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St Paul’s youngsters do club proud

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The past season was another very successful one for the juvenile teams of St Paul's Basketball Club. With membership continuing to grow and reach record numbers of over 400 boys and girls, the future of Killarney basketball looks very bright and promising.

The St Paul's Little Dribblers initiative caters for almost 50 U-8 players every Friday evening where young participants learn new and basic basketball skills. The recent government Sports Capital Grant will facilitate the purchase of four new professional basketball hoops to assist the development of these young players.

At U-10 boys level, the club catered for 50 players while 35 more played at U-10 girls level. Both teams competed in monthly blitzes during the season while St Paul's hosted a blitz to finish the season.

The St Paul's U-11 boys team reached the Kerry cup final but lost a very close game while the U-11 second team made substantial progress throughout the season. The U-11 girls team were also very competitive in Kerry area board league and cup activities.

The U-12 boys team enjoyed a tremendous season securing a league and cup double. The U-12 girls also had a great campaign in Division 1 and clinched the Shield title. St Paul's U-14 girls did well in Division 1 competitions and the Division 3 team reached the semi-final of the playoffs.

The U-14 boys had an outstanding season winning the cup and the Castleisland Christmas tournament and also finished joint top of league. However, they missed out on the title after losing an away game to Duagh without having the opportunity to play at home. The U-14 Division 3 team also competed very well with a huge panel of players.

The U-16 girls performed admirably in Division 1 and lost the Shield final. The highlight of the season was a trip to Berlin in October where they won all their games against Alba Berlin. The U-16 Division 3 team remained in contention at the top of the league all season and were unlucky to lose out in the cup final.

The U-16 and U-18 boys teams trained hard all year under the guidance of Mikey Keogh and Antuan Bootle with the U-18s reaching the Cup final. The U-18 girls team competed in a very tough Division 1 but did very well to reach the Cup final before losing to Castleisland.

Congratulations to Jamie O'Neill, Ellen Kennedy, Tara Donnellan, Ben Switzer and Luke Crowley who represented Kerry this season. The return of National League basketball to Killarney and the emergence and success of Scotts Lakers is a huge source of inspiration to all the club’s juvenile players.

It is fantastic to see so many of the club teams competing in Division 1 leagues and the club hopes to bring other teams to that level with more coaching and development.

St. Paul's juvenile section are very grateful to our main sponsor Tricel and the Stack family for their tremendous support. Every child in the club received their own set of playing gear and it is fabulous to see all the teams wearing the same matching outfits.

Finally a special thanks to all the club coaches, assistant coaches, team managers

and the hard working comittee who give up their valuable time to look after

all the young players.

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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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