REVIEW 2017: The News From September…

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Continuing our review of the year, here’s some of the stories we brought you in September… 

• September began with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar paying a visit to town to pay tribute to a party stalwart.

He was among 300 people in The Rose Hotel to celebrate the political life of Jimmy Deenihan who served Kerry in ministerial offices over the years and retired from political life earlier in 2017.

The TD who lost his seat in 2016 was feted by the Fine Gael party and the invited guests.

“It’s a nostalgic occasion…a bit earlier than when I’d have liked it to be!” Jimmy told TraleeToday.ie

• A DEVELOPMENT of 56 new social housing units is to be built in Lohercannon after the Taoiseach approved funding of €11.6m for the project.

The funding will be supplied to Kerry County Council for the project.  Plans for the development were first revealed by the Council in April 2015 with an envisaged start in 2017. The area identified for the development was adjacent to the Ashgrove estate and the road leading down to the lock gates.

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• THERE was bad news for Tralee when it slipped to 33rd place out of 40 towns and cities in the latest survey of towns in Ireland by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) and was deemed  ‘moderately littered’.

It continued Tralee’s slip in the placings  from third place in August 2015 when it was ‘Cleaner Than European Norms’, to 17th place in January 2016 down to ‘Clean to European Norms’.

• A FAMILY from Ballymac received global attention when a video of Derry Fleming trying to catch a bat in his kitchen was viewed tens of millions of times.

Filmed by Tadhg Fleming, the video caught the attention of US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel and the family appeared on the show via satellite from their kitchen.

• THE Kerry minors made history by winning four in a row All-Ireland titles.

What stood out though was another masterclass from David Clifford. The young man from Fossa scored four goals in a sensational 60 minutes for Kerry where they beat Derry by 6-17 to 1-8.

• A PUBLIC consultation process on pedestrianising The Mall during the day and the location of taxi ranks began in September.

Kerry County Council was proposing traffic calming measures in Bridge Street and The Mall and this includes pedestrianisation of the area from 10.30am and 6.30pm, making this area exclusive to pedestrians during this time.

The Council also sought the public’s views on the location of taxi ranks in the town centre with a copy of the proposed bye-laws and maps showing the proposed locations of the designated appointed taxi stands available to be viewed in the Town Hall and KCC.

• PRESIDENT of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams TD, received a rapturous welcome in The Rose Hotel Tralee when he launched ‘Ireland’s Hunger for Justice’, the story of Ireland’s 22  hunger strikers.

There was a packed house for the launch as people came from all over the county and indeed country for the event. Many people queued for Martin Ferris, Gerry Adams and Gerry Kelly to sign copies of the book.

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• A MAINSTAY for lunchtime diners for over a quarter of a century, Dawson’s Restaurant on The Mall, closed up in September.

The announcement was made on the business’ Facebook page. It read; “After 26 wonderful years in business, we have taken the decision to retire. We want to thank all of our loyal customers, amazing staff and suppliers for their friendship and support. Bless you all. Nuala & Harry.”

• IT was a momentous day for Ted Moynihan and the Kerry Hospice Foundation as the new €6.5m 15-bed specialist palliative in-patient unit at University Hospital Kerry was opened.

There was a huge crowd present including many great volunteers who have given so much of their time down the years to ensure this day would come. Special guests included Duagh native Katie Hannon of RTE and Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne who blessed the building.

• THERE was mixed fortunes for Tralee teams in the Kerry SFC quarter-finals. Kerins O’Rahillys enjoyed a easy victory of East Kerry in their tie winning by 3-12 to 1-6 and setting up a semi with South Kerry.

Austin Stacks bowed out after West Kerry beat them by 1-17 to 0-14 at Austin Stack Park.

Meanwhile in the hurling, Lixnaw and Ballyduff would contest the Kerry SHC final in October after winning their semis over St Brendans and Kilmoyley respectively.

• THERE was good news on the double on September 25 when it was announced that Tralee had retained its Gold Medal in the Tralee Tidy Towns competition and had also has been awarded Purple Flag status.

The Gold Medal was the sixth in a row for Tralee and testament to the amazing work being carried out by Tralee Tidy Towns, Team Bramble, Kerry County Council and other volunteers. They actually raised their points total from 312 to 314.

The Purple Flag confirmed the commitment to ensuring that Kerry’s capital town has a safe, vibrant and well-managed night-time economy.

• TWENTY residential units in Fairway Heights were sold for €1,100,000 at an online auction held by BidX1  in late September.

Tralee Food Court at Mile Height was also sold at the auction for €1,685,000.

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