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St Brendan’s College awarded national LGBTQ+ Quality Mark

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St Brendan’s College awarded national LGBTQ+ Quality Mark

St Brendan's College, Killarney has been officially recognised for its commitment to inclusion after receiving the Belong To LGBTQ+ Quality Mark at a national ceremony in Dublin.

The Killarney school was among a group of 39 post-primary schools and Youthreach centres from across Ireland honoured at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire for their work in creating safe and welcoming environments for LGBTQ+ young people.
The accreditation follows an intensive 18-month programme of evidence-based interventions designed to strengthen student wellbeing. During this period, the "Sem" implemented robust anti-bullying policies, established student-led ‘LGBTQ+ and Allies’ clubs, and engaged in direct outreach to parents to foster a culture of belonging within the wider school community.
Principal of St Brendan’s College, Mr Séan Coffey, welcomed the achievement as a significant milestone for the school. “We are delighted to accept our LGBTQ+ Quality Mark on behalf of the whole school community. We take pride in helping our students grow not only in knowledge and skill, but in character and compassion,” Mr Coffey said.
“Embracing diversity and nurturing inclusion strengthens our school community, enriches school life, and prepares our young people to lead in the modern world. Our achievement is the beginning of a renewed commitment to continuing to build a school culture where difference is celebrated, inclusion is lived, and every student knows they belong. The Sem strengthens its position as a forward-looking school grounded in respect, empathy, and community, a place where tradition and progress work hand in hand. Together we are one.”
The ceremony marked one of the first major engagements for the new CEO of Belong To, Kieran O’Donovan. He noted that while a 2022 survey showed 76% of LGBTQ+ youth still do not feel safe at school, the accredited institutions are taking meaningful action to change those statistics.
“Staff and students have shown real dedication to building environments where every young person feels safe, valued, and able to be themselves. These schools and centres are leading the way,” Mr O’Donovan commented.
The LGBTQ+ Quality Mark is the first national accreditation of its kind in Ireland. Following the success of this year's programme, which represented over 22,000 students nationwide, applications for the 2026/2027 academic year are now open to schools and Youthreach centres via www.belongto.org.

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How will our Kerry TDs vote tomorrow?

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Tomorrow, Sinn Féin will be tabling a motion of no confidence against the Government after the protests that took place nationwide during the week.

Earlier today we asked our readers how would they vote in a no confidence motion against the Government?

Most of our readers said they would vote no confidence, while some said, yes they do have confidence in the Government.

One reader said: “Vote confidence. The only proper leadership over the last few days came from government. Courage came when needed despite how unpopular it looked in the moment. By contrast, opposition politicians wanted the country to burn to suit themselves”.

Another reader stated: “No confidence. Shambolic and heavy handed handling of protests this past week”.

However, some people didn’t have any confidence in either side with a reader saying: “No confidence in the no confidence! Different wings of the same bird! We need a complete overhaul of the political system”.

We asked the question to our 5 Kerry TDs before lunch-time today, asking them what their vote will be tomorrow.

We received one reply from Sinn Féin’s Kerry TD Pa Daly.

He will be voting no confidence in the Government tomorrow along with his party.

Other media outlets are reporting that Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae is undecided at the moment.

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Town centre-based software firm marks two years in business

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A Killarney-based software company is celebrating two years in business since expanding into the European market.

QT9 Software Ltd, which is located on Bohereencaol was established in 2024 as part of the company’s move to better serve customers across Europe.

The business is part of a US-based company founded 20 years ago in Chicago by Brant Engelhart.

Its Irish office is headed by Killarney resident Angela O’Sullivan, who serves as Operations Director.

QT9 Software currently employs four full-time staff members in Killarney and plans to increase that number by an additional two this year.

The company provides quality management software to businesses worldwide, with the Irish office helping to support European customers within their own time zones.

As part of its continued European expansion, the software company also opened a new data center in Amsterdam in 2025 to meet data storage and compliance requirements.

QT9 Software works with businesses that must meet quality standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, as well as industry-specific regulations across sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, food and life sciences.

Speaking about the milestone, Angela O’Sullivan said: “We’re very proud to have grown QT9 Software here in Killarney over the past two years. It has been a really positive journey so far, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build our team and support more customers across Europe.”

The company is also currently recruiting for an IT Systems Administrator, with details available in the appointments section on page 46.

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