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Five events not to miss this May

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Saturday May 6

Nathan's Walk – A Darkness in to Light Event

The walk has been running since 2011 in memory of 14-year-old Nathan O'Carroll from Killarney who took his own life in 2007. Outside of Dublin, Nathen Walk is the longest-running Darkness Into Light event outside of Dublin. The annual event is always well supports by locals and has raised tens of thousands of euro for Pieta House over the years. Participants will start at the Killarney Race Course at 4.15am this Saturday 6th May and will walk through darkness into dawn in memory of Nathan and the many other family’s effected by suicide to raise awareness.

Saturday May 6 and Sunday 7

Kingdom County Fair

The popular Kingdom County Fair is back again this weekend. The event which has been running for 70 years is an opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products in an atmosphere that celebrates Irish culture and horticulture. The event takes place at the showgrounds in Ballymacthomas on the outskirts of Tralee. The weekend is packed with different events and is a real family affair. The organisers have a programme of kids entertainment, animals of all sorts, trade stands , farm machines , music, dancing, face-painting, toy stalls and funfair rides. The annual dog show is usually the highlight of the event but the grown up kids can keep themselves busy browsing the many trade stands as well as art and craft stalls. Dogs are not the only four legged friends on show, the horses, pony’s, cattle, goats and sheep will also be on show. The fair will also have hot food and refreshments on site.

Saturday May 13

Run Killarney

Run Killarney is a mainstay in the local outdoor adventure calendar, The races are open to everyone, men and women alike, at all levels of running experience, walkers, newcomers and people who just want a challenge and a great day out. The event has two distance races on the same day, the 10KM and the half marathon, giving competitors the chance to run one of the world’s most breath taking and scenic races at a level that suits their ability. Both routes start at the Gleneagle Hotel and participants will head out towards Muckross where the half marathon runners will take on a more challenging distance. All participants will finish back at the Gleneagle where a euphoric and party atmosphere goes well in to the evening.

Sunday May 14 – Tuesday May 16

May Festival at Killarney Races

Killarney’s May Festival kicks off on Sunday May 14 and offers three days of the very best of Festival Racing. Sunday and Monday are both national hunt cards whilst Tuesday is an all flat card. Aside from all the great racing, people can expect family entertainment, live music and an atmosphere not to be missed.

Friday May 26

Mario Rosenstock | Gift Grub Live

Mario Rosenstock is set to embark on a nationwide Irish Tour with his stunning new one-man stage show In Your Face…and what a face! Most normal people have 43 muscles in their face. With Mario multiply that by 10…and they all move at the same time! The brand new 2018 show is bigger and bolder than ever and it’s Mario’s most interactive too. Prepare to be entertained like never before and maybe even become part of the show too. One minute he’s on stage. One minute he’s In Your Face! To date Mario’s live tours have sold over 200,000 tickets with a record five consecutive sold-out nights at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin. Mario has spent eighteen years on the legendary Gift Grub on The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on Today FM. He has starred in three smash-hit TV series of The Mario Rosenstock Show on RTE TV. Mario has been awarded twelve national radio awards and is a member of Irish Radio IMRO Hall of Fame.

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Fossa School says ‘bonjour’ to French classes

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Fossa National School is giving its pupils a headstart in learning a new language.

The school signed up to Language Sampler scheme as part of the ‘Say Yes to Languages’ initiative in primary schools organised by Post Primary languages Ireland in 2021. This is the school’s third year running the module.

Hélène Olivier-Courtney, the school’s French teacher and director of French For All Killarney School of French, covers ten schools in Kerry over the three terms.

The success of the initiative relies on an all-school approach and the active involvement of class teachers and management.

“The whole staff in Fossa certainly helped make this new journey a special and enjoyable experience for the children as we learnt French through art, songs, games and food tasting! This year, we also organised a catwalk on our last day. Our sixth-class students will have such a head start before secondary school and most importantly will have develop curiosity interest and love for the language,” said Hélène.

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Opinion: Silent majority needs to stand up and call out far-right hate

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By Chris Davies

Last Friday’s Dublin Riots should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It has been bubbling under the surface of Irish society for a good number of years now. The actions of a small minority last week was a culmination of years of racism, hatred and misinformation shared online by far-right groups.

Late on Friday night a disturbing WhatsApp voice note was doing the rounds on social media where a far-right actor could clearly be heard encouraging violence on the streets of Dublin. 

“’Seven o’clock, be in town. Everyone bally up, tool up…Any foreigner, just kill them”

Watching the Riots unfold on social media brought me back to when I was working in Dublin a number of years back. My morning commute from Skerries to the city centre involved a dart to Connolly Station followed by a short trip on the Luas to the Jervis. Every week, without fail, I would witness at least one racial slur or attack on someone who didn’t fit the narrow minded view of what an Irish person should look, dress or talk like. I don’t know if it is the eerie silence of public transport that seems to amplify the situation, but that’s where I found it to be most common. The abuse was usually perpetrated by a group of youths or someone who was clearly under the influence of drink or drugs. The victims were always of colour, often dressed smartly enough to presume they were on their way, or coming from work. A far cry from the perpetrators who you could tell were roaming aimlessly around the city looking for trouble.

While shameful to admit, I would often look on and watch the abuse unfold, only to spend the rest of my work day thinking about the poor person who was told to “F*&K off back to your own country”. I would sit at my desk questioning why I didn’t step in and say something. There were one or two occasions where I did step in and call it out, but not nearly often enough.  

This disgusting behaviour is much more visible in our cities. Since moving back to Killarney I wouldn’t witness as much direct abuse on the streets but working with the Killarney Advertiser I would be tuned in to local news and some of the comments I read on our social platforms are far worse than anything I witnessed during my time in Dublin.  

There is a significant group of people in Ireland that I would call the ‘silent majority’. We are not as outspoken on issues we care about. We tend to observe and consume the news quietly, and only speak of our support or disgust on certain issues in close circles, too afraid we might offend someone. The problem with this is that we are leaving these far-right groups unchallenged, to become louder, more aggressive and more hostile as seen last week. 

The past week Sinn Fein and the Social Democrats have been busy in the media expressing no confidence in Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris but I would suggest that there is a large percentage of the Irish population that bears some of the responsibility. We witness racism in our communities and online every day and we need to start speaking up and calling it out. 

On the issue of immigration in Killarney, there is no doubt resources are being stretched and our tourism industry is suffering as a result of an influx of immigration. Locals have also raised concerns in relation to the placement of so many male international protection applicants in one setting and we only have to look back on the incident in Hotel Killarney last year where a number of men were involved in a harrowing stabbing incident to see how that played out.  

However, being concerned around immigration is not the same as anti-immigration. It is important to raise these issues with local representatives and Kerry TD’s but also to separate ourselves from far-right groups who are only interested in encouraging violence.  

The anarchy we witnessed last week should never be the answer and research shows it is completely unnecessary. Harvard University have looked at hundreds of protests over the last century, and found that non-violent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns and that it only takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change.

Let’s continue to protest peacefully for issues we believe in, but stand up and speak out against people and movements in our community that incite hate and violence. 

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