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THE Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce and the Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Society have issued a “call to action” to vote for the Irish entry for the European Tree of The Year 2017. This Europeanwide annual competition selects the tree/trees with the best story and the O’Flaherty Memorial Grove in Killarney has been selected as Ireland’s entry.

The Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Grove in the Muckross Arboretum (Killarney National Park) was planted in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the WW2 Liberation of Rome and the role played by Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty’s Rome Escape Line which saved over 6000 people from capture by the Nazis.

Voting commences at 00.00 on the night of Wednesday, February 1, on the competition website www.treeoftheyear.org Voting closes at midnight on Friday night, February 28. Only one vote per e-mail address is allowed. “We need at least 30,000 votes to get us into the top three,” said chairman of the Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Society Jerry O’Grady.

“This is a great opportunity to promote the story of Ireland’s trees, Killarney National Park and the Hugh O’Flaherty story to a European audience. Please also ask all your friends and associates on social media to vote for Ireland’s entry.”
 

 
Above: Students from the Monastery National School embracing the Memorial Grove – Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty was a past student of the Presentation Monastery National School. PICTURE: MACMONAGLE PHOTOGRAPHY