The Great Outdoors 26sept2024

The program is sponsored by Galway Rural Development Social Inclusion Community Activation Program. The show features various segments including interviews with guests discussing climate action funds, environmental initiatives, and community projects. The Community Climate Action Fund aims to raise awareness and provide funding for community groups to implement climate actions in areas such as energy, waste, travel, and recycling. The fund received a large number of applications and distributed funds to various projects, such as retrofitting community buildings, installing LED lighting and bike shelters, and implementing composting and recycling initiatives. The program emphasizes the importance of starting with energy audits and seeking professional guidance before applying for grants. Examples of successful projects include the retrofitting of Roundstone Community Centre and Irish Coffin Community Centre, as well as funding for bike shelters, biodiversity projects, and community gard This program is sponsored by Galway Rural Development Social Inclusion Community Activation Program. Contact 091-574-858. Forged in shock as you look at the great outdoors on shore, radio from the Connemara, of the shock that you hope to escape is the shape that you hate, FM. Welcome to the great outdoors here on Connemara Community Radio, 87.8 and 106.1 FM. Thank you so much there to Mitch for a great program, and of course you're now listening to the great outdoors with me, Brendan O'Scannell. I can't believe that September is nearly over, and the Arts Festival is nearly over, and we're having a great time, and of course just before I forget about us, don't forget Cherish the Ladies tonight at the West Connemara Sports and Leisure Centre, an amazing line-up of people, performers, dancers, all sorts of things, and all this Cherish the Ladies, bring a lot of different people in with them, so it's an amazing, amazing get-together. So it's lovely to have so many people will be performing there tonight, and that's at 8 o'clock, so you can go to that and send us a DM to me if you like, so anyway, as I say, unfortunately that slashes, but I will hopefully get to see some of us as well. Now tonight on our Ecoslash, very shortly we'll be speaking to Denise Feeney from Melbourne County Council, she's Community Climate Action Officer, we'll be talking about various climate action funds which were announced for the area, and then Devin, National Director of EcoUNESCO, will be on time with the Young Environmentalist of the year 2025, Edith DeLanda, Communications Officer with National Tree Council of Ireland will be talking National Tree Day, Shea Galvin, Chairman of Agri-Aware will be talking about a new webinar series which will bring farmers virtually into the classroom nationwide, and then in our Arts Slash we'll have Nora Corcoran, who's Co-Artistic Director with the Michelin Festival of Nomadic Culture, as you would kind of put that, and then we have classical music as well, so that's to keep us going between now and the end of the programme, but we're now going to go over to our Ecoslash. The Ecoslash on Canamara Community Radio, a weekly programme focusing on environmental and climate sustainability. This programme is co-funded by Commissioning demand through the Sound and Vision Scheme. Now, as I said on the Ecoslash tonight, I'm delighted to welcome Denise Feeney, Community Climate Action Officer with Galway County Council. Denise, you're welcome to us once more here on Canamara Community Radio. Thank you Brendan, thanks for having me. Not at all. Now the Community Climate Action Fund that we talked about quite a long time ago now, mentioning about that, recipients have actually been announced and there's a number of projects in the area here. I suppose, first of all, tell us a little bit about this Community Climate Action Fund, what it was set up for, what its aims to do. Yes, so the aim was to create awareness of climate actions that community groups can do in their community under a variety of different themes. We were encouraging groups to apply for funding under the Community and Energy team, as well as food and waste, travel, shopping and recycling and local climate and environmental actions. And it's all about awareness raising and education to individuals and groups of what they can do in their own community, which also in a lot of cases lead to misty changes they can make, more environmentally friendly changes they can make in their own personal life as well and in their own households. So we had a very big interest. We had, as a county council, we had €762,000 to give out countywide, but we actually had applications up to €2.5 million we received and unfortunately we hadn't enough to distribute around, but we did distribute as much as we can to many groups around the county and we are hoping that the same fund will be administered by ourselves next year. We're just waiting for word from the department and hopefully we'll have more even funded to give out next year. But we had a great variety of applications, applications from community groups who wanted to, I suppose, retrofit maybe their local community buildings, be it their community centre or their GAA club and that could mean from retrofitting it, from pumping the walls right to solar panels. We also had a lot of applications in for LED community lighting and under the travel team we had a lot of applications in for bicycle shelters and racks and even more sustainable parking that people can put in their community centres and we had a lot of interest in the whole area of food and waste in regards to composting and allotments and food markets and community fridges was another big one as well and the whole area of recycling then was very popular with a lot of applications and we gave a lot of funding for water refill stations in public and community buildings and which are extremely popular, especially in sports clubs where a lot of participants like to come in with their plastic bottles whereas if you have your refill station there they can come with their refill bottles and refill the water free of charge and as a result reduce the amount of plastic that's being used and then there was general application grants that we give out for community gardens, orchards, forests, schools and various other energy projects. So there's a great variety and I think it opened the awareness to communities of what can be done in their community and we even felt for groups maybe who weren't at the stage of ready for applying this year, they came to our workshops and different talks we had around the county and they're preparing now for next year's application process and we'd be guiding them on that. For example we felt if a group was hoping to do a retrofit with their community centre or do works in regards to their centre we would advise groups to have an energy audit done first and we actually in Galway County Council and the EAI do give funding for the energy audits that are done by professionals energy auditors which I suppose they give the professional guidance to communities and what they should do to start with the retrofitting of the community centre so if you follow their guidance it's probably the best advice of maybe sometimes community groups thinking you know that they may need solar panels when actually what's needed is the pumping of the walls or maybe looking at the drafts that are coming in through the doors or the windows so start maybe at the whole the surrounding of the building first before you do the add-ons. So we find you know groups instead of running it they start walking first and finding out what are the first steps we should be doing and getting the guidance and the professional guidance in regards to that and then maybe applying for the grants when they are following that guidance. So we work very closely with SEAI and we're very lucky in the community development section of Galway County Council they provide grants as well to community groups for the energy audit so we work hand in hand we see where the gap is and where groups need support from and then we link in with our counterparts in the county council or with other agencies and they provide the funding as well for such things as energy audit so it's all about working in partnership to help the community groups. But I suppose if you are putting in an application having an official you know piece of paper saying this is what we need to do this is what we suggest is a big help rather than just saying oh we'd love to put in new windows without even having an idea whether you need them or not. So all of those things build up and you say that you're there to help people and I know that the workshop that I was at was really interesting as well so I think it's really worth people taking the time as you say to do that. But there have been a number of people in the area who have been included so as a matter of fact Roundstone and Irish Coffin have been successful. Do you want to talk a little bit about those particular ones what's involved in that? Yeah and Roundstone is a perfect example there of what I was just talking about in regards to they have a very old community centre that needs a lot of work but they took their time and they got the energy audit done and now they're following the guidance of that energy audit and they're getting the retrofitting done of the centre and insulating it and also then working on putting in LED lighting as well and that's only one phase of their project so we'll be helping them with one phase and then they'll be moving on to phase two so they're doing it in steps which is more realistic and as a voluntary committee it's more realistic for them to roll out the project successfully doing it in phases as well so they are following the guidelines and you know they have a big project on their hands but they're a very capable committee and enthusiastic to do it and do it correctly. Irish Coffin as well they got monies for retrofitting their community centre but again the funding they're starting with their doors and windows and seeing what can be done there. They're enhancing their energy efficiency and they've actually been successful in getting bike shelters and bike racks and so on and some biodiversity projects as well and a good few other groups in Connemara as well as a whole, Cora Cagall Show got funding, Cora Campion na nIlan, Letcher Moor at Sportlawn na Evanna got funding as well and St Bridget's Garden in Moy Cullen got funding there for an anaerobic digester to turn all food waste from the garden cafe into biogas for cooking and also they're going to install a rainwater system so a great variety of works there and then the CPS Show, Community Centre in Cornamona got monies as well to develop a community garden so a wide range of actions there from all the different five teams under the grants and the groups can apply for all the teams or one or two of the teams but we do ask them to attend our workshops and to talk to us first so that they're getting the proper guidance before they put in for an application and also in regards to any of the biodiversity projects they're doing we're very lucky to have an excellent biodiversity officer Ruthine Joyce in Galway County Council who will give groups great guidance in regards to what they should be sowing and where they should be sowing and to do it correctly and to take their time to do it right and then more likely to have a sustainable and successful outcome afterwards so huge expertise that are already there and obviously Forum Connemara have great expertise to offer as well as well as expertise to have funding so maybe phase two of a project can be done with Forum Connemara and maybe link back with us again so we all do work in partnership together and we would definitely advise groups to talk to us all and see what elements of their plan or the projects that each of the agencies or the local authority or the development company can can help them with. Yeah and I suppose the other thing with this or the funding and you know that is are there kind of time frames as to when this money has to be spent I mean if you get your money this year do you have to have it all spent by the end of the year or can you? Yeah no we've given it yeah we understand because the nature of this project people have the groups have to spend the money in order to recuperate the money back off ourselves so groups could might not have the money in their bank account so they may need to fundraise or maybe get a bridging loan so we don't rush them we prefer if they did it correctly and have the money there and then spend it and then we'll recoup it so we give groups 18 months to carry out the project now if they have money in the kitty and if they want to spend it straight away on such things as the solar panels that could be done and dusted within two months but then you could have a biodiversity trail that has different elements to the trail and different projects within that one project that could take the 18 months so 18 months is a decent amount of time but we do recommend groups to take their time do it right get the expertise advice and before they rush into doing something for example if they were doing a dispersed orchard or a community garden you know if they sowed the wrong produce or the wrong trees or at the wrong time it could be lead to it not being successful so we do recommend take your time get the advice and then carry out your project so 18 months it's a decent amount of time and also they can apply to other groups for maybe plan two or phase two of their project as well in the meantime while they're still spending the money from the climate action fund next year we haven't been told by the department of environment when the next round of climate action fund is out we are told there definitely will be around two but we haven't been told when next year it will be but as soon as we hear we'll be letting the groups know because we want to start that stage straight away to help the groups with their with their application process and get all the necessary documentation and all that's done in time. Okay well Denise we'll be talking to you no doubt shortly once we know when that's going to be happening so thank you so much for being with us tonight on the Eco Sloth we'll talk to you again shortly. We definitely will, thanks for your time. You've just been listening to the Eco Sloth on Kalamara Community Radio a weekly program focusing on environmental and climate sustainability this program is co-funded by Commissioner Nauman through the Sound and Vision Scheme Job Spot on Kalamara Community Radio Kavanagh's Supervalue Clifton are recruiting for part-time team members in their bakery, deli and a butcher assistant. Applicants need to be flexible, enthusiastic and customer focused. 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Right before we go over to our next interview just to remind people of the coffee and cakes in aid of Susan Fulham Graham which takes place on Friday the 27th of September in Foyles Hotel Clifton from 11 a.m to 2 p.m and as well as coffee and cakes there's raffles and things going on there as well so do support that as you may remember we were speaking to them last week about it and also just to say congratulations to everybody who took part in the coffee morning this morning for hospice and there's a great crowd of people there as well. Now as I mentioned we were going to speak with Elaine Nevin, National Director of Eco UNESCO about this year's young environmentalist of the year coming up. Elaine you're very welcome to us once again here on Connemara Community Radio. Thank you very much for it I'm delighted to be here. Good good now this search goes on to try and find young environmentalists of the year 2025. What's the background to this particular project? Yeah so I suppose that the young environmentalist awards it's run by Eco UNESCO and we're an environmental education youth organization so really all I suppose the work that we do is all about educating and empowering young people to take action on environmental or sustainability issues that are of interest and concern to them and one of the ways we've been doing this over the years and I suppose one of the big programs we run and it is kind of it is our flagship program is our young environmentalist awards and that's all about groups of young people coming together and taking action through action projects in the local community so these can be young people in schools or in youth groups or in community groups and they need to be between the ages of 10 and 18 and we have three different age groups in that but it's all about them coming together in groups looking at their community or their school or their you know their local youth group maybe and saying what is it from an environmental and sustainability perspective what could we be doing differently and what do we need to change and how can we basically do that and so yeah so this year we're just launching our young environmentalist awards and encouraging registrations from groups of young people to take part and you know this will be running from September up until May of next year. Okay so it's a great opportunity for groups to come together and as you said here that are one of the pieces mentions here that it can be from groups of two up to 25 is that right so means you're talking about kind of any kind of grouping of people coming together then? Absolutely yeah so the whole point of it is I suppose we don't like with our young environmentalist awards program and we're encouraging I suppose young people to come together in groups so it's very much about group work and I suppose the way we see it is that young people learn so much from each other and develop so many skills when they're working together in groups so it can be so the project can be done between you know with groups young people between 2 and 25. Now we often say that the probably the optimum group size is probably around six to eight and you know if you're in a school or a group where you have got a group maybe of 25 or over we often say divide that up into smaller groups and you can take maybe projects in different areas or if you're doing one big project and the groups can basically or the group could do something in the different aspects of the project and we've got a whole six steps program that we follow so one of the for example one of the projects one of the steps is about research so one of the groups could do research one of the other groups could be involved in communications another group could be involved in action so really it's about trying to you know get young people together in groups look around their area then I mean the very much for us it's all about you know the youth-led action so it's about young people themselves and deciding on what is the issue for them and then coming up with a solution as well and yeah so absolutely as I said it's between that group you know those groups of 2 to 25. And of course that idea of you know the six or seven six groups or five groups working together it's also teaching the management skills themselves I mean it's a great learning curve that they have to manage you know diverse groups and put them all together then finally come up with a project as such so it really is a good learning for so many different aspects of life. Oh yeah big time I mean I suppose you know when when you're doing any of this type of work you know obviously like you know we're an environmental education youth organization and our main one of our main focuses is on environmental protection environmental conservation but we also are very much about youth development and youth empowerment and building confidence in young people so when they come together in groups they are you know they learn from each other they're communicating developing communication skills throughout the year so we have EcoDems as part of our young environmentalist awards and where the groups of projects basically have to present the project to a panel of experts so very much that's all about them developing those presentation skills and communication skills as well and really confidence because it's often such a big deal for them to come into a group of adults and actually present their project so throughout I suppose we have you know when we're conceptualizing I suppose young environmentalist awards and you know we were thinking about the environmental aspect but we're very much thinking about the youth development aspect and all of those other things that we're going to learn throughout so we weave all of those you know learning outcomes those skills the knowledge that they're going to develop in through the whole program and yeah I mean young people themselves will say that they you know they have a fantastic I suppose you know experience through the program they often say actually that those EcoDems which I've mentioned there where they actually get to present the project to a panel that they're really you know they find that very developmental and I suppose you know some of them will say that they were very you know they might have been kind of anxious going into them but actually when they've got them done and the feedback that they get from the judges that they love the whole process so yeah so I suppose throughout it you know there's learnings throughout the whole the whole program itself. That's very important obviously that aspect. I see you're also hosting a series of free online talks for the children there to I suppose develop those skills as well so what's the story behind these ones? Yeah so this week this is SDG week so Sustainable Development Goal Week and we're hosting a whole week of I suppose talks for young people so we have them divided up but we work as I said to you between young people between 10 and 18 and so we've been running specific programs and specific talks and workshops for 10 to 12 year olds and then for 13 to 18 year olds as well so hosting talks on climate on eco health and well-being and some of the categories of young environmental stewards so they're actually happening this week and so we've got a number of different two different workshops that are happening tomorrow as well so if anyone's still interested in coming along and they just have to go onto the Eco UNESCO website under Eco Weeks and they'll find out all of that information. Well that's fantastic now as you said the people have to kind of get working on these now and preparing but what's the deadline of how they go about it I mean is there an actual kind of what they need to do first and how they move forward? Yeah I suppose the main thing we're asking groups to do now is to just register their interest to do a project so it's very much an expression of interest with ourselves so the website is yea.ie or you can go on to ecounesco.ie so that's e-c-o-u-n-e-s-c-o.ie or the yea.ie and they just have to register their interest to do the project if at this stage they don't know what they're going to do that's fine they just you know we don't need to know all the details but that has to be done by the end of November so we're trying to encourage groups to get involved as soon as possible because once they once they're supposed to register with us they're open then to for the trainings that we deliver so we have a number of YEA mentor training so these are the adults that support the project on the ground and of course these projects for us they can come from so many different you know young people in so many different areas so of course it's open to secondary schools also open to primary schools but it's also open to youth groups and community groups as well and the YEA mentors and can get training and support from ourselves and we also have a young environmentalist awards manual that we'll provide to anyone who wants to take part in the program and yeah so we're here to support and and help you out so that has to be done just the registration has to be done by the end of November and then the projects themselves have to be into us by the end of February and we've got a submission form and we have a 30 second video that needs to be done as well that all gets submitted to us by the end of February next year and then we host these EcoDems all over the country and we host one of our EcoDems is hosted down in Galway and we've been delighted over the last number of years to be liaising with the University of Galway down there and and so all of those those groups can come into the panel of experts and and present the project and then in May next year we will have our showcase and award ceremony and that's a big event where over a thousand young people come together and basically showcase the work that they've done all over the all over the country so it's a fantastic opportunity so yeah so that's the main thing is to register as well as soon as possible and the deadline for that is the end of November. Okay well it's really wonderful talking to you we'll keep an eye on how this is going and if there are people from the Calamari area taking part you might let us know and we'll be delighted to link up with them as well so it's great talking to you about this and the best of luck to this particular one and we'll be following this with interest here on Calamari Community Radio. Yeah brilliant thank you so much thank you bye now. That's Elaine Levin there who's National Director of EcoUNESCO and we're looking for their young environment for the year 2025 and if you are interested in that go on to yea.ie or ecounesco.ie you get information there. Now we're going to go to a piece of music and we are taking a piece from John Lennon this is a lovely track woman this is especially for Niall and Tony and Brian and Valerie. Forgiveness After all I'm forever in your debt And woman I will try to let go My inner feelings and thankfulness Love showing me the meaning of success Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Woman I hope you understand There's a child inside a man Please remember my life is in your hands And woman Hold me close to your heart However distant Keep us apart After all this is written in the stars Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Well well Do do do do do Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Well well Do do do do do And woman Please let me explain I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain So let me tell you again and again and again I love you Yeah yeah Now and forever I love you Yeah yeah Now and forever I love you Yeah yeah Now and forever Right, that was of course the wonderful John Lennon with woman and a great track from him. Well, one of the most exciting things coming up and one thing that I really really am a huge supporter of as you know I'm always talking about trees and planting trees Is the wonderful National Tree Day, the Spire National Tree Day which will take place this year on Thursday the 3rd of October And to find out a little bit more about it I'm delighted to welcome Ada De Launa from the Communications Office of the National Tree Council of Ireland Ada, it's a pleasure to have you here, welcome Thank you, I'm delighted to be here, thank you Thank you, thank you This, as I say, National Tree Day has been on the go for a long time and it's just amazing the kind of energy that comes out of this particular festival or this particular day Tell me a little bit about the way that it developed over the last few years before we went to this year's one Well, I mean, the National Tree Council of Ireland, it's one of their flagship events Tree Day which happens in October and National Tree Week then which happens in March So the Tree Day was actually conceived as an educational event about 25 years ago, we've been doing it ever since Because when children go back to school in September, you know, the focus is on the trees changing colour, the berries and the fruits on the branches And the whole idea of conkers and leaves falling on the ground and all of that So like when the teachers are teaching them about environmental studies, the obvious thing to look at are the trees because they're actually doing their thing as it were at that time of the year So the Tree Council then decided that it would be a good idea to actually make a festival, if you like, out of National Tree Day The Department of Education agreed that on that day children can actually leave the school entirely and go out on walks with their teachers, have a look at the trees Have a look at where they grow, rustle through the leaves, climb up the trees if they were let go and all of that sort of thing And then the Tree Council of Ireland over the years then have had various sponsors We've had SPAR as our sponsor for the last few years, so now we call it SPAR, National Tree Day as a consequence We have a website entirely devoted to this, a separate one, called treeday.ie And schools who register on that get a free tree each year And the tree this year then is going to be a native Irish Hawthorn Last year we had Hazel, the year before we had Cherry, the year before that we gave out Scots Pine, the year before that it was Spindle Tree So if the schools plant the trees they get every year, they will have a lovely arboretum of native trees Between baby inches and sixth class in any particular school cycle So it works very well and it's extremely popular Last year we sent a tree to 1500 schools and this year it's looking like even more than that will be looking for trees That's fantastic. Now of course you have the theme as it is that trees are magic and are toys of the earth, they bind to the ground Trees are magic in so many different ways, but the Hawthorn of course is magic in lots of other ways because it's so much associated with folklore This is why we put that one as the strapline this year Every year you have to think of some kind of a selling point And I thought well if we're going to be giving out the Hawthorn, trees are magic anyway because all trees are able by photosynthesis to take carbon dioxide out of the environment Store the carbon in the tree as timber, it gives off oxygen And that's a wonderful, I mean it's magic in the sense you can explain it by science But nonetheless it is a wonderful thing But in Ireland the Hawthorn is the tree that's beloved of the Shee The Shee of course were the two of the Damans who were defeated when the Celts came along and had to go underground And we have to be very nice to the Shee or they'll come back and do terrible things to us And of course one of the things that they love to do is to dance around the lone Hawthorn tree in the field That's where they have their soirees if you like in the evening time So if you were to cut down a Hawthorn tree you would find the sharpest horns in your bed at night So there is this magic associated with the Hawthorn tree You bring the flowers into the May autumn in the summer time in May It's bad luck to bring in the flowers So like there's a lot of magic associated with the Hawthorn tree And this is what I'm evoking as well in this strapline trees are magic Absolutely. I suppose the big thing for people then is to be able to develop their skill I suppose in planting trees Because again it's something that once you learn it you can do it at your own home You can keep going all the rest of your life basically doing it So starting children off at a young age is really important to make them aware of the proper way to plant them and to look after them Well absolutely and in fact the trees that are being sent out When you apply for this and you go on the website 3day.ie and you apply for this It's posted out to you, you get a sapling, you get a bare rooted sapling It's not coming in a pot like you might buy it from the garden centres It's data via the stock and planting it is very easy because it's just a It's like a size of a pencil not much bigger than that It's a one year old one and you make a cross in the soil which your shop has made Like cross and across and lift up the sods, put the thing in and stamp it in and press it in And there it is and keep it well watered and it will grow very well Because in fact the berries on the hawthorn tree, the haws are fruit for the birds They have a big stone in the middle of them which is the actual seed And when the birds eat them, the birds have no hands, the birds can't eat just the fruit and cop up the stone It has to go through their system so when they do the dropping with the stone in it That falls to the ground and germinates So it isn't that hard for the tree to grow once you put it into the soil and there it is And we see them all around the country in hedgerows and everything else But if you leave it and don't trim it in any way you get a tree that's 15 feet high, 5 metres high So it's a fine little tree in its own respect And of course it has lovely flowers in the month of May Full of nectar and full of pollen for the insects And then you have the berries in the autumn time which of course are full of food for the birds And there's 149 different species of insects associated with the hawthorn tree Who feed on their leaves, caterpillars, tree bugs, all kinds of things So like it's a wonderful tree for biodiversity as well So it ticks all the boxes essentially, it really is magic And of course it's also a great place for birds to nest Because with the thorns it stops a lot of predators coming after them So quite often in the bushes you'll find nests as well So a fairly decent sized one, as you say, it's amazing the amount of wildlife it attracts Well you see people plant them in rows for hedgerows And then they trim them and things so we tend to stick them as bushes But if you just plant one and don't trim it at all It'll actually grow up into a 5 metre high tree So like it can be both things, it can be a well managed stock proof hedgerow And we see lots of those around the country Or it can be a tree in it's own right And as you say the prickles and the thorns on the branches Keep out nasty predators who would want to get at the birds nests Mammals and cats and things like that That we don't want attacking birds They're a wonderful resource for biodiversity in any school ground Absolutely, now just one other piece on the press release here Talking about taking the forest pledge Tell me a bit about that, what that's about Oh that's when you go on, if you go to www.treeday.ie The first thing they ask you is to take the forest pledge Now it's not like the pioneer pledge, the one we used to have to take long ago with our confirmation This is actually just to say that you are You know, in favour of planting trees That you are in favour of biodiversity That you are a good, a day's nose skin rather than something Looking just for a free tree So you take that to say that you are in fact in favour of more trees being planted And in fact you would like one for your school to plant itself So that's what that's involved with It's nothing more than that You're not giving away your freedom or your democratic rights or anything like that So there's no cause to be worried about that It's a way really of counting how many people will actually go online and take a tree We have to have some way of counting all of this, you know Yeah, absolutely I always say here that people should be planting trees for every occasion For birthdays and for weddings And even for somebody that has died To put them down in their memory etc And it's a wonderful way of remembering people having those trees So the National Tree Day is a great opportunity Well that's the opportunity for the schools But I mean the Tree Council of Ireland in general has a plant a tree scheme I mean for anybody So like if you want to celebrate your birthday Or you want to celebrate the birth of your child Or remember somebody that has died Well I mean you can do that And that's a separate scheme This one is just for schools, it's an educational thing on next Thursday But I mean there's always the opportunity Because people should plant trees, of course they should But lots of people haven't got anywhere to plant them They haven't got space, they haven't got land It doesn't take much land But at the same time it takes some land You can't plant a tree in a window box So like if you want to plant a tree The Tree Council has various sites around the country Where they can plant trees And that's available on the general Tree Council site Which is treecouncil.ie But for National Tree Day, which we're talking about For Spare National Day It is actually treeday.ie That's the one to go for And it's well worth doing it The people of Ireland are really benefitting from this Yeah, absolutely It's been lovely talking to you once again Go raibh míle maith agat Go raibh míle maith agat Slán Áine, slán neis Áine de Llana there, of course, wonderful person Lovely speaker And a great natural Huge supporter of everything to do with nature And she's with National Tree Council of Ireland On that 3rd of October, National Tree Day So all schools, make sure that you've got yourselves registered And that you get your free tree And as I say, it's superb And of course you can get your own trees as well And add them to them, not just the ones from the Tree Council necessarily Well done to everybody there Now we're going to take another piece of music We are going to listen to Lionel Hampton and his orchestra Featuring Illinois Jackets And we're listening to Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Fly Home Well, a great Lionel Hampton there, Flying Home And a featured Illinois Jacket there It's great stuff Now just reminding people about the Arts Festival again Tomorrow morning, that's Friday A lecture with Senator Michael MacDoul That will be at 11 o'clock in the Station House Theatre And then a little bit later on, at 1pm Christchurch, we have the wonderful Brandon O'Bagley And Cliona O'Bagley There And a little bit later on, we have another lovely concert With Michael Goldrick, Henolik Casey and Niall McCabe And you may remember last week I was speaking with Niall McCabe About this particular concert And then tomorrow evening, Friday the 27th at 8pm In West Calamari Sports and Leisure Centre We have the wonderful Michael English With a great concert of million selling hits And they will be very interesting I've no doubt a hit selection there And I'll tell you more a little bit later on In the programme But I am delighted to welcome Shea Galvan Who's Chairman of Agri-Aware to our programme this evening Shea, you're welcome to us once more here on Calamari Community Radio Thank you very much, Brendan Shea, you're... You said this press release in about Agri-Aware Bringing farmers virtually into classrooms And you mentioned the new webinar series Come Farm With Me Tell me how this came about Well look, Agri-Aware is on the go since 1996 28 years I think this year And it's all about educating the consumer The next generation About where their food comes from So while our main target audience In general would be urban people Who wouldn't have any idea where their food comes from But we also go into primary schools, secondary schools And third level education Because even a dairy farmer's child Might be in a national school classroom But might have no idea where pig meat comes from Or where tillage food crops come from Or where their broccoli comes from But they might be very educated on what happens on their own farm So with that we've decided this year That we have a new webinar series Aimed at primary school children And it's called Come Farm With Me So basically it's the six different farmers That are going to be involved in this And we'll be covering the six main areas of farming in Ireland We'll say we have a pig farmer A horticultural farmer A tillage farmer And that's me actually A sheep farmer A beef farmer And a dairy farmer That kind of covers the main farming industry in this country Well it's a great opportunity for anybody as you say to learn Because I know talking to people around Half the people have no clue where anything comes from They're not aware of the background to all of these things I mean milk comes from a bottle or a packet and that's it They don't know anything about cows necessarily So I suppose it's important for people to be aware Of all the different aspects Especially now when people are more and more interested In where the food comes from Yeah so like this six part series Which is going to be running from us Well no this is a primary school program That we are running this time Which is running from October to Spring Basically will be There'll be a ten minute, fifteen minute video of the farmer Played that's pre-recorded And then there'll be a question time with that farmer So the children will be able to ask that farmer Any questions they have about When it's me it'll be about tillage farming When it is Hannah Ryan She's the pig farmer from Tipperary And she's actually going to be the first one They'll be able to ask all these questions about pigs What age they are What do they eat Whatever they want to ask They'll be able to ask And it's a good initiative Because even people in rural Connemara Might know everything about sheep But they might know anything about pigs Or growing broccoli or anything like that So it was launched at the blowing match And there's been huge interest already at it And a lot of people have registered Yeah I mean this is a really wonderful opportunity For the farmers to show off what they're doing as well Because again I suppose for a lot of the farmers Who are operating Again if you're doing pig and nothing else You don't necessarily know what's going on Outside the door as well So I suppose for everybody it's a learning curve Oh for everybody it's a learning curve And even as much as the school children will learn It's always about educating the educators You'd be hoping the teachers will learn as well Because an awful lot of people have preconceived notions About their food And that can come from social media and things We say farmers in Ireland produce very sustainable food And it's great to see where it comes from I mean what ends up in your plate Where that starts its journey Let it be the milk, let it be the beef Let it be the broccoli Paul Broakley who's going to be showing his farm And how it's packed even in his farm It's just such an in-depth thing And as I said the children will be able to ask the questions And that's probably one of the more important parts They can watch the video But to get the real interaction Is the fact that they'll be able to ask the questions Over a webinar series to the farmer And we can only put so much on the video And it's the questions that really gather the information And sometimes they're the funniest questions And that's probably where the good feedback comes back from And how impactful the series will be So how do the schools get involved then with this? They can contact us We've actually got a new website So they can go on our website Which is www.agriware.ie And our contact details are there Or they can go on to our Facebook page And there's a link there underneath the launch page Of this thing And on Instagram as well So there's links on all three things to get to us But any queries can be directed straight to our office Which, as I said, the contact details are on our website Ok, and this new launch of the new website Did that happen fairly recently? Yeah, yeah, that was launched at the following as well Because the old website Like, we always Everybody moves with the times I mean, when Agriware started in 1996 Most people didn't even have mobile phones And then you have the internet And so things keep changing So we've basically updated our website To be more user friendly And we have different sections For primary school, secondary school And for the general public And for our patrons Who kindly sponsor us And helping us with a lot of these things So that's how we updated it Yeah, and then for I suppose even as you said there For farmers learning along the way But I suppose this is a way for farmers To communicate with each other as well Through Agriware And to a small section of those questions Or if there's problems or situations I presume they can air those On those kinds of websites as well They can On our Facebook page And look, we're always actually looking For farmer volunteers So, like last year we had And we have it every year Since COVID But we had it before COVID It was our open farm series Where we have farmers And we invite the general public Onto the farm for one or two days You know, and Because not many people get an opportunity To go onto a real working farm And that's probably why it is like You know, you can go to open farms But they're not real working farms And it's the real working farms And that's when you actually get to see All the biodiversity that's on a real working farm You get to see all the sustainability measures That most farmers in this country are taking Let it be from Connemara right down to Carlow You know, every farmer is Interested about the environment Because it's the environment that We produce our goods off Let it be our beef Or let it be our tillage Like we need healthy soils We need healthy biodiversity For our crops to thrive I suppose I would say like Just before we finish up the whole idea Of educating people Is so important in all of this Because again there is a lot of Misinformation going out about The problems and what happens And what doesn't happen Or what should happen I suppose So it's really important that The farmers themselves are able to Put forward all of their ideas And their thoughts on all of this It is because And it's probably Like AgriWear is kind of a bit of a platform For farmers to get across to the general public Where we have farmers taking over Our Instagram accounts And our Facebook accounts And Twitter accounts To show what happens on their farm Real working farms And as I said A lot of the consumers don't Don't know what goes on On other farms And even farmers are interested In what goes on in other farms To see if they're doing it right To see if there's better ways They can do it To see what sustainability measures Are being taken on other farms So that's where AgriWear is It's trying to bridge the gap Between the consumer And the actual farmer Because all our food starts out On an actual farm No matter where you buy it Absolutely Well it's wonderful talking to you And as I say The very best look at this particular event And I think it's a fascinating one What I love about it as well Is the mixture of parts of the country The different types And of course that you have male and female There as well That it's just not You know the traditional idea Suppose there's a man and a farmer And a woman who works in the house But you have it the other way around a bit as well And that's lovely to see And show people the reality of farming So thank you so much for being with us Thank you very much for having us Okay, thanks a million Shane Thanks, bye Bye That's Shane Dalton there Who's chairman of AgriWear And that new webinar series Will bring farmers Virtually into the classrooms Nationwide And as I say It's lovely that people Do get a chance To you know Show what they're doing Because as I say Very often there's a There can be a lonely life for farmers They can be working away on their own Thinking they're the only people doing anything Or not necessarily in that sense But they don't realise that You know somewhere else People are having the same problems And the same situations So well done to them there with that one So AgriWear If you go on to AgriWear You'll find all the information on that And the webinar is called Come Farm With Me And we hope that a lot of schools Will take part in that as well Now we're just ready to go over to our break At the top of the hour at the moment And then after that We'll be speaking with Nora Corcoran Who's co-artistic director With the Michelin Award Festival of Nomadic Cultures Which takes place from the 26th to the 29th of September And we'll be finding out what that's all about And we look forward to having her talking about that But we're going to take our break now At the top of the hour Today's weather forecast is kindly sponsored by The Sweeney Oil Company, Galler Road, Clifton 095-22636 Today's weather forecast was kindly sponsored by The Sweeney Oil Company, Galler Road, Clifton 095-22636 Community Notices is kindly sponsored by Connemara West CLC Forum Youth in Action 2025 calendar is now being compiled And we need photographs of school, sport, social gatherings Old scenery or any photography of interest The deadline is Friday the 11th of October 2024 Please forward to Lena Coyne or Kate Lyons In Forum Connemara CLG Letter Fac, County Galway Email calendar at forumconnemara.ie For more information please phone Lena on 085-265-6777 On Friday the 27th of September at the Clifton Mart There will be a cattle show and sale at 1 o'clock pm Followed by a sheep sale at 6 o'clock pm You'll be also online with Mart Eye To book please call 095-21861 or 087-248-5422 Sgoil an Fhearsig, Rosmuck, Connemara Guided Tour, Lectures, Exhibitions, Entertainment, Debates and Information on Enterprise Thursday and Friday the 26th and 27th of September Free admission and all are welcome For more information call 091-509-030 Or email gaeilge at cocogaillw.ie The Josie Joyce car drive that was to take place in Joyce's Bar, Clegane On Saturday the 28th of September has now been postponed Community Notices is kindly sponsored by Connemara West DLC The Clifton Arts Festival takes place from the 18th to the 29th of September Arts on Air will be broadcasting live from Friday the 20th, Sunday the 29th of September To bring you the best of music, interviews and chat live from the festival Tune in on 87.8 and 106.1 FM or log on to connemarafm.com for all the live coverage Arts on Air is kindly supported by Comisión na mBáin through the Sound of Music team Tune in on 87.8 and 106.1 FM or log on to comisión na mBáin through the Sound of Music team You can get new music if you like But they put a lot of effort into the music you listen to You can listen to a lot of music Something that will stay with you for the rest of your life You can listen to other music on the radio You can listen to music on the radio You can listen to other music on the radio If you want to listen to other music You can listen to it with your friends and family If you want to listen to other music You can listen to it with your friends and family Visit rsa.ie Indulge in homemade delights at the Kylmar Kitchen And explore exquisite local crafts in our craft and design shops Create timeless memories at Kylmar Abbey So plan your visit now at kylmarabbey.com Kylmar Abbey, a story so timeless, it's still being written Working from home, talking to your friends and work colleagues Children and teenagers playing games and connecting with friends It's a lot to ask of any broadband connection However, at LightNet we can give you the best broadband connection for your home LightNet high speed broadband offers you the best solution With reliable connectivity, a fixed IP address for stable VPN connection And free high spec award winning WiFi hub For all your broadband needs Call LightNet today 091 395 804 Or visit lightnet.ie Come and enjoy a game of bingo in Clifton Town Hall every Thursday night starting at 8.30pm Everyone is always welcome Great prizes and fun And who knows, maybe you'll get lucky too That's bingo in Clifton Town Hall every Thursday night at 8.30pm Cunnamara Care is providing and maintaining delivery of home care services To older and vulnerable people all across North and West Cunnamara If you or anyone you know is in need of any support Just give us a call 095 37125 Or you can contact Geraldine Kelly g.kelly at cunnamaracare.ie I feel the earth move on your body Leiden's carpets and flooring my Cullin Huge range of carpets, vinyls, laminate and engineered flooring at competitive prices Excellent service to the Cunnamara area since 1994 Call us on 091 555 962 Or email leidenscarpets at gmail.com Cunnamara Community Radio Wow, you're listening to Cunnamara Community Radio On 106.1 FM and 87.8 FM And we're also on the internet Whoa If you just joined us, welcome along, my name is Frank Roach You're listening to Roach's Point, the home of the classic brain teaser Enjoy the week, I hope the weather stays good Alright, good night everybody, thank you all for listening, see you next week Well, they have a pretty good day so far This is a pretty good day so far So my name is Sean B. Halpern It's good to hear people, it's good to know that you're out there It's Sean B. Halpern Recorded in 1989, which was a very good year Alright, well, the best in your place Well, that's what you get at Cunnamara Community Radio This program is sponsored by Galway Rural Development Contact 091 574 858 We are inviting you to become a member of Cunnamara Community Radio For only 25 Euro a year Your support would be appreciated Telephone 095 41616 You can also buy your membership online On www.cunnamarafms.com Right, absolutely, stay tuned to us here on Cunnamara Community Radio Do become a member as well to support us And if you are interested in getting involved in the radio in any way Call us to the studio here Probably next week might be good Because at the moment people are so tied up with the Arts Festival That it's kind of hard to keep everybody under control and such But do come along, we'd be delighted to help you And we'll see you next week Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye