After a recent spell of indifferent weather, glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze greeted 35 teams at Beaufort Golf Course on Friday, September 11, for the annual St Paul’s Golf Classic.

Held in memory of the legendary Connie Brosnan, the fundraiser generated vital club funds through team entries and tee box sponsorships.

The first ball was struck at 8am, with action continuing right through until the final putt dropped shortly before 8pm.

The pristine condition of the course allowed for high-quality scoring across the board.

Niall O’Brien captained the winning quartet alongside Mark Roche, Cillian O’Connor, and Bernard O’Connor, combining seamlessly to card a victorious 95 points.

KMS Mechanical claimed second place on 91 points, followed by Frank Roche Air Conditioning on 87 points and The Lake Hotel on 86 points.

Organisers extended sincere thanks to event sponsor GMIB, greenkeepers, clubhouse staff, and the organising committee of Seán Brosnan, Maurice O’Donoghue, John Carroll, and Niall O’Callaghan for ensuring a successful outing.

Results

1st Place (95 pts): Team Niall O’Brien (Niall O’Brien, Mark Roche, Cillian O’Connor, Bernard O’Connor)
2nd Place (91 pts): KMS Mechanical (Denis O’Regan, Liam O’Shea, Owen Aherne, Mark Kennedy)
3rd Place (87 pts): Frank Roche Air Conditioning (Oliver Deady, Seán Horgan, Darren O’Connor, Noel Finnegan)
4th Place (86 pts): Lake Hotel (Alan Flynn, Martin Byrnes, Austin Rooney, Eamonn O’Sullivan)
Nearest the Pin: 2nd Hole – David Hartnett (Aghadoe Heights); 15th Hole – Kieran O’Keeffe (Aghadoe Heights).

Kerry County Council has been awarded €150,000 in government funding to progress a Masterplan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan for the St Finan’s Hospital landbank.

The money forms part of a broader regeneration package announced by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under Category 1A of the Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund, which targets longer-term projects for delivery in the later years of the National Development Plan.

The funding will allow Kerry County Council to establish a long-term development roadmap for the 30-acre state-owned property, which has remained largely vacant since the psychiatric hospital closed its doors in 2012.

The masterplan will evaluate access roads, water capacity, and core utility infrastructure needed to unlock the site. It will also establish a formal framework between Kerry County Council, the HSE as property owners, and the Land Development Agency to prepare the location for future statutory consents and funding applications.

Research into the site shows the property is divided into distinct challenges. Land Development Agency reports identified the overall campus as public land capable of delivering between 330 and 460 affordable homes on surrounding open ground at an estimated cost of up to €174 million.

However, the main Victorian building is a protected structure. Upgrading or converting the historic facility alone is estimated to cost upwards of €100 million.

Because of these high refurbishment costs, recent state assessments proposed splitting the site, with the Land Development Agency focusing on developing 6.6 hectares of open land while leaving the HSE to find alternative uses for the main hospital building.

The HSE has previously expressed a preference to dispose of the entire campus as a single unit.

The new €150,000 allocation will directly fund the technical, design, and structural assessments required to align these state bodies and clear a path for future housing and community infrastructure on the site.