KFW organisers Paul Ruane (second right) and Orla Diffily (right) at the launch of Kerry Fashion Week last year. They will not be producing the event this March. Pic: Barry Murphy Photography
THERE was disappointing news for fashion lovers in the county yesterday when it was revealed Kerry Fashion Week would not be going ahead this March.
The announcement was made on the KFW website citing the “considerable costs” involved as the reason for the event not being produced. The event was organised by PR expert Orla Diffily and Paul Ruane of Midpoint Creative and their team and drew national interest for fashion interests in the county over the past few years.
The statement read:
“After many months of careful deliberation, we regret to announce that we will not be producing the annual KFW and the KFW Irish Fashion Industry Awards in March 2017.
As you know, we were committed to producing KFW to the highest possible industry standards and providing an affordable platform for the many emerging brilliant young talents within our Irish fashion industry.
Over the past 8 years we had the honour of showing many of Ireland’s top fashion designers early in their careers as well as new collections from the Industry’s most commercially successful talents.
We were also vocal in our support of the wider fashion industry and expanded our event to showcase boutiques and retailers as well as stylists, models, hairstylists, MUA’s, photographers and bloggers.
Unfortunately, the considerable costs of hosting and producing KFW and the KFW Irish Fashion Industry Awards to the highest standard is not currently sustainable through our only two revenue steams – tickets sales and sponsorship.”
.Mary Sheehy receiving an award from Mayor of Tralee, Terry O’Brien, at the Kerry County Council Awards on Friday night. Photo by Lisa O’Mahony.
KERRY teams and individuals who excelled in sport during 2016 have been honoured at the first ever Kerry County Council Annual Awards Event at County Buildings in Tralee on Friday night.
Four county teams were honoured with Certificates of Recognition from the full Council with each of the four Municipal Districts also presenting awards to those who had achieved greatness in their own fields last year, including Tralee’s Mary Sheehy.
Representatives from the Kerry Minor 2016 hurling team and management receiving their award at the Kerry County Council Awards on Friday night. Photo by Lisa O’Mahon
Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council, Cllr Michael O’Shea and Deputy Chief Executive Charlie O’Sullivan made presentations to four county teams who had won national titles in 2016, including the Kerry Minor Football Team who won the All-Ireland Minor Championship, the Kerry Minor Hurling Team who won the All-Ireland Minor B Hurling Final, the Kerry Juniors who were All-Ireland Champions and the Kerry Ladies Under-16s who were All-Ireland Ladies Under-16 A Champions.
The four Municipal District honours were presented by the respective Municipal District cathaoirligh to Mary Sheehy in Tralee MD for her golfing achievements with the Irish Senior Ladies Team at the European Championships in 2016; in the Killarney MD to Fossa Rowing Club who won the Junior Men’s Race at the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championship; to athlete Alan Gleeson in Listowel MD for his medals haul at the 2016 European Transplant and Dialysis Sports Championships; and in South and West Kerry MD to rower Monika Dukarska achievements in 2016 at the World Coastal Championships and the World University Championships.
Alan Gleeson receiving an award at the Kerry County Council Awards from Cllr Mike Kennelly on Friday night. Photo by Lisa O’Mahony.
Cathaoirleach Michael O’Shea said that this was the first Annual Awards Event hosted by Kerry County Council and by coincidence the eight recipients on this occasion were all sportspeople or sports teams.
“All of our award winners tonight have shown the drive, the enthusiasm and commitment to excel in their respective fields and that is why we want to honour you in our way here this evening. 2016 was a great year for sport in Kerry and our award winners are testament to that,” he said.
Monika Dukarska receiving an award at the Kerry County Council Awards from Cllr John Francis Flynn on Friday night. Photo by Lisa O’Mahony.
The award winners each received a framed Certificate of Recognition and a glass memento of the event. About 100 people including family, friends and colleagues of the recipients. Among the guest speakers were the Chairman of the Kerry County GAA Board, Tim Murphy, the Kerry Ladies Board Chairman, Maurice McNamara and Morten Espersen, High Performance Director with the National Rowing Centre in Cork and leader of the Irish rowing team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Representatives from the Kerry Junior 2016 football team’s success receiving their award at the Kerry County Council Awards. Photo by Lisa O’Mahony
EPILEPSY Ireland are now looking for Kerry volunteers for their annual fundraiser – Rose Week 2017.
The volunteers are needed to sell roses for a few hours during the day, outside Aldi or Supervalu stores.
The money raised will go to towards Epilepsy Ireland’s services. They offer a range of services for people with epilepsy and their families, including one-to-one support & information by telephone, email and in person. They offer a number of outreach services in hospital and community locations.
They run regional support groups and an online support group, facilitating people to come together and share experiences and learn from each other.
If you would like to volunteer, or would like more information, please call 085 1580131
Former European Indoor Championship gold medallist David Gallic will be part of the Masterclass in March. Photo by David Maher/Sportsfile
STUDENTS from a secondary school in Tralee have been selected to participate in an athletics masterclass alongside 200 top track and field students from across the country this March.
The top 10 athletics students from Mercy Secondary School in Tralee have been selected to attend the prestigious masterclass event in the National Sports Campus, Abbotstown in March which will be facilitated by some of Ireland’s greatest athletic experts.
Bank of Ireland and Athletics Ireland joined forces in 2016 to launch a nationwide search amongst secondary schools to identify and foster talented athletics students and are delighted to announce the finalists.
The programme, which aims to encourage greater participation amongst secondary school students in athletics, will culminate in an event with advice and tips from Ireland’s top sports psychologists, nutritionists and athletes including former European Indoor Championship gold medallist David Gillick.
Speaking on the initiate, Frank Shaw, Head of County Kerry, Bank of Ireland said: “We are delighted to see students from Mercy Secondary School in Tralee selected as part of the Bank of Ireland Talent ID Programme in association with Athletics Ireland. Participation in the programme will give 200 students access to elite athletes and supports that will help nurture their talent and produce world class athletes who will go on to represent the country on a national stage.”
Development Officers from Athletics Ireland attended schools throughout the country to select approximately 1,000 students to participate, with Bank of Ireland selecting the top 10 students from 20 schools going on to attend the masterclass in the state-of-the-art National Sports Campus in Abbotstown in March 2017.
