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6,000 take part in KWD County Clean-Up

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Kerry is significantly cleaner this week after almost 6,000 volunteers took part in the KWD County Clean-Up on Saturday. Thousands of bags of litter were collected from the roadsides and towns and villages during the seventh annual clean-up, which was organised by KWD Recycling and Kerry County Council with the support of many agencies and voluntary groups.

The Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council, Cllr John Sheahan, was among those who dusted off their gloves, hi-vis vests and litter-pickers and he said the community effort involved was inspirational.

“This was a record turnout for the County Clean-Up and shows how civic-minded many of our citizens are when it comes to keeping the county neat and tidy,” he said. “We had reasonably good weather which was a big help and from early morning, people of all ages rolled up their sleeves and got involved. It would be great to harness the involvement of members of the public on Saturday by getting more people to sign up with their local Tidy Towns group or start a group in their own area and to get people out and about collecting litter more often.’

Cllr Sheahan thanked KWD Recycling and their team for helping to distribute gloves and bags ahead of the Clean-Up and for arranging to dispose of the bags of rubbish collected. He also thanked the GAA, the IFA and the ICMSA in Kerry each of which mobilised their members to get involved on the day.

Noel O’Reilly of KWD Recycling said they were delighted with the turnout and the can-do attitude of all the participants. He also thanked and congratulated local volunteer groups for their involvement.

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Eight month wait for a driving test in Killarney

A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at […]

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A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney

The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at eight months.

Cllr John O’Donoghue raised the issue at Monday’s full meeting of Kerry County Council.

He proposed that driving instructors should be employed to carry out the final test to reduce the current backlog.

At Monday’s meeting he asked that hat Kerry County Council would write to the Minister for Transport to ask him to consider giving driving instructors temporary powers to issue a temporary Driving Licence/Certificate of Competence to those on the waiting list for tests.

“The wait is currently far too long and the system is in danger of becoming completely overwhelmed,” he said.

“The huge waiting list for young drivers is well documented at this stage. In a case I am familiar with, a young person passed their theory test in January 2022 and he immediately applied for his mandatory 12 driving lessons. When these were completed, he applied for his driving test on the 2nd of December 2022. Some weeks ago, he still had not received an application to apply for his driving test. This wait is placing him and his family under considerable extra cost and stress which is completely unacceptable.”

In the course of his research into the matter Cllr O’Donoghue discovered that the next available date for a driving test in Killarney is May 25, 2024, while Tralee is June 3 2024.

“Bear in mind, these are only the dates on which you receive an invitation to book your test, the test itself will then be an estimated three to five weeks later.

“This is an appalling situation and one which needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency. I am proposing that driving instructors, which presumably are fully trained up on the rules of the road, be granted temporary powers to be allowed to issue temporary driving licences to young people. When the waiting list time has been reduced, I would still propose that these people sit the test as usual, but the current pressure needs to be alleviated as soon as possible. There is precedent as I believe that in the 1970s, a cohort in this country were issued driving licences without having sat a test as the wait time for the test was too long.”

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Ballymac charity vintage run on October 1

The Ballymac Vintage Club is hosting a classic car, tractor and Honda 50 run on October 1. The run will leave from and return to the Halfway Bar, Ballymac. Registration […]

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The Ballymac Vintage Club is hosting a classic car, tractor and Honda 50 run on October 1.

The run will leave from and return to the Halfway Bar, Ballymac.

Registration begins at 9:30am and sets off at 11am.

“There will be two separate routes with one for tractors and the other for cars and motorbikes. Proceeds on the day are in aid of Castleisland Day Care Centre and we’ll have plenty of spot prizes to giveaway too in the morning,” said the club’s PRO Kieran Glover.

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