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Continuing our Review of 2016, here’s some of the stories we brought you in May…
• LARGE crowds turned out for the official opening of the Tralee Rowing Club Boathouse in early May.
The boathouse is dedicated to the memory of the club’s good friend John O’Shea, where they unveiled a plaque in his honour.
Minister Jimmy Deenihan officially opened the facility in front of representatives from Rowing Ireland, members of Kerry County Council, Mayor of Tralee Municipal district Tom McEllistrim, Michael Healy Rae T.D., Martin Ferris T.D., Councillor Sam Locke and former and present members and friends of Tralee Rowing Club.
• MERCY Mounthawk celebrated a fantastic two successes in the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards on Thursday in early May.
In what was an amazing achievement for the students, the school took home the top prize in the Best Set category for its set design in the school’s production ‘Les Misérables’ and then the big one – Best Overall School Play for the school’s production of ‘The Plough and the Stars’.
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Organiser Colin Aherne with Kerry Rose Julett Culloty cutting the tape to start Darkness Into Light Tralee. Photo by Dermot Crean
• THE first Darkness Into Light Tralee event, held in the early hours of Saturday May 7, was an emotional celebration of all that is good about the people in our community.
They turned up in their thousands at CBS The Green for the fundraiser in aid of Pieta House and to highlight the vital message that there is help and support out there for people suffering from mental health issues.
• THE Council announced it hoped to move towards introducing another activity at Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre and is looked at developing the windmill, the steam train rail line and the Wetlands as a “Lee Valley attraction”.
Director of Economic Development and Community Services, Michael Scannell, said the he saw “the Wetlands, the steam train and the windmill as a single attraction and should be marketed as a Lee Valley attraction.”
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• A MAN who helped raise €11 Million over 27 years for a cancer charity in Kerry was honoured with a civic reception.
Ted Moynihan of the Kerry Hospice Foundation was given the civic reception by the Tralee Municipal District at Kerry County Council buildings in Rathass.
• THE new extension in Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School was officially opened on Monday.
The ‘Centenary Building’ contains seven classrooms, a number of special needs rooms and these rooms wrap around a large hall which contains a stage for school performances.
The €1.6 million development was officially opened by Jimmy Deenihan who, while Minister for Arts and The Gaeltacht, turned the sod of the development back in December 2014.
• THERE was tragic news in mid May when a motorcyclist died in a road accident near Ballyheigue.
Aidan Kennelly, of Heirhill, Ballyheigue who was in his early 30s, died in the single vehicle crash.
• IT was reported that new lighting would be installed on the canal walkway, but it will be turned off every night at 11pm thanks to otters in the area.
Work was underway along the canal walkway where motion-activated lights were being installed, a resurfacing of the walkway, a shared cycleway/walkway and landscaping.
However, these lights will switch off at 11pm and be activated once again at dusk the following day in consideration for otters and other wildlife in the area.
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• THE new Kerry Rose was revealed as Danielle O’Sullivan from Killarney.
Danielle was shocked when host Daithi O Se called out her name on stage at the Kerry Rose selection 2016 at the Ballyroe Heights Hotel in late May.
• A GROUP of Presentation Secondary School students came second in a national competition and won €3,000 for their school.
The girls took part in the AIB Build a Bank Challenge which offers transition and 5th year students a chance to run their own School Bank.
• THE Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, said the State had identified a location for a new Courthouse in Tralee back in May.
The site, which is in State ownership, will not be at the court’s current location on Ashe Street and the Courts Service was assessing the site to establish whether it’s suitable for a courthouse.
• THERE was great sadness after the death of a man in a road accident at Ballyroe.
Michael ‘Mikey’ Martin was killed when he was struck by a car while walking on the road near the Ballyroe Heights Hotel on May 31.
