Cllr Ferris Wants Ardfert Cathedral To Be Lit Up At Night

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Ardfert Cathedral.

A LOCAL councillor says it is a ridiculous situation that Ardfert Cathedral is not lit up at night.

At the recent meeting of Tralee Municipal District of Kerry County Council last week, Sinn Féin Cllr Deirdre Ferris asked management in the Tralee Municipal District to liaise with the OPW and relevant stakeholders to have lights at Ardfert Cathedral fitted before the winter months.

In reply, management said Ardfert Cathedral and grounds are managed by the OPW.

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Tralee MD contacted the National Monuments Office of the OPW earlier this year to highlight the ongoing issue, but said the lighting of Ardfert Cathedral is wholly the responsibility of the OPW.

Cllr Ferris said it was a ridiculous situation that installing public lighting outside the cathedral, which she said is one of the most important and beautiful buildings in the county, comes under the remit of so many state departments.

She said she has contacted the OPW, the National Monuments Office, the State Archaeologist and National Graves Association on the issue.

Cllr Ferris said the lighting could be installed externally, outside the grounds of the cathedral and therefore would not require the permission of the OPW.

Cllr Ferris said significant investment had gone into the Cathedral attraction over the years and it was a waste to have it in darkness at night.

Cllr Calls For Paving Stones To Be Re-laid At Denny Lane

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Denny Lane

A LOCAL councillor said the paving stones at Denny Lane will have to be entirely re-laid as it is now in such poor condition.

Fianna Fáil Cllr. M. Sheehy, asked at the recent Tralee Municipal District meeting of Kerry County Council, that the Council urgently addresses the laneway linking Denny Street to The Square as its condition is dangerous.

Cllr Sheehy said there are numerous tripping hazards along the laneway which he described as being “in tatters”.

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In reply, Council Management said a road opening licence was previously granted to a service provider to undertake ducting works along Denny Lane and these have since settled.

Under the conditions of the Road Opening Licence the contractors are still responsible for this area and Tralee MD have notified the contractor for the works of their responsibilities and remediation works are being scheduled at present.

However, Cllr Sheehy asked if the contractor was responsible for the whole of the laneway and said it is in such a poor condition now that the entire paving will have to be redone.

Council Management said the contractor is only responsible for the remedial works on the area where the ducting works took place.

Cllr Sheehy said he didn’t see the point of a contractor carrying out work on part of the lane, if the Council would then have to come in to re-lay the paving stones on the entire laneway.

Santa Experience In Curraheen This December To Help Rose Bloom

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Rose O’Flaherty and family mom Karen, dad Thomas and sister Kate with Santa, David and Paudie Clifford at the launch of the Santa Experience at Keane’s of Curraheen on Monday night. Also included is Sonny O’Flaherty, Maura Sullivan, John Keane, Liam Poff, Terry Boyle, Phil Leen, Debbie O’Connor and John Reilly. Photo by Dermot Crean

KERRY GAA stars David and Paudie Clifford were on hand at Keane’s of Curraheen on Monday night to help launch a festive fundraiser in aid of a special young lady.

Locals and friends of Rose O’Flaherty joined the Cliffords and in looking forward to the ‘Santa Experience at Keane’s’ next month, with Santa himself putting in an appearance at the launch.

Rose is a 4 year old girl from Ballymac who suffers from a rare and serious neuromuscular condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1.

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There is no cure for SMA but there are treatments available to help manage and reduce discomfort.  There is a treatment plan in place but they need the public’s support and the Help Rose Bloom campaign was launched earlier this year.

John Keane and the staff of Keane’s of Curraheen, together with their friends and neighbours, will host a Santa Experience on December 4th and 5th.

This is an outdoor event where families will have a private meeting with Santa, a present for each child and lots of treats and surprises along the way.

There is limited availability and booking is essential with time slots available for both days. For further details and bookings  please log on to Eventbrite Rose Bloom Santa Experience page by clicking here.

In conjunction with this event, a special Christmas raffle will also take place and tickets will be on sale by the committee members at different locations in Tralee and surrounding areas in the coming weeks.

Kerry Hospice Launches Annual ‘Light To Remember’ Fundraiser

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Mary Shanahan and Maura Sullivan of Kerry Hospice launching the Light To Remember campaign. Photo by Dermot Crean

THE annual ‘Light To Remember’ fundraiser for Kerry Hospice was launched at the grounds of the palliative care unit on Monday

Now in its the fourth year, the Hospice is inviting people to log on to leave a tribute to a loved one on www.lighttoremember.com

“The Kerry Hospice Foundation virtual Light To Remember Christmas tree is a lovely way to remember so many of our loved ones who are no longer with us and a lovely way to let some one special know you are thinking of them at this time of year,” said Andrea O’Donoghue from Kerry Hospice.

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“It is a lovely way to remember someone special while supporting such valuable services here in Kerry.”

The idea is people click on the link https://lighttoremember.com/ and from there you can leave a public message for a loved one which can be seen in the live book or just sponsor a light on the tree without a name .

“All donations will again go to fund the Inpatient Unit, the Day Unit, the Home Care services and also this year we will now help fund two Nurse Practioners,” continued Andrea.

“To date and for the coming years we are now pledging to raise €650,000 to help fund all of these services. The support from the public with all of these projects have been immense over the years and none of the services and Units available would not have been possible but for the wonderful support.”

The Kerry Hospice Foundation Virtual Tree went live on Monday night and will be live right up to and during Christmas.

Minister Helps Launch ‘Safer Nights Out’ Campaign In Tralee

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The launch of the Safer Nights Out Campaign at Tralee Garda Station on Monday.

MINISTER for Justice Helen McEntee joined gardaí, local politicians, taxi drivers and members of Tralee Chamber Alliance on Monday to launch the Safer Nights Out Campaign at Tralee Garda Station.

Building further on Tralee Chamber’s on-going work with An Garda Siochana to improve personal safety on nights out they launched the campaign which includes ‘Operation Safe Home’ which is the distribution of high -vis jackets by Gardai to vintners for customers who walk home at night.

‘Ask for Angela’ was re-launched with the vintners playing a key part in keeping people safe while socialising.

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This is a code word campaign for people who feel unsafe on a night out. The initiative encourages people who find themselves in a dodgy or suspicious situation to ‘Ask for Angela’ at the bar. The phrase alerts bar staff that something is amiss and they will safely diffuse the situation.

In collaboration with the Tralee Taxi Association, Tralee Chamber is also introducing the new Taxi Text initiative.

Taxi drivers will use the existing ‘See Something, Say Something’ protocol to alert Gardai of

• Suspicious behaviour

• Vulnerable persons walking home alone

• Anti-social behaviour

• Drug dealing

• Public disorder

When a taxi driver witnesses any of the above or overhears/sees something suspicious from occupants of their taxi, when the vehicle is stationary, they will text ‘Tralee’ followed by the details of the report including location to 50555. The service is anonymous.

The Ask for Angela campaign will also be extended to taxis. Where a person gets into a taxi and are uncomfortable in the company that they are in, they can discreetly ask ‘Did you pick up Angela tonight’ alerting the driver who can do the following:

1. Ensure that the other person is dropped off at their destination first

2. Contact Gardai

3. Drive to the nearest Garda Station

The Kerry Rape Crisis Centre is fully supportive of this initiative.

There are currently 104 members of Tralee Taxi Association and all supportive of both the ‘Taxi Text’ and the ‘Ask for Angela Campaign’ initiatives.