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Kerry mayor opens major Frankfurt festival

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THE Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council, Cllr Michael O’Shea, joined the Mayor of Frankfurt Burgermeister, Peter Feldmann, in Frankfurt at the weekend to officially open the Frankfurt-Hoechst Castle Festival.

The visit coincided with the selection of County Kerry as the international festival partner for 2017. The festival, now in its 61st year, is one of Frankfurt’s largest annual cultural events and runs for almost three weeks.

There is a Kerry connection with the festival stretching back to 2009 when the first link was made between Hoechst and Tralee. In subsequent years the German Rose Selection has formed part of the festival programme and the two Mayors were on stage for the announcement of this year’s German Rose who is Áine Sullivan, from Dusseldorf, whose parents come from Dublin and Cork.

The festival is a great opportunity to promote Kerry Tourism and Kerry Airport in Germany, according to Kerry County Council Tourism Officer, John Griffin: “There is a Kerry Tourism promotional tent located at the festival venue, staffed by Kerry tourism groups and German volunteers, on each of the three weekends. Kerry dancers and musicians performed at the opening ceremony on June 24 and will return again on the final weekend, July 7 to 10.

“Germany is Ireland’s largest continental source market with 620,000 visiting in 2016 and Kerry is their most popular regional destination. In the first four months of 2017, the number of German visitors to Ireland grew by a further 4% according to Tourism Ireland.”

Kerry County Council and Destination Kerry, supported by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, are focussing on further increases in this regard. Already this year the various bodies including the Council have participated at the CMT Travel Fair in Stuttgart and ITB in Berlin. Ryanair, in addition to its long running Frankfurt-Hahn to Kerry service, will operate new direct flights from Berlin to Kerry Airport from November, and the new Lufthansa Frankfurt-Shannon service will also increase the number of German visitors travelling to Kerry.

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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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