Now is there a kind of a festival Built around it On our weekend Is it the 25th or 27th of October Is that the official Sometimes it makes The national news headlines Yeah yeah we've often been lucky Enough to get in national news as well But it happens every year Around the October bank holiday weekend So this year It's the 25th or 27th of October And events start From Friday evening which is the 25th of October And they culminate With the community cattle drive Which is on Sunday the 27th When we invite visitors And local community to join Join us on one particular farm It's a different farm every year And help us herd these cattle So it's a lovely It's a lovely occasion Yeah there's nothing like it really Yeah it's like the only example We have of transhumance in Ireland That is moving cattle Up a vertical slope, up a slope And I think That it's very exciting For farmers Like if people want to go down from here The Sunday is the cattle drive And they'd be very interested in the quality of these cattle Cattle in limestone Land always has good bone And they're very prized by the Fatteners Yes and the herd That we are herding this year Are the special heritage breed called Moyle So the Irish Moyle cattle So there's about 20 to 30 I think cattle there Will be there on the day that will be walked up And left to graze In the upland area So it's not a big walk It's uneven farmland But it's beautiful views So it's doable Once you're sure-footed or have a little stick Or something, but it's not difficult It's not a difficult walk Maybe you don't know this But is it held like a commonage within the barn Is the fences, does the cattle Mix with all the cattle and Some of the vintages Are commonages, but I think A lot of them are privately owned by individual farmers And they are separated by stone walls Oh by stone walls Oh yes, lovely And I think that stone wall is like the Aran Island stone wall Filled with flags Exactly, Aran Islands There's farmers on Aran Islands who also practice Vintage, you know Because that is considered similar Similar conditions on the Aran Islands As they are in the barn And From an ecological point of view Is it If it was being scored As we do now in acres Is it in fairly good shape now in the barn As regards to scrub control I know people have, farmers have gotten involved With chainsaws and Mechanical removal of scrub Yeah, so there's a lot of Scientific support For farmers on Kind of advice I suppose On how best to maintain it Is it in a good condition That's a very good question I don't know if this thing is ongoing Whether the biodiversity is going up or down But I think as long as farmers are supported And incentivised In continuing these traditions You know, there is hope Yes, we're out of time Tanjali But just to know that This is what the environment wants They want the farmers putting up the cattle there And I think that's a lovely positive thing And that weekend Is the 25th to the 27th of October And the cattle drive is on the Sundays Isn't that right? Yes, and people can visit burnwinteridge.com To see more details and book their place Ok, and there's nowhere to see the cattle drive If they... Exactly, yeah, once they book the tickets They'll get details on the locations and everything else A lot of the events are free and open to all Some of them require booking So I think the best thing to do is go on the website And see what individual events require And the website again, just to finish on Is... burnwinteridge.com burnwinteridge.com, couldn't be simpler Thanks a million Tanjali Lovely, colourful description You've given us of that Ancient and very worthwhile practice Thank you very much You're more than welcome And thanks again Tanjali Now I think we're going ahead with a bit of music From our great Sean Kane And he's singing Home Next Home Next The only thing I see Is just the heat Rising off the road Rainbows I keep chasing Rainbows I keep chasing Keep on taking Before I find my cup of gold And more and more I'm thinking That the only treasures That I'd ever know Are long ago And far behind Wrapped up in my memory Before Home Was a swimming hole And a fishing pole And a seed in the muddy hole Between my toes Home was a back porch swing Where I would sit And mama sang Amazing grace While she hung Off the pole Home was an easy chair With my daddy there And the smell of sun Left up along the door My footsteps Straddling me away But in my mind I'm always going home Life's a play To me when it's as hard As the miles that lay ahead And it's too late To listen To the words of wisdom That my daddy said And the stretching Of old paths he showed me Strung into a thousand winding Goals My footsteps Straddling me away But in my mind I'm always going home Home was a swimming hole And a fishing pole And a seed in the muddy hole Between my toes Home was a back porch swing Where I would sit And mama sang Amazing grace While she hung Off the pole Home was an easy chair With my daddy there And the smell of sun Left up along the door My footsteps Straddling me away But in my mind I'm always going home And the stretching Of old paths he showed me Strung into a thousand winding Goals My footsteps Straddling me away But in my mind I'm always going home Welcome Aoife Hello, thank you Now to our listeners, I've just linked up there with Aoife Mum, she's a sustainability consultant, and you're going to talk to us about a sustainable gardening workshop something I might be very interested myself in, Aoife, so what's that all about? Thanks so much, yeah well you'll be more than welcome, so Galway County Council have very kindly sponsored a sustainable gardening workshop that will be held, as a matter of fact on the 22nd of October it's free to all participants and we'll be covering everything garden related and it's really the basics in gardening with a lot of sustainability thrown in we'll be looking at things from growing vegetables growing flowers for pollinators putting in a mini pond and just really all in a very sustainable way, so obviously organic and how to deal with pests in the garden without all those chemicals and everything that you'd need to know to get your garden looking fantastic, but maybe also your community area looking great too so that's the course plan and it's run from 10 to 4 and we'd be delighted with the more people we get on it today The only problem I see Aoife, is that it's going to be over-subscribed Well, yeah we're very lucky, Galway County Council is absolutely amazing at running these courses, they run several every year and so sometimes people are unlucky and they don't get in on this one, but if they don't if they follow Galway County Council on social media, they're bound to get on to the next one and it is good to sign up for it as quickly as you can, but it's honestly a really fun day it's really enjoyable and practical and we get out and we give things a go and we have a little piece of ground dug for us when we get there and we have a look at what we're doing and how we might do it differently and it's just very practical so people hopefully always walk away with a bit of new knowledge, and you get comprehensive notes and we'll email it to you afterwards so if you forget anything, sure, it's all there in writing for you for later I'm getting excited by listening to you because it seems to be very hands-on and practical It is, yeah it's very hard to sit and listen to people for a long time, you need to be doing things, so we have the course with real practical modules, and it's actually the people you meet on the course as well it's just such a lovely atmosphere and it's really fun and as I said, we're particularly lucky with Galway County Council because they're very generous in their sponsorship and they run several courses every year so, you know, it's really about meeting people in your area, it's run in a different area every time they run it, so Letterfack area is now, and it's it's just a really pleasant and nice way to spend a day as well, and any questions you have, you can bring them along, and I'll do my best to answer them as well but it's a very nice course You haven't mentioned the EFAM you've just thrown out the word organic but is it an organic module? I did, I said at the start it's all organic, and we deal with the type of humans and pests and diseases Oh my apologies Pests and diseases without any chemicals, so we focus on that it's not just by saying, oh look, you should be organic what we do is we say, okay so if we're going to be organic, what do we need to do what problems are we facing, and how will we deal with them and all of that we go through on the day and as I said, in case you forget it, it's all down in writing in the notes as well but as well as that, on the day if there's something not covered that people want they can ask, and we'll slip it in if we can at all, so we do we do cater to the people who are on the course so if you come along and you've got something in particular, we'll do our best to cover that as well I'll just say the reason I said that was I do quite a lot of gardening myself as regards vegetables and ornamental plants and pollinator plants and everything but I am getting more organic every year, but I often might just put in a tiny bit of chemical fertilizers, and I would be spraying potatoes with dithin, but I'm not going to worry about all that now, but I've been 90% organic, and I'm getting more organic every year I think in fact, my garden is somewhat tidy now at the moment, because I want to keep it alive with insects and birds eating the seed but can you tell me where in Letterfrack exactly it is, or do you want to keep that for the day? Actually, if you sign up for it, it'll give you the whole instructions and all the details on it, not being from the area myself I'll be following the postcode myself But it is in Letterfrack Yeah, and if you click on the thing, it'll give you all the details and you'll get the postcode and everything to follow for it, so that'll all be in there as soon as you sign up or when you're going into it, it'll give you all the details I can't see it on my phone at the moment Yeah, there's a link on Eventbrite, no, no there's Eventbrite, all the events are up on Eventbrite, and you book your tickets there because these are ticketed events, and when you go in, it'll give you absolutely all the details and venues and the times and the dates, everything will be on there So you'll search on Eventbrite Yeah, and you can look up my name if you want if I'm on, or you can go hashtag GoAccountCouncil, and I'm not sure if they made it live yet or if it's live tomorrow morning, but either way if you don't see it this evening, check it tomorrow morning and you'll find it there, no problem at all. Lovely, and that date again is Saturday the 22nd, it's during our famous C-Week here in Little Frack These courses that have been, are ongoing you said, Aoife and all with good attendance, I'd imagine? We've booked out on every one we've done so far so, yeah, very good attendance Get a good word of mouth on it as well and that's lovely as well, but it's just as I said, a really lively and interactive course, and people generally like that You know, it's much easier to learn when you're doing, and we cover some of the real basic stuff as well, like how to dig without putting your back out and, you know, things like biodiversity, introducing it to your garden and how to make it flourish in your area So, you know, all of these things I think are really topical at the moment, and people really want to know how to benefit biodiversity Everybody's aware there's a biodiversity crisis on, and Galway County Council are doing a lot of work with groups to try and push that agenda and make sure that we do more to support biodiversity in the Galway area, so, you know Even this program is kind of a running team on our great outdoors, no matter what we're talking about, last week we had a big section on the importance, it might sound small, to try and produce our own We're doing so much, we were talking about food waste last week, and how if we're all producing our own Are you the person giving the course yourself, Aoife? I am, yes Yeah, I'll be, I'm the trainer for the day so I've been giving courses in horticulture for the last well, too many years to admit to at this point, but yeah and I'll be delivering the course myself and there'll be people from Galway County Council there on the day as well, so if you have any questions for any of us, we'd be delighted to take them but it is, I'm not just saying it is actually a really enjoyable course and it's really fun and lively and interactive. Yeah, and towards the end there'll be obviously some small breaks in between, and lunch break and... Yeah, there'll be all of that, everything will be catered for, cheese and coffee, so we do say bring your own keep cup because, you know, it's a sustainable practice and it's a sustainable course, so bring your own keep cup and we'll have tea, coffee and biscuits so that's the important bit, isn't it the biscuits? Very much so Yeah, come along for that anyway Yeah, so I'm delighted I think it's the first gardeners are breathing to the mud themselves like we all know each other, last week we had our local expert here, Eleanor from Clifton, and I think it's the first time, I remember anyway, maybe I'm wrong now, that we had a gardening workshop during Sea Week and I'm just thrilled to know Yeah, I think it's the first time during Sea Week Yeah, it is, so but as I said you know, it's a great opportunity for people now to do something really positive so, you know, hopefully we'll get it all booked out now, and everybody enjoyed it, I'm hoping anyway Have you anything else to add Aoife? I think that's everything, I think like I said, if people have any questions to go on to the Eventbrite page and look there and if not, to go to County Council, they'll be advertising it there as well so, you know You could even mention your own name or Google your own name, Aoife Eventbrite, yeah Absolutely, and if you don't see it this evening you definitely will this morning, in the morning sometimes what they do is they keep the event private until community groups have had first option at it, so I'm not sure if it's tomorrow morning that it'll go live to public to everyone, it might be, so but either way, by tomorrow morning you'll definitely see it up there no problem at all. Lovely, Aoife, we'll leave you on that, I think there'll be no problem filling up your course as usual Lovely, practical, sustainable gardening workshop on Saturday the 22nd, so thanks Aoife for inviting us there to join your course. Great, thank you so much. Now, so that was Aoife Mon on 22nd of August sorry, of October in Letterfrack, we have a very practical, very enjoyable gardening workshop coming up sustainable gardening, I think that brings us to the end music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music