News
Millions of French, Spanish and Italians encouraged to discover the Wild Atlantic Way
T
Tourism industry leaders from Kerry and the South West of Ireland attended a Tourism Ireland event in the Montenotte Hotel in Cork this week, where they heard about new opportunities to grow visitor numbers from France, Spain and Italy.
Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Southern Europe, said: “France, Spain and Italy are markets of significant potential for tourism to the South West of Ireland. Collectively, they delivered more than 1.3 million visitors to Ireland in 2017 and have grown by +30% since 2014. Now, with over 5,000 airline seats and ferry capacity for 3,900 passengers each week – directly to Cork – the markets of Southern Europe offer great potential for further growth.”
Working closely with airlines, ferry companies, airports and ferry ports to build demand for services is a key priority for Tourism Ireland.
Pictured are Noel Ryan and Conor Hennigan, both Kerry Airport, with Finola O'Mahony, Tourism Ireland, at Tourism Ireland's industry briefing on the French, Spanish and Italian markets.
News
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. […]
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.”
News
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 […]
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.”
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...
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...
Ballymac charity vintage run on October 1
The Ballymac Vintage Club is hosting a classic car, tractor and Honda 50 run on October 1. The run will...
Dr Crokes’ Cronin nominated for All Star award
Dr Crokes’ Kayleigh Cronin is one of 13 Kerry players to be nominated for a TG4 Ladies Football All Star...
Lissivigeen School awarded ‘Active Flag’
The pupils and teachers of Lissivigeen National School celebrated the awarding of their very first Active Flag last week. The...
Almost impossible to look beyond East Kerry but Dingle are best placed to challenge
Adam Moynihan breaks down the groups and likely contenders in the 2023 Kerry Senior Football Championship Group 1: East Kerry,...
Kerry’s old dogs ready for Tyrone challenge in All-Ireland final
Adam Moynihan chats to Kerry Masters goalkeeper Tony Lyons ahead of the over 40 All-Ireland football final Hi Tony. Thanks...
Worthy Kerry organisations to benefit from Ross Golf Club charity days
Two very worthy local causes are set to benefit from the upcoming Ross Golf Club Charity Days, which will take...
Wide open Kerry Club Championships reach knockout stage
by Eamonn Fitzgerald The group phase of the very competitive Kerry Club Championships were completed last weekend and the draw...
The Big Interview: Darragh Long explains how the Kerry ladies are shifting our perceptions of women in sport
In this exclusive interview, our sports editor Adam Moynihan chats to joint Kerry ladies manager Darragh Long Darragh, you’ve had...
-
Sport7 days ago
Kerry’s old dogs ready for Tyrone challenge in All-Ireland final
-
News6 days agoOver 80 women car enthusiasts attend classic car show
-
Sport7 days ago
Almost impossible to look beyond East Kerry but Dingle are best placed to challenge
-
News6 days agoMusical society ready to hit the high notes
