"We're the guys who do the negotiations here."

Yeah.

I mean, I think, um, uh, the Taoiseach now, obviously, he doesn't want this to happen, and he's kind of playing it down, uh, saying like, "There's no need for these strikes.

Everybody, um, needs to dial it down a bit." And even in regard to Leinster House, there's gonna be a picket there, and, uh, Sinn Féin and the opposition parties have said they're not going to pass the picket.

But he said there doesn't need to be a picket, so he's trying to play it down.

But all of these unions involved, I mean, the public sector unions, they're the kind of ordinary people we think about, the Gardai, the school teachers, all of this, and of course, the health workers.

And it's going to cause chaos.

That was, that was my reading of that.

"We're the guys who do the negotiations here."

Yeah.

I mean, I think, um, uh, the Taoiseach now, obviously, he doesn't want this to happen, and he's kind of playing it down, uh, saying like, "There's no need for these strikes.

Everybody, um, needs to dial it down a bit." And even in regard to Leinster House, there's gonna be a picket there, and, uh, Sinn Féin and the opposition parties have said they're not going to pass the picket.

But he said there doesn't need to be a picket, so he's trying to play it down.

But all of these unions involved, I mean, the public sector unions, they're the kind of ordinary people we think about, the Gardai, the school teachers, all of this, and of course, the health workers.

And it's going to cause chaos.

[laughs]

Do you?

We're going to feel really happy about, certainly about the energy, um, carbon tax credits, whatever way they're going to work that out.

That looks like it might be, well, you know, 300 for people who are already on the fuel scheme, but they have to do something about the price of fuel.

And what they're going to do is, uh, cease, um, taking any more carbon tax until the end of the lifetime of this particular government, which might not be long if they continue like this.

But, you know, the cost of living, the cost of food, everything is generated by the cost of fuel.

Because, uh, you know, you've, we've had so many increases from food manufacturers telling us, "It's the cost of getting it to you.

It's the cost of our, uh, running our trucks," and all the rest of it.

But it did strike me yesterday when I was thinking about it, and again today, particularly when we saw those two huge rallies, that we have not seen this descend into the scenes of violence and complete political chaos that perhaps we would have expected at this point, and maybe that's the glimmer of hope here.

And far more likely, and this I found interesting particularly, far more likely to feel a lot of pressure to help with grandchildren there the figure was 15.4 versus 1.4 and i was wondering first of all valerie cox were you surprised by any of these figures

No, I wasn't a bit surprised because being in this category myself of being a grandmother, and I have to say I'm bad granny to the other side of the family because my daughter-in-law's parents, they were retired quite early and very active and everything and wonderful grandparents.

when one or two of ours were born and they were very tiny and I became a full time carer for a member of the family.

So I didn't have as much time to look after the grandchildren.

But in all the scenarios I know about, it's always the grandmother who takes the lead in all of this.

And I think there's reasons for it.

I mean, from the time women have their first baby, We are geared to mind babies.

It's

And we start with the minister, the minister responsible for road safety, getting in touch with the RSA to effectively say, lads, where have you been?

Yeah, I mean, this is a very strange story, Anton.

The Minister, Sean Canney, he actually got in touch with him and said he was uncomfortable with the lack of visibility they'd had in the days following that awful, tragic incident on the M7.

Now, he took issue, first of all, with the statement that the RSA did issue, where they offered its sympathy to those affected and saying the agency would not be commenting further as the collision was now under investigation.

Now, apparently he felt it should have been used for a really tough safety message.

And I would agree with him there.

But the journal contacted the RSA and they asked, have you got any advice for motorists who might be confronted with the driver coming towards you? And the spokesperson for the RSA, David Martin, said that no.

is in Waterford, on the shores of the Blackwater.

What's going on here? This is the season of kite flying and all that.

Well, it is, but it's very much not good news.

Motorists are going to have an increase on September the 1st.

in taxes charged on fuel is going to bring diesel above two euro a litre.

And then we're expecting another series of rises in the coming months.

But the good news is they're probably going to be held off.

That would be about eight cent a litre or something like that.

I don't know what that is, but I think maybe nuclear power has moved on from the days of Carnes or Point or Hazard.

What's going on here? This is the season of kite flying and all that.

Well, it is, but it's very much not good news.

Motorists are going to have an increase on September the 1st.

in taxes charged on fuel is going to bring diesel above two euro a litre.

And then we're expecting another series of rises in the coming months.

But the good news is they're probably going to be held off.

That would be about eight cent a litre or something like that.

I don't know what that is, but I think maybe nuclear power has moved on from the days of Carnes or Point or Hazard.

This comes as more and more retailers are yanking them off the shelves.

Yes, Anton Curry's, Harvey Norman, Decathlon, they've become the latest to start pulling their e-scooters from the shelves in the Irish market.

But what's really interesting is if you look at the details of what they're pulling, the devices removed by Curry's, they were all part, believe it or not, of a kid's electric scooter range.

And that was advertised as being suitable for children aged between 6 and 14.

So, I mean, what is it taking to wake people up to what's actually happening? Now, the other very interesting thing is the number of complaints that were received in regard to the scooters.

I mean, this is actually quite scary.

The e-scooters, the actual complaints that were received over the last three months.

Well, if you've reviewed 53106 at Acosta 30 Centre 087 1400 106 on WhatsApp, the other thing that is making the news this morning is interesting about how ChatGPT and other AI assistants have been manipulated by Russian intelligence.

So you just decided you were going on a small ship cruise, but to where? To do what?

Why? to see all these little places that you wouldn't see in one normal holiday and to experience what it was like.

I loved the sea.

And I have to say that first cruise, it was mind-blowing.

It was wonderful.

And it was a small ship.

I think there were 650 or 700 on it.

cruise? I certainly have.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So I'd say we'll have a repeat of that.

I mean, it does look like he's coming because on Wednesday when they had a taped speech from him at the ambassador's residence in Phoenix Park and he said, I think I'm going to come over and I think I'm going to see it and we're going to watch Rory McIlroy.

Well, I don't know why he's picking Rory McIlroy.

Why not one of his own, John Rammer, someone who's also coming? But I actually think that this is doing a great disservice to the Irish Open.

I mean, that competition has been running, well, it stopped maybe during the war, but it's been running since 1927 when it first began in Portmarnock Golf Club.

They

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So I'd say we'll have a repeat of that.

I mean, it does look like he's coming because on Wednesday when they had a taped speech from him at the ambassador's residence in Phoenix Park and he said, I think I'm going to come over and I think I'm going to see it and we're going to watch Rory McIlroy.

Well, I don't know why he's picking Rory McIlroy.

Why not one of his own, John Rammer, someone who's also coming? But I actually think that this is doing a great disservice to the Irish Open.

I mean, that competition has been running, well, it stopped maybe during the war, but it's been running since 1927 when it first began in Portmarnock Golf Club.

They

It's going to stay there in the attic in Donegal.

You're probably the same.

When you got a place of your own, you didn't want the old stuff.

I mean, one of the big problems I have is that over the years, I've inherited a huge number of ornaments from my grandmother and my mother.

And so on.

And some of them would be relevant to the kids.

And I keep saying, you know, would you like this? Would you like this? And they'd run a mile.

Yeah.

Back

in those days, being a freelance was actually very well paid, very regular.

It is so different for people today.

I mean, I'm so sorry for freelancers today.

So I was doing all of that and one day I got a phone call from a newspaper, or I thought it was a newspaper.

And they said, are you in Bray District Court? There's a huge case coming up, which there was.

I was the only journalist there.

the

And we start with the Rotunda Hospital folding like a cheap tent.

Absolutely, yes.

The Rotunda Hospital has agreed to the Ministry's demands over the public-only consultants.

So the problem is that these consultants have a public-only contract.

So they're not meant to be treating private patients.

This is what it's all about.

Now, in the Rotunda, they have been treating private patients.

Shocking.

pull that microphone.

Yes.

This was at Trinity College last night where he was speaking at.

He was part of a panel of experts and it was convened by the Irish-Palestinian Alliance, SADACA.

So I just think this is so interesting and so like the man.

We're going into the EU presidency and he was trying to say that the EU, what he said was the EU needs to recover its moral standing.

Now, he put into words those uncomfortable feelings we all have when we hear politicians avoiding the herd of elephants in the room, literally.

That's right,

Not sure the consumer is liking what he's doing.

[laughs] No, no, no. Um, yes, I mean, he's had awful trouble with Fingal County Council.

Um, and there's been various findings.

Um, he was refused planning permission for a hub, uh, in Castleknock, and he was forced to dismantle it.

And that was the second one he had to dismantle.

There was another structure in Clonsilla, because he re- well, was refused re- retention on that.

Now, this is a huge setback for him, because he's, you know, piloting this drone delivery service, and he's actually working in Cork at the moment, trying to get it up and running.

... is it just an excuse for billionaires firing people?

Valerie, do you now go through life in the age of social media just under the assumption that, you know, there could be a camera recording at any time?

Very much so.

And I'm also thinking, you know, I've covered canvases, public canvassing for so many years now, probably about 40 years I've been out on the canvas.

And you go around in a large group of people and nobody is asking you to knock on the door of their house.

You are approaching their house, knocking on the door and making it a public event.

Now, you're normally followed around by a horde of hangers on and people who are more junior in the party and are trying to you know, make their name by being good canvassers and get their candidate elected.

And you've got members of the public who hang on as well.

But like, you know, you'd absolutely, people would need to think twice now about taking one of those clips or videos of somebody ringing their doorbell or delivering a package and ever sending that on to somebody.

And you can't ask people to do that for nothing because they won't.

OK, well, you're missing the point here, Anton, I'm sorry.

RTE is not a fundraiser for charity.

RTE is a broadcaster, as is Newstalk, I must add.

But the point is that people who give money to these charities and particularly, I mean, here we had a very, very high profile television show.

We had the presenter and everybody on it goading people right through the show, donate, donate, donate.

Now, those people never thought they would have this money, this amount of money, would be going to a commercial firm to manage the donations.

Michael Burey is very famous in some circles and was made famous by Christian Bale playing him in The Big Short, the movie about the downturn or the crash, in which he was one of the few who not only predicted it, but made a fortune out of predicting it.

you got hazard pay for all the carbon monoxide and nicotine exposure you suffered.

It's more like a club than a pub now, to be honest.

But tensions have been very heavy this week.

Michael has not been seen in the Dáil all week.

According to his son, Jackie, he's taking time out, you know, regrouping.

But he will govern again, he said, which I thought was an interesting comment.

But in Kerry County Council as well, there was a meeting this week and Kerry's Eye, which has just been sold incidentally, Kerry's Eye reported that there was palpable tension at Kerry County Council.

That's really good.

One

in 10 jobs are actually going.

And there was a survey carried out by the BBC and they found that 70% of their employees found that trust in leadership and pride in working for the broadcaster had fallen in the past year.

Now, they also found that 78% of people were proud to work for the BBC.

But a lot of it, they're saying, is going back to the Panorama scandal where they had the two tapes of President Trump and they put the two tapes together.

And they're saying that's caused a lot of trouble.

Now, their new director general is due to come in very shortly, I think the 1st of May.

Yep.

Isn't it just? Meanwhile, billionaire Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has caused a stir in the UK with his comments on immigration, saying in essence, I'm paraphrasing but not much, that the UK is being taken over by immigrants.

Colonised, he says.

Colonised.

I mean, this is appalling.

But, you know, it just shows us yet again, get very rich, become very powerful, say what you like, do what you like.

I mean, it's so Trumpy in this.

It really is.

Finally, dogs are ruining our relationships.

Prices are going up for TDs and Senators.

Prices have gone up, Anton.

It's actually very serious.

And I'm very concerned about this.

I mean, there's two restaurants in the bar.

You've got the members restaurant and then the members bar.

Now, in the members restaurant, they're going to have to pay an extra 50 cent on their soup and an extra 150 for deep fried calamari with lemon and garlic.

While we're on the topic of the shocked and aggrieved, there's a kerfuffle in South Dublin where South Dublin, or Dun Laoghaire, I think it is, or is it South Dublin County Council? The redesignation of golf facilities to allow for housing has been branded a disgrace and a travesty.