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Continuing our review of 2023 we look back at some of the news we brought you in May…
• IT was revealed in early May that over 100 Kerry groups joined the National Spring Clean 2023 campaign. Almost 4,000 volunteers in Kerry removing an estimated 20 tonnes of litter.
In Kerry, clean-ups took places in various locations, including Castlegregory, Tralee, Ballyheigue and many more places during April.
• MERCY Mounthawk students were to the fore at the Kerry SciFest@MTU Kerry Campus in early May.
Over 100 post-primary school students from 12 schools across Kerry took STEM to the next level at the event but it was Yasmine Odugbesan from Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Tralee who won Best Project.
Yasmine went on to represent MTU – Kerry Campus at The SciFest National Final in November with her project entitled “How effective is the Carotenoid Lycopene in regards to UV protection?”
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• IT was proving a good month for Mercy Mounthawk students who were among winners of Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards.
The winner of the YSI Make Our World Safer Challenge Award was a YSI team from the school, for a project titled ‘Catch My Drift: Water Safety’, highlighting essential water safety and drowning prevention awareness in their school and local communities.
• NÓRA Relihan was chosen by the Kerry Association in Dublin as the 2023 recipient of the Kerry Association in Dublin Arts Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Arts.
Nóra was an actor with Listowel Drama Group and Listowel Players, a Director, Adjudicator, Entertainer, Broadcaster, Writer, Nurse, Social Worker, Co-founder of the Listowel Players in 1959, Writers Week in 1971 and St John’s Theatre and Arts Centre in 1987.
A member of the Arts Council she was accorded a Civic Reception in Listowel in 2008 in recognition of her prestigious contribution to the Arts.
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• KERRY FC finally picked up their historic first win in the senior league of Ireland Football. They beat Athlone Town 2-3 on May 13.
• MINISTER for Education and Kerry T.D. Norma Foley today official project approval for a multi-million euro building project for Mercy Mounthawk Secondary school.
This major project will provide for an additional six-classroom extension to the Mercy Campus in Tralee. The project brief will deliver four new mainstream classrooms through the Department’s state-of-the-art modular framework as well as two classrooms dedicated to the provision of special education.
• A CAHERSIVEEN woman was selected as the new Kerry Rose to represent the county at the festival in August.
Kelsey Lang McCarthy was chosen from the 14 contestants by judges Mary Lucey, Olivia Walsh Murphy and Shane Kenny at the selection hosted by Daithi Ó Sé in the Heights Hotel Killarney on May 14. She took over from Kerry Rose 2022 Edaein O’Connell who was present to relinquish her title.
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• KERRY was the county with the most Blue Flags awarded for 2023. There were 13 beaches and two marinas receiving Blue Flags among the total of 159 awards.
The 13 Kerry beaches to receive Blue Flags were Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs); Ballybunion North Beach; Ballybunion South Beach; Ballyheigue; Banna Strand; Doire Fhíonáin (Derrynane); Fenit; Fionntrá (Ventry); Inch; Kells; Maharabeg; Rossbeigh White Strand and White Strand, Caherciveen.
The two marinas in Kerry to receive Blue Flags were Fenit Marina and Portage Seasonal Pontoon. Green Coast Awards were given to Ballinskelligs, Castlegregory, Littor and Béal Bán beaches.
• THE Tralee Food Festival provided the best advert for the town seen in years.
The weather was ideal, the spread of the food stands between The Square/Dominick Street and the Island of Geese worked a treat and the family atmosphere all combined to make it the best food festival to date and a great platform to build on for 2024.
Ken Tobin of the Tralee Food Festival said they were delighted with how things panned out. “It’s been an overwhelming success, we’re incredibly happy with the crowds of people who have shown up over the two days,” he said.
• THE Rose of Tralee International Festival announced it would not be organising a Rose Ball or financing street entertainment for the festival in August.
In a statement issued in late May on their website, the Festival’s Executive Chairman, Anthony O’Gara, did confirm that the Rose of Tralee selections would be broadcast live from MTU’s Kerry Sports Academy again.
The reason cited for discontinuing support for street entertainment is due to rising running costs and financial support not increasing over the past decade.
However, Kerry County Council said they would work with the business community to ensure there were family events and activities on the streets of Tralee during the Rose of Tralee Festival.
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