The Tidy Towns team will sport a new set of jerseys this year for the ultimate Tidy Towns championship.

Daly’s SuperValu has generously supplied volunteers with new high-visibility bibs, reflecting the retailer’s ongoing sponsorship of the national competition.

Team Killarney, captained by Kerry GAA legend and All-Ireland winner Michael Gleeson, is aiming to make a strong impression this year’s in an effort to win the prestigious overall award for the first time since 2011 or by repeating their success at the Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town 2023.

Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce President, Johnny McGuire, who leads the Tidy Towns campaign every year, has appealed to everybody in the locality to make a special effort to have Killarney looking its best this year.

Businesses, residents’ associations and individuals are being encouraged to get their premises and their houses into shape before the first visit of the Tidy Towns judges in the coming weeks. Mr McGuire emphasised the importance of first impressions, particularly with the initial adjudication due in early June.

He said: “The initial adjudication is key so we would ask business owners to get whatever work they are planning, such as painting or planting, done before that as that is when the main opinions are formed,” he said.

Meanwhile, additional volunteers are required for the weekly clean-ups and anyone willing to lend a hand is asked to attend the bottle bank in the High Street car park every Monday evening from 6.00pm.

All necessary materials will be provided.

Local councillors are seeking a meeting with the Minister of Transport to discuss the success of the Anseo bus service in Killarney and how to expand it outside of the town.

The councillors feel that it should be extended into “urban” areas like Kilcummin and Fossa, highlighting the potential benefit it could bring to residents trying to travel into town.

Kerry County Council wrote to the National Transport Association requesting an extension of the service.

In response, the NTA said that while the organisation has considered the request, it can not implement an expansion at this time due to it being a pilot programme.

The NTA said: “The Killarney town pilot area was specifically selected to assess the performance of the TFI Anseo system in a town and an expansion outside of the town now would fundamentally change the nature of the operations before the pilot is complete, comprising the objectives and validity of the pilot study.”

The councillors agreed that action needs to be taken now, warning that once the pilot programme ends in August, the opportunity to keep it in Killarney could be lost.

Meanwhile, Cllr John O’Donoghue called for the possibility of creating a designated pull-in area for the Anseo bus on High Street, noting that it is one of the town’s busiest bus stops and is currently disrupting the flow of traffic.

Cllr O’Donoghue said delays occur when collecting customers as it is forced to stop for a couple of minutes.

Ultimately, this puts a halt to all traffic on the street, which builds up quickly.

He said: “Killarney is under such pressure from traffic congestion, every blockage can cause huge tailbacks, and I feel that were we to provide a set down area for the bus, it would greatly help matters.”

In its reply to Cllr O’Donoghue, Kerry County Council said the location is within the scope of the URDF Public Realm enhancements and changes to the development  would be premature in advance.

Council officials added that changes can be considered as part of the overall streetscape design.