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His Holiness enjoys film made by Killarney man

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By Michelle Crean

A local man, who was Assistant Director on a new film, was delighted to see it premiered at the Vatican in Rome after it was presented to Pope Francis.

FILM PREMIERE: Ciaran McCarthy (second from right) from Killarney worked on the EWTN Film Docudrama ‘Speak of the Devil' which was screened in the Pope's private cinema.

Ciaran McCarthy from Killarney worked on the EWTN Film Docudrama ‘Speak of the Devil' a Viking re-enactment of the biblical Prodigal Son story focusing on the age-old battle between good and evil, and features the services of around 50 actors, crew and support staff in a film shoot lasting several weeks.

It was filmed in Ireland and the United States, and was screened in the Pope’s private cinema in the Vatican, and presented to his Holiness Pope Francis.

The film offers a unique take on the parable of the prodigal son, and explores how people can use prayer and belief to help deal with the challenges of everyday life. The plot is recast in a medieval setting where the father patiently allows his son to make his own choices, but also awaits him with open arms and unconditional love when he comes back home.

This Irish docudrama presents the celebrated parable in a whole new light because the cinematic retelling, interwoven with insightful interviews, teaches the importance of being “battle-ready” in the spiritual struggles we all face each day.

“It was a real buzz working on this Viking theme production re-enacting the parable of the Prodigal Son, and it’s just amazing that – after all our hard work – it has been screened in in the Vatican’s private Filmoteca Cinema," Ciaran said.

The production re-enactments were filmed on location at the former Ulster History Park at Omagh, County Tyrone. It features 25 crew and 25 cast all recruited in Ireland. Filming took place in May 2021, due to the ongoing pandemic all cast and crew had to be tested for COVID every day which added much pressure to the filming as one positive result could have meant complete shutdown.

“That presented considerable challenges and tested our own resilience and strength of spirit during the making of the film," Producer Aidan Gallagher explained.

EWTN Ireland’s previous two productions directed by Campbell Miller were aired on SKY, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime and worldwide on the global EWTN 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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Town centre-based software firm marks two years in business

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A Killarney-based software company is celebrating two years in business since expanding into the European market.

QT9 Software Ltd, which is located on Bohereencaol was established in 2024 as part of the company’s move to better serve customers across Europe.

The business is part of a US-based company founded 20 years ago in Chicago by Brant Engelhart.

Its Irish office is headed by Killarney resident Angela O’Sullivan, who serves as Operations Director.

QT9 Software currently employs four full-time staff members in Killarney and plans to increase that number by an additional two this year.

The company provides quality management software to businesses worldwide, with the Irish office helping to support European customers within their own time zones.

As part of its continued European expansion, the software company also opened a new data center in Amsterdam in 2025 to meet data storage and compliance requirements.

QT9 Software works with businesses that must meet quality standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, as well as industry-specific regulations across sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, food and life sciences.

Speaking about the milestone, Angela O’Sullivan said: “We’re very proud to have grown QT9 Software here in Killarney over the past two years. It has been a really positive journey so far, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build our team and support more customers across Europe.”

The company is also currently recruiting for an IT Systems Administrator, with details available in the appointments section on page 46.

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