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Full costs of Killarney Safe Streets project revealed

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By Sean Moriarty

The Killarney Safe Streets programme cost a staggering €149,478.76 to put in place - new figures seen by the Killarney Advertiser can reveal.

 

Kerry County Council spent a total of €238,324.10 on the Safe Streets project across its five municipal districts. However, all of this money came from National Transport Authority grants and was not taken from the Council’s annual budget.

The average cost between the other four districts of Kenmare, Castleisland/Corca Dhuibhne, Listowel and Tralee was a modest €22,211 per region but the Killarney project cost in excess of €125,000 more than any other municipal district in the county.

Rolled out in July, the Safe Streets plan was designed to allow social distancing on the county’s streets and to allow businesses reopen after months of pandemic related closures.

The Killarney project included the widening of several town centre footpaths, at an estimated cost of 50 parking spaces and the full-time pedestrianisation of Plunkett St and a portion of Kenmare Place.

Although elected in the Castleisland/Corca Dhuibhne Area Municipal District Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae questioned the level of spending in Killarney at Wednesday’s Kerry County Council meeting.

“I am not knocking the merits of the plan and its merits is to keep people safe,” he told the Killarney Advertiser. “But if the works in Killarney are temporary why is everything so permanent compared to other towns. If the changes are temporary it will mean bringing in a machine ripping up the footpaths and that seems like an awful waste of money.”

A Council spokesperson told the meeting:
“The Town Centre Mobility Plans for Kerry were implemented as emergency measures in response to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and have taken into account the need to maintain social distancing and other controls while businesses reopened in towns across the county.”

 

Three questions for Kerry County Council:

KA: Why did Killarney cost significantly more than other towns?

KCC: “The National Transport Authority has provided grant assistance to Kerry County Council in implementing these mobility plans which covers the full cost of expenditure incurred to date. A total of €238,324 has been expended throughout the county on mobility plans to date as discussed at the meeting of Kerry County Council on Wednesday. Those costs vary across the Municipal Districts and the county’s towns based on numerous factors which were assessed during the process, for example, footfall, width of existing footpaths and streetscapes etc.”

KA: Based on the logic of Safe Streets, are you more likely to contract COVID-19 in Killarney than any other town? Or, on the same logic, why was Killarney offered better protection than other towns?

KCC: “This is not a question of different protection for different towns – every town and village in Kerry has different requirements which were assessed during the implementation of safety measures.”

KA: If this is only a temporary measure, how much is it going to cost to reinstate the streets to their former condition?

KCC: “The Mobility Plans will be kept under review and it may be necessary to expand or extend these plans as society continues to deal with the pandemic over the coming months.”

 

 

 

 

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Five local postmen retire with 185 years service

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Five local postmen retire with 185 years service

RETIREMENT NIGHT: Pictured at the retirement party held at Killarney Racecourse on Saturday, October 3, celebrating a combined 185 years of service with An Post, are Connie Brady, James Foley, Terry Potts, Pat Cronin, and D.J. Cahill.


Five well-known local postmen celebrated their retirement at a special function held at Killarney Racecourse on Saturday night, October 3.


The event brought together current and former An Post colleagues to mark the combined total of 185 years of service delivered across Killarney and surrounding areas.
Delivery Services Manager Terry Potts retired after 43 years with An Post. He began his career in Dublin, where he worked for 10 years, before moving to Killarney in 1993 for a further 33 years.
Pat Cronin completed an impressive 51 years of service between Killarney and Farranfore, spending 44 of those years delivering post on the Farranfore route.
James Foley served 35 years with An Post, delivering on routes across Killorglin throughout his entire career.
D.J. Cahill marked 32 years of service based out of Killarney post office, delivering mail across Killarney town, Killorglin, Kilcummin, and Headford.
Connie Brady retired following 24 years with the postal service, spending 17 years in Killarney town before completing his service in Killorglin.
The celebration offered local postal staff an opportunity to gather and catch up ahead of the busy Christmas rush.

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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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