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EXCLUSIVE

By Sean Moriarty

The rural communities of Glenflesk and Rathmore have each launched a local scheme aimed at helping vulnerable people in their areas.

The scheme brings local charities, essential service providers, sporting and community organisations, schools and churches together under the one banner.

Each local scheme has introduced a new freephone service 1800 929 002 in Glenflesk and 1800 929 003 for Rathmore, where access to services or non-emergency help can be coordinated from the one location.

The Rathmore scheme includes Gneeveguilla and Knocknagree and local services and groups that have signed up for it include Rathmore Community Council, Rathmore GAA, Rathmore Social Action as well as parish priest Fr Pat O’Donnell, and local shops, pharmacies, post offices and vets. Sergeant Paul Lynch of Rathmore Gardai is also involved.

The Glenflesk scheme extends into the villages of Barraduff and Headford and includes Barraduff Tidy Village, Glenflesk GAA, Barraduff Cardiac Response and local shopkeepers like Denis O’Brien in Glenflesk and O’Donoghue’s Costcutter in Barraduff. Fr George Hayes is also behind the scheme and the garda contact is Gillian MacEoin of Killarney Garda Station.

Cllr Niall Kelleher, Mayor of Kerry, who lives in Rathmore is one of the driving forces behind the dual campaign in his local villages, but he did not want to take the credit for it.

“This is a community effort. We called a Rathmore Community Council meeting via Zoom and this is what came out of it,” he told the Killarney Advertiser. “I have contact with all the community groups in Glenflesk too, so we decided to extend it out from there.”

On Wednesday, Cllr Kelleher collected thousands of information leaflets from KC Print and 10 postmen from the locality distributed them in the areas covered by the schemes.