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Continuing our look back at the stories we brought you in 2020, here’s the news from August…
• There were calls for the Bird family to reconsider their decision to open their funfair for two weeks in Tralee in August.
Tralee area councillors were notified about the decision by Birds to set up their amusements in the Harriers Site on the Dan Spring Road. The funfair ended up closing a week before scheduled. The decision was made following “the garbled messaging from the government and the absence of updated operational guidelines for business owners”.
• Gardai in Tralee appealed for any information in relation to an emaciated pup seized in the Ardfert area in early August. The animal was seized by Tralee Gardaí from a group of men in suspicious circumstances. The dog was taken by gardaí to a veterinary clinic for care.
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• Kerry Airport reported increased profits and passenger numbers in the Annual Report & Accounts for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2019.
The company reported an Operating Profit after taxation for 2019 of €1,020,341 as compared to €966,056 in the previous year.
Total passenger numbers handled in the year grew to 369,836 compared with 365,339 in the previous year, an increase of 1.2%.
• Gardai expressed concerns on August about dangerous trespassing incidents involving teenagers in Tralee.
Gardai received a report of two teenagers sitting precariously on the edge of a flat roof of a business premises, which at least four storeys in height. Gardai say the youths were trespassing, but stressed how dangerous this activity is for all concerned.
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• The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science announced the construction of a new 9,000 square metre building to accommodate the STEM School of IT Tralee, including Agri-Tech facilities.
Walking On Cars
• Dingle rock band, Walking on Cars, announced on August 21st they have split. The band released two successful albums – 2016’s ‘Everything This Way’ and 2019’s ‘Colours’ and became hugely popular both in Ireland and several other countries racking up over 200 million streams and playing to sold out arenas.
• There was more bad news for Tralee when Brookfield College announced it was closing with immediate effect, citing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for its closure.
Students and their families were informed of the decision on August 27 from Elisha Dowling, Principal and owner of the college, which operated out of Liber House in Monavalley.
• As of August 31, the official number of COVID-19 cases in Kerry since the start of the pandemic stood at 328 (an increase of 11 on the previous month).
