Ingo, it's Think Tech Hawaii, it's the 12 o'clock block. It's Energy 808, the cutting edge. A visit with Commissioner Jenny Potter. And guess who was on the show? Commissioner Jenny Potter. Don't be surprised. And Marco Mangelsdorf joins us from Hilo and he's gonna, Jenny Potter, are you here or in Maui? I'm in Maui. Okay, all right, we just wanna know who everybody is. We have a list of all the cities we deal with him. And Marco Mangelsdorf, he joins us from Hilo. Good morning, Jenny. Good morning, Marco. Good morning. Hey there, guys. We span the state across three counties. So it's just wonderful to be back with two of the favorite people in my world, especially on a Monday with my dear friend Jenny Potter and my dear friend Jay Fidel. So it's been a while since three of us have populated the screen. So thank you so much for joining us, Jenny. It's just always a special treat for both of us, all three of us, to have you together, us together again. So let's take the dive right into it. An energy subject, which has been getting a lot of play both here in the state of Hawaii and also on the mainland is the capital A energy storage system, which has been generating quite a bit of press as of late. And just a little bit of quick background. So we've got the largest power plant in the state of Hawaii, which is the AES coal plant on Oahu that is scheduled to shut down once and for all and for good and more ways than one by September of next year. And there's a need to get additional generation in some form or fashion when AES goes down, when AES goes off, right? That's a matter of statute, right, Marco? Well, the legislature's got involved. The legislature's got involved. The governor's got involved. There's a task force that's involved. So this is very high profile, right? Yeah. And there have been delays about getting utility scale, solar and storage online. And one of the solutions, solutions kind of in quotation marks is a very large battery, a very large battery that if installed would be one of the largest in the country, it'd also be one of the most expensive in the country. And the commission with the Jay Griffin, Jenny and Leo Asuncion have been very explicit in their concerns over the months, if not longer, about various issues and challenges regarding this battery. And it's kind of come to a head. It is coming to a head. It is still at a head. So with that intro, Jenny, bring us up to speed please from your perspective and what's been going on and what to expect going forward with KES. Thank you, Marco. It's great to see you. It's great to see Jay. Thank you so much for having me on the show. I want to begin with expressing that the opinions I express here are my own and not that of the public utilities commission. So I want to make that pointedly clear. So anything that absolves their responsibility for anything I expressed today. So in terms of the capillary battery project, this is a project that I have held in high reservation since the beginning, and primarily because of the cost to the right pair and the extent of which fossil fuels would be utilized in order to power the battery over the long term. And so in fact, we found, and based on the data that was provided from the utility, we found that the dispatch schedule for the battery actually would remain the same over the next at least three years. So it would still be utilizing fossil fuel, not renewable energy in order to charge the battery. And that is a great concern to the PUC and certainly to me as an individual because obviously when we're actually retiring a plant that's based on fossil fuel, we want to ensure that it's renewed, it's renewable energy that's now replacing it and that's not the direction that we're going. So very disruptive to the goals for the state of Hawaii in terms of what we're trying to achieve. And what we found is that there has been very little planning that has gone into trying to replace the AES facility in regards to other alternatives that could be renewable energy alternatives or that could be demand side alternatives. What we were positioned with in the last two years or about one year now was this battery being sort of the holy grail of the alternative to the AES facility. And the companies have not demonstrated through the record that's on file now in our records that there are other sustainable options to the battery. And so looking at the cost of this battery, it's approximately half a billion dollars over the course of 20 years. However, it doesn't seem that the battery would be necessarily utilized or useful to the grid for anything longer than the next four years. So we're talking about after we have installed stage one capacity from solar and batteries to the island of Oahu and then also stage two are the renewables. So all of these are storage plus battery and plus PV on the island of Oahu that could potentially replace the whole battery entirely. And so in looking at that, it's really disruptive to think that if some of these projects would have come online sooner and on schedule for the stage one RFP, then we would not have the need for such an expensive battery to replace that capacity from AES. So it's a very frustrating situation for the commission. I'm sure it's very frustrating for the companies as well that we can't see these projects come online timely in a way that would actually replace the capacity and energy needs that were necessary to replace AES. And now we're left with this very expensive battery but in the filings from the consumer advocate has estimated that it would be about 19 cents per KWH. And that's just the cost of the battery. That's not the cost of actually charging the battery for the energy that would be released. So if you add on the incremental cost of generation at margin, it could be anywhere from 30 to 40, even 50 cents, depending on when that's actually charged and the demand on the grid. So it would make it literally the most expensive resource that Oahu has ever seen and the most expensive generating plant or it's not non-generating, the most expensive plant that we have on Oahu. And so it's been very difficult for the commission to come to terms with the fact that we have to balance keeping the lights on and as an alternative of allowing there to be a potential for blackouts and brownouts across the Oahu service territory. In particular, we're looking at September, October, November of being very vulnerable months when the temperatures are very high, the trade winds are very low and we see a lot of energy consumption. Those are the times when we would potentially see a blackout and the probability of that is significantly higher now without AES than it would be with AES still online. So the alternative to not approving a battery is truly, do we allow for brownouts and blackouts on the grid in the Oahu or do we permit this battery to come online and allow for there to be adequate capacity? And so it's been a very difficult balancing act for the commission to understand of really trying to balance consumer interests as well as the needs of the grid and in order to find some sort of harmony between each of those components and delivering the energy services that are necessary for Oahu at this time. You know, it reminds me of Charles Dickens and the ghost of Christmas future. So if you look down the past, it sounds like a dilemma either way you go. If there is a battery, there's an extraordinary increase in expenditure and therefore rate payer expense, electric bills. And if there is no battery, then you run the risk of lights out. What a combination of possibility. So my question was going to be what happens in the ghost of Christmas future? I think I now know, but how do we get here? How do we get to this point of dilemma? Well, in my opinion, only being on the commission for three years, having seen no resource plan during that three years in order to replace AES, having nothing communicated to the commission in terms of what was going to be the replacement energy capacity until the second RFP was issued where the commission actually instructed the utilities to increase the capacity and the energy requirements for the, in order to replace the AES capacity. This wasn't something that the companies had done originally that they, when they proposed the RFP. And ultimately, I think from the clean energy initiative that occurred in what, 2010, 2011, that there was, we were on notice, we were on notice to know that this plant would be retired. So is there any reason that in 10 years there wasn't adequate planning other than saying, a storage facility would be the one that would be required in order to replace this? I don't believe that to be the truth. I have a very hard time believing that. So that's what got us here today is I believe like a very inadequate planning on behalf of the companies. And we are in a position now that we have this resource that thankfully came to pass, so that we can ensure that the lights stay on. But ultimately leading up to this point, Jay, I would say that it was inadequate planning on behalf of the utility. So what's the status? I mean, there's plenty in the press about this. And it seems like it's pretty aggravated right now in terms of the conditions that the PUC imposed weren't acceptable to the utility. The utility said they could not operate under those conditions and made a motion for reconsideration only one business day ago, am I right? The PUC issued an order on that reconsideration, reconsidering in part. But can you talk about the status and where it sets up right now and where it goes from here? Yeah, absolutely. So ultimately what we did when we looked at the motion for reconsideration is we evaluated the four conditions that the companies had taken opposition to. And the first was really actually fairly easy for the commission to reconsider. We agree that looking at the PEM, this was for the performance incentive mechanism for the phase one renewable energy projects to come online. And it was about incentivizing them to utilize the renewable energy from those projects over the course of several years. The PEM was focused on the initial year and so when we reevaluated that, we said, you know, yes, that makes sense to reevaluate that condition. What we would like to do instead and what we had already initiated was a mechanism to allow for the commission to evaluate how much energy savings, what are the savings to rate pairs that are foregone as a result of the delays of the renewable projects? So we opened up a specific proceeding to evaluate that as these delays are real. And every time when you think about every day and every year and every month that goes by that these projects are not brought online, customers are facing a higher utility bill because they're facing the volatility of fossil fuels and essentially the ONM and the overhead from the utility in order to provide these services under a certain set of conditions which are basically to generate from the fossil fuel, utility from their entities. And so when we look at what the savings would be for the renewables, there's a huge discrepancy. I mean, it can be 10 to 15 cents per KWH. And so we're actually actively tracking those savings that are lost to consumers as a result of the delays there. And we're just tracking them for now. And then what we'll do is we'll evaluate them at the end of a certain period and we'll determine whether they were and whether they're in the interest of the consumer or whether they were real and prudent in the interest of the utility. And then the other mechanisms what we looked at was how can we take these up in an in a way that will be beneficial to consumers in the long run and really determine that those that we had identified within the proceeding, within the AES proceeding were better served within other proceedings such as the CBRE proceeding, which is consumer, I'm sorry, that community-based renewable energy proceeding and then also the distributed energy resource proceeding. So we transferred the responsibility of those issues if you will of opening up grid constraints into those proceedings so that we can evaluate them appropriately there instead of having that spread practically across. The other one that was the most important component to me personally was about the utilization rate of the actual resource of how much renewable energy is being used to charge that battery versus fossil fuel. And I think every single one of us can agree that fossil fuels are volatile, it's very expensive, it's not consistent with our goals here in Hawaii, the carbon emissions are way too high, we burn dirty, bunker fuel in order to produce electricity here in the state. So nobody wants that. And that was one of the biggest sticking points for me and the approval of this. And so when the companies came back and they said, we need you to reassess this, we agreed to evaluate it per the ability of the commission to prudently review all expenses of company. And so that includes those expenses that are incurred from charging the battery off of fossil fuel above and beyond a threshold that we identified as 50% within the first year in the first and second year. So we still maintain and we have always maintained this authority. There is no time ever in history that the commission has not had the authority to evaluate the prudency of the cost of the companies that they incur. They need to absolutely, they have to prove to us that those costs are prudent. And so this is one of the times where we said, if we didn't state this properly, then we apologize, but let us be explicit about the fact that we have the ability at any point in time to evaluate the cost that you incur because that's part of our mandate. That is part of our job as commissioners. Well, so where does it go from here? Does the order that you entered on Friday let them continue? What has to happen? If anything, is it possible for them to just proceed if they indicated that they may proceed? But where is it set up right now? So what it sounds like the last article I saw in Pacific Business News, it sounds like we met their expectations. So that they're in a position where they feel that they can proceed with this. So I think a lot of the order needed to be clarified in a way that was explicit to the intention of UC and that it wasn't necessarily from the first order. So we had to really work on clarifying that language and indicating to the companies that they have authorization to proceed. However, it's not going to be unchecked. We will be monitoring this from the get-go and we will be making changes to the way that they do business through DEERs, through distributed energy resources and through the CBRE, that we wanna see the market open up to allow additional capacity to come on to the grid in a way that's unfettered by sort of the rules and regulations that are currently in place by the utility so that we can ensure the customers are receiving the maximum benefit. The more renewables that we can push on the grid, the more renewables that will charge that battery. And so if we can unlock sort of those constraints that have existed up to date and it makes it a cheaper environment for everyone, everyone can benefit from that. And so that's really where we're going. The company will follow us through the other proceedings to ensure that their interests are expressed and that they can meet us in the middle or meet the parties in the middle and then we can proceed from there. Ah, you know, renewables is so important unless we forget even for one minute that we're in the middle of something actually more deadly in its own way than the pandemic. It's climate change. Climate change is marching on and we all have to do something. Every man, woman and child in the world has to do something or the results will be really disastrous. They are being disastrous. So, you know, it's very important what you're doing and what you're saying. Now, Marco, do you have any questions or comments so far? Through me, surely you must be jesting and I do call you surely. No, many, many comments and questions always. And I'm gonna have us all leap into the water and metaphorically swim across the channel to Molokai, Molokai, place very near and dear to my heart. And there's some bubbling going on there energy-wise. And I just wanted to get your kind of update, Jenny, on kind of from your perspective, gonna where things are at in terms of renewable energy development.  And as far as I know, that project is no longer in play. And there's a desire on many people's parts to bring more renewable cost. I always want to say cost-effective renewables to the friendly aisle. And I think there are two kind of two levels in play. One is CBRE. I believe there's an ongoing RFP right now request for proposals for community-based renewable energy on Molokai. And a full disclosure, I'm working with some folks that may make a play at one of those projects at some point. And then there's also, would it be a larger utility scale near the one and only NECO Power Plant west of Kanakakai, that would also be solar and storage. So if you could maybe give us a quick update in terms of where things are in play on both those levels, both CBRE and then the big kind stuff. I'd appreciate that, please. Thank you for asking. And you know what's so exciting about this, Marco, is that I was invited to participate in the Molokai Clean Energy Community Hue, sorry. And to come and to speak with them and so that they could ask questions about the commission, about our process and how a community can actually be more engaged. And it was quite an honor, honestly, to be part of that process. And ultimately what came out of that was an opportunity for the community to engage more directly with PUC. And also with, I believe also with the county and with MECO and HECO so that we can actually start working together to address some of the directly address some of the concerns and the needs of the Molokai community. And so it's actually started a wonderful dialogue, I think between the commission and those parties. And certainly I know MECO has been involved over there for a number of years and has a very aggressive goal of 100% renewable. I think that date has passed, that they had hoped for that renewable to be online. And in terms of Molokai New Energy Partners, I just want to confess that I could burn without order. So I wasn't really, I didn't necessarily approve it, but it was just... And one of the reasons my concerns about that was the cost to the community. And looking at really, is this a renewable project that it's gonna be viable? Is it something that's going to help the community out? Is it something that's gonna be the best interest of over 20-year period to deliver renewable and clean energy to the consumers? And my mathematics, it just didn't pan out. So ultimately, one of what we've been trying to do and even meeting with the community is to show them the cost of avoided energy, for example, that the companies provide a monthly detail of the cost of avoided energy and specifying exactly that that cost really is sort of the avoided cost that they want to kind of... When they think about a project, they wanna come in under that cost. And really through this educational process of how ego moves and thinks about how they procure energy and how they burn energy and where it comes from. And for Molokai, it's obviously one of the most expensive places in the world. It really is. It's a remarkable, awful ordeal. And so you think about how can we alleviate some of the stress on a community that is not economically advanced, that doesn't have the sustainability that other islands do, that are relying on diesel fuel constantly in order to provide energy, have commonly experienced outages, have issues at the end of the line with voltage support and frequency. I mean, these are all really serious concerns on how we deliver energy to these communities. And really when we start talking to them, what they want is a voice at the table. They wanna actually have an opportunity to weigh in of like, what are the criteria that you're asking for within these RFPs? Will they fit into our community? And ultimately, is our self-filled options the right options for Molokai? Are these the things that we should be considering? And how can we understand that there will be fair and equitable evaluation of these types of projects when they come to Molokai? And so, wow. I mean, what an opportunity for this PUC to really hear these people out and to bring them to the table, to have a conversation with the companies and with us present to hear what it is that they want. Because when exactly have we as government officials and just the government in general, really given the time for the community to speak up and to provide information and valuable insight into what it will take in order to make their community happy, whole and healthy. And that's exactly what we're trying to do. And so, with the upcoming RFPs, we hope to have their input. We're not planning on issuing them until we hear from them. Not that this juncture, we want their input. So it's a really exciting experience. Well, I can hear the enthusiasm in your voice and just watching you, Jenny. And I'm so excited for you and for us because I mean, now the folks from Molokai, the island of about 7,000 and they haven't had many, how we say, seats at the big table over the years and over the decades. And I know it means a lot to a lot of people and especially on that island to be able to have direct access through you and the commission and to know and feel that their voices, their concerns, their desires are being listened to carefully and not just, yeah, yeah, yeah. Focusing on the big mangos on Maui, the big mangos on the bigger neighbor islands, right? So, well done, guys. Well done, you and Leo, Jay and the staff for giving the folks on Molokai's seat at the table. Really applaud that. This reminds me of the Chief Justice's Access to Justice program where he takes the Supreme Court to various places in the state and he holds court in a high school gymnasium and the kids get to watch how it works for real with the judges and the cases of the lawyers. It's quite interesting. And what you're talking about runs a parallel. It's access through regulation, access to policy. So I think that gives people confidence in government and confidence in policy. Let me also add that it's clear to me that the PUC is one of the most interesting and challenging commissions and governmental organizations in the state. Why? It's like if you look down from above, you see it's like a freeway, going in all these directions in various levels and speeds. And it's really hard to count all the ways. You have to deal with the people like a molochai. You have to deal with the technology. You have to be current on it. You have to deal with business interests who are interested in the bottom line. You have to deal with government in general with the legislature and the governor and the energy office.  I'm sure that's only a small list. And on top of all of this, you have to make new policy, planning policy and policy for the future that takes us to our statutory goals. And that actually is a long way of saying, what about PBR, performance-based regulation? What about that? Where does that fit in what we've been talking about? And cheer up, like we have a minute or two to go. A minute and a half on PBR. Go for it. A minute and a half on PBR. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. So we are about to issue an order right now on and actually I believe it's coming out today on the performance incentive mechanisms that have been finalized through this proceeding which is really exciting because that's where the rubber hits the road. I think when we think about what performance-based regulation means that actually indicates performance incentive mechanism. So very excited to see that come out. The actual tariffs and everything take effect on June 1st. So that means that this has been, while it's been approved since December, we've been working through the tariffs, we've been working through the performance-based mechanisms, we've been working through all of those issues. And so when we issue this order, it'll be effective on June 1st and then we will see where we go from there. But ultimately the whole intention behind PBR is to address a ton of the issues that we've been talking about today. It really is. I mean, it's talking about renewable energy portfolio standards and accelerating the adoption of renewables so that we can move. And so that's one of the PEMs that accelerates that track. We have greenhouse gas reductions. We have electrification of transportation reductions. We have improvements, investments I suppose, not reductions. So we have a whole host of different kinds of mechanisms and scorecards that we're putting into place to really inspire the utility to perform exemplary. We don't want to see just the same old, same old anymore. This is about transitioning away from cost to service. It's about breaking the link from capital expenditures and profits. It really is about making that movement. And as long as it took us to get here from 2011 when we adopted performance-based rate making and started making that transition, it's gonna take some time for us to make the move and the transition to performance-based regulation. And the utility will be incrementally making those improvements. They're not gonna turn the switch and have it happen overnight. And there's no expectation that they will. But we're offering the financial incentives for them to do this as quickly as possible. And so that's what I'll say about that for now. Marco, we're in a new time, aren't we? Can you comment on that and summarize? Out the window goes the old regulatory compact, right, Jenny? That's right. And in from the other direction comes the new compact which from all appearances will be more better focused, better focused on rate payers and those people who are on the receiving end of both getting the service from the company and also having to pay for it, of course. So, boy, it seems like the three of us just scratched the surface, then it's time's up. Time's up. So there's so many other things I'd like to talk about. I'd like to talk about, but I think we've covered a lot of great ground. So I'll turn it back to you. Bring me back. Yeah, we'll have to get you back. Because there's a lot more to discuss. One thing is clear, Jenny, you're meeting all expectations for a new world of energy. You guys are really, you're in a new chapter, new way of thinking, new way of doing, it's impressive. Thank you so much for your service to this day. Thank you, Jay. Appreciate it. Thank you. Namaste. Namaste.


Hey, this is Brett and this 2019 Ford F-250 Crew Cab Short Box XL STX appearance group with the FX4 packages, stock number 13616Z. I am here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, your new and used heavy-duty truck. Headquarters this 2019 Ford F-250 has the 6.7 liter power stroke diesel engine that's paired up with the 6-speed automatic transmission. This truck has been fully-safetyed and inspected by our service shop, has a fresh oil and filter change per the state of Wisconsin inspection process, and all the fluids have been checked and topped off and it is 100% ready to go. That being said, I'm going to go all the way around in this video inside underneath, start it up and take a look under the hood to give you the most accurate representation possible magnetic gray metallic color. I shoot all my videos in 4K and if you like the video, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel which is youtube.com slash summit auto. 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youtube.com slash summit auto click the bell notifications you can update some videos they do each and every day as well as having access to one of the largest catalogs of vehicle walk-arounds on YouTube in fact in a second you will see a link to subscribe to my YouTube channel the upper left a link to more f-250 videos that I've done in the upper right link to this vehicle on our website lower left and a link to one of our ladies YouTube videos in the lower right click those checks out we're super excited to help you with this ultra clean 2019 Ford f-250 crew cab short box XL STX appearance package FX4 in magnetic gray metallic thanks again for checking out the video remember to like subscribe and share on the YouTube channel I really appreciate it thanks again


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calling 9194444 make your mum's day memorable with Radisson Blue Letter Kenny planning your big day book with evolved clothing Letty Kenny retail park private wedding room expert advice and tailored fits for the groom groomsmen and page boy great value awaits visit us today and we're joined on the program now I'm really pleased to say by Kathy Kelly who is of course one of our best authors and author of her latest book Sisterhood Kathy thank you so much for your time Greg it's a pleasure I'm just thinking my sister-in-law is a Hughes because her husband is a Hughes he's a great name it's not as fabulous as Kelly How are you Kathy I don't know I'm doing okay Greg I'm I'm doing okay as you can see the listeners can't see but I have the the short the very short hair of the regrowth cancer person but I've died blonde I'm working on that that looks fantastic actually if you don't mind me saying so and it's getting all fluffy everyone wants to pet it I'm like sort of a fluffy tent now you know how I feel everyone always wants to pet me but it's really weird do you know because bald I mean is beautiful when men do now when I was totally bald I think I looked like did you ever see that film and galaxy quest that had Tim Robbins there was little aliens in it that were that looked really sweet and then they'd bear their teeth and they were scary I felt I looked like one of them so it wasn't a good look on me but the bald you do I want to thank you you're very kind I want to talk of course about your book that's why we we've invited you on but also after the book you started talking about your your breast cancer diagnoses telling your fans about that and I think there's always a bit of you obviously and anything you write okay I just want to frame like how it felt talking about yourself and your personal experience sort of like out in the open whereas I suppose if we read some of your books we'd have picked up an awful lot about you but you were having to talk about yourself was that comfortable for you was it more difficult than than one might imagine you know it was quite weird Greg when I was diagnosed I sort of you know went to grand I'm going okay we have to cope with this and I did my you know I'm the big mommy person I have to mind all the people in my circle very female thing to do but and and then when I was having chemo I was very very sick I have a cancer where you have chemo surgery and then radiotherapy I'm at the waiting to get radiotherapy stage of my voyage I'm trying not to call it journey I know I understand exactly why yeah but talking about it do you know what when I was diagnosed I really wanted to know more about what it was was like and that's going to sound daft because there's so much written about cancer and this so but at the same point talking to people who've gone through chemo or cancer became very important to me so I lapped up every article I read I mean I you know October is we'll say cancer awareness month oh my god I was reading everything yeah and as someone who you know I'm into the concept of public service and very much so I mean I work with UNICEF it's very important to me to to help in the sense that if I have a voice I can help people with that voice so I realized that it would be lovely if I had been just diagnosed with breast cancer and someone like me was coming on talking about it really honestly so it felt like I was reaching out to people in a really nice way and I know I suppose the the issue when you have something very personal that you're sharing you can get a bit of negativity on social media and I so I just kept off social media yes good call yeah because you know it's just too too depressing but you know the people who've got on to me talking about their cancers talking about listening to me speak it's been it's been very powerful so and it was weird that's what it this way 27 years ago when I had my first book published I wouldn't have been able to talk this openly but now as I'm getting on in years I'm much more comfortable talking about stuff because I'm like going okay if the the haters don't like that that's fine but it's it's really helpful to people with cancer to have someone else going you know this was terrifying and this was awful and this helped and this didn't help yeah and the more voices because it's because it's very individual to people and and some some person's experience is completely alien to them so the more people are talking about it in different ways it's always going to resonate or someone needs to hear it that's when we talk about stuff on this show yes I do it because if the one person that needs to hear it hears it then I think the day's works down that's exactly it if one person hears it that is so incredibly powerful and you know when I was going to have chemo I was desperate to to find people who had chemo to know what that was like and because you go on the internet and it says lots of things about chemo but there's not you know you've got to really dig deep and then when you're having chemo you're you're going is this normal am I normal and so it's lovely to have other people say yeah that was dreadful that bit was difficult and then when they took that drug out it was easier and you feel more empowered by you know you're when you know more knowledge is power it really is indeed now onto the book because talk about you know juggling act of course you've completed this book you're talking about this book you're talking about your own situation but this I think all good music film books it kind of you know I think it works best when you can sort of you recognize yourself in it or you recognize something in it that's that feels real okay and it's each person might feel it in a different way but I think that's when you know you've really hit the jackpot that that's how people are consuming it so and tell us the story of sisterhood not all of the story the headlines obviously well yes it's really it's sort of sisterhood on two levels because it's about two sisters but it's also about women and female friendships which you know I couldn't have I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for that and so it's about two sisters and one of them is coming up for a fiftieth birthday Louise Lou and she is one of those beautiful people who does everything for everyone else and never takes time out for herself and you know she cleans her mother's house and she runs around after everyone and she she allows people to treat her like this I think that's that's one of the not one of the messages but one of the themes running through the book is that you know people will treat you the way you allow them to treat you so she's no boundaries and it's coming up for a fiftieth birthday and her mom is a bit of a nightmare the mom is a bit of a a man-killer and is you know she's a sculptor and she's you know she's full of energy but you're not energy to actually clean her own house and it's coming up to lose fiftieth birthday and suddenly everything starts to fall apart meanwhile her sister Tony who's younger is a much tougher cookie and she one of her she's also a broadcaster actually I like writing about broadcasting but she she also mentors women in business to help them with we'll say you know break glass ceilings and you know get to get treated I'm always very bad at explaining this this particular bit but you know to level out the playing field because as we know women and you know are not paid as much as men in many industries so she's trying saying to to women okay how do we how do we get there and we first see her on a radio station where she's talking to a a guy who runs a company who's going on about you know how important women in business are and why we don't really need her organization which helps women in business and she says well how many women in managerial positions do you have and the guy sort of is on the back foot is going well we did have one but you know she left it didn't work out so suddenly she she does humiliate him really because he's he's gone on air full of this blarney and it's all untrue and he's quite out to get her so and something else is happening in her personal life so it all comes down to lose 50th birthday party and their mom gets some bad news and she's been drinking neat gin or vodka I forget which but anyway it all goes horribly wrong a big secret comes out and the two sisters go off on a road trip to so to find themselves and to find out the truth of of this this story yeah it's brilliant okay so it gives you such I mean obviously people have a journey to go on as well but it gives you so much latitude for them to explore themselves and each other and what have you and get to go to lovely beautiful countries they go to see silly actually that's where they go but lovely I mean you've the the reviews have been wonderful there's one I kind of interested in from Marian Keyes I really really loved it I think it's her best book so far so like that's nice but that's like saying I'll up for your eldest child the rest of them like I think it's so well intended but it's like I've got Marian but I thought the second one was so hard to know I know exactly what you're saying so years and years ago somebody in PR in the UK wanted me to write an article about which one of my children I preferred best better I'm not making that up so yeah you know it's a scary world it's lovely it's beautifully intended I just thought it was it was particularly when you know I know I think it's you're always trying to go better with each book so when someone says that you're like so so lovely I know of course I mean yeah you're always evolving and developing aren't you I mean you know as you go on your own life journey that J words getting overused nowadays but you know you'll bring in more more of your experience and understanding and different perspectives into your work as well I know you get older and wiser and I mean I'm 57 now and I started writing when I was oh god 27 is that right that must be right yeah so God that's staggering Greg I can't get over that that makes me feel like 100 inside I'm still like sort of a slightly ditzy 24 year old I'm 24 as well in my head I'm 24 now yeah we stay 24 but you know it's really good when you stay 24 in your head I was reading an article only this morning about long life and a lot of it is enthusiasm for life and there was other stuff and I feel that you know not eating sugar was partly on the list but I'm just gonna ignore that bit and I'm gonna work towards the keeping enthusiasm in my life but yes as you get older you bring so much more into books and you know so now I have lots of information in this head I just have to if I could plug something in you know at night when I'm thinking in bed and get it down on the computer that'll be brilliant I know it's funny the top line in the back of the book it's just when you talked about your cancer and what have you as well Lou never puts herself first and in the numerous conversations I've had primarily with women with cancer and you mentioned it little earlier on whereby you go to tell people that you care about but you become it's actually you telling them but it's gonna be okay I'm gonna get through this you don't need to worry so you actually become the counsellor of everyone that you're breaking the news to rather than and this is this is just it's just a human condition rather than all of us and you tell everyone it's like right everyone let's get around Kathy they are there don't get me wrong but it's so often like Lou that you what can be in your darkest moment you turn to the making sure everyone knows Kathy's gonna be okay don't worry about it I was very much like that actually do you know what I was doing while I was waiting for you I started to read this book this lovely lady sent to me which is when things went tea sorry I'm gonna say the word tits up and it's that's the second time today that phrase has been used not by you no it's quite funny it's fine but it's two people have said it today but go ahead I was actually hilarious but this is a wonderful book and it's it's written for charity it's for purple house cancer support which is quite near me and Marie Keating Foundation but it's lots of poems this marvelous woman Dervilla O'Hare and I have to actually try and get in touch with her because she sent it to me and it's a beautiful book and she talks about telling her mom it's through poetry and she's a poem about trying to tell her mom and trying to take away the pain and that's exactly it you are so when I was diagnosed which was the end of July first I came out and I said it's my partner PJ because I was you know what they were basically saying to me in breast check and women check your breasts as we all know but what they were you know they had they couldn't absolutely say I had breast cancer because only a biopsy can say that but from the they had taken samples and from the I'm losing all my words chemo brain is real from the ultrasound that was it the doctor she said look you're coming back you know this is we can see this is not good so I knew I had cancer so I had to go out and tell my partner then I was thinking okay right I have to tell you know my children and that's so hard and telling my mom and my brother and my sister because I knew they'd all be in bits so I was like it was going to be fine nothing to see here you know it's all good and yeah it's um it's an interesting thing but it's also a lovely thing it comes from a place of huge love and trying to protect the people you love and yeah women are incredibly special if there's no data about it because it is I mean we have to do it to some extent as well but it's just a very very common story okay listen Kathy it's been lovely speaking to you and I'm so pleased that things on your career path not career path your career path as well of course but your your your health path trying to avoid the J word again seems to be going really well for you and you're rocking the blonde oh do you think so? I think so yeah it's just fluffy I have to say you're very lucky because you've got a very nicely shaped head you see thank you this is so exciting this I don't think I'll ever let it grow long again because then I was hiding behind my hair yeah why would you? I just had a long blancher I think I hid behind the Greg so no more hiding all right I'll see you probably next year with hair halfway down your back now it's probably fleeting I know you will know you will be behind you're an angel thank you so much sisterhood from Kathy Kelly he's out there now and it's been incredibly well received by you know people that know what they're talking about Kathy it's lovely number one number one number one in Ireland excellent fair play to you for screaming that from the rooftops as well well done Kathy God bless you thank you so very much indeed it's been lovely speaking to you thank you so much bye bye Kathy Kelly author there of sisterhood 08 660 25000 WhatsApps and texts just for those of you watching that is the front of the book a beautiful tender story a family lies secrets in the power of sisterhood a perfect book to escape with says Sinead Moriarty full of heart and wisdom this is Kathy Kelly at her absolute breast breast that's a Freudian slip there at absolute best unput downable that comes in from Patricia Scanlon and Kathy wonderfully speaking so openly about her and how I inadvertently said the word breast there because I was thinking of her as she goes through her continuing her treatment towards the end and she's rung the bell in her in her battle with breast cancer which is good but still there's a the radiotherapy to come as many of you out there would understand as well watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com the 90 noon show with letterkenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40 000 to 600 000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letterkenny credit union 9102127 Kia is now making it easier to go green offering 0% finance on the all new Kia Nero with an impressive 460 kilometer range on a single charge the Nero ensures you can go to distance without compromise visit iMotors.ie today and avail of this limited offer experience total relaxation in the spa at orchids at 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to be missed tickets now on sale for more information visit the outlet at highlandradio.com or give us a call on 074 91 25 000 we'll see you at the Highland Radio birthday bash on this week's Monday Focus we look at the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way it's a decade old can you believe which heralded a new era for Irish tourism we discuss its birth success and plans for the years ahead Joan Crawford's manager of Wild Atlantic Way at Fulcher Ireland and has joined us in studio good morning to you Joan good morning Greg hard to believe it's been 10 years I remember the the discussion about this in advance and there were parts that were included and then there were included and it's only really with the passing of time that I fully get you know what it is and how bloody successful it's been yeah I suppose the Wild Atlantic Way was created at a time when we were in global recession Greg and the west coast of Ireland tourism was decimated like people were leaving the west coast in their droves and tourism businesses were only really open about eight weeks in the year so we had to do something that was going to be significant and we knew we had the people the hospitality the product and you know amazing scenery and that's where the concept of the Wild Atlantic Way came around that brand proposition so it's the longest to find coastal tour in the world and it's at 2,500 kilometers and like from from concept probably to reality it took in the region in two years but it was probably one of those things that every government agency got behind including the public and the private sector and like local authorities I suppose gave us the most support in terms of they gave us their engineers to get the infrastructure up on the route like there's 3,850 signs along that route so it was a mammoth task and we've 187 discovery points so there was a lot of infrastructure requirements there and I suppose while we were doing all of that tourism Ireland was outselling the brand concept overseas and we were getting really positive feedback especially from those markets France, Germany, the US and the UK it resonated really well they were really warm to the concept so it just took off from there the rural product was there to say so that helped so you defy anyone to come to any part of the Wild Atlantic Way but obviously I'm going to favour it up here and not go oh my god this is amazing but I think it also appealed to people like me that I do need to be spoon fed a little bit do you know too many if I go to an area I'll go to a local tourism shop or something you pick up a few leaflets and it's like oh you know what's going on and then I end up just going to the pub not literally right but metaphorically speaking so I think for people like me as well it's something that's defined isn't it and even completing it becomes I did the Wild Atlantic Way or I'm going to do it over a number of years like it really works in terms of return business marketing it's easy to market well I would say that but you know what I mean it really helps doesn't it yeah it really has and that fact that we had the discovery points was pushing people along the route and yes we had the Wild Atlantic Way passport and people were following it and what we really want to do though is we don't want people you know on a mission to do the full route in one go we want them to come back and generations of the next family coming back to do the Wild Atlantic Way but probably Greg I went tourism 23 years I was there at the initial inception of Wild Atlantic Way and the one thing we have seen as we've seen small towns and villages really come back to life with the tourism product you can see the season extension we're starting to see the season start earlier in the year they're getting towards the back end of the year now we want to get that 12 month business so we might be 10 years but we've another 10 years a really hard work ahead in terms of you know that investment for big visitor attractions it's going to pull the visitor and the weather isn't a disadvantage so I'll always remember seeing you know a busload of German tourists getting off a bus and don't go to town in their coats and they had their you know their what do you call those jackets you know the waterproof jackets right and us walking through the town in t-shirts freezing with the rain helping off our heads you know what I mean they prepared for the weather and we're just so that's not really a great disadvantage we get great weather but I don't think tourists generally mind from outside the country in particular and in terms of growth as well as you say this started probably at a great time when we were at our lowest ebb financially 2024 is looking like beaten 2023 as well like so it continues to grow in popularity and this year we'll mark the 10th anniversary in Clarny at Mehill and Mehill is where we bring in 250 overseas buyers and we put our trade in front of them to be able to give them the opportunity to sell their product so that's where it all began and we're going back to that now for the 10th anniversary we'll also launch brand new brand assets that'll give industry the opportunity to be able to market the things there is to see and do along the way those little hidden gems but also there'll be a very strong focus on the north of Galway in terms of bringing in those media and press trips that we're working in conjunction with tears marlin don't what I liked as well and I can say this but you have to be careful because you but you know we still have you know there's still a challenge in visitors getting into Dublin whatever and also getting them to the west coast right but I think what has been interesting to see is the midlands and the east coast going hold on a second this wild atlantic way thing is kind of it's doing really quite well we want a piece of that action yeah there's that way of the new hidden heartlands brand and with the IAE brand but wild atlantic way is still marching ahead and it's interesting you say that about getting people from Dublin we know wild atlantic way is still a tale of two halves in south in south wild atlantic way it's all about dispersion of the visitor to get them out from those honeypots whereas north of wild atlantic way we need to get those international visitors who are going to spend a little bit more and stay a little bit longer and I want more people to fly directly into the west into Ireland west airport we often view I think Ireland west airport as a destination sorry as a place to go somewhere but to have the opportunity and with with Donegal airport now people can fly directly the Donegal airport via Dublin of course you know there are ways into now we want people from going into Ireland west to go north not necessarily south right and to avail of the services at Donegal airport but there are ways to get straight into the west now as well too and we're working really strongly with the Cosway coastal route this year in terms of shared islands money that we received seven point six million in terms of that connectivity between the Cosway coast and the wild atlantic way because when an overseas visitor looks at a map they're not looking in that division they're just looking at one coastal route so Belfast is also Belfast and Dairy are also key access points for us for the northwest yeah and of course you know you can do your bit but we also we also need businesses to be able to continue to operate and you know the small pubs the small restaurants and what have you we need them there as well the scenery is beautiful but we need the service providers there we also need accommodation as well you know so these are challenges at the moment much the accommodation is being used for for other purposes particularly here in Donegal when you're trying to get people go to go north they could say to you you know lovely if I could book somewhere do you know what I mean so we have to get that sorted too don't we we really understand that challenge in Falkshire Island like 12% of our registered accommodation nationally has gone over to supporting the Ukrainian crisis 15% of that accommodation in Donegal has gone over we're not as bad as some counties where they have 20 and 30 but we do understand that challenge and like that the activities and attractions that are in those areas that large volumes of accommodation has gone from we have launched a business support grant today to help those businesses that are receiving a downturn in their revenue yeah because of that and it is a challenge we understand cost of doing business at the moment is a real challenge not only for tourism businesses for businesses in general of course and I think if we were able to dig into those figures a little deeper in terms of where those beds are better availability in the wild Atlantic way do we have those figures? we do and we keep a very close eye on everything what's the percentage do you know what the percentage of for us in Donegal that's always the one Greg that I'm watching very closely we're up at 15% of our registered accommodation has gone over but we're actually doing an accommodation workshop tonight or tomorrow night in Fannett in the community centre and it's all about getting people who maybe are looking at the idea of making accommodation available for B&B self-catering or welcome standard all right Folger Island hosting a free information evening for all tourism accommodation providers or prospective accommodation providers across Donegal tomorrow night as you just heard it's in the Fannett community centre between 6 p.m. and 7 30 p.m. Accommodation tourism accommodation vital who hugely important of course sticky headphones online John if you don't mind we have Kevin Doohere who is the wild Atlantic traveller Kevin how are you getting on it's not a bad way to make your name is it touring the wild Atlantic way definitely not somebody might as well join it but nice to see you anyway hey John how are you hey Kevin it's good to have you with us I mean obviously we're going to talk about Donegal first and foremost aren't we I mean I defy anyone listening well I don't defy them I doubt anyone listening has taken everything in that this county has to offer on the wild Atlantic way alone international and national tourism you know it's only recent relatively recently I myself have you know started properly exploring I think the hidden and not so hidden gems that we have Kevin yeah well look there's so much you know even myself like I'm still finding different gems now and again but like Donegal so big and it's amazing how many people just come for a day trip and expect to see the whole entire county do you know like a week's never enough but I do agree with you we do have the best county you know in terms of scenery people hospitality the friendly welcome we do have everything up here you know anything we don't have is the weather but we don't come darling for the weather not at all you know it doesn't matter if you're at kayaking it doesn't matter if it's raining or not I hope you have Donegal yeah also too in a shown and there was a bit of a campaign at the time I remember to have in a shown included I would say it's probably less travelled but not less deserving because in a shown is so much to offer in you talk about exploring you know Donegal you could actually spend a full holiday just exploring in a shown oh yeah 100% do you know people forget you know about in a show and they come straight here to Glen Bay family lighthouse slave league but they skip sometimes in a show and go up to the five finger strand you know that you're as hills to go hiking you've strove lighthouse too as well which is a beautiful spot and they've just got a sauna a wood fired sauna up there too as well so if you like sea swimming it's fantastic and a beautiful place and we've got some great hotels up there too and just to talk about there we'll have a 12 million year investment there in Fort Dunray so we want to create that iconic attraction within in a show that will support those smaller attractions that are there so that when someone looks at a map they're thinking there's enough to do in that area for three to five days for sure we don't need people getting off a liner or whatever you call those cruise ships and being being busted out of in a shown we need a product there that's very consumable and that's definitely what we're focusing on now over the next couple of years um further south you haven't got down as far as caught yet you've gone as far as Kerry you know like it's very I mean obviously it's best here and it's very hard not to be super proud of Donagall and Parochal all right but give us a sense of the wilds Atlantic ways you meander down the west coast Kevin is it nice it's okay it's okay to be fair there's some great spots like you know I've got a few favorites myself you know when I can I go down that way and I go back to a few of the same spots do you know like Kane Bay as people pronounce it but the locals pronounce it Kim such a beautiful place and April May is a good time to see the Baskin Sharks I've been onto the Iron Islands Enishmore beautiful island to get onto to go see the wormhole the Black Fort and again it's a lovely island to stay on and I always recommend people staying on it and Claire luped lighthouse beautiful you've got the ferry bridge down there as well Cliffs and Moher everybody seems to do it by land but forget to do it by sea and I think this is so important too for Donegal for Steve Lee say it by boat I think there's a more dynamic I think there might be a new service up there I meant to mention there yeah Atlantic Coastal because this is just they've just launched haven't they yeah and Paddy Burnham now has three boats in the water over there Paddy Moe like yeah I know Kevin's all about the co-labs but Paddy you know I can go on that boat I've got a camera too I can waffle I think I'll change jobs with Kevin actually I know I know but Kevin you've mixed it up a bit here to four you can't do hotels Airbnbs, campervans this season you're looking to do but a wild camping yeah but a wild camp and get back to nature and stuff in a tent that we kind of ground in a tent Kevin are you going to do it in a tent yeah no no wild camping is you have to forge your own food you have to build your own you know like naked and afraid you know those with McDonald's I'll be fine exactly that's the flavour of wild camping we're going to see from Kevin but no I get you I mean you know sometimes you know say for instance you say you drive drive over lock salt or whatever and you can see some people have stumbled across that parking space there and the views have got the back of the camper van open or they've got a tent and you go wow what must that feel like now you could do it but there's a bed not far away right but you're looking at it and go wow now that is you're talking banking experiences there that's you want a bit of that action Kevin yeah well do you know what I've seen more people converting vans into camper vans do you know this last year and this year too as well a lot of my friends have converted vans to wake up at these different locations but I always say be mindful to when you go to these locations you don't want to leave can I I always like leave no trace yeah exactly you know just for prints and that's kind of like a slow win that I've carried throughout and it's always like you know a lot of places now don't allow camper vans to park up so I always kind of say you know kind of look for them there is but even even I mean the council have taken that on board and there's a public consultation about how we can promote promote that type of holiday but respect the locals Joan you wanted to come in there a sec and probably Kevin you're well able to do the the coffee gate for the Wild Atlantic Way at this stage with all the excellent coffee stops we have now at some of the discovery points along the route like I was down at Mount Charles Peer last Sunday and just the buzz around the Peer and the amount of people that were out wild swimming men but if you don't call it Mount Charles you'll not be walking back Mount Charles yeah it doesn't mean it'll be your last visit Joan but the amount of people that were out wild swimming and we're having their coffee and it's just really macro fishing spot that too as well you know the discovery points is getting and just a wee bit up from there there's a beautiful oh my god I spent so much more childhood there as well during rock it's just up a little bit north of that it's beautiful righty you go snorkeling we don't do enough snorkeling here snorkeling is fantastic but water sports is definitely taking off the kayaking you know all of that to the activity providers they've all grown their business literally a lot of the best those guys we did a kayak into our last not a tour we went out with the guy and it was just unbelievable yeah um right okay Kevin so you're going to keep logging your adventures for our pleasure on your social medias the wild Atlantic traveler look forward to seeing some of this wild camping so no hotels no nothing right I hope you're still joined too yeah for sure definitely you give me a convert to the world right yeah all right no problem no problem at all all right take care Kevin thank you so much very much indeed and keep up the great work thanks so very much indeed Kevin do your wild Atlantic traveler a lot of people now get their suggestions and their advice from you know seeing other people doing it as well it's really valuable um right okay Joan um ten years and it's onwards and upwards as well too it's it that's onwards and upwards it's really it's really important for us now to focus on working with the with businesses along the wild Atlantic way in terms of the supports like you know building resilience around their commercial and financial um business models also to look at the investment in terms of you know the wild Atlantic way the capital investment we're not finished over at Sleeve League we'd like to get my own head over the line we Fort Dunray coming on stream so yeah we we'll continue to work in terms of that capital investment and we have this year as well now we're going back out to really look at all of the um the signage and the maintenance again for the discovery points because it's really important what we're putting in the shop window is what people are getting when they arrive so the unique landscape is really important in terms of that environmental piece for us as well in terms of that environmental monitoring for the wild Atlantic way all right brilliant stuff John it's been lovely having you on thanks great um and it's been interesting to market of course as well we all have hopefully a chance this uh this uh spring into summer to to explore more of our county more of the wild Atlantic way okay John thank you very much indeed that's uh Joan Joan Crawford who's manager of wild Atlantic way at Fulcher Ireland any of your favorite um visiting spots let us know 08 660 25000 the 90 noon show is brought to you by letterkenny credit union with monster loans available up to 60 000 euro for all occasions visit letterkennycu.ie are you worried about trees on your property north west forestry services belly buffet are fully insured and have over 40 years experience in dangerous tree removal tree felling surgery and stump grinding for peace of mind call north west forest services belly buffet for no obligation quotation on 9132033 go full leader with exclusive little plus supersavers like board via proved Irish old chicken was 499 now 399 crisp pink lady apples were 299 now only more 99 and little plus wine of the week deluxe western Cape Sauvignon Blanc was 899 now 749 scan the little plus app and go full leader today get the bikes to drink wherever the drinker wear dot e testing testing do you need to get your hearing tested test your hearing with a free sample hearing aid from hidden hearing or do your free sample hearing aid today call 1-800-370-00 or visit hiddenhearing.ie will be happy to help you make the right choice whatever the occasion or McCulloch rulers making moments magical for generations Highland radio weather updates with Ireland west airport time to book the family summer holiday fly to Barcelona Faro Milan Mallorca and much more for a perfect family getaway Ireland west airport don't just take off take it easy okay staying largely dry as we head into the afternoon though it will be mostly cloudy and increasingly breezy as it wears on breaks of rainbow spread from the south later seven to nine degrees Professor Francis Finook and his consultant endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital he's taken a short time out of his very busy day to speak to us good morning to you Professor thank you for your time good morning Greg thank you for having me on more than a billion people in the world and now living with obesity Ireland has one of the highest rates one in four here are obese are we are we changing slowly but surely changing our attitudes to recognize that this isn't all just sort of lifestyle choice or whatever it might be and that for some you know for most of for some or for all that this is actually a disease and need to be treated by you know the HSC and the government as such yeah I think so like any public health problem really a two-pronged approach needs to be taken and that's what we teach students of obesity at the University of Galway and you know anybody who works in public health will know that on the one hand you have to provide treatment to people who are worst affected by a condition like overweight and obesity and on the other hand you've got to take population level approaches so that the overall number of affected individuals at any point in time decreases now what we are seeing which is particularly concerning and this means we really need to start acting now or continue in the efforts is that there's been a quadrupling of obesity among children and adolescents aged five to 19 which is a critical period of development and presumably if you are carrying too much weight that can harm that process well that's right we know for sure now that childhood of weight and obesity isn't necessarily benign it's not a matter of so-called poppy fat and several studies have confirmed that children who are overweight who have persistent overweight into adulthood do have a higher risk of things like cardiovascular disease for example so the real concern that our young people are exposed to this risk I think what's changing Greg is that the solution is not to encourage young children to be more responsible or to lay the blame on them or their parents rather society needs to take responsibility here we need to make the food environment in particular much healthier for younger people and expose them to much less unhealthy junk food and the complexity of the problem is that often we see the worst diets in families with least resources and we have a serious growing problem of poverty and children in poverty and it's all interlinked so it's not just a health issue then it's a societal broader societal issue as well absolutely obesity is not just a health issue although that's ultimately how it affects the worst affected individuals of course it's probably the most the most pertinent part of the problem for severely affected individuals but it's a societal political legislative moral and ethical problem and we have to grapple with this it's also a challenge for commercial actives and so we need to recognize that if we're going to tackle the obesity crisis it's going to hurt say the producers of ultra-profit foods and we do have to acknowledge that those potential hazards exist and that you know there's going to be an effect on the commercial bottom line for food producers but I think that obesity experts and public health advocates would argue that that's a difficult decision we're going to have to make and that we're going to have to take the profits out of some of these particularly on the healthy foods and we're going to have to be careful about how truthful advertising say of certain breakfast cereals are for young people etc yeah of course and we did have the sugar tax and that sugar tax was to be refenced for education and measures in this area if we're talking of quadrupling of obesity in young people we're not seeing the fruits of that and I think really that needs to be explained to us what's being done with that money yeah so so for example the plastic bag packs that was introduced about 20 years ago was hypothesized or reinforced for environmental initiatives like bubble banks etc and that was that was a virtuous sort of a circle of improvements that then led to further environment so there was a reduction in plastic bag consumption very dramatic something like 97% reduction immediately that was introduced and then there was the fonding of the resort that led to further improvements in the environment that has not happened unfortunately with the the sugar tax and I think that Lee of Racker and some politicians were in favor of ring fencing but others at the time were not we would of course love to see that money ring fenced and not just for preventive measures but also for investment in treatment of obesity and in particular I think bariatric surgery and obesity surgery is something that's particularly effective particularly co-effective especially in people with prediabetes and others and we've got to do more to enhance access and use the expertise we have now in Ireland the multidisciplinary expertise with nurses dietitians physiotherapists exercise specialists like colleges Thurge and Banford vision we can use that we can harness that expertise to deliver this care now we need to ramp up that activity significantly I believe over the coming months Professor Francis Finooken thank you very much I do appreciate your time today he's a consultant endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital have a wonderful Monday everyone and all being well we'll see you tomorrow morning