News
Answering Johnny’s final call
FRIENDS: Denis Hickey and Sean Nolan, from Glenflesk, pay their respects to their friend Johnny Hickey.
GET IN LINE: Rally cars line up at the Liebherr Container Cranes factory in Fossa. Killarney and District Motor Club thanked factory management for the use of the facility.
PAYING RESPECT: Shane Doyle and Donagh Crowley from Headford pay their respects to Johnny Hickey.
RESPECTS: Tadgh O’Sullivan and Donal O’Donoghue pay their respects.
LAST JOURNEY: Johnny Hickey's cortege was lead by the famous Ford Escort that he and his father Charlie competed in together. The car was driven by one of Johnny's great friends Colin O'Donoghue. Photo: Eamonn Keogh
By Sean Moriarty
In the weeks and days leading up to the Rally of the Lakes and the Killarney Historic Rally, competitors near and far could be sure of one thing - they would get phone call after phone call from Johnny Hickey cajoling them into entering his home events.
Only a top-quality entry would do Johnny and he would stop at nothing to convince a driver to place their entry.
More often than not he would be encouraging entries from drivers who he would have to compete against in the event, but that didn’t matter to Johnny.
“The best of the best are coming,” he would say weeks before the event and long before the official entry list was published.
He knew, even before the entries secretary knew, who was coming.
He had spoken to the competitors himself and he had received the promises.
And, if during the first phone call the driver’s excuse for not coming did not stack up, Johnny would be on the phone again and again until they eventually relented – sometimes even withdrawing from a previous commitment just because Johnny was not going to take no or a lame excuse for an answer.
So, it was fitting on Tuesday afternoon that drivers and co-drivers from all over the county gave Johnny the send-off he truly deserved.
As Johnny made his way to his last time control, competitors lined the road from the top of Madam’s Hill to the entrance of Aghadoe Cemetery.
Over 40 rally cars, from a state-of-the-art World Rally Car to entry-level junior Honda Civics, formed an automotive guard of honour to pay respects to a man that did so much for rallying in Kerry.
He would have been proud of the top-class entry that he attracted.
The best of the best came to see him on his final journey. They answered Johnny’s call.
[caption id="attachment_37330" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] RESPECTS: Tadgh O’Sullivan and Donal O’Donoghue pay their respects.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_37329" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] PAYING RESPECT: Shane Doyle and Donagh Crowley from Headford pay their respects to Johnny Hickey.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_37328" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] GET IN LINE: Rally cars line up at the Liebherr Container Cranes factory in Fossa. Killarney and District Motor Club thanked factory management for the use of the facility.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_37327" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] FRIENDS: Denis Hickey and Sean Nolan from Glenflesk pay their respects to their friend Johnny Hickey.[/caption]
FINAL JOURNEY: Johnny Hickey makes his final journey along New St, his uncle John Hickey leading the cortege in one of the family's famous rally cars. Photo: Eamonn Keogh
KWD Recycling shortlisted for national environmental awards
Killarney-based KWD Recycling has been announced as a finalist in the 2026 Repak Resource Awards, securing a spot on the national shortlist for environmental achievement.
The local waste management company has been nominated in the Best Recovery Operator Innovation category, sponsored by DNV, for its state-of-the-art residual waste recovery system.
The Killarney facility utilizes optical sorting, screening, and mechanical processing to extract recyclable plastics and organic material from municipal waste. In its first year of operation, the technology recovered more than 10 per cent of plastic packaging from residual waste for recycling and diverted almost 50 per cent of organic material toward composting.
KWD Recycling will compete alongside Dublin operators Panda and Thorntons Recycling for the category title.
Repak CEO Zoe Kavanagh commended the Kerry firm for demonstrating environmental leadership and bringing local ambition to the national awards.
Category winners will be announced at a black-tie ceremony at the Mansion House in Dublin on Friday, October 23, where each winner will also compete for the Overall Repak Resource Award.
Local businesses have a strong track record at the national event, with Killarney town venue The Killarney Park and The Ross previously taking home the overall title in 2023.
Drivers warned as deer rutting season begins
Motorists in Killarney are being urged to exercise extreme caution as the annual deer rutting season gets underway, causing animals to stray far beyond their usual habitats inside Killarney National Park.
The autumn mating season sees deer becoming highly active and unpredictable, leading to increased sightings and collisions on local roads outside traditional park boundaries.
Two separate incidents highlighted the growing hazard on local routes this week. A reader contacted the Killarney Advertiser to warn drivers after spotting a deer roaming near Tiernaboul towards the school on Sunday afternoon around 7.30pm.
Later that same night, in the early hours of Monday morning, a local driver collided with a deer near Kerry Airport around 1am while returning home from an event.
Despite attempting evasive action, the motorist struck the animal, which died at the scene and temporarily blocked the road before local Gardaí were alerted to clear the obstruction.
The driver sustained substantial vehicle damage, requiring repairs to the bumper, headlamp, and internal components, leaving her facing significant garage costs and time off the road.
Gardaí and road safety advocates advise motorists travelLing during early morning and late evening and remain vigilant along tree-lined routes.
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