News
Ryanair will not fly to Kerry-London in January

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EXCLUSIVE
By Sean Moriarty
Ryanair will not fly to and from Kerry and London between January 5 and the middle of February at the earliest as COVID-19 restrictions have created even more uncertainty for the airline industry.
The news will come as a blow to several London-based Kerry immigrants who chose to fly home for Christmas.
Many had delayed their annual trip home to early in the New Year as a result of rising Coronavirus restrictions in the UK.
London was placed into Tier 3 restrictions earlier this week which is the same as Level 5 in Ireland.
For one London-based Aghadoe family it means that their already postponed New Year trip home is now cancelled.
Jerry and Margaret Cronin and their adult children Eoghan and Tara usually spend Christmas in London and return home in time to celebrate New Year in Killarney.
They had already postponed that trip until January 15.
Ryanair told customers this week that one flight will serve each of the two London airports on New Year’s day. A Stansted flight will operate on January 3 and a Luton flight is scheduled for January 5.
After these dates it not possible to book a flight between Kerry and London until mid-February and even at that the Cronin family are not confident that this will be possible by then.
“The first flight now is February, but even that will be cancelled, I think," Tara told the Killarney Advertiser.
“I tried changing the flights but it is easier now to go looking for refunds. It looks like both countries will be in full lockdown again in the New Year. It all now depends on the vaccines and they won’t put them out if the infection rate is too high.”
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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