Midleton

And I have seen it at all different levels and, and met people who've come down to, to get their guide dog.

I've actually met, um, a lady one time in Midleton, one time at a cafe, and, um, they had been down for the weekend for the training, and they had the dog.

And so, you know, they were just not g- they were not from Cork, but they were down, and they were taking the dog out, but, you know, close enough to the center that they could check in before they took the dog home.

And, and it's brilliant to see what the Guide Dog Center, Irish Guide Dogs does for people who need the dogs, and then just to see the work they do is fantastic.

the cost for parents and the cost for, for workers and providers.

Because I have people ringing me quite frequently from Midleton, from Glanmire, from Mallow, young women who are saying, "I have now phoned every creche in my area because I've just discovered I'm pregnant." Or, or, or better again, "We're thinking of having a baby, and I'm notifying creches." That's crazy, Minister.

Yeah, look, there, there, obviously there has been, um, you know, um, an increase in, in, uh, requirement for places.

In some areas greater than in others.

Like, he loves, do you know, he loves football, I suppose.

He's from Midleton, County Cork.

Do you know, that's his first sport.

Um, so yeah, we're hugely supportive of each other, so it's great.

Mm-hmm

... is an incident like this, especially for the local community groups, and there's so many of them working to improve amenities in Midleton.

Very demoralizing, isn't it, for them?

Hugely, yeah, yeah.

You know, sometimes they come after the last house is built in an estate, whereas it's something that we would like to see is for these to be one of the first things to put into an estate so that the first residents of an estate can use these things.

Um, secondly, then I suppose just the level of effort that it does take for a community group, um, to, to get something like this right.

So I'm part of the, the Midleton Parks and Playgrounds group, and we've been involved in, um, trying to get an upgrade of different parks and playgrounds around the, the town in East Cork for the last number of years.

And only last week, after a number of years, we got the, the good news that Parksview Playground in Midleton would be approved for a refurbishment, and it's only a refurbishment to bring it up to kind of modern standards, not an expansion for the town of Midleton and its growing population.

We were getting into a weekend away together, um, just a short break, and left the house, kind of giving us enough time to get to Cork.

Um, but, it, just past Castlemartyr, we were hit head-on by a drunk driver coming from kind of the Midleton direction.

Absolutely shocking.

Yeah, it was absolutely life-changing.

A woman in Clare knitted them for him, I think.

He got them in Midleton, Alby, yeah, out the back of Cleary's.

[laughs]

Producer looks concerned.

Notes from Ireland on grief, reciprocity, and belonging by Shaun Parell.

In Bellaght Park in Midleton, County Cork, nine immense stainless steel feathers rise from the earth and curve towards the sky, forming an empty bowl.

From a distance, they look almost weightless, like the remains of an immense bird.

Up close, they're ribbed steel with riveted joints, casting a dark industrial sheen against their soft green surroundings.