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Kerry Food Hub officially opens new food production units

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Kerry Food Hub, a food innovation centre, has officially opened its 10 new 1,000sq ft food grade production units and launched of the artisanmarket.ie, a multi-vendor online marketplace linking artisan food producers and professional buyers.

ARTISAN FOOD: Minister for Education Norma Foley TD pictured at the opening of The Kerry Food Hub new food production units and the launch of the Artisanmarket.ie with from left: Kelly O’Halloran Kiera Fell Rosalyn O’Connor (Murphy’s Ice Cream) Michael Brosnan Niamh Kennedy (Murphy’s Ice Cream) and Lisa O’Halloran in Firies on Friday. Photo: Michelle Cooper Galvin

FAB FOOD: Jessica Clinton of Ballyhar Foods pictured with Minister for Education Norma Foley TD who opened The Kerry Food Hub new food production units and launched the Artisanmarket.ie on Friday. Photo: Michelle Cooper Galvin

OFFICIAL OPENING: Minister for Education Norma Foley TD cutting the tape to open The Kerry Food Hub new food production units and launch of the Artisanmarket.ie with David Gleeson (Chairman) Martin Brosnan (Project Manager) Anne O’Donoghue (Secretary) Morgan McMahon (Tres) Denis Dwyer Donal Spring and Mike McKenna (Directors) Cllr Jimmy Moloney Mayor of Kerry Sean Linnane (NEWKD) Jerry Moloney (Regional Manager Mid West Enterprise Ireland) Deputies Michael Healy Rae Sean Kelly (MEP) and food producers and entrepreneurs in Firies on Friday. Photo: Michelle Cooper Galvin

The 10 new spaces are part of the ongoing expansion of a community project comprising of four existing production units, which employ 40 people across four local food producers. This expansion will allow new food entrepreneurs to enter the market and facilitate established brands to scale up, delivering 162 local jobs and contributing an estimated €3 million in new income to the Kerry economy.

The online Artisan Market re-imagines the role of digital technology in the local food business. The platform enables local food producers to drive new value and leverage all elements of their unique brand and products, to grow and reshape the local food ecosystem across traditional industry borders. At the heart of this digital transformation strategy is sales and information exchange between the local food producer and professional buyers in the retail and hospitality sectors.

The Artisan Market facilitates an excellent opportunity to create more innovative business models and bring a new era of collaboration and partnership to all stakeholders.

The Kerry Food Hub is a not-for-profit community project located in Firies. It was the vision of local farmer David Gleeson who assembled a group of local social entrepreneurs to enhance employment opportunities in the region and make the community it serves a "better place to live".

"This considerable investment in the local economy and the online platform signifies confidence within Ireland's indigenous food artisan industry," David Gleeson, The Kerry Food Hub Chairman and Founder, said.

"The €2m investment ensures that The Kerry Food Hub will be a crucial source of employment within our local community. The platform offers the opportunity to re-think how we support our local food producers, providing a sharper focus on what consumers and visitors want to experience, great local food.

Without the investment from Enterprise Ireland, the Local community, North East West Kerry Development, Kerry County Council, Kerry Group, and Clann Credo, we would not be here today. We are truly grateful for their unwavering trust and belief in the project."

The Kerry Food Hub was established in 2016 and has enjoyed a one hundred percent uninterrupted occupancy since opening. While the activities over the past number of years have worked as a very successful proof of concept, the future is exceptionally bright. Through the extensive expansion of the existing premises and the development of the Artisan Market Platform, the board of local volunteers will aim to achieve their goal of encouraging and supporting local culinary talent.

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New  bio-energy therapy clinic open on Beech Road

Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily? Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which […]

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Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily?

Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which must adapt to this emergency mode.

Muscles tense up, heart beats faster, vessels get compressed, blood pressure rises, body retains water etc. Most of us subject our bodies to this emergency mode without being aware of it.

Irina Sharapova MH has just opened a new Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy clinic at Horan’s Health Store on Beech Road by appointment each Friday.

Both Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy, support the body’s natural ability to heal.

During a herbal consultation the therapist suggests necessary corrections to the client’s diet and lifestyle aiming at reducing the elements that contribute to inflammation, stiffness and pain, and increasing the elements that aid healing.

Then they prepare herbal remedies specific to the client. Client’s medications are also examined to ensure that there are no conflicts with the herbal treatment.

Herbs support healing by relaxing the body and improving sleep; they are used to treat various ailments from digestive and reproductive issues to insomnia and migraines.

Bio-Energy therapy is a complementary non-contact treatment that helps to release tension from the body caused by injuries, traumas or stress.

During a Bio-Energy session the therapist scans the client’s body for signals that indicate that the energy is not flowing smoothly – these are the areas that have reacted to the Client’s emotions of fear, worry, hurt, anger, sadness etc.

The therapist “clears out” these areas until the energy flow feels smooth. Bio-Energy is helpful in the treatment of physical and emotional pain and other ailments.

It is suitable for people who do not like massages and other treatments that are performed directly on the body.

Disclaimer: Alternative therapies are not substitutes for medical advice.
For further information or to schedule an appointment please contact Irina at 086 9878941 or via email at herbsandtherapy@gmail.com. Website: https://www.herbsandtherapies.ie

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Spotted an otter lately?

Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals. The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching […]

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Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching a new National Otter Survey and has teamed up with researchers in Queen’s University Belfast and the National Biodiversity Data Centre to collect and collate otter records from right across the country.

The new survey will map otters and compare results to the last survey, carried out in 2010-11.

NPWS teams will be looking for characteristic signs of otters at over 900 sites throughout the country, including rivers, lakes and the coast.

Members of the public are asked to keep their eyes peeled for otters and to get involved in this national survey by adding their sightings to the survey results.

Otters are mostly active at night and most typically seen at dawn or dusk. They may be spotted from bridges swimming in rivers or along the rocky seashore.
Otters are brown, about 80 cm (30 inches) long and can be seen gliding along the water surface before diving to show their distinctive long pointed tail which is almost as long again as their body.

Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:

“The otter is one of Ireland’s most elusive animals so getting as many people involved in the survey as possible will be important if we are to get good coverage. Otters are rarely seen, so instead, over the coming months, NPWS staff will be searching for otter tracks and signs.”

Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:

“Otters have large, webbed feet and leave distinctive footprints, but these can be hard to find. Fortunately, otters mark their territory using droppings known as spraints. Otters deposit spraints conspicuously on boulders along riverbanks, logs on lake shores or the rocky high tide line. Spraints can be up to 10 cm or 3 inches long, black through to white but commonly brown, tarry to powdery in consistency and straight or curved making them tricky to identify. Luckily, they commonly contain fish bones and crayfish shells which are the otters favoured diet making them easy to tell apart from the droppings of birds and other mammals.”

The otter and its habitat are protected under the EU Habitats Directive which requires that Ireland reports on the status of the species every six years. The next report is due in 2025.

The otter suffered significant declines across much of continental Europe during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s but remained widespread in Ireland. The most recent Irish survey (2010-2011) found signs of otter from all counties of Ireland and from sea-shore to mountain streams.

The otter hunts in water, but spends much of its time on land, and as a result is vulnerable to river corridor management such as culverting, dredging and the clearance of bankside vegetation, as well as pollution, pesticides, oil spillages, coastal developments and road traffic.

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