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Driving home for Christmas – with comedian Chris O’Dowd

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NEW CAMPAIGN: Comedian Chris O'Dowd, pictured with Sean O'Mahony (Faha Court Hotel) and his daughter Aoife, took part in the new 'Social Spin' service launched online this week.

 

EXCLUSIVE

 

By Sean Moriarty

 

A Killarney pub will reach millions of homes this Christmas – starring TV comic Chris O’Dowd – when it features in a television and online video promoting a new rural drive-home service ahead of the festive season.

 

The Faha Court Hotel is one of two Kerry pubs to offer the ‘Social Spin’ service where punters at the bar can be driven to and from the pub by a team of volunteer drivers on rota.

 

O’Dowd spent the two days driving customers to and from the Faha Court and his interaction with locals will be the focal point of both the social media campaign and the RTE documentary.

 

Social Spin is the brainchild of Faha Court owner Sean O’Mahony who wanted to do something about the decline of rural Ireland and find a way around new and more stringent drink-driving laws.

 

Earlier this year, with the help of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and Guinness distributor Diageo, Sean set up the new campaign and a pub in Causeway soon followed.

 

The Kerry pilot scheme could be rolled out nationwide in the New Year and will be the subject of an RTE documentary which will be aired in early 2020.

 

O’Dowd has offered up his driving skills to support a new pilot initiative and, as a result, he was in Killarney last Thursday and Friday to record the promotional video which will be broadcast on social and traditional channels in the run up to Christmas. The first airings of the video appeared on the Guinness and VFI’s social media platforms on Wednesday.

 

“We have to respect the new regulation but no one seemed to care how they would effect rural pubs and no politician was coming up with a solution,” Sean told the Killarney Advertiser. “I went to a Kerry Vintner’s meeting with my idea and they told me they would help in every way. At this point Causeway came on board.”

 

Social Spin has seen more than 70 volunteer drivers throughout Faha and Causeway sign up to get behind the wheel of newly bought community cars to drive people to and from the pub so they can enjoy a night out without drinking and driving.

 

“This is the first pub in Ireland to do this, other schemes exist but they are community run, not by a pub,” Sean added. “It ticked all the boxes for Diageo and I got great support from my local rep, Fionnuala Dwyer. We hope to bring all the stats from our first year to a feasibility study in Dublin where we will look at bringing this to other areas.”

 

 

 

 

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Contactless payments launched on Local Link services

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Passengers using TFI Local Link Kerry services in Killarney and across the county can now pay for their journeys using contactless card payments.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) confirmed the rollout this week, allowing commuters to simply tap their debit card, credit card, or mobile devices, such as Apple Pay and Google Pa, when boarding.

The move is designed to offer more convenience for those using high-frequency rural and regional routes.

In Killarney, the new payment option will be available on the TFI Anseo town services, which have seen a significant increase in passenger numbers since their introduction.

The contactless system is currently available for single journey fares, while those using daily or weekly passes can continue to use the Leap website or the TFI Leap Top Up App.
Alan O’Connell, General Manager of TFI Local Link Kerry, welcomed the modernisation of the fleet.

“The introduction of contactless payments is another welcome step forward for public transport in Kerry,” he said. “It complements other major projects in the county, including the expansion of TFI Local Link services and the delivery of TFI Anseo in Killarney, which is proving to be another great initiative.”

While the new technology offers a modern alternative, traditional payment methods are not being phased out. Cash payments, TFI Leap cards, and Free Travel Cards all remains fully valid across the network.

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How will our Kerry TDs vote tomorrow?

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Tomorrow, Sinn Féin will be tabling a motion of no confidence against the Government after the protests that took place nationwide during the week.

Earlier today we asked our readers how would they vote in a no confidence motion against the Government?

Most of our readers said they would vote no confidence, while some said, yes they do have confidence in the Government.

One reader said: “Vote confidence. The only proper leadership over the last few days came from government. Courage came when needed despite how unpopular it looked in the moment. By contrast, opposition politicians wanted the country to burn to suit themselves”.

Another reader stated: “No confidence. Shambolic and heavy handed handling of protests this past week”.

However, some people didn’t have any confidence in either side with a reader saying: “No confidence in the no confidence! Different wings of the same bird! We need a complete overhaul of the political system”.

We asked the question to our 5 Kerry TDs before lunch-time today, asking them what their vote will be tomorrow.

We received one reply from Sinn Féin’s Kerry TD Pa Daly.

He will be voting no confidence in the Government tomorrow along with his party.

Other media outlets are reporting that Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae is undecided at the moment.

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