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Sem students have sights set on solar energy system

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SELF-SUSTAINABLE: Kacper Bogalecki with Gearoid McGorrin, Rian Gill, Ethan Slattery, James Smith, Navansh Johnson, Fionn McCloskey and Paul Foran implementing a more self-sustainable and climate friendly project in the Sem. Photo: Grigoriy Geniyevskiy

 

By Colm Looney

Innovative students have decided to up their game when it comes to self-sustainability in their secondary school to try to win a grant for solar panels to cut heating costs.

Students at St Brendan’s College have formed the ‘Self-Sustainable Sem’ committee and have entered into the national ‘Friends of the Earth Solar Schools’ competition which would allow them to access a grant that would cover 90 percent of the costs for solar panels for their school.

This journey began last year with the beginning of the ‘Fridays for Future’ strikes all across the country, when a select group of students decided something should be done on the school’s behalf.

“A group of students, myself included, got together with the supervision of Ms Sheehy and Ms Quirke for our first meeting,” Director of the Self-Sustainable Sem, Kacper Bogalecki, told the Killarney Advertiser. “We discussed what kind of action our school could get involved in. We started off with the ºC+ that we made out on the basketball court and worked our way along from there.”

They got involved with the RTE Youth Assembly on Climate Action and some of the students attended the event.

“Following this it was suggested to us that we attempt something for the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Award which occurred around November. We came together to seek out ways in which the school could become more self-sustainable.”

So far this year the school has implemented an outright ban on plastic bottles and has replaced all plastic consumables in the canteen with more renewable or recyclable options. After a meeting with Green Party member Dr Anne-Marie Fuller, the group learned of different ways to make the school more eco-friendly such as implementing a uniform renewal system and a TerraCycle scheme.

The lads recently posted a video on FOEIreland YouTube and members of the committee asked the people of Killarney for their assistance, to like their post and share it with each other and received an amazing response back.

“Our main goal is to reduce our carbon footprint and to hopefully assist our local community at the same time,” Kacper said. “We also aim to make the school more self-sustainable and climate friendly.”

 

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New Streetscapes murals launched at College Square

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A colourful collaboration between the Kerry Local Creative Youth Partnership (LCYP) and the Architecture Kerry Festival at Kerry County Council launched yesterday evening at College Square.

Titled Streetscapes, the open-air public art installation officially opened at 5pm on Thursday, accompanied by a performance from the Killarney Youth Drumming Band THUMP! under the guidance of Urs Wenk from Drum Dance Ireland.


The public art project features a series of wall murals depicting Killarney through the eyes of local children, exploring freedom, play, and potential future evolutions of the townscape.

The artworks reimagine Killarney’s iconic landmarks and streets, blending youthful imagination and curiosity.


Supported under the Creative Ireland Programme, the installation is mounted on the gable wall of Reen’s Life Pharmacy in College Square, where it will remain on public display until March 2027.


Speaking at the launch, Daniel O’Shea, Youth Development Officer at Kerry ETB, stated: “Streetscapes is a wonderful celebration of how children see things. Their creativity brings new perspectives to the townscape, and we are proud to support their ideas and their art through this public artwork.”


Deirdre Enright, Co-Ordinator of the Local Creative Youth Partnership at Kerry ETB, acknowledged the community support behind the initiative: “We are very grateful to Reen’s Life Pharmacy who have shared their built space with us. Huge credit is due to the artistic team from Me+The Moon whose dedication to creativity and to children’s art shine through in this work.”


The project forms part of the annual Architecture Kerry Festival and receives funding through Creative Ireland and the Department of Education and Youth via Kerry ETB and Kerry County Council.


Victoria McCarthy, Festival Organiser and Architectural Conservation Officer at Kerry County Council, welcomed the continued inter-agency project: “It’s always a great event for Architecture Kerry and we are so pleased with this collaboration between public sector organisations. It remains a key feature of the Architecture Kerry programme.”
See next week’s Killarney Advertiser for full photographic coverage of the event.

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Dr Crokes stalwarts enjoy lake cruise

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Dr Crokes stalwarts enjoy lake cruise

Dr Crokes stalwarts enjoy lake cruise

Dr Crokes GAA Club hosted a special day out for its senior members on Monday, this week, taking a group aged between 70 and 90 on a cruise across the Lakes of Killarney.

Organised by the Dr Crokes Healthy Club committee under its Crokes Cruisers initiative, the event was held to recognise the lifetime contribution made by long-standing members who continue to support club activities behind the scenes.
The group travelled on two vessels, including An Cathal, an open boat operated by local brothers Tony and Mike Fleming. Built to preserve the traditional Killarney lake boat style, it is the only purpose-built, fully accessible boat on the lakes, allowing members with mobility issues and wheelchair users to safely join the two-hour trip.
Following the lake tour, the party gathered on shore for coffee and refreshments provided by Derric McMahon and Harry Clifton of the Ross Castle Garden Cafe.
The initiative forms part of the club’s ongoing community work as a Gold Award winner in the GAA Healthy Club programme.

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