Live95 Limerick Today Podcasts
A look back at the week with our special guests
Joe is joined by former Limerick Rose, Molli Ann O'Halloran, Director of Moore Financial, Karl Daly and CPL recruitment's Graham Burns on this week's Coffee Break panel.
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- Broadcast on:
- 20 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
[MUSIC] >> It is time now for our Friday morning coffee break, and delighted to welcome to the studio Graham Barnes from CPL recruitment Molly Ann O'Halloran, former Limerick Rose, and Carl Daly, who among other things is director of more financial these days. Hello, how are you all doing? >> I'm doing. So I'm not just crazy about this late summer that we're getting because it's driven my hair fever round the twist. And I've been given out to complaining about that. But I can see the three of you were happy people, so you're probably loving it, are you? >> Tylators. >> Who wouldn't? I'm put a heat on the bones. >> I just told you I heard it. >> Yeah, I know. [LAUGH] >> Good man Joe, there's always someone who will take the water. >> There's always someone. >> Yeah, it was raining now to be something else. >> Yeah, we're never happy, we're never happy. But it is pretty spectacular this week. >> Mm, yeah. >> Yeah, it's really getting a good weekend out of it now. That's really nice, it's looking that way. And one of the things that is a bit unusual because it's so clear is that you're kind of trying to figure out when you're driving along. Why is the sun so low? Cuz we don't normally see it this late in September. It's normally covered in cloud. >> I know, it's a rare site, but look, long may discontinue. It's a sure sign when the schools go back and colleges start. The weather's gonna improve, obviously. >> It was beautiful, anyways, I'm in a caracolte, I was there yesterday. It was gorgeous, yeah, it was lovely. >> I believe half a limerick has cleared out at the place. I mean, there's as hard as I've sneaked in as I've taken, yeah. So I'm hearing half a limerick was at the Ploughton Championships yesterday. I can assure you that. >> I believe it in the country anyway. >> You were there, yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely, it was absolutely packed. >> Was it packed? >> The wreck in 80, 85,000. Just incredible operation to get everyone in, get everyone out. >> As an exhibition, it's just huge. >> They've done some job on that, haven't they? Because I mean, that was a small family enterprise. It wasn't the McCus, who I know are still very much involved. But it's just, it's a festival now. >> It is, yeah. >> It has everything, there's bands, there's music, it's not just plowing, it's kind of so far beyond that. It's like a electric picnic or a glass to breathe for fire, for the farming community. >> My sister was actually maddling down there for a couple of close people, as I like, with the Celia Home and Lee agency. >> Yeah. >> She had a great time. >> Yeah, Celia's been a fixture there, I think, for years now. She's been doing that. But you don't have to have even, frankly, much of a rural interest, do you? You can, there's loads of opportunities for that. There's so much that's going on. >> And that's why we were there, you know, just to put our foot in the water and see the numbers, the type of people you meet, et cetera. And the conversations were hugely interested in the people that you do meet there. >> No, admittedly, you need the weather, if you don't have the weather. It's a completely different complexion and things. And when you speak to love, you say, "Oh, years ago I was here, and we were up to our neck." >> Yeah, that's right. >> So you need the wellies, don't you? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> You do. Will you there recently carry this? >> No, I've actually never been. >> You have never been. >> Never been. >> It's worth a trip. >> Yeah, it's genuine. >> I've watched the evolution of it. I mean, as you said earlier, it was a small little thing at the beginning. You know, it's massive. >> But you know, there's a kind of a contingent that go now religiously every year. So yeah, I'm getting stronger. So fair play. It's an incredible story, really. >> Yeah, it is. It's quite extraordinary. No, I know all three of you in different ways have interest in various charities and have been involved in various causes. We did a lovely event at Tuss on Sunday morning, which was down syndrome, Limerick the Three Counties cycle, that was laid out by Sean Kelly, cycling legend, and there are charities partners at the minute, and it just underlines the level of commitment and volunteering and organization required to make all of these events for various good causes happen, you know? >> Absolutely. And Robbie Canelli deserves huge credit for literally putting that cycle on the map over the last number of years, looking up to have done it a couple of times, you know, to literally get Sean Kelly and bring him down and, you know, and he's fully accessible to everyone on the day and chats and photographs cycle along with him. I mean, where else would you suddenly bump into what is an Irish sporting legend and just have the chat with him, just and fair play, absolutely phenomenal achievement. >> Are you a cyclist? >> No. I'm not a runner. >> I'm a runner. >> You run, yeah. Yeah. And that's right. And of course you've been involved in charitable runs yourself, haven't you, Karl? >> Oh yeah. All the time. Yeah. We had just briefly, we did the morning run that we do here in Limerick, kind of an agreement when we familiar. He comes every month and we did an international version of a true moor, we call him more to the moon and the idea is to cover the distance from Earth to moon, 384,400 kilometers collectively through our network with the moor organization is in 114 countries. But as of yesterday, we got to the moon, we got back and we're gone again and we've had 827,000 kilometers done in the last six months. That's just people in the different countries, in the offices, getting our raising money for charity, but covering the ground and we have it all clocked on a platform called fine deans. So we're able to track everything. So it's been a phenomenal event, yeah. Can I joke as we're on? >> Of course. >> Can I just mention the music for mental health? Yeah, that's happening again. We changed the days to the 10th of October. >> All right. >> It's normally January. >> Yeah, yeah. That ties in with World Mental Health Day, which is happening on Thursday, the 10th of October. So we're in Dolan's as normal. We have a fantastic show lined up, Denise Chilah, Joy Sacks, Emma Langford, Pat Short, Keith Walsh, who is a former RTDJ, and he's a story to tell about what happened to him. We have the stray saints, we have Emma Langford, sorry, but on the night, Emma has put a bunch of limerick artists together, and what we're doing is there's a recording of the Cranberry's Animal Instinct being read on and videoed live on the night, which is being launched in January 2025, so they're going to use the video from our gig, and that's for charity. So the three charities supported, Haven Hub Limerick, Children's Reef Centre, and Limerick Suicide Watch. So take us around to Dolan's website. >> Great. Fantastic. Yeah, for very, very good causes as well. And I know, Molly, and during your time as Demere Crow is over the year, you saw fabulous work going on by charities, locally, didn't you? >> Yeah, I think it's so important, like even if it's just kind of, if you don't have a particular person as a spokesperson, like just shaking a bucket is just, does the world look good? Like even when we did the novice sleep out, we all took turns, had our Christmas hats on, I did the thing and had a bucket in front of me, and everyone just walked the street and shook a bucket, and you wouldn't believe the amount of love and support we got from not just limber people, but people even coming down for Christmas parties, family parties, people from all over the world, like telling us their stories, and you wouldn't believe the amount of people who we've even gone through, homelessists themselves, you know? So yeah, it was lovely to see. >> And one project just to highlight is, it's actually happening this day, next week, that I'm involved in. It's an app sale on the side of Tom and Park, and I know this is an activity that is well advertised in the past, but it's for the Cool Mine Project, who are an addiction counseling service, and they're based here in Limerick, the residential center here, they're also in Cork and Dublin, and so there's a group of us that'll be up sailing our way down the side of the stand, and it should be a great day if we can get a bit of weather, it will be great, but these guys do some unbelievable work, and dirge everyone to get out and support it. >> Have you absealed before? >> No. >> Have you, John? >> No. >> Nor would I ever. >> Well, all the more reason to, so I admire you, and honestly, I'll be working at this live on the web cam next Friday morning, shall we? >> I've never seen no one back like that before. >> Brilliant. All right, well, listen, thank you for those shout outs to very working causes. We will take a break, and we'll come back with a little more chat with our panel on the Friday morning coffee break. So in the middle of our Friday morning coffee break with Carl Daley, Graham, Burns, and Molly Ann O'Halloran rice, the theme of the week, the question of the week has been, what would you do with, people say 13 billion, but I think it's actually over 14 billion euro that we keep saying to happen, we don't want it, let's take it back, but they're insisting now the European Commission that we take this money. What should we do with this 14 billion? Molly Ann, what you reckon? >> Housing, housing, housing. We actually had a conversation about this outside. I think it's just, I don't know whether all of it can go into housing, but I think that should be absolutely the main priority, people are really, really wanting the houses, there's so many people on the council housing list as well, and it's just dire situation, it's just really, really bad. >> So for younger people like yourself, it's a big topic, isn't it? >> Younger people as well, but also people with kids and stuff like that, I know people that are on the housing list like 15 years, it's just, that's crazy, the people around the housing list that long. So yeah, I just think housing. >> And I suppose the one advantage to something like that, Graham, is that because it's not recurrent spending, it's not an annual budget, it is an amount of money, but at least you're putting it into bricks and mortar, aren't you? >> Yeah, you've got to put it into some sort of infrastructure, you can put it into day to day spending as it'll just get whittled away and it'll cause more difficulty at the end of the day. And so yeah, I mean, our greatest need is housing, health, you know, these are the two areas that keep coming up time and time again, and as we were saying outside, you look at Limerick and you look at trying to get accommodation here, I mean, significant investment has come into the city and the county with jobs and employment prospects are really strong, but we're struggling on so many areas of infrastructure and housing is the number one and then it's followed with schools, it's followed with hospitals. >> Transport? >> Absolutely, so I mean, you know, we're certainly, and I guess that's mirrored all the way across the country in many ways, so that's definitely I think the big need. >> Okay, so we've heard housing, you probably agree with that, would there be anything else that if you were put to the pin of your collar, you would spend the 14 billion on? >> Yeah, I think, again, we worked on this outside and the housing is definitely the one because like I have two boys and they're, you know, looking at one living in town and the rent thing is crazy, you know, but probably like Graham mentioned infrastructure, so maybe roads, so again, you know, I am always an advocate of connectivity and like Ireland is a small country and I remember going to a seminar years ago that was actually presented by our now mayor, John Morn, at an insurance, an investment seminar, but he spoke about connectivity in this idea of having homes all around the country, say, specifically in different areas. So for argument's sake, you know, med tech or whatever, it could be called the way, you know, limerick could be financial services, whatever it might be, but then connecting those areas so that you have road structures, rail structures, so that somebody technically could be living in Galway, but they could work in limerick and they could go home because they can get home. So I just think infrastructure starting with the roads, having like limerick not connected to cork by motorway in 2024 is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, you're going through this road to where traffic is dangerous, you know, bad weather, you're stuck by the truck, I mean, those days should be long, so I think things like that, infrastructure and maybe the train systems, high speed trains. And it's interesting. I mean, if you look at in the charitable sector, we're talking about it earlier, and you look at the J.P. McManus Foundation model, that is largely to do with capital, isn't it? It's to do with capital projects, you know, yeah, so it's money to a charitable cause to build a headquarters or whatever, because it could be there. Exactly. Yeah. It's an investment. You know, it's not a donations investment. Yeah. You look at the need for the Children's Hospital. Now, you could argue where it is might be a different issue, but how long have we been talking about that requirement? So again, it's something that's going to stand the test of time and you receive huge payback from a health and well-being perspective, and, you know, you don't have the horrendous cues and public waiting lists that you have at the moment if you had a proper center of excellence. And the only way to do it is put it into infrastructure because you'll reap the rewards longer term. Yeah. 14 billion, I'd probably spend it on myself, which is why they won't let me near us, never. A few wind turbines in the estuary might help there. Yeah. And I mean, you speak about the directly elected mayor. I know that a big part of his thinking, and we've been talking about this on the show over the last few weeks, and the debate's going on with Councillors and all of that, is to look for a serious envelope of money from central government. Like, we're talking in the billions here that would be used for infrastructure. Absolutely. And, you know, now I think he's thinking of it as a recurrent spend, that it's a multi-annual plan and budget, but at the same time, the 14 billion could be used in various parts of the country for that sort of thing, couldn't it? I mean, you could do worse than to give, you know, 2 billion to limerick, 2 billion to corks, 2 billion to go. Whatever you might be doing, and maybe let some local decision makers on the ground. I think they might actually know the struggle a little bit more, like, if you're closer to home, you know, exactly really what's going on in your community, except obviously the government, they know the whole global thing, they know Ireland as a one whole, but when you put it into a community, they really know where it needs to be. Yeah. And I think, you know, John and his view is just give us our fair share. We're not asking for anything above and beyond what anyone else is getting, but give us our fair share, which I think gives us control of the fair share. Yeah, absolutely. We get control of the fair share, and we ultimately decide where that money goes, because, you know, as we say, the needs must and the local people know exactly where those needs really are. Yeah. And that is a big risk that it could be skewed towards the capital, you know. So yeah, I think it should be looked at countrywide. Is it hard to recruit at the moment? This is your business grant and the recruitment of employees. It kind of feels like we're beyond almost full employment right now. Yeah. It hasn't got any harder than what it was, let's say, you know, a year ago. It is tight. I mean, John, the figures will tell you what just over 4% unemployment, which is virtually full employment. So, you know, you look at what the graduate content is coming out of TUS, LIT, UL, and your hope is that that feeder can continue to come into the system. You've also got to bring experience staff back from abroad, either Irish people that are working overseas coming on or bringing that talent into the system from outside the EU. And therein comes back to the problem we were just saying around the infrastructure to support that investment. So Amazon announced this week that all of their staff worldwide have to be back in the office five days a week from the 2nd of January. There was an Irish survey done, which was released this morning of chief executives of companies around the country. 90% of them said that they would eventually see all staff back in offices full time. Now, in a full employment scenario, like, is that not going to be a selling point? To people who go, "Well, I don't want to do that. It doesn't suit me for my life, and I'm going to go elsewhere." It's going to take some time, in my opinion, for that to spin all the way around to a five day a week, nine to five, back in an office environment. There's going to be certain professions that definitely will need it, but I just think with technology improving, work isn't somewhere you go, it's something you do. And therefore, if you have a technology that enables you to do that, perform, I think that's ultimately going to be. What do you think about that, Malia, and the split working and hybrid, and in the office and out of the office? All that stuff that goes on? I think, as well, I was thinking just about on the topic of mental health as well, I think it's actually really good for your mind, for your mental health. And even there was a topic there about people getting their breaks and stuff like that, and where people are taking their breaks in the office, like, "That can be good for your mental health at all." I think that's really, really damaging. I know, like, myself, sometimes, if I have a break, I'll just be like, "No, I'll just eat really fast, and then I'll go back." But I really need that if it's 15 minutes, walk outside, take a breath of fresh air and come back in. Do you know what I mean? It's just, I think the hybrid, I do like that aspect of it. I think it'll really appeal to younger people. Briefly kind. Yeah. Look, I think hybrid, I think, is a bit ago, because I think there is a thing about the office and getting it and meeting people and seeing your peers and saying, "Hello, and how are you getting on?" That's important, too. But, yeah, I think the flexibility, as Graham said, Molly said, "Mental health is one thing, and secondary technology is there, you know, we can do both." All right. Great to have the three of you in on this sunny day. Carl Daly, Graham Barnes, and Molly Ann O'Halloran. Your views, your news, your limerick today, with Jonette on Live 95. (upbeat music) You