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No vaccine date for Direct Provision Centres

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By Sean Moriarty

The Health and Safety Executive cannot give an exact timeframe on the vaccine rollout in Direct Provision Centres. Last week, the Killarney Advertiser revealed that up 25 people at the Atlas House Direct Provision Centre on Park Road, were infected by COVID-19.

 

Currently the vaccination rollout follows a specific sequence, it has commenced with residents and staff in residential care settings for older people and frontline healthcare workers.

It then moves to community settings and will be rolled out on an age-related basis throughout the country, with the support of GPs and pharmacists.

However, there is no provision to include residents of Direct Provision Centres and asylum seekers the opportunity to be vaccinated despite living in high-risk environments.

Cllr Michael Gleeson wrote to the HSE seeking clarity on the matter. He said he was disappointed with the response.

“I am disappointed that no definite time schedule has been determined for these locations where large numbers live in close proximity and where the danger of disease transmission is very real. I would have thought that we would have learned from the nursing homes debacle,” Gleeson told the Killarney Advertiser.

There are three such Direct Provision Centres in Killarney, two on Park Road and one on New Road.

“Presently the HSE is involved in quite a significant logistical operation of rolling it out across residential settings, public and private and have commenced giving the second dose in these settings, by a mobile team of clinicians,” said a HSE statement seen by the Killarney Advertiser. “I know I haven’t been able to give you an exact timeframe [for DP centres], but you will appreciate in the above context that we are dependent on some national information to finalise our local plans.”

Since the HSE started vaccinating residential centres in the first week of January, they have vaccinated over 11,000 people in Cork and Kerry at well over one hundred centres.

“I am sure you will agree it is a testament to our local clinical staff who are normally employed in other areas and who willingly turn their attention to this task while we are experiencing a significant wave of COVID-19 positive cases across the community and in these centres, throughout this exercise,” added the HSE statement.

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Joey Sheehan wins historic sixth Dr Crokes Captain’s Prize

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Accomplished golfer Joey Sheehan scooped the Dr Crokes GAA Club Golf Society Captain’s Prize for the sixth time following the outing at The Killeen Course at Killarney Golf Club on Friday.

Society Captain Niall Botty O’Callaghan and his mother Eileen O’Callaghan hosted the prizegiving function in The Failte Hotel, where Joey was presented with a painting of the fourth hole at Killeen by local artist and Dr Crokes member Paul Downey.


Joey Sheehan won his first Dr Crokes Captain’s prize back in 1997, which was the start of an historic four-in-a-row.

He collected his fifth Captain’s prize in 2006 before adding his sixth with the 2026 title last Friday.

Over the years, he has also won two Dr Crokes Presidents prizes, numerous other society outings, and the Eddie Barry Memorial Cup three times as player of the year.


The prize giving function in The Failte featured speeches from society officer Brendan Keogh, Captain Niall Botty O’Callaghan, and overall winner Joey Sheehan.

During the speeches, a number of recently deceased local people and others from recent years associated with the Dr Crokes Golf Society were remembered.

Among those fondly remembered were Brian O’Regan, John O’Mahony, Ewan MacIndoe, Gerry Collins, Paudie O’Callaghan, Malachy Walsh, and Seani McCarthy.


The Dr Crokes Captains Prize was once again sponsored by Mike Buckley of Kerry Coaches. Following overall winner Joey Sheehan, the full list of prize winners included John Lynch in second, Finian Moran in third, and Liam Hartnett in fourth. Sean Brosnan took fifth place, followed by Maurice O’Donoghue in sixth, John O’Leary in seventh, Paudie Sheahan in eighth, Colm Galvin in ninth, and Eamonn Fitzgerald in tenth.

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Discussion on Irish-American literary voices

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The second series of talks for the new ‘Summer in Killarney’ festival took place at Killarney House in Killarney National Park, focusing on the lives and work of literary figures F. Scott Fitzgerald and Mary Lavin.

The event, titled ‘The Great Irish-American Voices of F. Scott Fitzgerald & Mary Lavin’, featured presentations by authors Gráinne Hurley, writer of Gratefully and Affectionately: Mary Lavin and The New Yorker, and Killarney native Patrick O’Sullivan Greene, author of Gatsby: Death of an Irishman.

Following their presentations, both authors joined Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy for a panel conversation exploring the impact of both writers on American literature.

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