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United front to save 3,500 tourism jobs

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UNITED FRONT: Bernadette Randles (Chair Kerry IHF), Paul Sherry (Killarney Chamber President) and Niamh O’Shea (ITIC area Council member) are backing a five point plan by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC). Photo: Grigoriy Geniyevskiy

By Sean Moriarty

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has launched a five point plan that it wants the Government to follow to save up to 3,500 jobs which are at potential risk locally in the tourism and allied sectors unless action is taken.

The Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and the Kerry branch of the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) have this week backed the plan.

Businesses in the sector are concerned that COVID-19 has had shattering financial consequences on Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industry.

The jobs concerns come one week after publicans marched to the Dáil for the same reasons. They said at the time that up 15,000 jobs were at risk in Kerry - but the Killarney Chamber of Tourism has narrowed that down to 3,500 jobs in the Killarney district.

They say that last year, over one million people visited Killarney and that figure will be reduced by 600,000 this year - mainly due to the lack of international visitors.

“We are thankful we had a reasonably busy summer,” President Paul Sherry told the Killarney Advertiser. “But even if we get all of the staycation market we would still fall short. And this is not all about Killarney, it is a national problem and recognising there is pain in the industry and that something needs to be done. Everyone in this town depends one way or another on tourism.”

The closure of tourism and hospitality businesses for long periods, the reduction in capacity due to social distancing rules, and the effective restriction to the country of international tourists has caused massive damage to Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer.

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has projected that tourism revenue will fall nationally by €5 billion this year and there will be up to 200,000 industry job losses.

Both Killarney Chamber and the Kerry branch of the IFH are members of the ITIC, and Niamh O’Shea, manager of the Killarney Park Hotel, is one of the local representatives at Council level.

“If you take these figures and break it down locally, there is without doubt, jobs and businesses at risk,” she told the Killarney Advertiser. “Kerry and Killarney is disproportionally reliant on tourism, we have no Foreign Direct Investment.”

The Kerry branch of the IHF say that 11,000 jobs are now at risk in the county and that the Kerry economy is facing a €440m loss this year. Killarney has a higher proportion of tourism employees than any other town in the county.

“A severely devastated tourism sector would be a major loss to the economy and society here in Kerry for many years to come," said local hotelier Bernadette Randles, who is the Chair of the Kerry branch of the IHF. “This can and must be avoided. We are doing everything we can to protect public health whilst also helping to restore the economy and safeguard people’s livelihoods, but we face extraordinary challenges.”

The ITIC believe that Ireland’s world-class tourism and hospitality industry can be secured if the Government take five key steps.

These include the introduction of rapid COVID-19 testing to replace quarantine rules, the reduction of the VAT rate to nine percent until April 2021, the review of the wage subsidy scheme, the introduction of business continuity grants, and the doubling of international marketing budgets.

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Parnell commemorated in Beaufort on 125th Anniversary of Land League meeting

A special ceremony was held in Beaufort to mark the 125th anniversary of Charles Stewart Parnell’s historic visit to the village in 1880, when the Irish nationalist leader addressed thousands […]

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A special ceremony was held in Beaufort to mark the 125th anniversary of Charles Stewart Parnell’s historic visit to the village in 1880, when the Irish nationalist leader addressed thousands at a pivotal land reform meeting.

The commemoration, which took place beside the Beaufort Bar, honoured the legacy of the former MP and founder of the Irish National Land League.
The original meeting was held in a field belonging to Patrick O’Sullivan and attracted a crowd of approximately 3,000, defying the orders of local landlord ‘The O’Mahony’ of Dunloe Castle, who had threatened eviction to any tenant who supported the gathering.
Padruig O’Sullivan, proprietor of the Beaufort Bar and a direct descendant of Patrick O’Sullivan, addressed attendees at the unveiling of a new monument to mark the occasion.
The stone was designed by renowned uilleann piper and artist Tomás O’Sullivan, who also composed a special piece of music titled Parnell’s Blackbird to honour the occasion.
The original 1880 meeting was reported in publications such as the ‘Dundalk Democrat’, which gave a vivid account of the powerful speeches delivered that day.

Extract from the Dundalk Democrat – May 1880

The meeting, held on Sunday, May 16, 1880 in Patrick O’Sullivan’s field south of the Beaufort Hotel, was arranged in defiance of local landlord ‘The O’Mahony,’ who warned tenants they would be evicted for taking part. Nevertheless, the turnout was overwhelming.
Parnell arrived by special train and travelled by carriage from Killarney with fellow MP ‘The O’Donoghue’. The two were met by a band and a large welcoming crowd. Police and a Government reporter were present, but the atmosphere remained peaceful and spirited.
Speakers rallied against the unjust land laws of the time. ‘The O’Donoghue’ praised Parnell as the “shining star” of Irish nationalism and stated that “Kerry desired that her meeting should partake of a national character.”
When Parnell spoke, he described it as “the largest land meeting he had attended since County Mayo” and declared the movement to reclaim Irish land as one of the greatest undertakings in Irish history. He condemned the laws that allowed landlords to evict tenants and seize food as rent payment, noting that 600,000 farmers were subject to the whims of just 10,000 landlords.
He called for legislative reform, including the suspension of evictions and Government-backed tenant purchase schemes, warning that if Parliament failed to act, “the people will do for themselves what the Legislature refuses to do for them.”
He concluded by proposing the first resolution.
“That in the opinion of this meeting, the eviction of occupiers of land for non-payment of rent arbitrarily fixed by the landlord is unjust, subversive of the true interests of the country and calls for the emphatic condemnation of all lovers of justice.”

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St Pauls sign American Maisie Burnham

Killarney’s Utility Trust St Pauls women’s basketball team has announced the signing of American player Maisie Burnham for the upcoming 2025/2026 season. The club, who performed strongly in the latter […]

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Killarney’s Utility Trust St Pauls women’s basketball team has announced the signing of American player Maisie Burnham for the upcoming 2025/2026 season.

The club, who performed strongly in the latter part of the recent season and reached the league final, is looking to build on that success.
Maisie Burnham, a 24-year-old, six-foot-tall guard from Spangle City, Washington, comes to Killarney with a strong playing record. During her time at Liberty High School, where she also played volleyball, she was a high-scoring player.
She then went to Eastern Washington University, where in the 2020/2021 season, she led the team in scoring with over 14 points per game, a record for a freshman player at the university.
Burnham later moved to the University of Portland, where her scoring average continued to improve, reaching a peak of 16.3 points per game in the 2024/2025 season.
Utility Trust St Pauls say they are looking forward to welcoming Maisie to Killarney well in advance of the new season.

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