News
Visual animation to help children with haemophilia

A new animation which can be used as an education tool to help children with haemophilia has been created by Kerry students.
‘My Buddy Cormac’, is an informative and positive awareness animation about the condition and focuses on the experience and challenges faced by children when treatment in hospital is required.
It's a collaboration involving students from the Creative Media Department at the Kerry Munster Technological University, Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, and the Irish Haemophilia Society.
Haemophilia describes a group of inherited blood disorders in which there is a life-long
defect in the clotting mechanism of the blood. A child’s diagnosis is life-changing for both the child and the parents.
The story is told from the perspective of a child and it delivers an enlightening and creative take on events.
It's aimed at children aged between eight and 12, and will be made available on the CHI Crumlin and Irish Haemophilia Society websites.
The project was developed by MTU work placement students, Jack Finnerty (lead animator), Grace O’Shea, Jack Roche and Kate Mc Donnell (illustrators and storyboard artists) who are all studying a BA (Hons) in Animation, VFX and Motion Design at MTU.
Patrick Lynch, who was the script writer, music composer and sound designer on the project, is studying a BA (Hons) degree in Music Technology at the MTU Kerry campus.
“Working with people we deeply admire and respect and being part of a project that will bring awareness to this condition, while also imparting reassurance to young children and families experiencing the condition, has rendered 'My Buddy Cormac' a milestone in all of our careers,” Patrick said.

BIG DIFFERENCE
The project was coordinated by lecturers Rosie Dempsey, who is the industry coordinator, and Marty Boylan, animation course leader.
They said the collaboration with Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin has been an invaluable opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to real world problems, while also benefiting from the enriching experience of seeing first-hand the amazing work the medical team undertakes.
Dr Beatrice Nolan, Consultant Haematologist at CHI Crumlin, said the educational aid developed by the students will make a big difference to young children with haemophilia and their families.
“It will make learning more fun and enjoyable and help the child and family develop a deeper understanding of haemophilia and joint bleeds. It will be much easier for families to access this educational tool online and we hope to develop more in the future."
Brian O’Mahony, Chief Executive of the Irish Haemophilia Society, added that “this project provides information in a format which will be relevant to children with haemophilia and in language which is age appropriate".
This will be of great benefit in helping educate the children about their bleeding disorder.”

News
Developing St Finan’s “cost prohibitive” – Council
Converting the idle St Finan’s hospital into social housing is cost-prohibitive according to Kerry County council officials. The historic building has been lying idle since it closed in September 2012. […]

Converting the idle St Finan’s hospital into social housing is cost-prohibitive according to Kerry County council officials.
The historic building has been lying idle since it closed in September 2012.
The hospital and adjoining lands are up for sale by the Health Service Executive (HSE) since then.
So far no realistic offer has been made on the site despite suggestions that it could be used for social housing, a catering college and a hotel.
Each year the building, which was built in the 1850s, falls into further disrepair.
There were fresh calls again this week as local councillors called for some sort of action to redevelop the site that is fast becoming an eyesore.
At last Friday’s Killarney Municipal District meeting councillors called for action at the site .
Mayor Brendan Cronin wants the building’s protected status to be removed or at least reduced to speed up potential development work which ties in with Cllr Marie Moloney’s idea that the old hospital could be converted into apartments or flats.
Cllr John O’Donoghue wants the HSE to find a way to hand over the property to Kerry County Council either by way of reduced payment or an intra-government agency ownership change.
A Kerry County Council official told the meeting that any works to potentially convert the old hospital into social housing “would be cost prohibitive.”
News
Eight month wait for a driving test in Killarney
A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at […]

A Killarney councillor is calling for action in an effort to reduce the driving test wait list in Killarney
The current wait list for a test in Killarney sits at eight months.
Cllr John O’Donoghue raised the issue at Monday’s full meeting of Kerry County Council.
He proposed that driving instructors should be employed to carry out the final test to reduce the current backlog.
At Monday’s meeting he asked that hat Kerry County Council would write to the Minister for Transport to ask him to consider giving driving instructors temporary powers to issue a temporary Driving Licence/Certificate of Competence to those on the waiting list for tests.
“The wait is currently far too long and the system is in danger of becoming completely overwhelmed,” he said.
“The huge waiting list for young drivers is well documented at this stage. In a case I am familiar with, a young person passed their theory test in January 2022 and he immediately applied for his mandatory 12 driving lessons. When these were completed, he applied for his driving test on the 2nd of December 2022. Some weeks ago, he still had not received an application to apply for his driving test. This wait is placing him and his family under considerable extra cost and stress which is completely unacceptable.”
In the course of his research into the matter Cllr O’Donoghue discovered that the next available date for a driving test in Killarney is May 25, 2024, while Tralee is June 3 2024.
“Bear in mind, these are only the dates on which you receive an invitation to book your test, the test itself will then be an estimated three to five weeks later.
“This is an appalling situation and one which needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency. I am proposing that driving instructors, which presumably are fully trained up on the rules of the road, be granted temporary powers to be allowed to issue temporary driving licences to young people. When the waiting list time has been reduced, I would still propose that these people sit the test as usual, but the current pressure needs to be alleviated as soon as possible. There is precedent as I believe that in the 1970s, a cohort in this country were issued driving licences without having sat a test as the wait time for the test was too long.”
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