Billy’s Book Tells Story Of Battle To Save Fenit Bathing Slip

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Billy Ryle.

A NEW book telling the story of how the bathing slip in Fenit was saved from demolition 13 years ago and of the history of Tralee Swimming Club, will be launched next Monday.

Martin Ferris T.D. will launch Billy Ryle’s ‘From Fenit Bathing Slip To The High Court’ at the Grand Hotel, Tralee, on Monday at 8pm.

Deputy Ferris, who is a native of the Fenit area, played a significant role in saving the bathing slip in Fenit from demolition by the Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources in 2004.

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In fact, the bathing slip would have been irrevocably lost to the swimming community of Kerry and the thousands of visitors who holiday in the region annually without the proactive support of Kerry’s national and local public representatives.

Written in first person narrative form, the author tells the story of Tralee Swimming Club (1952 – 2001) and its pivotal position in the sporting and social life of the community.

He outlines the reasons for the untimely dissolution of the club on  October 4, 2001.

The author explains why the State was determined to demolish the bathing slip in Fenit and how a public campaign was organised to save a priceless leisure facility in the picturesque village.

The campaign was waged against the might of the State from 2001 to 2004 and took the author into the corridors of power in Dublin.

The three year campaign captured the imagination and the overwhelming support of the general public and was wholeheartedly backed by the county’s politicians, sports clubs and community groups.

The campaign to save the bathing slip in Fenit was finally brought to a successful conclusion in the meeting chamber of Kerry County Council on October 18, 2004.

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Billy Ryle also provides the reader with a fascinating insight into the legal case which took five years to run its course and went all the way to the High Court on October 16, 2006.

Copies of the book will be available at the launch in the Grand Hotel on Monday night, May 8 at a nominal price of €10.

Any net profit earned by the book in 2017 will be divided equally between Spa/Fenit Youth Club at Fenit Parish Centre, Fenit, Tralee, in which area the author lives and Austin Stacks Juvenile GAA Club in his native Rock, Tralee, where Billy had very happy days and acquired values that stood him in good stead throughout his life.