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By Sean Moriarty

The business community in Killarney will call on Kerry County Council to include more than one area in the town centre for the proposed new All Weather Dining Scheme plan.

Last week, the Killarney Advertiser revealed that Kenmare Place has been earmarked for the Fáilte Ireland funded but local authority managed scheme.

Killarney is one of eight towns in Ireland selected for the funding - with Dingle the only other Kerry town.

Elected members of the Killarney Municipal District are due to meet Council officials later today (Friday) to discuss ways of moving the project forward under a very tight timeframe.

Ahead of today’s meeting, Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce held an online discussion on Wednesday afternoon, where members and non-members were invited to air their views on the project.

Wednesday’s Chamber meeting was told that the new scheme will not be in place for this summer season.

Kerry County Council’s next step is to appoint a design architect. The completed application, including design, must be lodged with Fáilte Ireland by May 27 and if Killarney’s bid is successful the project must then be completed by November this year to qualify for the funds.

Several business owners asked why the project is exclusively linked to Kenmare Place and why other locations in the town aren’t considered.
Suggestions to include New St, Market Lane and Main St as part of the scheme and even the full pedestrianisation of High St were all put forward during the 45-minute meeting.

Chamber President Niall Kelleher explained that the selection process is based on Fáilte Ireland guidelines. He said the reason why Kenmare Place and the Boatyard in Dingle were selected was because they are already pedestrianised or partially pedestrianised.

This ruled out Plunkett St as its current status as a full-time pedestrian street is only in place to allow social distancing during the pandemic and is expected to return to a daytime vehicle street once the health crisis is over.

This also ruled out areas in New St and High St where footpaths have been widened as part of the ‘Safe Streets’ COVID-19 measures and where temporary outdoor dining furniture was placed last summer by adjacent businesses.

Mr Kelleher is also an elected member of the Killarney Municipal District and is best placed to act as a bridge between the business community and the Council’s Executive.

He will bring the business community’s concerns to today’s Council meeting.
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“What I take from the [Chamber’s] meeting is that these [outdoor dining projects] should try to have a broad scope,” he said. “And that the local authority needs to look at a number of locations as the town is big enough.”
It is understood that if the project gets off the ground it will have a lifespan of a minimum of five years.