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Forestry rally a huge success for KDMC

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7 months ago

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TOP LOCALS: Diarmuid Lynch and Eleanor Looney rallying on the gravel roads near Mount Eagle on Sunday. Photo: Dylan Clifford

Diarmuid Lynch and Eleanor Looney had the honour of being the first all-Killarney and District Motor Club crew to finish Sunday’s Castleisland-based Forestry Rally.

They won the James O’Rourke Memorial Trophy, presented by the O’Rourke family from Brosna in memory of James who died in a road traffic accident while returning from a forestry rally in Cork about 20 years ago.

This was only Eleanor’s third rally as a co-driver.

The rally was run to raise funds for the Irish Community Air Ambulance and was jointly sponsored by Wharton Tool Hire and Castleisland Tyre Centre.

A huge team of KDMC members worked tirelessly over the last two months to get the rally off the ground.

“A huge thank you to everyone involved. The feedback I got from competitors was unbelievable. They all had a mighty day,” said Clerk of the Course Adrian Cronin.

“The team that rowed in behind me was the key to the day's success. Each and every one of them deserve every bit of credit that KDMC has received.”

Other locals to do well in the event included Rathmore schoolteacher Declan Casey and his driver Hugh McQuaid who won the overall Two-Wheel driver rally.

Mike O’Donoghue and Padraig Dineen were third in Class 4 in their Mitsubishi Lancer E8.

London-based Shane Buckley guided Tipperary driver Casey Jay Coleman to second in Class 2 in what was their first time working together.

Event sponsor Cyril Wharton and co-driver Donal Falvey had to rely on SuperRally rules to get to the finish after the turbo failed in their Subaru Impreza on their road section to the opening stage.

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Developing St Finan’s “cost prohibitive” – Council

Converting the idle St Finan’s hospital into social housing is cost-prohibitive according to Kerry County council officials. The historic building has been lying idle since it closed in September 2012. […]

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20 mins ago

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22 September 2023

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Converting the idle St Finan’s hospital into social housing is cost-prohibitive according to Kerry County council officials.

The historic building has been lying idle since it closed in September 2012.

The hospital and adjoining lands are up for sale by the Health Service Executive (HSE) since then.

So far no realistic offer has been made on the site despite suggestions that it could be used for social housing, a catering college and a hotel.

Each year the building, which was built in the 1850s, falls into further disrepair.

There were fresh calls again this week as local councillors called for some sort of action to redevelop the site that is fast becoming an eyesore.

At last Friday’s Killarney Municipal District meeting councillors called for action at the site .

Mayor Brendan Cronin wants the building’s protected status to be removed or at least reduced to speed up potential development work which ties in with Cllr Marie Moloney’s idea that the old hospital could be converted into apartments or flats.

Cllr John O’Donoghue wants the HSE to find a way to hand over the property to Kerry County Council either by way of reduced payment or an intra-government agency ownership change.

A Kerry County Council official told the meeting that any works to potentially convert the old hospital into social housing “would be cost prohibitive.”

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Eight month wait for a driving test in Killarney

A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at […]

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10 hours ago

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22 September 2023

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A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney

The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at eight months.

Cllr John O’Donoghue raised the issue at Monday’s full meeting of Kerry County Council.

He proposed that driving instructors should be employed to carry out the final test to reduce the current backlog.

At Monday’s meeting he asked that hat Kerry County Council would write to the Minister for Transport to ask him to consider giving driving instructors temporary powers to issue a temporary Driving Licence/Certificate of Competence to those on the waiting list for tests.

“The wait is currently far too long and the system is in danger of becoming completely overwhelmed,” he said.

“The huge waiting list for young drivers is well documented at this stage. In a case I am familiar with, a young person passed their theory test in January 2022 and he immediately applied for his mandatory 12 driving lessons. When these were completed, he applied for his driving test on the 2nd of December 2022. Some weeks ago, he still had not received an application to apply for his driving test. This wait is placing him and his family under considerable extra cost and stress which is completely unacceptable.”

In the course of his research into the matter Cllr O’Donoghue discovered that the next available date for a driving test in Killarney is May 25, 2024, while Tralee is June 3 2024.

“Bear in mind, these are only the dates on which you receive an invitation to book your test, the test itself will then be an estimated three to five weeks later.

“This is an appalling situation and one which needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency. I am proposing that driving instructors, which presumably are fully trained up on the rules of the road, be granted temporary powers to be allowed to issue temporary driving licences to young people. When the waiting list time has been reduced, I would still propose that these people sit the test as usual, but the current pressure needs to be alleviated as soon as possible. There is precedent as I believe that in the 1970s, a cohort in this country were issued driving licences without having sat a test as the wait time for the test was too long.”

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