News
Murphy joins aid convoy to Ukraine

By Sean Moriarty
Champion jockey Oisin Murphy is preparing to drive a truck full of aid to Ukraine on Sunday.
He will join a group of British horseracing personalities and they hope to bring between eight and 10 horseboxes, supplied by Lambourn Racehorse Transport to Ukraine next week.
Unlike other aid convoys, this one will not be stopping at the Polish border but instead will cross into Ukraine to the town of Przemysl, near Lviv, which has been under repeated Russian attack in recent days.
After helping volunteers unload their donated cargo they will bring back horses that have been left abandoned after their owners were forced to flee the country.
The mission is the brainchild of retired horse trainer Charlie Mann who ran a similar operation during the Bosnian War in the 1990s.
“The timing suits me, so I’ll be driving,” Oisin, who is on a break from racing due to personal reasons, said. “I jumped at the chance. We go out Sunday and while there is no timetable I expect we will be back by Thursday. We have been told there are animals out there that need to be re-homed so we will be returning with horses.”
Mann decided to organise the convoy as one of his former employees was from Ukraine.
“His mother is in Odessa and his sister is in Russia and we had to do something,” Mann said. “I could give a charity £1,000 but you don’t feel like you’re doing anything. Hopefully this is more and it might make a difference to somebody. Good on Oisin. It’s great to have him on board and I hope he’s as good a driver as he is a jockey.”
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.”
News
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 leave from and return to the Halfway Bar, Ballymac. Registration […]

The Ballymac Vintage Club is hosting a classic car, tractor and Honda 50 run on October 1.
The run will leave from and return to the Halfway Bar, Ballymac.
Registration begins at 9:30am and sets off at 11am.
“There will be two separate routes with one for tractors and the other for cars and motorbikes. Proceeds on the day are in aid of Castleisland Day Care Centre and we’ll have plenty of spot prizes to giveaway too in the morning,” said the club’s PRO Kieran Glover.
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