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Rock stars and sports broadcasters to line out for Páidí Ó Sé football festival

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As sporting events emerge from the aftermath of COVID restrictions, the GAA community at large will be delighted to hear that a famed Gaelic football club tournament is back next week.

Rock stars and sports broadcasters will be lining out for the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé 2022 taking place all across the Dingle Peninsula from February 25 to the 27.

Dedicated to keeping the spirit alive of the famed Kerry footballing legend Páidí Ó Sé, the festival is a celebration of all that is great about the club game on and off the pitch.

14 counties across the four provinces of Ireland will take part in the 33rd edition of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé, with 20 adult men’s and ladies club teams coming for a weekend of competitive football and social events at Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Ventry, West Kerry.

Some familiar faces will be lining out over the weekend including The Corona’s frontman Danny O’Reilly with Dublin’s Templeogue GAA as well as Premier Sports TV and Newstalk Off The Ball broadcaster Aisling O’Reilly with County Meath’s Ratoath Ladies.

The football festival, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2021, is supported by Lidl Ireland, McKeever Sports, EJ Menswear, Kerry County Council Tourism Unit, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Lee Strand Milk, and has attracted over 17,000 club players since it was founded in 1989.

“You can’t keep a good thing down," Comórtas Chairman, Pádraig Óg Ó Sé, said. "We are thrilled to get back on our feet and maintain Páidí’s vision to host a major GAA club gathering in West Kerry every year. When restrictions opened up, we received a flood of interest from clubs wondering would we be going ahead and we are pleased to have secured club representatives from all over Ireland in a matter of weeks.”

Michael Collins, Sales Operations Manager with Lidl Ireland added that they are "delighted to continue our partnership with this year’s Comórtas Peile Páidi Ó Sé for a fifth year".

"We are committed to supporting and promoting women in sport and this sponsorship ties in with our overall strategy, having recently announced an extension of our partnership with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association through to 2025 which brings a total commitment of €10 million investment in 10 years of sponsorship.”

TEAMS

The six team senior ladies’ competition line up includes Ratoath GAA, Meath, Corca Dhuibhne, Kerry, Longford’s Clonguish GAA, Newbridge Sarsfields, Kildare, Caltra GAA, Galway and Ballyroan Abbey GAA, Laois. In the Junior Ladies’ competition, there are two Kerry clubs including Annascaul/Castlegregory Ladies and Dingle Ladies. Dublin is represented through St Vincent’s B Ladies and the group is completed by Mullingar Shamrocks of Westmeath.

The men’s six senior team competition includes Kerry’s Listry, Roscommon’s Padraig Pearses, Mayo’s Castlebar Mitchel’s GAA, Galbally GAA and St Kieran’s GAA from County Limerick and Carberry Rangers of Cork. The Junior Men’s competition includes Tipperary’s Loughmore Castleiney, Arva GAA of Cavan, Kerry’s Lispole and Dublin’s Templeogue Synge Street B.

Full details available on www.paidiose.com.

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Con O’Leary: Killarney loses a vibrant and popular personality

Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce has led the tributes to the late Con O’Leary, an extremely popular and very successful businessman in the town, who passed away in the […]

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Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce has led the tributes to the late Con O’Leary, an extremely popular and very successful businessman in the town, who passed away in the early hours of Sunday.

Con was a vibrant and popular personality in Killarney where he operated The Laurels on Main Street, a thriving bar and restaurant, which he inherited following the passing of his father, Thado.
The business organisation said from a social perspective, The Laurels became the beating heart of the town and it was a landmark at the Market Cross in the same way as Clery’s clock was in the capital city.
Chamber said Con’s passing really marks the end of an era as he was one of a golden age of inspirational local business people who developed and built Killarney, through hard work, bravery and great commercial flair, and helped create the wonderful tourist attraction and holiday destination it is today.
“Con was very proud of Killarney and he played a very active part in progressing the town at many levels.
“He was a man that was never short of great ideas and his contribution to the business life of the town and as a director of Killarney Race Company was immense,” Chamber said.
“He was ahead of his time in many respects with the introduction by what became known as “the singing lounge” many years ago and The Laurels always led by example through its successes in the annual Killarney Looking Good competition”.
The business representative organisation noted that the O’Leary family has always been very supporting of the town and Con’s daughter, Kate, was a very dynamic Chamber President and is still a very valued member of the executive.
Chamber expressed deep sympathy to Con’s wife, Anne, children Kate, Niall, Tara and Lorna, sons-in-law, grandchildren, sisters, relatives and friends as well as the dedicated staff in The Laurels, past and present, who Con always had great time for and a great rapport with.

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All Roads Lead To Kerry For National Road Safety Conference

Kerry County Council is to host a two-day road safety conference at the INEC Killarney on May 28 and 29. The ‘Safer Roads’ road safety conference is an inter-agency event […]

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Kerry County Council is to host a two-day road safety conference at the INEC Killarney on May 28 and 29.

The ‘Safer Roads’ road safety conference is an inter-agency event focused on improving road safety, reducing traffic-related incidents, and sharing knowledge and best practices for safer road use. It encompasses various strategies and efforts across multiple domains, including road design, engineering, enforcement, forensic collision investigation, technology, education, collision trends, occupational driving, cycling and scooting, e-mobility, active & sustainable travel and on-road events.

In addition to this, AI, Virtual Reality and Driver Simulation will play a significant role at the conference, in improving safety by predicting and preventing accidents, optimizing traffic, and aiding the development of autonomous vehicles.

This ‘Safer Roads’ conference is a non-public event where road safety professionals, speakers and service providers from across Ireland, other EU countries and the UK will attend, including transportation experts, government and local authority officials, roads policing and vehicle inspection agencies, road safety advocates, educators and promoters, collision responders, cycling bodies and community safety networks.

Kerry County Council’s Road Safety Officer Declan Keogh said:
“Road safety has evolved over the years to a much broader scope, in terms of e-mobility, sustainability, technology and engineering for instance. It’s not just about the road or the vehicle anymore, but also about how technology, human behaviour, enforcement, and education intersect to reduce risks and prevent collisions. The ‘Safer Roads’ conference will involve and include every branch of the road safety tree, right across the board, and in doing so, we aim to increase road safety awareness, improve road user behaviour and decrease the collisions and carnage we see on our roads every day,”

The two-day conference also provides an opportunity for exhibitors to attend, and interested state bodies, businesses and service providers are invited to exhibit at the event to showcase their products and services and engage with delegates and officials at the conference.

Further information about the conference and how to register or exhibit can be found here. https://www.kerrycoco.ie/safer-roads-road-safety-conference/

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