REVIEW 2018: The News From September…

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Continuing our review of stories we brought you in 2018, here’s the news from September…

• GARDAI were appealing for information after the cabinet of a recently installed defibrillator on The Mall was vandalised in early September.

The glass on the cabinet was broken, but the defibrillator itself was not damaged. They took the defibrillator out of commission for the next few days as a result of the damage.

The defibrillator was only installed on The Mall weeks before due to the fundraising efforts of Eileen Whelan and Audrey Moran.

• COUNCILLORS in the Tralee Municipal District approved plans for the development of a ten-kilometre greenway between Tralee and Fenit.

The project will see a continuation of an amenity trail on the outskirts of the town which was developed by Kerry County Council in 2016 and which links Casement Railway Station and Mounthawk at Bracker O’Regan Road.

The project will see the completion of the remaining rural section of this route to Ballynahoulort to Fenit by construction a three-metre wide greenway suitable for walking and cycling. The Council now need to find funding.

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• THE busy junction connecting Connolly Park with Rock Street is to be upgraded before a 28 unit social housing development nearby is occupied.

Councillors unanimously approved the construction of the estate, which will be located in the lands behind Scoil Eoin Primary School, adjacent to Stacks Villas and south of Connolly Park, at the meeting of Tralee Municipal District on Monday.

The estate will consist of four one-bed apartments, 12 two-bed two-storey houses and 12 three-bed two-storey houses at Balloonagh on a 1.14-hectare greenfield site.

• A TRALEE Municipal District councillor has called for changes in council tenancy agreements to give more power to the local authority when it comes to dealing with individuals who are making their neighbours’ lives a misery in estates.

Cllr Sam Locke said, at a meeting of Tralee MD, that residents in estates had built up safe communities over decades, only for individuals to come in to council houses and create havoc.

He said residents of a particular estate in Tralee had to call gardaí five times to a local authority house already this year due to drug-related issues and anti-social behaviour.

• THE winners of the Tralee Tidy Towns 2018 competition were revealed. In the Large Estates category, Manor Village came out on top, retaining their title. Ashgrove, Ballyvelly won the Medium Estates category while Quarryvale in Mounthawk won the Small Estates category.

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• HAVING been awarded the Purple Flag in September 2017, Tralee Chamber Alliance and Kerry County Council were informed  by the UK-based assessors that the town has retained the flag for the coming year.

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

• KIRBY’S Brogue Inn once again won the annual Knorr Great Carvery Pub of the Year competition for the Munster region.

The Rock Street hostelry was one of three pubs shortlisted for the Munster final of the competition facing stiff competition from Bobby Byrne’s in Limerick — who came runner-up — and The Hi-Way Bar, Dooradoyle, Co. Limerick.

• KIERAN Donaghy announced his retirement from the Kerry senior football team on September 11. The Stacks man had been a colossus for the Kingdom over the past 14 years giving joy to Kerry fans with his skill, commitment, endeavour but most of all, his enormous heart.

Another great Kerry player called it a day later in the month. Donnchadh Walsh announced his retirement from Kerry football after winning three All-Ireland medals, eight Munster titles and two Division 1 titles.

• THE palliative care unit at UHK received a special visitor in September as a double Olympic gold medal winner and athletics legend arrived with her medals.

Dame Kelly Holmes was invited to the unit by her friend Andrea O’Donoghue from Blennerville, who has organised numerous fundraisers for Kerry Hospice and the Unit.

Representing Great Britain, Kelly won a bronze medal in the 800m in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, two gold medals in the 800m and 1500m events at the Athens Olympics four years later, as well as many other honours in a glittering career on the track. She brought the medals along on her visit and some of the staff tried them on for size.

• KERRY County Council gave its backing to businessman Peter Casey to contest the Presidential election in October. The Dragons Den panellist was nominated by Cllr Michael Cahill and seconded by Cllr Johnny Healy Rae. He received 14 votes to Gemma O’Doherty’s three and ‘William Delaney 1957-1970’ received four votes. Eleven councillors did not vote.

• ALMOST €2.5m was paid out for claims made against Kerry County Council between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018, according to figures released at the monthly meeting of the council.

The Council supplied the information in reply to a motion by Cllr Brendan Cronin who requested the full details of all insurance claims made against the Council during that 12-month period.

• A CBS The Green student was a joint winner of the International Male Player of the Year award at the Basketball Ireland International Players and Coaches of the Year 2018 award.

With nothing separating two of Ireland’s stand-out players, St Brendan’s Basketball Club’s Rapolas Buivydas (Ireland Under 16 men) shared the award with Darragh O’Sulllivan.

• TRALEE has retained its Gold Medal for the seventh year in a row, while Listowel was named Ireland’s Tidiest Town for the first time. Listowel also won Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.

The Gold Medal was testament to the amazing work being carried out by Tralee Tidy Towns, Team Bramble, Kerry County Council and other volunteers.

• A €500,000 winning ticket in the Euromillions plus draw was sold in Tralee! Der O’Sullivan’s on the Mall sold it.

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