Podcast appearances and mentions of Shannon Airport

It's hoped the recent addition of a major European business hub to Shannon Airport's route offering will encourage more carriers to expand in Clare. From next April, Lufthansa subsidiary, Discover Airlines will be running a twice weekly service to Frankurt, Germany. It's hoped the route will target holiday makers, businesspeople and will add convenience to connecting flyers. Meelick Deputy Cathal Crowe who's also Fianna Fáil's Spokesperson on Aviation says efforts are ongoing to expand to Brazil and Poland.

Shannon is set to benefit from a significant boost to its Garda resources. It comes amid confirmation that 15 new recruits from Templemore will be deployed to the district in September. It follows an escalation of anti-social behaviour in the catchment area along with a number of incidents at Shannon Airport. Clare Fianna Fáil Minister of State Timmy Dooley believes it will have positive knock on effects for the whole county.

Shannon Airport says it hopes to be able to make an announcement regarding new routes in the coming weeks. The Clare base expects to see almost 60,000 passengers pass through its gates this August Bank Holiday Weekend which is 10% up on the same period last year. Ryanair recently announced a fourth based aircraft at the facility along with new routes to Lapland, Madeira and Madrid. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine says they're always working to find ways to fly to new destinations.

Calls have been made for a blanket ban on windfarm developments near Clare's air traffic control radar installations. There are currently pending applications for 40 turbines in the east of the county, many of which are in close proximity to the radar station at Woodcock Hill in Meelick. Shannon Airport and AirNav Ireland have already raised concerns over the potential impacts that projects at Knockshanvo, Ballycar and Lackareagh Beg would have, with the latter granted planning permission last week. Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe says no one wants to see an accident.

Title: Rare Earths to Truffles: Diversified Investments You've Never Heard Of with Louis O'Connor Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes back Lou, an international investor, to discuss diversification, rare earth metals, and a unique agricultural investment opportunity. Lou, who splits his time between Europe and Latin America, emphasizes the importance of global diversification for peace of mind and flexibility. He highlights the geopolitical dynamics affecting rare earth metals, where China dominates the refining process, and discusses the increasing demand due to restricted exports. Transitioning from metals to agriculture, Lou introduces his truffle farm investment. Leveraging agri-science and Ireland's favorable climate, the project offers investors ownership of inoculated truffle trees with professional farm management. Returns are projected to begin in year 4-5 and continue for up to 40 years, offering IRRs between 14% to 69% based on historical truffle prices. Risks include mismanagement and natural elements, though strong biosecurity and proven success mitigate concerns. Lou finishes with a valuable mindset tip: improve by 1% daily to compound results over time. Bullet Point Highlights: Diversification across countries and industries provides flexibility and peace of mind China's control of rare earth refining and export restrictions create scarcity and opportunity Truffle farm investment offers strong IRR potential, with returns starting in years 4-5 and lasting 30-40 years Minimum $30K investment includes 400 saplings and full farm management with a 70/30 profit split Primary risks are mismanagement and nature, mitigated through biosecurity and replacement guarantees Lou's golden nugget: Focus on improving 1% daily to unlock exponential long-term growth Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Lou, what's going on, brother? Welcome back to the show.   Thank you very much Seth. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. Good to see you again.   Yeah, absolutely man. Great to catch up with you. Are you tuning in from where?   Well, in Europe still, you know, I'm back and forth between Ireland, Germany, mostly, a little bit of time in Panama as well, because my wife's from there, but I'm in temporary in Ireland, horse breeding country and agricultural heartland actually of Europe. And at the moment anyway, yeah, so in Europe.   (Seth Bradley) (01:16.664) awesome, awesome. That's the beauty of being on a video conference call that you can talk to anyone from anywhere in the world now. That's the one good thing that came out of COVID is it made it normal to do it.   Yeah, it's funny, unbelievable. Just yesterday I was contacted actually by CNBC in the US, I'm in Europe, about the metals. We're not talking about metals today, but I've spoken with you before about the rare earth metals. And I guess the US chamber, secretary chamber of commerce is in China this week because China is restricting the export of certain technology metals and that's their area.   And within a day, there's like an hour after I speak with you, I'm doing an interview with CNBC on, I think it's Power Launch or something they call it. So it's fascinating really how quickly you can sort of ping around the globe and find somebody and do this.   Yeah, yeah, very cool, very cool, man. Well, thanks for taking the time to tune in with us today. And we've got a brand new thing to talk about and we'll jump into that. But before we do, just for listeners who didn't listen to your previous episode, give us a little bit about your background and your story. Just a general synopsis,   Sure, thank you. Yeah, so I'm obviously, you can tell from the accent, I'm Irish or Scottish or Australian, but it's Irish. And I suppose you could say I'm bit of a world traveler who has come back home specifically for this project we're going to talk about. Ireland is known as sort of the breadbasket of Europe. But yeah, I lived in Germany for 10 years, lived in Central America and traveled extensively in South America during that time.   (Louis O'Connor) (03:05.422) But my niche, if you will, you know one other business we're involved in. And my niche, what I'm looking for is always what I call, I don't know what you might call it in the US, but we sort of call it a path of progress play here, which is if you sort of look at an industry or a product, what's happened in the last 10 years, or even a country or even a business for that matter, if you look at what's happened in the last 10, you can sort of   have a look at likely what's going to happen in the next 10. So I'm always looking for somewhere where demand is increasing and supply is either going to be limited or subject to disruption and somehow, and that's what we will be talking to an agricultural product and we'll talk more about it. But I like to be diversified in every way. So I have business in Germany, this agricultural product is in Ireland.   I do my banking in Belize and Panama and different parts of Europe. So just trying to be as diversified as possible.   Right, right. And that's part of your kind of plan as well, right? Like to be kind of this international man of mystery, right? Like you have different ties to a couple of different countries, which gives you flexibility in case something goes wrong in one of them, right? Like, you know, I think a lot of people were worried here for a while and I think it's still in the back of people's minds in the United States about, you know, the strength of the dollar and   You know, people were talking about getting a second citizenship and things like that. Can you speak to that a little bit about kind of, you know, how you've done that and what your kind of thoughts and feelings are around that?   (Louis O'Connor) (04:46.552) Sure, sure. Well, you my feeling always has this peace of mind, you know, I just want peace of mind. I want to be at peace with myself and the world around me. that's, I mean, I'm probably talking about more philosophically and spiritually as well, but also, you know, in business or residencies or banking. I suppose it's because I left Ireland quite young and I did live.   I didn't just go on a vacation somewhere. lived in Germany for 10 years. I learned the language. Ireland is an island, even though we're part of Europe, continental Europe is completely different. And then I went to Latin America, which is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. And I suppose it was those experiences that the perspective that gave me was that, that sounds very simple, really, root of entry, but there's...   there's good and bad, know, you we do certain things in Ireland very well, and maybe other things not so well in Germany, they do, you know, they've made better cars and better roads. And we do and you know, Latin America, I think they dance better and drink better maybe than you know, but so yeah, what I learned is, you know, you know, you can pick is a bit like life can be a bit like a buffet, and you can pick what you like, and you know what you don't like leave behind, you know, so and the idea, I suppose the point I should make is that   What I've learned is it's not expensive or difficult to be diversified. Like have your banking in different jurisdictions really doesn't cost anything. Having a second or third residency if you do the right homework on I'll go into more detail if you want. have residency still in Panama and I three passports. I'm working on the fourth and it has been a little bit of effort but not expensive or costly.   And will I ever use it? I worried that the world's going to end? No. But it's just that peace of mind you have when you've got these other options that, God forbid if something did happen here in Ireland or Europe, I have a residency in Panama, I banking there. So it's just that, suppose it's like having a parachute or a safety net that's always there.   (Seth Bradley) (07:00.13) Yeah, yeah, I agree. mean, that's, you know, especially the way that things are today and people kind of just worry about things generally, right? If you have that peace of mind and you have that, you know, second or third option, it's just something that can kind of let you sleep at night a little bit better. It's like having a nest egg or, you know, having a second, third, fourth, fifth stream of income.   things like that that can let you sleep at night and while other people are panicking and worrying and making, you know, maybe even bad decisions based on that, you know, based on those worries, you can sleep soundly and make decisions that are best for you.   Yeah, yeah, and you're not limited, know, if you're just, you know, like, I mean, it's funny though, as well, I think it's timely. I think the time has come. I you see people, you know, we were chatting earlier, you know, being involved in multiple different industries and, you know, with technology, we're allowed to do that. We can reside in one country, we can do our bank in another, we can do our tax responsibility somewhere else, we can do our business. So it's probably just in the last 20, 30 years that we can move so freely.   with all this stuff, know, you know, only maybe 25, 30 years ago, I wanted to, I couldn't really do business in Germany, but live in Ireland, it'd have to be one or the other. There was no internet, you know, everything. So, so yeah, I think, I think we're heading in that direction anyway. And it's just, yeah, there's great freedom in it and great peace of mind, even though, you know, I mean, I'll be in Ireland for, you know, my two kids are, there's another six or eight years.   before they finish school. So I plan to be here, but I just have other options as well, you know.   (Seth Bradley) (08:41.42) Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. And speaking of diversification, mean, your investments are very diverse, right? I mean, in the previous episode, we jumped into rare earth metals. And then in this episode, we're going to jump into something new. Before we jump into the new thing, though, give us a little update on what has changed in your business with the rare earth metals or if anything has changed or how those things are going.   Yeah, well, thanks. Thanks for asking, Seth. Since we spoke, actually, the big news is just in the last 60 days, I think I mentioned to you that China pretty much sort of dominates the rare earth industry. it's, I think really, it's possible and we understand now that China sort of saw before the EU and maybe before the US or they understood at least that rare earths would become   the backbone of manufacturing in the 21st century and they've been, you know, they've taken action on that. So we're in a situation now and it's not really an economic strategy. It's more of a geopolitical strategy that China has big plans for electric cars, big plans for solar, big plans for wind. you know, they, they've hundreds of million people, they're, taken out of the poverty, into the middle class all the time. So sort of   thinking strategically and long term, they rightfully secured their supply of rare earths. And what happened just in the last 60 days is the US sort of initiated a sort of a block. Now it was also supported by Holland and Japan and they're blocking sort of the latest sort of semiconductor technology from going to China. And in retaliation for that, China   You know, they have, you know, an ace up their sleeve, which is where it hurts. So the West has the technology and China has the raw materials. And just in the last 60 days, China has said they're going to, well, effective August 1, which is a month ago, they're restricting the export now of gallium and germanium, which is two of these technology metals, and that China, you know, is responsible for 95 % of the global production. so we're seeing the prices go up and this is sort of.   (Louis O'Connor) (10:57.826) what I talked to you about that these metals are in demand on a good day, you know, you will make a nice return. But if something like this happens where China sort of weaponizes these metals economically, then you'll see prices increasing quite dramatically, which they are. Yeah, that's that's what's happening there. It's basically a market where there's surging demand and you have sort of political landscapes affecting as well. So   It makes for interesting investment.   Yeah, yeah. Are these rare earth metals, are they not something that we can mine or is it something we're not willing to mine, like let's say in the West?   (Louis O'Connor) (11:44.142) Yeah, good question actually. that actually gets right to the heart of it, Seth, because despite the name rare earths, they're not all that rare. Some of them are as sort of common as copper and stuff, but there's about eight or ten of them that are rare and they are available in the US. But this is what's changed dramatically in the last 30 years is the rare earths don't occur naturally. So they always occur as a byproduct of another raw material.   They're sort of, they're very chemically similar. they're, sort of all stuck together. So they have to be extracted and separated and then refined and processed into, you know, high purity levels for jet engines or smartphones or whatever the case might be. what's happened where China dominates is, is China is responsible for 95 % of the refining. Now there's about 200 or sorry, $390 billion available in subsidies in the U S.   from the Inflation Reduction Act, which despite the name is all about energy transition. And that's all very well, except the human capital and the engineering expertise to refine rare earths is depleted in, it doesn't exist in Europe, and it's very much depleted in the US. Just to give you some context, there's 39 universities in China, where they graduate degrees in critical minerals.   So the Chinese are graduating about 200 metallurgists a week, every week for the last 30 years. I think the US has a handful of universities. I'd say there's probably 300,000 metallurgists in China and there might be 400 in the US and probably none in Europe at all. So it's not just a question of if they're there, it's how do we get them into 99.99 % purity? Without the engineering expertise, we can't, not anytime soon anyway.   Wow, yeah, yeah. mean, that just alone sounds like a recipe for a pretty good play for an investment. you know, there's these bottlenecks, right? Whether that's people that can refine it or the actual element itself or willingness to mine it, you know, all these different things come into play to make it a good investment. All right, let's switch over a little bit here. Let's talk about the new investment vehicle.   (Seth Bradley) (14:06.99) that you talked to me about. It's an agricultural play, correct? we're talking about truffles, talking about mushrooms, right? Tell me a little bit about it just to get started here.   Okay, well, you probably I mean, you know, truffles are in the culinary world, they're known as the black diamond of the kitchen, you know, they're, they're a delicacy going back to, you know, thousands and thousands of years. Traditionally, the black perigord, which is the Mediterranean truffle would have originated in France, but for the last sort of, you know, the last 100 years or so,   they've been growing abundantly in sort of South, Southwestern France, Northern Spain and Italy. So traditionally, you know, that's where they grow and they sort of, know, because the truffle, as you said, it's a mushroom that has a symbiotic relationship with a a native tree, an oak tree or hazel tree or sometimes beech. So it's a very delicate balance, you know.   And although I have invested in agriculture before, we started, we, I mean, a collective does not just me involved here, and I don't want to sound like I take credit for any of this really. I was just a part of a team where we had some agri-science people, and we had sort of four generational farmers involved. But we were looking at, it is no question that climate, there's a climate change, right?   It doesn't matter to me whether people, whatever the causes of that are, the reality is if you talk to an olive grower or a truffle grower in Italy or France, they'll tell you the climate has changed because their harvests have been decreasing for about the last 30 to 40 years actually, but really more so in the last 10. So we were sort of, I'll tell you basically the AgriScience partner involved in this.   (Louis O'Connor) (16:10.958) As a test back in 2005, they started to plant and the trees inoculated, the baby trees inoculated with the truffle sort of in the root system as a test all over different countries, not just Ireland, England, UK, also the US. So this has been in sort of research and development since about 2005.   And we got seriously involved in about 2015 when history was made and this Mediterranean truffle was grown here in the British Isles for the first time. we then with our agriscience partner in 2015 planted a thousand trees in five different locations in Ireland where I am.   and one of them is about 20 minutes away from me here. They're all secret locations. I won't even tell you where they are because they really are. They're highly valued or highly prized. And so it takes about four or five years to see if you're a business. So yeah, we now are growing the Mediterranean truffle, not just in Ireland, but in other parts of the UK. But the real interesting thing, Seth, it's just now ready for scale. And all of the farmers,   who were involved in the original research. None of them are going to take it to scale. The one that's local to me is a lovely gentleman. in his 60s and he planted a thousand trees really just as a retirement. His daughter works in banking in Switzerland and so there's nobody really to take over the farm. So we're the first to do it with scale. So we're inviting in...   a portion of some investors in as well.   (Seth Bradley) (18:05.87) Gotcha. Are there specific, I assume there are, are specific growing conditions where these things can prosper? Like I can't, I'm in San Diego, I can't just plant them in my backyard and wait five years and be a millionaire.   Well, if you you if I hear you're growing truffles death, you know, we should assign an NDA we should assign. You could try but no, they wouldn't grow in San Diego because I mean, there's a very delicate balance and you're what you're you're what you're using here is agri science and nature. You're working with nature. And because the reason they've grown so well in demand is   No way.   (Louis O'Connor) (18:48.738) just because of that balance up they get a sort of a dry season or sort of they got to get a lot of rain and then they get the dry season and what's happened is they're getting more drought and less rain and it's just upset the balance. So it's a very, very delicate balance. But what people wouldn't know, I think, is that truffles have always grown wild in Ireland.   There was a time five or 600 years ago when Ireland was 85 % forest and our native tree is the oak and the hazel tree, is the tree that's also where the fungus grows. And what happened was when the Brits were before, you know, when shipbuilding was the thing and the British Navy were, you know, the Spanish were, so the Brits sort of chopped down a lot of the forest for the wood for shipbuilding. you know, our forests were depleted. But to this day,   Truffles do still grow wild here, but we're doing it differently. know, we're only planting on land where you have like certain protein and pH levels and limestone. And then we're planting baby saplings that are already two years old that were inoculated with the truffle fungus like at birth, like in the root system. And we only plant them after we see that the root system and the fungi are already thriving.   So if you get into the right soil and it's already thriving, then two, three, four years later, you'll get truffles.   (Seth Bradley) (20:17.216) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   That's awesome. just, I think about like wine and like, you know, you can grow it, you know, vines in different places. Some places they grow, some places they don't, some places they grow and the result isn't good and some places they grow and the result is awesome. It's probably a very delicate balance between, you know, environment plus how they're raised, how they're taken care of and all those sorts of things.   It is 100%. I mean, first and foremost, mean, because of angry science and technology today, you know, I mean, we can plant baby saplings that are already and not, I mean, we're playing God a little bit with nature, but you know, I mean, it's just amazing, you know, like you could do it. And then, you know, the biggest threat is actually mismanagement. You know, if you don't then manage it correctly. If you have a root system inoculated with the fungus and you have the right soil conditions,   after that and it's management and it's sort of bio security meaning they have a very pungent smell. mean, squirrels and pigs and they love them. They love to eat. So you have to, mean, you're literally it's like protecting a bank, know, you have a bio security fence. You've you know, you limit visitations to the farm, you've, know, special footwear and cleaning and stuff. so yeah, it's serious stuff, you know.   Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Well, let's dive in a little bit to the kind of the investment itself. Like what does that look like for an investor? Like what are your projected returns? You know, what, how does it all kind of, how does it all shape out? Like you've grown these wildly valuable truffles and now I guess the first step would be what's the business plan? Who are we selling these truffles to? What makes them so valuable? And then get into kind of the investor   (Seth Bradley) (22:33.794) portion like how would someone get involved in whether projector returns.   Okay, so we sell, first of all, the estate that the farm is, it's called Chan Valley Estate. People can Google it, it's beautiful. It's 200 acres of north-temporary farmland. The estate itself, it's a bit like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. It's a Georgian.   a three story Georgian home, it's over 200 years old. It's also a museum and we have events there and it's also a working farm. And it's a herbal farm. So we grow plants and herbs there that we then we have our own, we work the value chain where we also sell those herbs for medicinal purpose and we convert them into medicinal oils and things like that. So the location is already up and running.   And what we're doing with the truffles is for every acre, we can plant 800 trees. And so what we're doing is we're offering investors, well, a client, the minimum investment is $30,000 and the investor for that price gets 400 baby saplings already inoculated with the truffle fungus. And then they get the farm management   included up to the first four to five years. takes about, there'll be truffles after, bearing in mind that the sapling, the baby tree is two years old. So after three years in the ground, it's already five years old and there'll be truffles then and the returns don't begin until then. But what's included in the price is all the farm management, know, all the, you know, the,   (Louis O'Connor) (24:23.508) implementation of the farm, the irrigation, the electricity, the hardware that's needed. So all the management right up until there is production and then when they're producing, the investor gets 70 % of the growth and the farm management company, we get 30%. So it's a 70-30 split. Now the great thing about the oak and the hazel is they'll produce   for 30 to 40 years. it's a long term, it's a legacy investment, you might call it, because you won't see returns until the fourth or fifth year. But once you do, you'll see returns then for another 30 to 35 years. And they're very, very good. mean, we have three numbers in the brochure. We looked at what's...   price half the truffles never dropped below. So we have the very low estimate, which is they've never gone below this price. That brings in an IRR, which would be from day one of about 14%. And then the highest that they've sold for, you're looking at about 69%, but the average is about 38%.   So the returns will be very, very good once production kicks in and then they'll maintain. We've included an inflation for 30 to 40 years. I hope, I think I answered everything there.   Yeah, definitely. sorry. I gave you about six questions there to answer in a row. But yeah, I think you covered everything. And having an IRR, which is time-based on something that has this long of a horizon and even takes four or five years to even start producing, those are really, really strong numbers.   (Louis O'Connor) (26:23.63) Yeah, well, again, even the, you know, one of the reasons obviously we like truffles because they're very, very expensive. mean, they're a luxury product. You know, we're about an hour from Shannon Airport here, which is the transatlantic hub between Europe and the U.S. So we can have truffles in U.S. or anywhere in Europe or even the Middle East or the Far East, for that matter, in less than 24 hours. that's important as well. But they're a luxury item. There's huge demand for them. mean,   You know how the world is. mean, there are, unfortunately, you know, there's always sort of, people are getting richer and some people maybe are getting poorer. But the luxury, you know, high end market and the culinary, international culinary explosion means that, you know, there's huge demand for truffles. And also you have to factor in the fact that the harvests in the Mediterranean are less and less every year. And I mean, very, very sadly,   I mean, it's an opportunity for us, but very sadly that they've done very specific scientific studies and it's going to over the next 50 years, the truffle harvests in the Med will go will decline between 73 and 100%. So literally, they will not be growing truffles there in 50 plus years from now. So that's an opportunity for us. you know, again,   We've been working on this really since 2015. And it was only, you know, it was only 2019, 2020 when we began to get to truffles we knew because there was no guarantee, you know. But yeah, now that we're growing them, we just need to scale up.   Gotcha. Gotcha. what's kind of the I see that you know, for that minimum investment, you get X number of baby saplings. How many was that again? 400. That's what I Okay, 400. What's kind of the survival rate, I guess, of those saplings? Do you have kind of a percentage on that? Is it like?   (Louis O'Connor) (28:17.102) 400   (Louis O'Connor) (28:27.086) Yeah, well, we expect you got what's happening so far is within in about year three, which is actually year five, because the sapling, you should get three of the five trees producing. But once you have production, once that fungi is thriving, it will just continue to grow. So in year four, you should have four of them. In year five, you should have all of them producing.   Now we also put a guarantee in the farm management contract that if any tree, you know, if it dies or if it's not, you know, producing truffles, we'll replace it free of charge at any time. in the event, you know, for some reason, I mean, we put a tree in that's inoculated and it doesn't take, then we just replace it. So either way, over the first four to five years, we get them all. And the great thing is if you protect that soil from   pests and diseases and other sort of unwelcome sort of mycorrhizal or fungi, then it will thrive. It will thrive. It'll keep, you know, it'll spread, you know, it's a symbiotic relationship underground between the tree and the fungi.   Got it. Yeah, that's awesome to know. like survival is not one of the things that we should consider because if for some reason it wouldn't survive or is not producing, then it just gets replaced. So you actually are getting those full 400 saplings turning into trees that will be producing.   almost they mature and produce and you know as I said barring you know any pests or diseases or you know interference then they just continue you just protect them you just allow nature then to do its work.   (Seth Bradley) (30:18.848) Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the risks then? What are the downsides that you can foresee if something were to go wrong? What would it be?   Well, the greatest threat is mismanagement, literally. I obviously we're doing this with scale, so it's a professional endeavor, you know, people from time to time, know, I mean, some of the test sites here, mean, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and they're not that hard to manage, but people just lose interest, or the younger kids don't want to farm. But the greatest threat is mismanagement. So as long as you put in these biosecurity measures,   and manage, you know, there's got to be some clearing done, there's got to be some pruning done, there's got to be tree guards. So there is a process involved in bringing them to nurturing them along and then keeping everything, you know, neutral, if you will. that's first, weather is always, you know, factor in agriculture. We don't feel it's as much of a threat here, because although we're for the first time,   growing the Mediterranean truffle. Truffles have grown, they grow here wild anyway. So the climate is right and has been right for thousands of years in Ireland. So, you know, and again, we'll have irrigation as well. You know, we get a lot of rain here. It's not likely we'll need any more rain, but yeah, we, you know, the agri-science will kick in there as well. And then, you know, as I said, like,   you know, biosecurity we call it, which is, you know, very, very serious fencing, limited visits to the farm, know, special footwear if people are going up to the area and sort of rinse. We have a pool area where they have to disinfect before they go into, you know, it's a very, very, very protected area from pests and from diseases or anything, you know, that could be brought in from the outside on whether that's machinery or humans.   (Louis O'Connor) (32:22.892) So yeah, it's almost like a laboratory. mean, you keep it very, very delicate balance and keep it very limited on who visits and, you know, people are a visit, but they have to be properly, you know, the feet have to be cleaned and footwear has to be worn and stuff like that. So, but, know, at the end of the day, Seth, it's, you know, well, any investment really, but agriculture, you know, the final say is in nature's hands, you know, not ours. mean, we...   We like to think, suppose, we're in the results business, but the reality is we're not. in the planning business and all we can do is plan everything as well as we can. It's just like, you if you planted a rose, you know, bush out in your backyard there today, you wouldn't stand outside and will it to grow, right? You know, grow quicker. You know, we have to allow nature and the cosmos to do its work. so yeah, nature has the final say, you know.   Yeah, yeah, no, totally, totally understand. And any investment has its risks, whether you're investing in truffles or real estate or any of the above. Quick question on this. Don't want to paint you like in a bad way at all, but we have had and it's not you, of course, of course, but we've had an influx of bad sponsors and people that are anything from mismanaging investor capital on one end, which can happen pretty easily. And there's not a whole lot of   Not a lot of bad blood there. Things happen. And then on the other side of the spectrum, we've seen everything from fraud to Ponzi schemes and all kinds of stuff lately. One thing that I tell investors is to make sure you know who you're investing with and make sure your investing dollars are actually getting invested where they're supposed to. Could an investor invest with you and actually go to the farm?   and see their saplings or see the farm and see this business.   (Louis O'Connor) (34:24.654) 100 % in fact, we would rather people do I mean, I it's not always possible. Right. But Shan Valley Estate, I mean, I'll give you the website and stuff after Shan Valley Estate. It's a 200 acre farm. It's already a museum. have events there. It's a herb dispensary as I said, as I said, it's our our manage our farm management partner is the Duggan family, their fourth generation farmers and they're being in temporary, you know,   longer than that even. absolutely, you you know, of course, there's legal contracts. mean, people get a legal contract for the purchase of the trees and then we have a legal contract for the farm management that we're responsible for implementing the project, we're responsible for bringing the hard, the trees to truffles to harvest. But we do, we just beginning, we just had our first tour, but it was sort of Europe from Germany. Last, sorry,   the 18th, 19th of August. But we will be having tours every quarter. And if anybody wants to come at any time, we'd be delighted to have them because it's like I said, it's like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. And we've accommodated, we converted the stables into accommodation, you know, because we have weddings and events and stuff there as well. It's not just a field that we bought.   Yeah.   And so it's a big deal. I'll give you the website. The location is spectacular and clients can, you know, stay the night, you know, and there's a three story Georgian estate house and the bottom floor is a museum. So it's like walking into a pharmacy from 1840, all the bottles and the counter is 200 years old, you know, and then the middle level, we've an organic vegetarian restaurant, all the   (Louis O'Connor) (36:17.24) food is grown on the farm. There's an old walled garden that they used to wall the gardens years ago to keep out the pests. And all the food that's served is grown on the farm. And then the top floor is accommodation as well and the stables have been converted. look, it's all about trust, Seth. And, you know, I would say to anybody, you've   I mean myself, if I have any doubt about anything, don't do it. And it might not be that somebody's a scam or a fraud, it's just if you're not 100 % sure about it, don't touch it. But what I would recommend is people do their due diligence because we've done ours. We've eight years invested in it, put a lot of time and effort into it. And at the very least, we'd like people to check it out and see it all the way through.   for what it is. yeah, we'll be, we're hoping to, we have a partner in Europe and we're to connect with somebody in North America. I don't want name anybody here because it might not come off, but there's a few sort of marketers and there's plenty obviously that we might sort of do a sort of an agreement with where they'll, you know, I mean, we could even have sort of investment real estate conferences on the farm.   you know, and do farm tours as well. so definitely 100 % we'd love for people to visit and, and they get to drink some Guinness and they're really brave, they can swim in the Irish sea.   Yeah, and I'm looking at the website right now. We'll drop that in the show notes, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it's making me want to get on a plane right now and check it out. It's incredible.   (Louis O'Connor) (38:00.046) Yeah, that's the estate, shambali.ie. I mean, what I love about it's 100 % organic or members of the Irish Organic Association, track ref, fourth generation. You know, this is not me, I'm a part of this, but the farm management team are, you know, they're already like growing herbs and plants and converting them to medicinal, you know, oils and things. And this is just another, it's more of a farming enterprise, I suppose, than a farm.   And then the other partner is the Agri Science Partner, which is this team of scientists who basically made history by growing for the very first time eight years ago, the black, the Mediterranean truffle in Ireland, you know, so there's a lot of professionalism and thought and effort being put into a chap.   Love that. Love that man. Is there anything else about this type of investment that I didn't ask about that I should have?   I think you know Seth, you should be on CNN or something because I you did. I'm pretty sure you did, you definitely covered it. I mean I may have left something out but I think it's a good foundation for somebody if they're interested, I'll give them my email and you know it's not that expensive to get to Europe and it's a great way to mix a holiday and you know come to the farm and stuff you know.   Absolutely, absolutely. Well, since you're repeat guest of the guest of the show, we won't go into the freedom for but you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   (Louis O'Connor) (39:34.446) You know, I knew you were going to ask me that, Seth, you caught me off guard. So I have one ready and I stole this from someone else. So I'm not going to take it. But I was listening to a guy last week and he, sort of a big operation in Europe. And he was talking about a phrase they have in the office and it's 1%. And they always look at each other and when you pass them, they go 1%. And I love what it's about. It's about the idea that in a way it sort of comes back to what we talked about earlier, which is forget about.   Yeah.   (Louis O'Connor) (40:04.664) the fact don't think you're in the results business. You're in the planning business. And the 1 % is every day, try and improve every little action. I'm not just talking about work. I'm talking about family, your spiritual practice, if you have one, increase it by 1 % every day. And you know, it's like compound interest, isn't it? That in a way, then you don't have to worry about the big picture. And the results will just look after themselves then, you know.   Yeah, yeah, I love that man. Always improve. mean, you you've got to take small steps to get to those big goals. And a lot of times you just need to ask yourself, did I improve 1 % today? If the answer is yes, then it was a successful day.   Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And it's great because, you know, if I was to try and think now, or you were to try and think now, everything you have to do in the next three weeks, right, you just be overwhelmed, right. And sometimes my head is like that, you know, I mean, I've got meditation practice and stuff, but I watch my thoughts and you know, I mean, it's it's a fact. I mean, it's a human condition. I don't know, some disestimates of how many thoughts do we have a day? How many are repetitive and how many are useless?   A lot of them are repetitive, a lot of them are useless. So it's good just to narrow it right down to what's the next thing I can do right now and can I do it 1 % better than I did yesterday, you know?   Absolutely. Love that man. All right, Lou, we're gonna let us find out more about you.   (Louis O'Connor) (41:34.954) Okay, so they can email me. It's Truffle Farm Invest. Sorry, it's a new website www.trufflefarminvest.com or they can if somebody from your your audience wants to email me directly, it's louis at trufflefarminvest.com   Alright, perfect man. We'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on the show. Always a pleasure, brother.   Thank you very much, Seth. A pleasure.   (Seth Bradley) (42:08.088) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Louis O'Connor's Links: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054362234822 https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-o-connor-a583341b8/ https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/30/strategic-metals-founder-louis-oaconnor-breaks-down-china-u-s-rare-metal-wars.html

Title: Rare Earths to Truffles: Diversified Investments You've Never Heard Of with Louis O'Connor Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes back Lou, an international investor, to discuss diversification, rare earth metals, and a unique agricultural investment opportunity. Lou, who splits his time between Europe and Latin America, emphasizes the importance of global diversification for peace of mind and flexibility. He highlights the geopolitical dynamics affecting rare earth metals, where China dominates the refining process, and discusses the increasing demand due to restricted exports. Transitioning from metals to agriculture, Lou introduces his truffle farm investment. Leveraging agri-science and Ireland's favorable climate, the project offers investors ownership of inoculated truffle trees with professional farm management. Returns are projected to begin in year 4-5 and continue for up to 40 years, offering IRRs between 14% to 69% based on historical truffle prices. Risks include mismanagement and natural elements, though strong biosecurity and proven success mitigate concerns. Lou finishes with a valuable mindset tip: improve by 1% daily to compound results over time. Bullet Point Highlights: Diversification across countries and industries provides flexibility and peace of mind China's control of rare earth refining and export restrictions create scarcity and opportunity Truffle farm investment offers strong IRR potential, with returns starting in years 4-5 and lasting 30-40 years Minimum $30K investment includes 400 saplings and full farm management with a 70/30 profit split Primary risks are mismanagement and nature, mitigated through biosecurity and replacement guarantees Lou's golden nugget: Focus on improving 1% daily to unlock exponential long-term growth Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Lou, what's going on, brother? Welcome back to the show.   Thank you very much Seth. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. Good to see you again.   Yeah, absolutely man. Great to catch up with you. Are you tuning in from where?   Well, in Europe still, you know, I'm back and forth between Ireland, Germany, mostly, a little bit of time in Panama as well, because my wife's from there, but I'm in temporary in Ireland, horse breeding country and agricultural heartland actually of Europe. And at the moment anyway, yeah, so in Europe.   (Seth Bradley) (01:16.664) awesome, awesome. That's the beauty of being on a video conference call that you can talk to anyone from anywhere in the world now. That's the one good thing that came out of COVID is it made it normal to do it.   Yeah, it's funny, unbelievable. Just yesterday I was contacted actually by CNBC in the US, I'm in Europe, about the metals. We're not talking about metals today, but I've spoken with you before about the rare earth metals. And I guess the US chamber, secretary chamber of commerce is in China this week because China is restricting the export of certain technology metals and that's their area.   And within a day, there's like an hour after I speak with you, I'm doing an interview with CNBC on, I think it's Power Launch or something they call it. So it's fascinating really how quickly you can sort of ping around the globe and find somebody and do this.   Yeah, yeah, very cool, very cool, man. Well, thanks for taking the time to tune in with us today. And we've got a brand new thing to talk about and we'll jump into that. But before we do, just for listeners who didn't listen to your previous episode, give us a little bit about your background and your story. Just a general synopsis,   Sure, thank you. Yeah, so I'm obviously, you can tell from the accent, I'm Irish or Scottish or Australian, but it's Irish. And I suppose you could say I'm bit of a world traveler who has come back home specifically for this project we're going to talk about. Ireland is known as sort of the breadbasket of Europe. But yeah, I lived in Germany for 10 years, lived in Central America and traveled extensively in South America during that time.   (Louis O'Connor) (03:05.422) But my niche, if you will, you know one other business we're involved in. And my niche, what I'm looking for is always what I call, I don't know what you might call it in the US, but we sort of call it a path of progress play here, which is if you sort of look at an industry or a product, what's happened in the last 10 years, or even a country or even a business for that matter, if you look at what's happened in the last 10, you can sort of   have a look at likely what's going to happen in the next 10. So I'm always looking for somewhere where demand is increasing and supply is either going to be limited or subject to disruption and somehow, and that's what we will be talking to an agricultural product and we'll talk more about it. But I like to be diversified in every way. So I have business in Germany, this agricultural product is in Ireland.   I do my banking in Belize and Panama and different parts of Europe. So just trying to be as diversified as possible.   Right, right. And that's part of your kind of plan as well, right? Like to be kind of this international man of mystery, right? Like you have different ties to a couple of different countries, which gives you flexibility in case something goes wrong in one of them, right? Like, you know, I think a lot of people were worried here for a while and I think it's still in the back of people's minds in the United States about, you know, the strength of the dollar and   You know, people were talking about getting a second citizenship and things like that. Can you speak to that a little bit about kind of, you know, how you've done that and what your kind of thoughts and feelings are around that?   (Louis O'Connor) (04:46.552) Sure, sure. Well, you my feeling always has this peace of mind, you know, I just want peace of mind. I want to be at peace with myself and the world around me. that's, I mean, I'm probably talking about more philosophically and spiritually as well, but also, you know, in business or residencies or banking. I suppose it's because I left Ireland quite young and I did live.   I didn't just go on a vacation somewhere. lived in Germany for 10 years. I learned the language. Ireland is an island, even though we're part of Europe, continental Europe is completely different. And then I went to Latin America, which is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. And I suppose it was those experiences that the perspective that gave me was that, that sounds very simple, really, root of entry, but there's...   there's good and bad, know, you we do certain things in Ireland very well, and maybe other things not so well in Germany, they do, you know, they've made better cars and better roads. And we do and you know, Latin America, I think they dance better and drink better maybe than you know, but so yeah, what I learned is, you know, you know, you can pick is a bit like life can be a bit like a buffet, and you can pick what you like, and you know what you don't like leave behind, you know, so and the idea, I suppose the point I should make is that   What I've learned is it's not expensive or difficult to be diversified. Like have your banking in different jurisdictions really doesn't cost anything. Having a second or third residency if you do the right homework on I'll go into more detail if you want. have residency still in Panama and I three passports. I'm working on the fourth and it has been a little bit of effort but not expensive or costly.   And will I ever use it? I worried that the world's going to end? No. But it's just that peace of mind you have when you've got these other options that, God forbid if something did happen here in Ireland or Europe, I have a residency in Panama, I banking there. So it's just that, suppose it's like having a parachute or a safety net that's always there.   (Seth Bradley) (07:00.13) Yeah, yeah, I agree. mean, that's, you know, especially the way that things are today and people kind of just worry about things generally, right? If you have that peace of mind and you have that, you know, second or third option, it's just something that can kind of let you sleep at night a little bit better. It's like having a nest egg or, you know, having a second, third, fourth, fifth stream of income.   things like that that can let you sleep at night and while other people are panicking and worrying and making, you know, maybe even bad decisions based on that, you know, based on those worries, you can sleep soundly and make decisions that are best for you.   Yeah, yeah, and you're not limited, know, if you're just, you know, like, I mean, it's funny though, as well, I think it's timely. I think the time has come. I you see people, you know, we were chatting earlier, you know, being involved in multiple different industries and, you know, with technology, we're allowed to do that. We can reside in one country, we can do our bank in another, we can do our tax responsibility somewhere else, we can do our business. So it's probably just in the last 20, 30 years that we can move so freely.   with all this stuff, know, you know, only maybe 25, 30 years ago, I wanted to, I couldn't really do business in Germany, but live in Ireland, it'd have to be one or the other. There was no internet, you know, everything. So, so yeah, I think, I think we're heading in that direction anyway. And it's just, yeah, there's great freedom in it and great peace of mind, even though, you know, I mean, I'll be in Ireland for, you know, my two kids are, there's another six or eight years.   before they finish school. So I plan to be here, but I just have other options as well, you know.   (Seth Bradley) (08:41.42) Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. And speaking of diversification, mean, your investments are very diverse, right? I mean, in the previous episode, we jumped into rare earth metals. And then in this episode, we're going to jump into something new. Before we jump into the new thing, though, give us a little update on what has changed in your business with the rare earth metals or if anything has changed or how those things are going.   Yeah, well, thanks. Thanks for asking, Seth. Since we spoke, actually, the big news is just in the last 60 days, I think I mentioned to you that China pretty much sort of dominates the rare earth industry. it's, I think really, it's possible and we understand now that China sort of saw before the EU and maybe before the US or they understood at least that rare earths would become   the backbone of manufacturing in the 21st century and they've been, you know, they've taken action on that. So we're in a situation now and it's not really an economic strategy. It's more of a geopolitical strategy that China has big plans for electric cars, big plans for solar, big plans for wind. you know, they, they've hundreds of million people, they're, taken out of the poverty, into the middle class all the time. So sort of   thinking strategically and long term, they rightfully secured their supply of rare earths. And what happened just in the last 60 days is the US sort of initiated a sort of a block. Now it was also supported by Holland and Japan and they're blocking sort of the latest sort of semiconductor technology from going to China. And in retaliation for that, China   You know, they have, you know, an ace up their sleeve, which is where it hurts. So the West has the technology and China has the raw materials. And just in the last 60 days, China has said they're going to, well, effective August 1, which is a month ago, they're restricting the export now of gallium and germanium, which is two of these technology metals, and that China, you know, is responsible for 95 % of the global production. so we're seeing the prices go up and this is sort of.   (Louis O'Connor) (10:57.826) what I talked to you about that these metals are in demand on a good day, you know, you will make a nice return. But if something like this happens where China sort of weaponizes these metals economically, then you'll see prices increasing quite dramatically, which they are. Yeah, that's that's what's happening there. It's basically a market where there's surging demand and you have sort of political landscapes affecting as well. So   It makes for interesting investment.   Yeah, yeah. Are these rare earth metals, are they not something that we can mine or is it something we're not willing to mine, like let's say in the West?   (Louis O'Connor) (11:44.142) Yeah, good question actually. that actually gets right to the heart of it, Seth, because despite the name rare earths, they're not all that rare. Some of them are as sort of common as copper and stuff, but there's about eight or ten of them that are rare and they are available in the US. But this is what's changed dramatically in the last 30 years is the rare earths don't occur naturally. So they always occur as a byproduct of another raw material.   They're sort of, they're very chemically similar. they're, sort of all stuck together. So they have to be extracted and separated and then refined and processed into, you know, high purity levels for jet engines or smartphones or whatever the case might be. what's happened where China dominates is, is China is responsible for 95 % of the refining. Now there's about 200 or sorry, $390 billion available in subsidies in the U S.   from the Inflation Reduction Act, which despite the name is all about energy transition. And that's all very well, except the human capital and the engineering expertise to refine rare earths is depleted in, it doesn't exist in Europe, and it's very much depleted in the US. Just to give you some context, there's 39 universities in China, where they graduate degrees in critical minerals.   So the Chinese are graduating about 200 metallurgists a week, every week for the last 30 years. I think the US has a handful of universities. I'd say there's probably 300,000 metallurgists in China and there might be 400 in the US and probably none in Europe at all. So it's not just a question of if they're there, it's how do we get them into 99.99 % purity? Without the engineering expertise, we can't, not anytime soon anyway.   Wow, yeah, yeah. mean, that just alone sounds like a recipe for a pretty good play for an investment. you know, there's these bottlenecks, right? Whether that's people that can refine it or the actual element itself or willingness to mine it, you know, all these different things come into play to make it a good investment. All right, let's switch over a little bit here. Let's talk about the new investment vehicle.   (Seth Bradley) (14:06.99) that you talked to me about. It's an agricultural play, correct? we're talking about truffles, talking about mushrooms, right? Tell me a little bit about it just to get started here.   Okay, well, you probably I mean, you know, truffles are in the culinary world, they're known as the black diamond of the kitchen, you know, they're, they're a delicacy going back to, you know, thousands and thousands of years. Traditionally, the black perigord, which is the Mediterranean truffle would have originated in France, but for the last sort of, you know, the last 100 years or so,   they've been growing abundantly in sort of South, Southwestern France, Northern Spain and Italy. So traditionally, you know, that's where they grow and they sort of, know, because the truffle, as you said, it's a mushroom that has a symbiotic relationship with a a native tree, an oak tree or hazel tree or sometimes beech. So it's a very delicate balance, you know.   And although I have invested in agriculture before, we started, we, I mean, a collective does not just me involved here, and I don't want to sound like I take credit for any of this really. I was just a part of a team where we had some agri-science people, and we had sort of four generational farmers involved. But we were looking at, it is no question that climate, there's a climate change, right?   It doesn't matter to me whether people, whatever the causes of that are, the reality is if you talk to an olive grower or a truffle grower in Italy or France, they'll tell you the climate has changed because their harvests have been decreasing for about the last 30 to 40 years actually, but really more so in the last 10. So we were sort of, I'll tell you basically the AgriScience partner involved in this.   (Louis O'Connor) (16:10.958) As a test back in 2005, they started to plant and the trees inoculated, the baby trees inoculated with the truffle sort of in the root system as a test all over different countries, not just Ireland, England, UK, also the US. So this has been in sort of research and development since about 2005.   And we got seriously involved in about 2015 when history was made and this Mediterranean truffle was grown here in the British Isles for the first time. we then with our agriscience partner in 2015 planted a thousand trees in five different locations in Ireland where I am.   and one of them is about 20 minutes away from me here. They're all secret locations. I won't even tell you where they are because they really are. They're highly valued or highly prized. And so it takes about four or five years to see if you're a business. So yeah, we now are growing the Mediterranean truffle, not just in Ireland, but in other parts of the UK. But the real interesting thing, Seth, it's just now ready for scale. And all of the farmers,   who were involved in the original research. None of them are going to take it to scale. The one that's local to me is a lovely gentleman. in his 60s and he planted a thousand trees really just as a retirement. His daughter works in banking in Switzerland and so there's nobody really to take over the farm. So we're the first to do it with scale. So we're inviting in...   a portion of some investors in as well.   (Seth Bradley) (18:05.87) Gotcha. Are there specific, I assume there are, are specific growing conditions where these things can prosper? Like I can't, I'm in San Diego, I can't just plant them in my backyard and wait five years and be a millionaire.   Well, if you you if I hear you're growing truffles death, you know, we should assign an NDA we should assign. You could try but no, they wouldn't grow in San Diego because I mean, there's a very delicate balance and you're what you're you're what you're using here is agri science and nature. You're working with nature. And because the reason they've grown so well in demand is   No way.   (Louis O'Connor) (18:48.738) just because of that balance up they get a sort of a dry season or sort of they got to get a lot of rain and then they get the dry season and what's happened is they're getting more drought and less rain and it's just upset the balance. So it's a very, very delicate balance. But what people wouldn't know, I think, is that truffles have always grown wild in Ireland.   There was a time five or 600 years ago when Ireland was 85 % forest and our native tree is the oak and the hazel tree, is the tree that's also where the fungus grows. And what happened was when the Brits were before, you know, when shipbuilding was the thing and the British Navy were, you know, the Spanish were, so the Brits sort of chopped down a lot of the forest for the wood for shipbuilding. you know, our forests were depleted. But to this day,   Truffles do still grow wild here, but we're doing it differently. know, we're only planting on land where you have like certain protein and pH levels and limestone. And then we're planting baby saplings that are already two years old that were inoculated with the truffle fungus like at birth, like in the root system. And we only plant them after we see that the root system and the fungi are already thriving.   So if you get into the right soil and it's already thriving, then two, three, four years later, you'll get truffles.   (Seth Bradley) (20:17.216) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   That's awesome. just, I think about like wine and like, you know, you can grow it, you know, vines in different places. Some places they grow, some places they don't, some places they grow and the result isn't good and some places they grow and the result is awesome. It's probably a very delicate balance between, you know, environment plus how they're raised, how they're taken care of and all those sorts of things.   It is 100%. I mean, first and foremost, mean, because of angry science and technology today, you know, I mean, we can plant baby saplings that are already and not, I mean, we're playing God a little bit with nature, but you know, I mean, it's just amazing, you know, like you could do it. And then, you know, the biggest threat is actually mismanagement. You know, if you don't then manage it correctly. If you have a root system inoculated with the fungus and you have the right soil conditions,   after that and it's management and it's sort of bio security meaning they have a very pungent smell. mean, squirrels and pigs and they love them. They love to eat. So you have to, mean, you're literally it's like protecting a bank, know, you have a bio security fence. You've you know, you limit visitations to the farm, you've, know, special footwear and cleaning and stuff. so yeah, it's serious stuff, you know.   Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Well, let's dive in a little bit to the kind of the investment itself. Like what does that look like for an investor? Like what are your projected returns? You know, what, how does it all kind of, how does it all shape out? Like you've grown these wildly valuable truffles and now I guess the first step would be what's the business plan? Who are we selling these truffles to? What makes them so valuable? And then get into kind of the investor   (Seth Bradley) (22:33.794) portion like how would someone get involved in whether projector returns.   Okay, so we sell, first of all, the estate that the farm is, it's called Chan Valley Estate. People can Google it, it's beautiful. It's 200 acres of north-temporary farmland. The estate itself, it's a bit like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. It's a Georgian.   a three story Georgian home, it's over 200 years old. It's also a museum and we have events there and it's also a working farm. And it's a herbal farm. So we grow plants and herbs there that we then we have our own, we work the value chain where we also sell those herbs for medicinal purpose and we convert them into medicinal oils and things like that. So the location is already up and running.   And what we're doing with the truffles is for every acre, we can plant 800 trees. And so what we're doing is we're offering investors, well, a client, the minimum investment is $30,000 and the investor for that price gets 400 baby saplings already inoculated with the truffle fungus. And then they get the farm management   included up to the first four to five years. takes about, there'll be truffles after, bearing in mind that the sapling, the baby tree is two years old. So after three years in the ground, it's already five years old and there'll be truffles then and the returns don't begin until then. But what's included in the price is all the farm management, know, all the, you know, the,   (Louis O'Connor) (24:23.508) implementation of the farm, the irrigation, the electricity, the hardware that's needed. So all the management right up until there is production and then when they're producing, the investor gets 70 % of the growth and the farm management company, we get 30%. So it's a 70-30 split. Now the great thing about the oak and the hazel is they'll produce   for 30 to 40 years. it's a long term, it's a legacy investment, you might call it, because you won't see returns until the fourth or fifth year. But once you do, you'll see returns then for another 30 to 35 years. And they're very, very good. mean, we have three numbers in the brochure. We looked at what's...   price half the truffles never dropped below. So we have the very low estimate, which is they've never gone below this price. That brings in an IRR, which would be from day one of about 14%. And then the highest that they've sold for, you're looking at about 69%, but the average is about 38%.   So the returns will be very, very good once production kicks in and then they'll maintain. We've included an inflation for 30 to 40 years. I hope, I think I answered everything there.   Yeah, definitely. sorry. I gave you about six questions there to answer in a row. But yeah, I think you covered everything. And having an IRR, which is time-based on something that has this long of a horizon and even takes four or five years to even start producing, those are really, really strong numbers.   (Louis O'Connor) (26:23.63) Yeah, well, again, even the, you know, one of the reasons obviously we like truffles because they're very, very expensive. mean, they're a luxury product. You know, we're about an hour from Shannon Airport here, which is the transatlantic hub between Europe and the U.S. So we can have truffles in U.S. or anywhere in Europe or even the Middle East or the Far East, for that matter, in less than 24 hours. that's important as well. But they're a luxury item. There's huge demand for them. mean,   You know how the world is. mean, there are, unfortunately, you know, there's always sort of, people are getting richer and some people maybe are getting poorer. But the luxury, you know, high end market and the culinary, international culinary explosion means that, you know, there's huge demand for truffles. And also you have to factor in the fact that the harvests in the Mediterranean are less and less every year. And I mean, very, very sadly,   I mean, it's an opportunity for us, but very sadly that they've done very specific scientific studies and it's going to over the next 50 years, the truffle harvests in the Med will go will decline between 73 and 100%. So literally, they will not be growing truffles there in 50 plus years from now. So that's an opportunity for us. you know, again,   We've been working on this really since 2015. And it was only, you know, it was only 2019, 2020 when we began to get to truffles we knew because there was no guarantee, you know. But yeah, now that we're growing them, we just need to scale up.   Gotcha. Gotcha. what's kind of the I see that you know, for that minimum investment, you get X number of baby saplings. How many was that again? 400. That's what I Okay, 400. What's kind of the survival rate, I guess, of those saplings? Do you have kind of a percentage on that? Is it like?   (Louis O'Connor) (28:17.102) 400   (Louis O'Connor) (28:27.086) Yeah, well, we expect you got what's happening so far is within in about year three, which is actually year five, because the sapling, you should get three of the five trees producing. But once you have production, once that fungi is thriving, it will just continue to grow. So in year four, you should have four of them. In year five, you should have all of them producing.   Now we also put a guarantee in the farm management contract that if any tree, you know, if it dies or if it's not, you know, producing truffles, we'll replace it free of charge at any time. in the event, you know, for some reason, I mean, we put a tree in that's inoculated and it doesn't take, then we just replace it. So either way, over the first four to five years, we get them all. And the great thing is if you protect that soil from   pests and diseases and other sort of unwelcome sort of mycorrhizal or fungi, then it will thrive. It will thrive. It'll keep, you know, it'll spread, you know, it's a symbiotic relationship underground between the tree and the fungi.   Got it. Yeah, that's awesome to know. like survival is not one of the things that we should consider because if for some reason it wouldn't survive or is not producing, then it just gets replaced. So you actually are getting those full 400 saplings turning into trees that will be producing.   almost they mature and produce and you know as I said barring you know any pests or diseases or you know interference then they just continue you just protect them you just allow nature then to do its work.   (Seth Bradley) (30:18.848) Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the risks then? What are the downsides that you can foresee if something were to go wrong? What would it be?   Well, the greatest threat is mismanagement, literally. I obviously we're doing this with scale, so it's a professional endeavor, you know, people from time to time, know, I mean, some of the test sites here, mean, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and they're not that hard to manage, but people just lose interest, or the younger kids don't want to farm. But the greatest threat is mismanagement. So as long as you put in these biosecurity measures,   and manage, you know, there's got to be some clearing done, there's got to be some pruning done, there's got to be tree guards. So there is a process involved in bringing them to nurturing them along and then keeping everything, you know, neutral, if you will. that's first, weather is always, you know, factor in agriculture. We don't feel it's as much of a threat here, because although we're for the first time,   growing the Mediterranean truffle. Truffles have grown, they grow here wild anyway. So the climate is right and has been right for thousands of years in Ireland. So, you know, and again, we'll have irrigation as well. You know, we get a lot of rain here. It's not likely we'll need any more rain, but yeah, we, you know, the agri-science will kick in there as well. And then, you know, as I said, like,   you know, biosecurity we call it, which is, you know, very, very serious fencing, limited visits to the farm, know, special footwear if people are going up to the area and sort of rinse. We have a pool area where they have to disinfect before they go into, you know, it's a very, very, very protected area from pests and from diseases or anything, you know, that could be brought in from the outside on whether that's machinery or humans.   (Louis O'Connor) (32:22.892) So yeah, it's almost like a laboratory. mean, you keep it very, very delicate balance and keep it very limited on who visits and, you know, people are a visit, but they have to be properly, you know, the feet have to be cleaned and footwear has to be worn and stuff like that. So, but, know, at the end of the day, Seth, it's, you know, well, any investment really, but agriculture, you know, the final say is in nature's hands, you know, not ours. mean, we...   We like to think, suppose, we're in the results business, but the reality is we're not. in the planning business and all we can do is plan everything as well as we can. It's just like, you if you planted a rose, you know, bush out in your backyard there today, you wouldn't stand outside and will it to grow, right? You know, grow quicker. You know, we have to allow nature and the cosmos to do its work. so yeah, nature has the final say, you know.   Yeah, yeah, no, totally, totally understand. And any investment has its risks, whether you're investing in truffles or real estate or any of the above. Quick question on this. Don't want to paint you like in a bad way at all, but we have had and it's not you, of course, of course, but we've had an influx of bad sponsors and people that are anything from mismanaging investor capital on one end, which can happen pretty easily. And there's not a whole lot of   Not a lot of bad blood there. Things happen. And then on the other side of the spectrum, we've seen everything from fraud to Ponzi schemes and all kinds of stuff lately. One thing that I tell investors is to make sure you know who you're investing with and make sure your investing dollars are actually getting invested where they're supposed to. Could an investor invest with you and actually go to the farm?   and see their saplings or see the farm and see this business.   (Louis O'Connor) (34:24.654) 100 % in fact, we would rather people do I mean, I it's not always possible. Right. But Shan Valley Estate, I mean, I'll give you the website and stuff after Shan Valley Estate. It's a 200 acre farm. It's already a museum. have events there. It's a herb dispensary as I said, as I said, it's our our manage our farm management partner is the Duggan family, their fourth generation farmers and they're being in temporary, you know,   longer than that even. absolutely, you you know, of course, there's legal contracts. mean, people get a legal contract for the purchase of the trees and then we have a legal contract for the farm management that we're responsible for implementing the project, we're responsible for bringing the hard, the trees to truffles to harvest. But we do, we just beginning, we just had our first tour, but it was sort of Europe from Germany. Last, sorry,   the 18th, 19th of August. But we will be having tours every quarter. And if anybody wants to come at any time, we'd be delighted to have them because it's like I said, it's like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. And we've accommodated, we converted the stables into accommodation, you know, because we have weddings and events and stuff there as well. It's not just a field that we bought.   Yeah.   And so it's a big deal. I'll give you the website. The location is spectacular and clients can, you know, stay the night, you know, and there's a three story Georgian estate house and the bottom floor is a museum. So it's like walking into a pharmacy from 1840, all the bottles and the counter is 200 years old, you know, and then the middle level, we've an organic vegetarian restaurant, all the   (Louis O'Connor) (36:17.24) food is grown on the farm. There's an old walled garden that they used to wall the gardens years ago to keep out the pests. And all the food that's served is grown on the farm. And then the top floor is accommodation as well and the stables have been converted. look, it's all about trust, Seth. And, you know, I would say to anybody, you've   I mean myself, if I have any doubt about anything, don't do it. And it might not be that somebody's a scam or a fraud, it's just if you're not 100 % sure about it, don't touch it. But what I would recommend is people do their due diligence because we've done ours. We've eight years invested in it, put a lot of time and effort into it. And at the very least, we'd like people to check it out and see it all the way through.   for what it is. yeah, we'll be, we're hoping to, we have a partner in Europe and we're to connect with somebody in North America. I don't want name anybody here because it might not come off, but there's a few sort of marketers and there's plenty obviously that we might sort of do a sort of an agreement with where they'll, you know, I mean, we could even have sort of investment real estate conferences on the farm.   you know, and do farm tours as well. so definitely 100 % we'd love for people to visit and, and they get to drink some Guinness and they're really brave, they can swim in the Irish sea.   Yeah, and I'm looking at the website right now. We'll drop that in the show notes, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it's making me want to get on a plane right now and check it out. It's incredible.   (Louis O'Connor) (38:00.046) Yeah, that's the estate, shambali.ie. I mean, what I love about it's 100 % organic or members of the Irish Organic Association, track ref, fourth generation. You know, this is not me, I'm a part of this, but the farm management team are, you know, they're already like growing herbs and plants and converting them to medicinal, you know, oils and things. And this is just another, it's more of a farming enterprise, I suppose, than a farm.   And then the other partner is the Agri Science Partner, which is this team of scientists who basically made history by growing for the very first time eight years ago, the black, the Mediterranean truffle in Ireland, you know, so there's a lot of professionalism and thought and effort being put into a chap.   Love that. Love that man. Is there anything else about this type of investment that I didn't ask about that I should have?   I think you know Seth, you should be on CNN or something because I you did. I'm pretty sure you did, you definitely covered it. I mean I may have left something out but I think it's a good foundation for somebody if they're interested, I'll give them my email and you know it's not that expensive to get to Europe and it's a great way to mix a holiday and you know come to the farm and stuff you know.   Absolutely, absolutely. Well, since you're repeat guest of the guest of the show, we won't go into the freedom for but you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   (Louis O'Connor) (39:34.446) You know, I knew you were going to ask me that, Seth, you caught me off guard. So I have one ready and I stole this from someone else. So I'm not going to take it. But I was listening to a guy last week and he, sort of a big operation in Europe. And he was talking about a phrase they have in the office and it's 1%. And they always look at each other and when you pass them, they go 1%. And I love what it's about. It's about the idea that in a way it sort of comes back to what we talked about earlier, which is forget about.   Yeah.   (Louis O'Connor) (40:04.664) the fact don't think you're in the results business. You're in the planning business. And the 1 % is every day, try and improve every little action. I'm not just talking about work. I'm talking about family, your spiritual practice, if you have one, increase it by 1 % every day. And you know, it's like compound interest, isn't it? That in a way, then you don't have to worry about the big picture. And the results will just look after themselves then, you know.   Yeah, yeah, I love that man. Always improve. mean, you you've got to take small steps to get to those big goals. And a lot of times you just need to ask yourself, did I improve 1 % today? If the answer is yes, then it was a successful day.   Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And it's great because, you know, if I was to try and think now, or you were to try and think now, everything you have to do in the next three weeks, right, you just be overwhelmed, right. And sometimes my head is like that, you know, I mean, I've got meditation practice and stuff, but I watch my thoughts and you know, I mean, it's it's a fact. I mean, it's a human condition. I don't know, some disestimates of how many thoughts do we have a day? How many are repetitive and how many are useless?   A lot of them are repetitive, a lot of them are useless. So it's good just to narrow it right down to what's the next thing I can do right now and can I do it 1 % better than I did yesterday, you know?   Absolutely. Love that man. All right, Lou, we're gonna let us find out more about you.   (Louis O'Connor) (41:34.954) Okay, so they can email me. It's Truffle Farm Invest. Sorry, it's a new website www.trufflefarminvest.com or they can if somebody from your your audience wants to email me directly, it's louis at trufflefarminvest.com   Alright, perfect man. We'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on the show. Always a pleasure, brother.   Thank you very much, Seth. A pleasure.   (Seth Bradley) (42:08.088) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Louis O'Connor's Links: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054362234822 https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-o-connor-a583341b8/ https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/30/strategic-metals-founder-louis-oaconnor-breaks-down-china-u-s-rare-metal-wars.html

BnM announce today that applications are now officially open for the Accelerate Green Grow 2026 Programme, Ireland's pioneering accelerator for climate-focused enterprises. The programme will commence in January 2026, offering another cohort of scaling sustainability innovators the opportunity to accelerate their climate impact. Now in its fourth year, Accelerate Green continues to build momentum as a hub for the next generation of green leaders in Ireland. Since its inception in 2022, the programme has supported 60 Irish companies, helping them scale their solutions, expand into new markets, secure investment, and collectively contribute over 700 jobs to the Irish economy. A Programme Designed for Growth in the Green Economy The Accelerate Green Grow Programme is designed specifically for established SMEs and STEM entrepreneurs who are either scaling or pivoting their businesses to align with the climate change economy. Areas of innovation include renewable energy, sustainable software, circular economy, biodiversity, healthcare, foodtech, and other environmental sectors. Delivered in partnership with Resolve Partners, the programme combines eight intensive modules of strategic business workshops, mentoring, and industry engagement. Participants will benefit from business strategy and scale-up mentorship, support in investor readiness and articulating their climate impact, connections with policymakers, funders, and enterprise agencies, opportunities to pilot solutions within BnM, and a platform to present their innovations at the programme's capstone conference, attended by over 300 stakeholders. Tom Donnellan, Chief Executive of BnM commented: "Accelerate Green is a cornerstone of our commitment to Ireland's climate transition. We are proud to support innovators who are not only building successful businesses but are also making real contributions to biodiversity, sustainability, and carbon reduction. Accelerate Green Grow 2026 will continue to strengthen Ireland's position as a global leader in climate entrepreneurship. It is an unmissable opportunity for businesses looking to grow and scale in the sustainability sector and I encourage all to apply. I look forward to meeting the newest cohort of Grow participants and to learning more about their unique climate solutions." BnM provides unparalleled support throughout the programme, including access to senior leadership expertise, facilities in Boora, Co. Offaly, and the opportunity for direct collaboration on innovation projects. Each participating company is also introduced to a wide ecosystem of industry experts, research networks, and potential investors - positioning them for rapid growth and global scalability. Notable outcomes from previous cohorts include a collaboration between Hibra Design, an Irish automotive engineering development company (AGG 2023 alumni) and BnM's Land and Habitats team to electrify the BnM tractor fleet. Their pilot programme called Boglands Electric Tractor Re-engineering (BETR) commences this month. Similarly, a joint venture between Acel Energy and Conneely Builders, who met during the Accelerate Green Grow 2024 programme have earlier this year secured a contract to deliver a 1.2MW solar farm at Shannon Airport, supplying up to 20% of the airport's electricity needs. Fiona Nulty, co-founder of Biosense and participant in the Accelerate Green Grow 2025 cohort, reflected on their experience from the year: 'Taking part in BnM Accelerate Green Grow with Resolve Partners has been invaluable for our business. The expert guidance, mentoring, and peer network helped us to sharpen our strategy, build confidence in our direction, and grow our ambition. It is a well-structured, programme that gives real time and support to companies working on complex environmental challenges." Applications can be made at www.accelerategreen.ie. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Pod...

Met Eireann's Liz Walsh joins Brendan to give a weather update as Ireland's highest recorded temperature could be broken today.

It's hoped the Shannon Airport Rail Link is one step closer to becoming a reality. It follows the inaugural visit from the Minister of State for International Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports Seán Canney to the Clare base yesterday, which focused on improving public transport links. According to the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation's latest Aviation Report, 40% of visitors flying to Dublin end up travelling West, while Shannon Airport welcomed over 2 million passengers last year alone. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine says this must be reflected with more accessibility.

The company contracted to transport US soldiers to and from Shannon Airport on civil flights has been granted 31 weapons exemptions in just the past six weeks. New figures released to Labour show that Omni Air International was granted 37 exemptions in total over the period, with six of these relating to flyovers. According to Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien, the flights were granted permission to carry unloaded personal weapons only, with no ammunition. Shannonwatch founder Dr Edward Horgan claims it's inconceivable these flights are not supporting military operations.

The CEO of the Shannon Airport Group says commitments to short and long term public transport infrastructure in the southern region must be included in the updated National Development Plan. Public Expenditure Minister, Jack Chambers, who is responsible for the plan, announced in April that a review of the NDP would be taking place. As part of a proposal to Government, The Shannon Airport Group is calling the advancement of the Shannon Airport Rail link and the implementation of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce. Shannon Airport Group CEO, Mary Considine, says rail connectivity is essential for international airports.

Fáilte ar ais chuig eagrán nua de Ar An Lá Seo ar an 30ú lá de mí an Mheithimh, liomsa Lauren Ní Loingsigh. I 1999 thit an luach den stocmhargadh Éireannach de níos mó ná 4 billiúin punt agus de bharr sin bhí infheisteoirí ag iarradh scair a cheannach I Telecom Éireann. I 2006 chuaigh dhá spásaire suas chuig spás chun turgnamh a dhéanamh faoi phatrún codladh agus rinne dhá thaighdeoirí é ó Ollscoil Luimnigh. I 1989 thóg Gardaí sa chontae an tóirse de na Cluichí Oilimpeacha Speisialta I gCreatalach dá thréimhse de 700 míle. I 1999 droch nuacht d'Aerfort na Sionainne de bharr gur chuir siad deireadh le ion-AE siopadóireacht shaor ó dhleacht. Sin Nelly Furtado le Maneater – an t-amhrán is mó ar an lá seo I 2006. Ag lean ar aghaidh le nuacht cheoil ar an lá seo I 2007 chan R.E.M cúig cheolchoirm san Olympia I mBaile Átha Cliath. Bhí sé mar cleachtadh don bhanna ceoil agus chan siad a lán amhrán ón albam a raibh chun teacht amach darbh ainm Accelerate agus bhí cúpla amhráin fós idir lámha. I 2009 thosaigh U2 a turas 360 le seó I Barcelona. Rinne siad 109 seó agus tháinig deireadh leis an turas agus rinne siad 735 milliúin dollar. Roimhe sin bhí The Rolling Stones an bhanna ceoil a rinne an méid is mó airgead le 558 milliúin dollar sa turas A Bigger Bang. Agus ar deireadh breithlá daoine cáiliúla ar an lá seo rugadh Mike Tyson I Meirieá I 1966 agus rugadh amhránaí Cheryl Cole sa Bhreatain ar an lá seo I 1983 agus seo chuid de amhrán. Beidh mé ar ais libh amárach le heagrán nua de Ar An Lá Seo. Welcome back to another edition of Ar An Lá Seo on the 30th of June, with me Lauren Ní Loingsigh 1999: The Irish Stock Market had fallen in value by £4.24bn as investors prepared to buy shares in Telecom Eireann. 2006: An Irish experiment into astronaut sleep patterns by 2 University of Limerick researchers was launched into space. 1989: Clare Gardaí took the Special olympics Torch at Setrights Cross Cratloe for their stint of the 700mile Garda Run for the Special Olympics. 1999: Shannon Airport took a major hit as it saw intra-EU duty free shopping abolished. That was Nelly Furtado with Maneater – the biggest song on this day in 2006 Onto music news on this day In 2007 R.E.M. played a five-night series of shows at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. Dubbed ‘working rehearsals' by the band, many songs from their forthcoming album ‘Accelerate' were debuted, with many of them still as works in progress. 2009 U2 kicked off their 360 tour with a show in Barcelona, Spain. 109 shows later, the tour finished with $735 million in earnings, blowing away the $558 million record set by The Rolling Stones on their 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang tour And finally celebrity birthdays on this day –boxer Mike Tyson was born in America in 1966 and singer Cheryl Cole was born in the UK on this day in 1983 and this is one of her songs. I'll be back with you tomorrow with another edition of Ar An Lá Seo.

The CEO of the Shannon Airport Group says she's viewing a prestigious award bestowed on her as a reflection of the "collective effort" of her team. Mary Considine is this year's recipient of the Clare Association Dublin's Clare person of the Year Award. The Lissycasey native came to Shannon Airport in 2007 as Head of Finance and Corporate Affairs and served in a variety of roles before being named Group CEO in 2019. She says the success of the facility over the years is thanks to the hard work of all of its staff.

Today is a big day at Shannon Airport and Foynes, Co Limerick. That is because Pan-Am is making a long-awaited return. After more than 30 years, a Pan American Airways Boeing 757-200, “Yankee Clipper 11” will land at Shannon Airport having retraced the Flying Boat routes of the 1930/40's between New York, Bermuda, Marseilles, Lisbon, London and finally reaching Shannon Airport for a very historic visit to Foynes, Co Limerick. To discuss this furtehr Alan Morrissey was joined by Margaret O'Shaughnessy, founding Director of Foynes Flying Boat Museum, former Managing Director/CEO.

Developing a solid public transport link from Sixmilebridge Train Station to Shannon Airport has been branded a top priority by the new Chair of the Shannon Municipal District. Sixmilebridge Fine Gael Councillor John Crowe has been officially elected Cathaoirleach of the MD for the third time in his political career, with Clonlara Independent Councillor Michael Begley to serve as Leas Cathaoirleach. The construction of a rail spur from Sixmilebridge to Shannon Airport has been targeted for 2030 under the Strategic All-Island Rail Review. However Councillor Crowe believes a direct bus link can and should be achieved in the interim.

A Clare Government TD says he's fully in favour of more robust aircraft inspections at Shannon Airport to ensure Ireland is not breaching its neutrality. It comes as the Social Democrats have written to the EU's fraud watchdog 'OLAF' calling for it to investigate if the state is facilitating Israel's war in Gaza, by failing to inspect "high risk" flights into Shannon. Among the notable alleged incidents is that a cargo plane used to transport weapons to Israel, spent 14 hours at Shannon Airport in March, while the Department of Foreign Affairs has also confirmed it does not search any military aircraft. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Aviation and Logistics, Meelick Deputy Cathal Crowe has been telling Clare FM's Daragh Dolan that many internal investigations are ongoing.

This episode was originally published as a Patreon exclusive on 6 Oct 2019In the early hours of the 11th February, 1984, Patrick Nugent died in a car park in front of Bunratty Castle, Co Clare. There had been a party, and Patrick was working in the castle that night. A number of guests were present for the events leading up to Patrick's death, but, none of their stories were consistent with one another. Two guests - off duty gardai - would not speak to the officers who responded to the scene.At a post-mortem it was established that Patrick had been run over by a car, but not before falling to the ground.What happened to Patrick Nugent? Music:Kevin McLeod, Quinns Song : The Dance Begins. (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Sources:“What Happened in Bunratty?” Episode 29 Scannal (RTE, 26/09/2016) Available here: https://www.rte.ie/player/series/the-scannal-collection/SI0000004189?epguid=IH000338537 The History of Shannon Airport https://www.shannonproperties.ie/shannon-region/the-history-of-shannon-airport/ Bunratty Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunratty_Castle www.bunrattycastle.ie Economic History of the Republic of Ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland#1980_to_early_1990s Derek Dunne, “The Death of Patrick Nugent” from Magill https://magill.ie/archive/death-patrick-nugent (12 June 1985) Simon Carswell, “Who 'clocked' Patrick Nugent? A family still searches for answers” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/who-clocked-patrick-nugent-a-family-still-searches-for-answers-1.3107557 (5 June 2017) Dan Danaher, “Patrick Nugent's family secures state inquiry into his death in 1984” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/patrick-nugents-family-secures-state-inquiry-into-his-death-in-1984-373317.html (28 December 2015) Dan Danaher, “Family fury over death inquiry delay” in The Clare Champion https://clarechampion.ie/family-fury-over-death-inquiry-delay/ (11 September 2015) Owen Ryan, “Death in Bunratty and the long search for answers” in The Clare Champion https://clarechampion.ie/family-fury-over-death-inquiry-delay/ ( (29 July 2019) http://www.section42inquiries.ie/en/s42i/pages/si1992017 Anne Sheridan, “Suspicious death in Bunratty ow under review 33 years on” in The Limerick Leader https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/253965/suspicious-death-in-bunratty-now-under-review-33-years-on.html (8 June 2017) “Nugent case goes to UN Committee” in The Clare Champion http://clarechampion.ie/nugent-case-goes-to-un-committee/ (4 February 2016) Ray Ryan, “'Isn't he the image of Honey Fitz” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/isnt-he-the-image-of-honey-fitz-234702.html (21 June 2013) Caroline O'Doherty, “Reviews into Garda malpractice claims are pointless, say victims” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/reviews-into-garda-malpractice-claims-are-pointless-say-victims-378790.html (29 January 2016)

Consistent investment by the Government is believed to be crucial to the continued success of Shannon Airport. Ryanair has this week announced a fourth based aircraft and three additional routes at the Clare base. The airline's Irish Growth Plan forecasts its number of passengers annually passing through Shannon to increase to three million by 2030 while it expects to have six aircraft based there by the end of the decade. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine says while the facility is heading in the right direction, State support is essential.

CEO of the Shannon Airport Group, Mary Considine discusses the expected increase in passenger numbers this winter.

An Irish airline has announced a new based aircraft and three additional routes at Shannon Airport. Ryanair has confirmed that its fourth based aircraft at the facility will enable it to run services to Lapland, Madeira and Madrid from Winter 2025/26. Extra flights have also been added to existing routes to Alicante, Edinburgh, Krakow, Lanzarote, Manchester and Wroclaw. The announcement is expected to boost Ryanair's annual passenger numbers through Shannon per annum by 20%, or 100,000, to over 1.6 million, while supporting 1,500 local jobs. The airline's Irish Growth Plan states its intention to boost its Shannon passenger numbers to three million and its number of aircraft to six by 2030. Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness has been telling Clare FM's Seán Lyons only a shift in national aviation policy can bring about a further increase in passenger traffic through the Midwest base.

On this morning's show... Tipperary's U20 hurlers claimed the All-Ireland Title on Saturday The Dáil has voted to pass the first stage of a piece of legislation that would ban fox hunting Regular use of Shannon Airport by the United States does not affect Ireland's policy of military neutrality, according to the Irish Government. Is Dr Google doing more harm than good? Dr Mary Ryan will chat to us... Thomas Conway has Global News... Susan O'Donoghue will explore caring for others... All this and much much more...

It's claimed Shannon is keenly poised to become an electric aircraft development hub. It's after US firm Beta Technologies debuted its Alia C-TOL, the first battery powered aircraft flown in Ireland at Shannon Airport this week. The event was hosted by Atlantic Aviation, the Irish Aviation Authority and Future Mobility Campus Ireland, while Shannon Airport itself has been identified as an aviation technology testing hub in the programme for government. Future Mobility Campus Ireland CEO Russell Vickers is confident his dream of 'air taxis' for the Ryder Cup will be realised.

Journalist Gillian Brockell first reported that the plane carrying a group of migrants from the United States to South Sudan had landed in Shannon Airport in Ireland. Gillian speaks to Áine Lawlor. Reporter Andrew Louth also speaks to Tina Realmuto, Exective Director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance in Massachusetts.

The Government is working to establish the exact chain of events in relation to a flight carrying deportees from the US, which is understood to have stopped in Shannon Airport this week. John Cooke reports from Shannon Airport, and then we hear reaction from Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik.

A Clare TD claims it's "not possible" for Gardaí in this county to police drug-related crime due to insufficient resources. Responding to a parliamentary question from Bodyke Fine Gael Deputy Joe Cooney, the Justice Minister has confirmed there are just 15 Gardaí and three sergeants currently attached to the Clare Tipperary Garda Division's Drugs Unit. He's also revealed that a revamp of the Garda National Immigration Bureau's facilities in the arrivals hall of Shannon Airport will be completed in 2027. Deputy Cooney believes recruitment must be ramped up in order to prevent further "misery" being inflicted on families by the illegal drug trade.

Laughing and learning about horrible histories, why cattle are Shannon Airport's latest arrivals and how a terminal diagnosis has given one Liveline caller a new lease of life.

Shannon Airport has significantly boosted its security services ahead of the busy Summer season. It comes as 14 new Airport Search Unit Officers, hailing from Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Finland have completed training. The recruits are now adept at searching cabin baggage, assisting passengers with hidden disabilities and operating Shannon's state of the art three-dimensional X-ray screening system, with built in explosive detection software. Shannon Airport Police Fire Service and Security Chief Pat O'Brien says it will improve the customer experience.

The Department of Transport is coming under pressure to explain why Coast Guard Helicopters can't respond to emergency medical evacuation calls on behalf of the HSE in Clare. Bristow Ireland, which took over the state contract for search and rescue aviation services last year, is currently not licensed to take stretchers on board when responding to medical support calls. Shannon Airport is the only base in the country where this situation currently applies, as sites at Dublin, Sligo, and Waterford are still operating under the old contract. Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney says it's an absurd situation.

Shannon Airport saw a significant increase in passenger numbers, with an estimated 53,000 passengers passing through over the Bank Holiday weekend.Joining Kieran in Toronto for a discussion on the airport and broader Irish tourism is Ray O'Driscoll, Chief Operating Officer of The Shannon Airport Group.

A new US Pharmaceutical firm has taken up residence in the Shannon Airport Business Park. North Carolina company, Frontier Scientific Solutions has chosen Shannon as its gateway to Europe, where it will avail of temperature-controlled storage for the distribution of life-science goods. Shannon Airport Group also recorded revenues of €73m last year and pre-tax profits of €18m according to its 2024 report. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine says they're expecting further success.

A research team at University of Galway has revealed that Storm Éowyn generated the highest storm surges ever recorded at key locations on Ireland's western seaboard. By analysing sea level information from 47 datasets provided by the Irish National Tide Gauge Network and the Office of Public Works, the team based at the University's School of Engineering have highlighted the unprecedented power of the storm's surge - more than 2.5 metres above the normal predicted tidal water level. Storm Éowyn, one of the most powerful storms to hit Ireland in recent years, also saw record-breaking winds. The highest gust recorded was 184 km/h, with the highest 10-minute wind speed reaching 142 km/h at Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station in County Galway. Storm Éowyn highest storm surges ever recorded Despite the severity of Storm Éowyn in other ways and the devastation wrought by hurricane force winds and lasting damage to power and water supplies, the timing of the tides during storm landfall meant little to no flooding impacts. The research team highlighted data from three coastal locations during Storm Éowyn - Galway Port, Limerick Docks and Shannon Airport. At Galway Port, the storm surge peaked at 2.60 meters above the normal predicted astronomical tide, the highest ever recorded at this station since its operation began in 2007 At Limerick Docks the highest surge along the western coastline was recorded - reaching 2.99 meters above tidal level At Shannon Airport, the tidal gauge recorded surge of 2.70 meters. Had these surges occurred a week earlier during the high water spring tide, the water levels would have been much higher, with data predicting that the water level at Galway Port would have reached 4.96m, Limerick Dock at 5.85m, and Shannon Airport at 5.43m above mean sea level, inundating the areas. Dr Indiana Olbert, School of Engineering at University of Galway's College of Science and Engineering, said: "Extensive research suggest that flooding has increased in frequency and severity in recent decades around the world and this is attributed to climate change. Our analysis of the drivers of flooding in Ireland show that the anthropogenic climate change - that's the changes related to human activity - will drive more extreme rainfall and generate more intense flooding. Such changes are likely to continue with further warming. In future we will witness more extreme weather events that will result in devastating floods. "Our analysis also shows that a rise in mean sea level rise will significantly increase the risk of coastal flooding in the future. The data we have recovered from the hours around Storm Éowyn shows just how narrowly tens of thousands of people avoided tidal inundation and threats to cities, towns and coastal communities. It is hard to imagine how narrowly we avoided unprecedented storm surge flooding and an inundation, in particular in towns and cities." Dr Niall Madden, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at University of Galway, said: "In spite of how devastating Storm Éowyn was, in an odd way, we were incredibly lucky. The worst of the storm surge coincided with a low and ebbing tide. Had it hit just a few hours earlier, on a full or flooding tide, Galway could have been dealing with a double disaster of record high winds and record high flooding." Model imagery of the areas at risk of a 2.5m storm surge or sea level rise in the Galway Bay area. Credit: Climate Central/climatecentral.org Climate Central | Land below 2.5 meters of water. Please note content licensing for use https://www.climatecentral. org/what-we-do/legal#content_ licensing About University of Galway Established in 1845, University of Galway is one of the top 2% of universities in the world. We are a bilingual university, comprised of four colleges, 18 schools and five research institutes, with more than 19,700 students, including around 3,000 international students. We have been accredited with an Athena SWAN Institutional Bronze Awa...

It's hoped Clare Crusaders inclusion in a large-scale charity initiative will ease recent financial strains. It comes as the organisation has this week been selected by Shannon Airport as the local charity it will support in its fundraising efforts throughout 2025. Clare Crusaders offer free therapy and specialist treatment to over 450 children with special needs across the county. Manager Ann Norton says the clinic has struggled financially since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

The Shannon Airport Group has revealed details of the two remarkable charities it will fundraise for in 2025. The charities, selected by The Shannon Airport Group employees, are Clare Crusaders and Little Blue Heroes. Alan Morrissey was speaking about this with Vanessa McTigue, who is chair of the Shannon Airport Group Charity Committee & head of Business Development & Leasing at the group. Photo (c): Shannon Airport Group

Shannon Airport Group has announced which charities it will be supporting this year as part of its annual fundraising initiative. Clare Crusaders who provide free therapy to kids with special needs has been selected alongside Little Blue Heroes who support the families of children with serious illnesses while offering kids the chance to become Honorary Gardaí. Throughout the last 10 years over €500,000 has been raised for various organisations with over €100,000 awarded last year to The Alzheimer's Society of Ireland and Milford Care Centre. Clare rep for Little Blue Heroes, Thomas Downey, says the funds raised will work wonders.

A Clare TD is refuting reports he called for the reinstatement of the “stopover” rule at Shannon Airport. In 2008, the Government put an end to the rule, which compelled transatlantic flights to the Republic of Ireland to stop at the Clare airport. According to a trade publication, the Meelick Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe had recently called for legislation demanding that flights stop at Shannon, in line with the “stopover” rule. This led to the CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority – the DAA – describing any resurrection of the rule as “bizarre”. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Meelick FF TD and Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group Chair Cathal Crowe. Photo(C): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=878893940945468&id=100064746096591&set=a.561396562695209

Cathal Crowe, Fianna Fáil TD for Clare and Chair of the Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, joins the show to explain why regional airports like Shannon must seize the opportunity to attract more flights while the Dublin Airport passenger cap remains in place.Listen here.

Shannon Airport increased its passenger count by over 153,000 last year. For the first time in fifteen years, passenger numbers at the Clare base surpassed 2 million, and it's hoped the relaunch of an express bus service connecting the Airport to Galway could boost footfall again. Shannon boosted both its arrival and departure numbers in 2024. According to the Central Statistics Office's latest Aviation report, both the amount of flyers taking off and touching down in Clare increased by 8%. England was the most popular destination for flyers out of Shannon, accounting for over 391,000 passengers, this was followed by the 168,000 who flew to the United States and the 123,000 going to Spain. In terms of inbound traffic , 400,000 passengers flew into Shannon from the UK, 167,000 touched down from the United States and just below 123,000 came from Spain. In total, Shannon handled just over 2,050,800 passengers last year, 153,000 more than the previous year and the highest on record since 2009. From April 29th, Bus Eireann's expressway service connecting Galway City to Shannon Airport will return. It will four direct routes each way, with the aim of lining up to key transatlantic flight times. Shannon Airport Group Chief Operating Officer Ray O'Driscoll is hopeful they will see very positive results. There was a slight drop in the freight and commercial traffic handled at Shannon last year, however. Shannon dealt with over 16 tonnes of freight traffic over the past twelve months, with the majority of goods coming and going to Germany. There were also just over 14,800 commercial flights facilitated at Shannon, down from 15,000 the year before, with the UK and the United States again the most popular destinations.

The CEO of the Shannon Airport Group is hopeful a newly re-constituted Oireachtas Group will bring about a long-sought change in national aviation policy. The inaugural meeting of the cross-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, which is made up of elected representatives from Clare and surrounding counties as well as airport representatives, has been held at the Midwest base this week. Key discussion points of the meeting were the facility's underused capacity, lobbying for its permanent inclusion in the Regional Airports Programme and improving public transport links. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine says the onus is on those in Leinster House to advocate for the airport's interests.

Confidence has been expressed that the re-establishment of a dedicated Oireachtas Group for Shannon Airport will grow the facility's route offering. The ad-hoc committee was founded by former Clarecastle Fine Gael TD Joe Carey in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The cross-party group comprised of TD's and Senators from Clare, Limerick, Galway and Tipperary will prioritise new routes and investment opportunities for Shannon. Chairperson and Meelick Fianna Fáil Deputy Cathal Crowe is confident it will be a major success.

A Northern Irish public transport service dubbed "The luas on wheels" has been proposed as a cost effective alternative to the Shannon Rail Link. The 'Glider' which is a rapid transit intercity bus system, with a light tram design and capacity for over 100 passengers in a single carriage, was first rolled out in Belfast in 2018 at a cost of €120m. Although the Government has set a target of providing rail connectivity to Shannon Airport by 2030, a delegation of elected representatives and officials are expected to visit Belfast to test the Glider's feasibility. Clonlara Independent Councillor Michael Begley is confident it can work here.

The Shannon Airport Group is assuring there will be no service disruptions at the Clare base today, despite its continuing efforts to accommodate flights due to land at London-Heathrow. Heathrow has been closed for the day following a fire at a nearby electrical station, which sparked a major power outage. Shannon Airport has already handled flights from Toronto, Atlanta, Barbados, Boston, Orlando and New York, and is expecting to facilitate more diversions throughout the day. Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine has been telling Clare FM's Daragh Dolan that all passengers due to travel to Heathrow today should contact their carrier as soon as possible.

The US will speak to Russia today about the plan for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, its top dplomat Marco Rubio says. He said "the ball is now in Russia's court" after Ukraine accepted American proposals for an initial ceasefire.Earlier, Russia said it would wait to be briefed by American officials before commenting - and that it was "studying statements". So what might the Russian response be? We'll speak to a former advisor to Vladimir Putin.Also in the programme: Why tracts of the Brazilian rainforest are being cut down for the next UN climate summit and what that means for the people living there; and we'll hear about the Australian man who lived for more than three months with a mechanical, artificial heart/(Photo shows US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to the media during a refuelling stop at Shannon Airport in Shannon, Ireland on 12 March 2025. Credit: Saul Loed/Reuters)

One of Clare's greatest business success stories is celebrating its 35th anniversary with an ambitious and charitable twist Clare FM's Daragh Dolan visited Atlantic Aviation's Hangar 1 at Shannon Airport for the event launch where he first spoke to committee members Brian Stapleton who's now Co-founder and CCO of Formidion, Doolin man and Vice-President of Falko Des Egan and Committee Chair and CEO of Shannon Technical Services, Ben Whelan... Photo(C): Clare FM

Ministers will begin the legal process of ending Ireland's triple lock protocol for overseas deployments today (Tuesday, 4th March). Tánaiste Simon Harris will bring forward draft legislation to remove the need for United Nations Security Council approval for peacekeeping missions abroad. Under the changes, the government could deploy up to 50 troops to missions abroad without consulting either the Dáil or the UN. It comes as a major rethink of strategy is underway in government buildings, ahead of the Taoiseach's visit to the White House next week. Minister for International Development Neale Richmond believes the triple lock needs to be changed... To discuss this further, Alan Morrissey was joined by former Minister for Defence and Former Corofin Fianna Fáil TD, Tony Killeen. Photo(C): Clive Wells from Getty Images via Canva

This lunchtime, Taoiseach Michéal Martin met with the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelensky, at Shannon Airport. Mr Zelensky was stopping off on his way to Washington, where he's due to sign an agreement that would give the US access to Ukraine's mineral deposits. Our Mid Western Correspondent, Cathy Halloran, reports from Shannon Airport...

The end of the temporary directive for Ukrainian refugees in Clare and across the country has not been raised by the Taoiseach or Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their meeting at Shannon Airport today. The directive which is a special EU procedure designed to deal with a mass influx of people seeking international protection was triggered in March 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion. This entitles refugees to access employment, suitable accommodation, social welfare and education for children aged under 18 - to date there are now over 5,100 Ukrainian arrivals living in Clare. The directive will be in effect until at least March 2026 and although it was not discussed with President Zelensky today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin insists there will not be a cliff-edge.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he had a "very warm" and "very good" meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Shannon Airport this afternoon. Drivetime's John Cooke is live from Shannon Airport.

It's claimed sub-standard infrastructure is proving a major hindrance to tourism in the Shannon Estuary Region. It follows calls for a new council led strategy to increase marine based visitor attractions in Clare. The 102km area is shared between predominantly Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary and welcomes tens of thousands of visitors every year. However, concern has been raised that there's been too much emphasis on land based attractions, at the expense of opening up more water based opportunities. In response, Clare County Council has pointed to an over €4m investment in the Vandeleur Walled Gardens, remedial works on Scattery Island and upgraded signage on the EuroVelo cycle route. Kilrush Independent Councillor Ian Lynch says the roads in West Clare serving the route are not fit for international tourists , but that the lack of facilities for visitors to launch boats on the estuary is proving a huge hindrance. The spotlight has also been shone on the opportunities for adjacent villages from tourists landing at Shannon Airport. Last year alone over 344,000 visitors attended Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, while the Ilaunmanagh Park Run welcomes UK participants on a weekly basis. Newmarket-On-Fergus Councillor David Griffin believes incorporating local water based attractions can enhance this.

The founder of Shannonwatch claims "huge damage" has been done to the reputation of Shannon Airport by its association with the US Military. Hundreds descended on the Clare base over the weekend once again to demand an end to the alleged "use of Irish airspace to deliver arms, tech and logistical support" to Israel. Gardaí were out in force in Shannon on Sunday afternoon in preparation for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign's 'Stop Arming Israel' demonstration, which was organised in collaboration with Shannonwatch. Among the key asks of those in attendance was that the Irish Government ensures that Irish airports and airspace aren't used to provide military aid to Israel. They also called for the Arms Embargo Bill, Occupied Territories Bill and Illegal Israeli Settlements Bill to be passed, and for diplomatic relations with what was called the "genocidal Apartheid state of Israel" to be broken. Chairperson of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign Zoe Lawlor says the goal is to bring about "freedom, justice and equality" for all Palestinians. It's long been argued that US Military aircraft stopping in Shannon should be inspected and these calls have grown louder on foot of recent reports of weapons of war bound for Israel coming through the facility. All foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly or land in Ireland are bound by Irish law to seek diplomatic clearance from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with clearance only granted if certain conditions are met. These conditions include that the aircraft carries no arms, ammunition or explosives, that it doesn't engage in intelligence gathering and that the flight doesn't form part of a military exercise or operation. In 2023, however, over 1,000 clearance exemptions were granted by former Transport Minister Eamon Ryan. Shannonwatch founder Dr Edward Horgan says Shannon must become a "civilian airport" once again. Shannon Airport says it's "pleased to confirm that throughout the protest, there were no disruption to airport operations". It says "all flights at the airport operated on schedule, and there were no delays or cancellations as a result of the event". Doras CEO and long time activist with Shannonwatch John Lannon insists Shannon Airport is playing a role in military activities overseas and this must end.

Andrew Yates, Bus Éireann, Barry Kenny, Iarnród Eireann and Mary Considine, Shannon Airport, have the latest travel updates ahead of Christmas homecomings.