News
State funding as charity expands on the ground efforts

By Sean Moriarty
Ireland's Community Air Ambulance service is to get Government funding for the first time ever since its foundation.
The team behind the Irish Community Air Ambulance is to step back from providing a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and will focus on its on-the-ground team of volunteer doctors and drivers.
The helicopter element of its services will be taken over by a Government agency - and as a result the organisation will change its name to CRITICAL.
The charity will continue to provide the Air Ambulance until February 28 and will then pass the baton to the new State-funded HEMS service based in the South West.
The charity will then focus on expanding its network of Volunteer Emergency Medical Responders into more communities across the country.
The charity was established in 2009 as the Irish Community Rapid Response, and in 2019 it successfully launched Ireland’s first and only charity Air Ambulance.
Since then, it has been tasked to more than 1,500 serious incidents and emergencies.
The charity has a fleet of Rapid Response Vehicles which have facilitated Critical Care Doctors and experienced GPs to respond to more than 1,800 incidents since 2020 alone.
Their teams are already on the ground in counties Mayo, Donegal and Dublin, with additional volunteer doctors set to join them in Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow and Waterford in the coming months.
“The Irish Community Air Ambulance was established by our charity in 2019 in response to what we knew was a need for a HEMS service in the south west of Ireland. We have consistently shown how vital the service is, so much so that it is now set to be fully funded by the State,” Micheál Sheridan, CEO of CRITICAL, said.
“We would like to thank all of those who helped keep HeliMed92 flying for the past couple of years and the HSE for its support over the last 10 months. We will now focus our efforts on our ground based Volunteer Emergency Medical Response initiative and bring Critical and Advanced levels of care to more communities across Ireland, both rural and urban.”
CRITICAL will work closely with the National Ambulance Service and has a number of Volunteer Emergency Medicine Doctors and Volunteer Emergency Medical Responders around the country. These volunteers are tasked by the National Ambulance Service to support the provision of pre-hospital emergency care to critically ill and injured patients in their local communities.
“We’re excited to focus on our network of volunteer critical and advanced care doctors. We have plans to expand this network and are already working with the National Ambulance Service in this regard. Our ground teams responded to more than 1,800 incidents over the last three years alone, working in partnership with the emergency services to give people the very best chance of survival when they find themselves seriously ill or injured,” added Mr Sheridan.
The charity has a fleet of Rapid Response Vehicles which have facilitated Critical Care Doctors and experienced GPs to respond to more than 1,800 incidents since 2020 alone. Their teams are already on the ground in counties Mayo, Donegal and Dublin, with additional volunteer doctors set to join them in Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow and Waterford in the coming months.
RESOURCES
In 2022 the charity’s resources were tasked to a total of 1,000 calls. Road Traffic Collisions and Cardiac Arrests accounted for almost half of all incidents.
The organisation will fundraise to kit out its volunteers so they can continue their life-saving work.
It costs an average of €25,000 to establish an Advanced Level Volunteer Doctor in the community; and €120,000 to put a new Critical Care Response Vehicle on the road.
The charity will be launching a new website in the coming weeks, in the meantime visit communityairambulance.ie or its social media channels for updates.
News
Killarney twinned with Italian town
By Sean Moriarty It has taken 10 years but the Italian town of Casperia is now an official twin town with Killarney. The idea to twin the picturesque town near […]

By Sean Moriarty
It has taken 10 years but the Italian town of Casperia is now an official twin town with Killarney.
The idea to twin the picturesque town near Rome was first mooted by the old Killarney Town Council.
However, when town councils were discontinued in 2014 the task was handed over to Killarney Town Twining Association and was supported by the elected Killarney Municipal District members of Kerry County Council.
A delegation from the association and the council visited Casperia in 2019 to sign the Italian side of the twining agreement.
The pandemic further delayed the process but on Thursday last Killarney Mayor Niall Kelleher and Casperia Mayor Marco Cusso met to formally sign the charter in Killarney.
“This was honouring a commitment made by the former town council to establish a twinning under European guidelines back in 2014,” said association chairman Sean Counihan.
“Unfortunately the town councils were abolished and Killarney Town Twinning Association pursued the matter.
“We are delighted that the municipal authority saw fit to move the beautiful town of Casperia near Rome from association status to full twinning with Killarney.
“We deeply appreciate the members’ positivity in honouring the former Town Council’s decision.”
The signing between the two mayors took place over the St Patrick’s Festival weekend when Killarney Town Twining Association also welcomed groups from other towns like Pleindfeld in Germany and Concord, North Carolina, USA.
News
Music and fun at Fossa Rambling House
By Sean Moriarty The Fossa Two Mile branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann held its first Rambling House night of music and dance on Saturday night. Their return to the stage […]

By Sean Moriarty
The Fossa Two Mile branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann held its first Rambling House night of music and dance on Saturday night.
Their return to the stage was timed to coincide with the St Patrick’s weekend celebration and also marked the first big event at the Castlerosse Park Resort since it re-opened on Thursday night following its winter break.
As well as a feat of Irish music, dance and poetry, Fossa-based Ukrainians gave performances in their native language too.
“What a great night we had at our CCÉ Rambling House last Saturday night,” Chairman Tim Kissane said.
“There are so many people to thank that we apologise in advance if we miss anybody out. Firstly, to the management and staff Castlerosse Park Resort for hosting our event and the wonderful service they provided.
“To our very talented stalwart musicians Mike Jack, Noreen and Maura who entertained us all so well from start to finish.
“To all our guest performers, from The Racing Pigeons to the Biddy Group and all the singers, musicians and storytellers in between go raibh mile maith agaibh. Special mention to our Ukrainian singers who performed two songs in their native language for us on the night. Thank you to all our members and supporters and to Fear an Tí, Mick Myers agus Bean an Tí, Theresa Kissane who kept the night flowing. Our fireplace display was kindly lent to us by the Beaufort Pioneers and adorned with ‘things of old’ from Brendan O’Sullivan.”
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