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Are Killarney’s buskers “lowering the tone”?

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In a recent article in the Irish Times, Killarney Advertiser columnist Anne Lucey highlighted the ongoing issue of Killarney’s street entertainers and the council’s plans to regulate buskers in the town.

Some councillors have complained that members of the public are being insulted and foul language is being used by certain performers, and concerns have also been raised about the quality of some of the music being played on our streets.

To my mind the councillors are only talking about a couple of people here, the main alleged culprit being Eric “Scotty” Gudmunsen, aka the Donald Trump guy. The Dundee native wears a Trump wig and sings parody songs about the US president, such as ‘Please Impeach Me’ (to the tune of Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘Please Release Me’) and a version of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’ that goes:

“I flip and flop,

When my lips move it means I’m lying and I just can’t seem to stop,

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie…”

There’s one or two swear words and a bit of innuendo in his lyrics but not a whole pile; nothing you wouldn’t hear on national daytime radio in this day and age.

Certain councillors, however, say he’s “lowering the tone” by insulting passers-by. I think he’s gas enough to be honest. I was walking past him on Main Street the other day with a couple of friends, one of whom was wearing shorts. “Oh, you’ve put me off chicken for life,” Gudmunsen said. There was a big crowd there and it got a laugh. My friend got all embarrassed. It was great.

All jokes aside, it is a public space so people should have the option of not being insulted if they don’t want to be. It might be fair enough if you pay to go to a show but not everyone is going to appreciate having the piss taken out of them as they go about their daily business.

When it comes to quality, I don’t think you couldn’t really question Gudmunsen. His lyrics are sharp and witty and he regularly draws large audiences so he’s obviously doing something right. There are others who maybe aren’t as talented and busker auditions, which are commonplace in major cities, might be a good idea. You don’t want to be too harsh or rain on anyone’s parade but if tourists are being put off and locals are being irritated, you have to take that into account.

The one major complaint I would have about the street performers in Killarney is the repetitive nature of the material. The problem here isn’t the material itself per se; you can’t expect buskers to play different songs all the time and they’re naturally going to sing their best ones more often than not.

It’s just that Killarney is so small, it’s nearly impossible to not hear them every single time you go to town. That does get a bit annoying, and I’m only passing through. It must get very irritating for the people working in the town centre who have to listen to the same songs day in, day out.

According to the outgoing Mayor, the exact same issue was raised 12 months ago so it’s disappointing that this issue is being discussed now at the height of the tourist season. As far as I can tell, the council are talking about the same buskers who were here last year. If there really is a problem then it should have been sorted during the off-season.

In the meantime, Killarney’s Donald Trump is unlikely to get impeached any time soon and it seems as though we’ll be hearing his lie, lie, lies for the rest of the summer at least.

What do you think of the standard of busking in Killarney? Does something need to change? Let us know by emailing newsdesk@killarneyadvertiser.ie.

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s


World renowned Paralympian and world record holder Jason Smyth paid a visit to St Brendan’s College on Wednesday afternoon as part of a high profile visit to Killarney.


The six time Paralympic gold medallist spoke to second year students from St Brendan’s College, alongside students from neighbouring schools St Brigid’s Presentation Secondary School and Killarney Community College.
The interactive talk and interview took place ahead of World Sight Day, with the legendary sprinter sharing his personal journey with Stargardt disease, a genetic eye condition that left him legally blind at eight years old.
The Derry native, who holds the world record as the fastest Paralympian on earth over 100 metres, offered inspiring insights into overcoming physical adversity and achieving success at the highest level of world sport.
The school visit formed the opening leg of his Killarney schedule before he took centre stage later on Wednesday evening at The Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa.
Smyth headlined An Evening with Paralympian Jason Smyth, an event organised by the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce as part of its winter schedule, sponsored by AIB.

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Deerpark Retail Park placed on market for fifteen million euro

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Deerpark Retail Park in Killarney has officially been placed on the market with a guide price in excess of 15.4 million euro, excluding VAT.

International real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed as the sole sales agent to handle the high-profile commercial property sale on behalf of its current owner, Investcorp.

Investcorp, a global investment management firm headquartered in Bahrain, had previously acquired the prominent shopping complex.


The sale represents one of the largest commercial property offerings to launch in County Kerry this year.

Located roughly 1.3 kilometres west of Killarney town centre, the scheme enjoys strong regional connectivity and sits adjacent to independently owned operations including a Tesco Extra store, a Tesco petrol filling station, JYSK, and Aldi.


Constructed in 2006, the development extends across approximately 10,482 square metres, or 112,835 square feet.

The scheme comprises a mix of modern retail warehouse units and a complementary neighbourhood centre, offering 13 individual units in total with Part Open and Part Bulky Use planning permission.

The units range in size from 94.6 square metres up to 1,994.9 square metres. Visitors have access to approximately 248 customer parking spaces across the commercial grounds.

The park is currently 100 per cent occupied by a strong line-up of established national and international brands.

Key retail tenants include Marks & Spencer, Boots, DID Electrical, Maxi Zoo, and Mountain Warehouse.

The neighbourhood centre element accommodates service and convenience operators such as Costa Coffee, Card Factory, and Salon B.

The first-floor accommodation is fully let to Peak Performance Academy, which provides additional rental diversification.

Additionally, the scheme benefits from an agreement with Tesla to operate eight electric vehicle charging bays within the customer car park.


Commercial figures show that the property generates a total current rental income of 1,326,458 euro per annum, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 4.45 years to break options and 6.46 years to lease expiry.

Cushman & Wakefield noted that the quoted guide price of 15.4 million euro reflects a net initial yield of 7.83 per cent, assuming standard purchaser costs of 9.96 per cent.

The selling agents highlighted that the fully occupied asset offers investors an attractive income profile alongside scope for additional income generation through parking commercialisation.

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