Lord Mayor CHRISTY BURKE talks to Noel McGuinnesss about his work. The subjects of homelessness, volunteering, grafitti, and funding are all covered. CHRISTY also speaks out about the need to put an elected mayoral position in place. A mayor with access to funding and the power to push projects forward independent of political parties is…
Artane Man Alan Bracken Joins Fianna Fáil National Executive
ALAN BRACKEN comes into Near FM to chat with Mark Finnegan. Alan was elected to the Fianna Fáil National Executive last week. “I was delighted to be elected and now hope to get Fianna Fáil moving in Dublin once again. Fianna Fáil must work hard to show an alternative in communities across the country. I…
New Tech Cuts Doc’s Response Times
NICK O’HARE from Medicare introduces Mark Finnegan to the new AMD technology for doctors. Out of hours doctors’ response times will be cut by two thirds in Ireland with the introduction of a new technology by Ireland’s leading healthcare company, Mediserve. The AMD TeleClinic involves a high-tech portable device being despatched quickly to patients’ homes,…
Hands Up for Children Campaign
Mark speaks to ROSEMARY GAFFNEY, Principal of St. Joseph’s National School; LOUISE MCGUIRK from Doras Bui and NOEL KELLY from the Northside Partnership about the Hands Up for Children campaign. They talk about the influence they’re trying to put to ministers about the need for funding children, the delight of the parents over the campaign, how…
Fire Station Artists’ Studios Celebrate 20 Years of Creativity
CLODAGH KENNY, director of the Fire Station Artists’ Studios joins Noel McGuinness to discuss the 20th anniversary of the organisation. Clodagh talks about the genesis of the studios and how the building has always been a place of work, being previously a fire station. Artists are given grants to live and work in the studio…
SCOOP foundation event in Sugar Club
SORCHA MELLON, education support officer of SCOOP (Supporting Children Out Of Poverty) talks to Mark Finnegan about the forthcoming screening of the film ‘A River Changes Course’ at the Sugar Club in Dublin. The film is a documentary about the effects of globalisation on the poorest people in the world. She also talks about SCOOP’s…
Santry Community Garden
Mark speaks to DONNA CALLAN from the Santry Community Garden She talks about the idea of gardeners of all levels being welcome, how she discovered the garden, the features and location of the garden and how they have tried different types of seeds to see if they grow in the garden. She also describes the…
New Communities Partnership about migrant right to vote in the General Election 2016
RARES-MIHAI NICULA New Communities Partnership with Noel McGuinness talking about migrants rights, election 2016 and appealing to migrants to use their voting rights. NCP first came together 13 years ago as a coalition of several migrant background groups to help up migrants with their needs. NCP helps migrants in Dublin and nationwide to deal with…
Proposal To Build Houses in St. Paul’s, Raheny
Pat speaks to Cllr. NAOISE Ó MUIRÍ (Fine Gael) on a proposal to build 400 houses in the grounds of St. Paul’s, Raheny near St. Anne’s Park. He talks about the controversy behind the proposal, where exactly the proposal may take place, the background of the developer, who decides whether the land can go ahead with any…
Launch Of The Early Legal Advice Manual For Migrants.
Mark speaks to BRIAN COLLINS, senior solicitor for the Refugee Council of Ireland about the launch of the Early Legal Advice Manual for Migrants. He talks about the idea behind the manual, the assistance they provide for people going through claims, the interpretation for some cases where the applicants don’t speak English and how the asylum process…
Bram Stoker House up for Sale
Pat Meehan talks to local historian DENIS MCINTYRE about the proposed sale of Bram Stoker’s house in Marino Crescent. Denis argues that Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, should be recognised by the State in the form of the house being purchased buy the State as a heritage site and the property turned into a museum…
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation Protests Larger Class Sizes
INAKI IRIGOEN presents a series of recordings from the INTO protest covering proposed increases in class sizes. First we hear a round up of class size statistics from around Europe with Ireland having the second highest rate. Parent Shane Kelly steps up to give an account of his child’s experience at school in Termonfeckin. He…
TASC – Thinktank Action on Social Change
Ronnie O’Brien speaks to NAT O’CONNOR, Director of TASC (Thinktank for Action on Social Change) about their autumn conference. TASC are a research group looking at issues of equality, social policy and democracy in Ireland. TASC put forward evidence based policy recommendations for social change and democracy in Ireland. This discussion centres on government spending…
The Everyday Drama of a Kidney Transplant Patient’s Life
LISA HOWARD, who underwent a successful kidney transplant procedure in Beaumont Hospital last year talks to Heidi Bedell about the day-to-day tension of spending almost four years in dialysis and then going for an emergency operation that could be called off at any time until the stitches are put in. Heidi also peaks to LISA about…
Call For Tenants’ Unions To Be Formed
A small group of tenants in Stoneybatter quietly came together earlier this year to form the Dublin Tenants Association. Now they’re ready to go public. Having come to the end of what they referred to as a “pilot phase”, they say they now know the ins and outs of tenants’ rights, and have helped about…