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Ukrainian national anthem rings out at special event

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By Sean Moriarty

Up to 50 recently arrived Ukrainian refugees were welcomed to Killarney at a special Mother’s Day event on Sunday.

Organised by well-known local hairdresser Pat O’Neill at the International Hotel, it doubled as both a fundraiser and welcoming party for Ukrainians who are currently being housed in two local hotels.

Pat and fellow hairdresser Orla Sheehan began the day by offering hair styles in lieu of donations to a fundraiser for the displaced Ukrainians.

As the day went on they were joined by local musicians including Johnny Nolan and his band, Caitriona O’Sullivan and Truly Diverse.

The event was due to conclude with a performance by local accordion legend Liam O’Connor but even he was upstaged by a group of Ukrainians who took to the stage and sang their traditional songs including their national anthem.

While formally known as the ‘State Anthem of Ukraine’, it also goes by its native title ‘Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy’, which translates into English as ‘Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished’.

“It was a fantastic day, it was a great buzz,” Pat told the Killarney Advertiser. “This was all about welcoming the Ukrainians to Killarney – this is their town now for as long as they need it and we wanted to tell them about the various clubs and activities they can be part of. We picked Mother’s Day because many of us are lucky to have loved ones, but displacement means these people are without their loved ones. They were blown away by it.”

A total of €2,000 was raised on the day but the International Hotel matched the figure bringing the grand total to €4,000. The money was lodged in a special account with Killarney Credit Union and will distributed as and when situations arise within the Ukrainian community.

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How will our Kerry TDs vote tomorrow?

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Tomorrow, Sinn Féin will be tabling a motion of no confidence against the Government after the protests that took place nationwide during the week.

Earlier today we asked our readers how would they vote in a no confidence motion against the Government?

Most of our readers said they would vote no confidence, while some said, yes they do have confidence in the Government.

One reader said: “Vote confidence. The only proper leadership over the last few days came from government. Courage came when needed despite how unpopular it looked in the moment. By contrast, opposition politicians wanted the country to burn to suit themselves”.

Another reader stated: “No confidence. Shambolic and heavy handed handling of protests this past week”.

However, some people didn’t have any confidence in either side with a reader saying: “No confidence in the no confidence! Different wings of the same bird! We need a complete overhaul of the political system”.

We asked the question to our 5 Kerry TDs before lunch-time today, asking them what their vote will be tomorrow.

We received one reply from Sinn Féin’s Kerry TD Pa Daly.

He will be voting no confidence in the Government tomorrow along with his party.

Other media outlets are reporting that Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae is undecided at the moment.

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Town centre-based software firm marks two years in business

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A Killarney-based software company is celebrating two years in business since expanding into the European market.

QT9 Software Ltd, which is located on Bohereencaol was established in 2024 as part of the company’s move to better serve customers across Europe.

The business is part of a US-based company founded 20 years ago in Chicago by Brant Engelhart.

Its Irish office is headed by Killarney resident Angela O’Sullivan, who serves as Operations Director.

QT9 Software currently employs four full-time staff members in Killarney and plans to increase that number by an additional two this year.

The company provides quality management software to businesses worldwide, with the Irish office helping to support European customers within their own time zones.

As part of its continued European expansion, the software company also opened a new data center in Amsterdam in 2025 to meet data storage and compliance requirements.

QT9 Software works with businesses that must meet quality standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, as well as industry-specific regulations across sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, food and life sciences.

Speaking about the milestone, Angela O’Sullivan said: “We’re very proud to have grown QT9 Software here in Killarney over the past two years. It has been a really positive journey so far, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build our team and support more customers across Europe.”

The company is also currently recruiting for an IT Systems Administrator, with details available in the appointments section on page 46.

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