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Schools team up with Council to highlight dog foul problem

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Kerry County Council is teaming up with local schools to draw attention to the issue of dog fouling.

The initiative will be run through the Green Schools Programme and will involve students patrolling areas near their schools, spraying any dog faeces found with temporary bright yellow spray paint, thereby highlighting the prevalence of the problem.

“Dog fouling damages the aesthetic value of our shared public spaces, and is a nuisance that undermines our outdoor experience, particularly for vulnerable members of society such as children, those with visual impairments, and wheelchair users,” said Breda Moriarty, Environmental Awareness Officer with Kerry County Council.

“But dog fouling also carries a more serious risk. Dog faeces is harmful to people’s health as it can contain dangerous parasites and bacteria,” she added.

Kerry County Council is urging dog owners to take responsibility by picking up after their dogs and reducing the amount of dog faeces being left in public spaces. Speaking at St Brigid’s Secondary School this week, Breda Moriarty reminded dog owners of their responsibilities.

“The schools involved in this campaign will assist in highlighting the problem, but we want to see dog owners take responsibility by picking up after their pets. We hope that this campaign will change attitudes to dog fouling and lead to an overall reduction in the phenomenon.”

A similar initiative was run by Galway City Council recently and it resulted in a 50% reduction in dog fouling.

Under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, dog owners are legally obliged to clean up after their pets if they foul in public places, with owners who fail to do so facing fines of €150. Non-payment of these initial fines can prove even more costly, carrying penalties of up to €3,000 on conviction.

In 2022, Kerry County Council processed the highest number of fines for instances of dog fouling of any local authority.

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10-minute plays will linger in the memory

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The West End House School of Arts is delighted to take part in this year’s St Patrick’s Day Festival with a special evening of entertaining readings on Friday, March 13 at 7.30pm.

It promises to be a vibrant showcase of five original 10-minute plays written by emerging local playwrights, each of whom has recently completed a playwriting course with Fiona Doyle (pictured).


Diverse in style and subject matter, these beautifully crafted pieces promise an evening of laughter, tears, and powerful storytelling and each reading will be performed by West End House actors from Kerry.


Together, they highlight the remarkable talent of these up-and-coming writers and actors, who are the future of theatre in our community.

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Get your scrap together

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Following the success of the first ever Killarney Lions Club scrap metal collection in 2025, the Club will again run the event this year in partnership with KWD Recycling on March 28, at Killarney Racecourse.

Similar to 2025, money raised through recycling the metal will go towards improving facilities for families attending the children’s cancer unit in Cork University Hospital, as part of an overall fundraising drive being coordinated by Lions Clubs all over Munster.

The Club is asking people to bring non-ferrous scrap metals such as aluminium, copper, brass, zinc and stainless steel (no white goods such as fridges/cookers washing machines). Volunteers will be on hand from 9am until 4pm to take donations of scrap and work with KWD Recycling to remove it for processing.

“Although Lions Clubs in Munster have already raised some funds for CUH, more is still needed, so we’re delighted that KWD Recycling is working with us again to support this very worthwhile cause”, said Jason Higgins, President of Killarney Lions Club. “We’re asking anyone who has scrap metal at home, at work or on the farm now or in the next few weeks to please bring it to the Racecourse on the day because everything we collect will make a difference.”

Tadhg Healy, Sales Manager at KWD Recycling added that “We will recycle any high quality scrap metal that we collect – it can be quite valuable and of course it’s better for the environment if it’s recycled instead of being dumped. On top of that, the main thing with this collection is to help families of children with cancer, so hopefully we’ll get a good response from everyone and raise as much money as possible through this event”.

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