Issue 100. Kenmare Municipal District Council, Series 1, Episode 7

CAMPERVANS, COFFEE, CAR PARKING, THANKS

March 27, 2026

Good Afternoon and Welcome,

To issue No.100. Another council meeting beckons, I’ve not been let in yet, but looking at the agenda it’s a full spectrum of a meeting, from pontoons in Portmagee, to grave danger all over South Kerry.

South Kerry by the numbers

  • 8: Council meetings have been covered by this newsletter (seems like more doesn’t it?)

  • 25: Motions to discuss at todays meeting

  • 33: Questions to discuss

  • 41: Well, that’s an approximate figure, but the word road is mentioned at least 41 times across a 10 page agenda.

First, a word from this week’s sponsor

Kenmare Municipal District Meeting

Well, hopefully. The meeting started at 10, it’s now quarter past & I’ve no link as yet.

10.17: I’m in & being taken through a repair/budget allocation report. I’m not sure who’s taking us through it, but sounds like he’s submerged in the Laune river (meeting is in Killorglin).

10.22: So we’ve got to the end of the report, and councillors are now having their say. I’d like to publicly thank Cllr O’Sullivan-Casey for having a decent microphone. Cllr. Healy-Rae has spotted there’s no allocation for maintenance, “not a single €”, he goes on to make an interesting comparison between this & 4 Kinder eggs costing €20. Can that be right?

10.29: I think we have Cllr McCarthy, he’s also in the river, he, like all the other councillors, ensures to thank the mighty work that’s gone into making the report. Cllr Foley (fair play to him) declines to join in and say the same thing as the rest of them.

10.31: We’re on to the good stuff. Cllr Foley wants the council to buy the cinema in Killorglin. For once, the council don’t shoot down his idea & explains that it will be looked at in the arts centre feasibility study.

10.41: We’ve just lost sound whilst Cllr Healy-Rae was in a trademark passionate response to the council’s response to his question about how the new regulations on airbnb’s would affect those in our area. It was vintage Johnny Healy-Rae; he told a story of a family in The Glen whose renting of a “glorified cowshed” had helped to send their kids to college. He continues to make the point that Failte Ireland is a body set up to encourage tourism, not enforce regulation on tourism providers. He suggests that in this particular instance, Failte Ireland should be told to “shag off”. In fairness, you’d struggle to disagree with him, wouldn’t you?

10.50: I’m struggling to keep up to be honest. Cllr. Moriarty seems to be freestyling her way through the agenda. Cllr Healy-Rae has left, but I think he’s returning. There’s been no sign at all of Cllr Cahill. I think he’s coming, as we’ve skipped his question.

10.54: Just in case you’re wondering about those short-term let regulations, the council’s response stretches to 4 paragraphs, but essentially, you’ll need to register and get an ID number from Failte Ireland.

10.57: Cllr Moriarty is talking about adding signs to roads like Bealach Oisin to advise that, well, I’m not sure what they want to advise exactly, but essentially, there's a difficult road ahead or go a different way type signs. Cllr McCarthy adds many of these travelling would be non-nationals & so the signs would have to be bilingual, at least! In reality, I think they’re forgetting many of those who find themselves on the block for the first time are just following instructions; they’ve not even looked at a map, never mind a sign.

11.07: We’re onto another report about roads. Apparently, the proposed Waterville to Ballybrack development has had a complex submission against it, which the council need more time to reply to. Which one of you was it?

11.24: We’re onto pavements, actual pavements. We have confirmation that two sections of footpath in Cahersiveen town will be worked on this year. Essentially, all of the stretch between Market House & the church is tied up with the public realm regeneration. They are looking to repair the section beyond Market House and just passed Kerry Murphy’s. The other section looks like ‘that’ bit between Mr Price & potentially up as far as The Oratory, but hard to say as I’ve not got the map & it’s a small map on teams & I’m going slowly blind…

11.34: Back onto roads. Well, Cllr. Healy-Rae has diverted off roads, to welcome the fact that the council will be doing something to footpaths in Cahersiveen. But, bemoans we have no idea when the regeneration project will take place.

11.41: Cllr Cahill is in the house, well he was. He was talking about making sure Cahersiveen & Glenbeigh are greenway ready, complaining the footpath in Glenbeigh is not fit for purpose. I’m not sure what he’s saying now as his mic has cut out.

11.47: OK. We’re now filling in Cllr Cahill’s gaps. Firstly, his question about where the pilot campervan facility will be? He wants it to be in Kenmare. The council are said they are looking at sites to run the pilot, this year!! So they, over the next couple of weeks, intend to announce potential locations for a Council run campervan facility that will be operational this year. Does that seem as unlikely to you as it does to me?

11.53: Cllr Cahill is disappointed there is no plan to purchase land for additional parking at Ballinskelligs & Dromid burial grounds.

11.59: It’s all gone quiet. They’ve all gone. I wonder will anyone put forward a motion to increase funding for their Teams setup? Still, it was a good one while it lasted.

12.03: We’re back. Catching up on Healy-Rae’s gaps, well everyone else’s too. It’s very road heavy. Haven’t we all have enough of roads for one day?

It’s The Signs of South Kerry 🎺🎺🎺

You might not think you do, but you definitely know where this is.

Congratulations to last week’s winners

  • Dave Shortall 

  • Patch 

  • Susan O'C 

  • Deirdre Harbison

  • T. Walsh 

  • Dominic Kelly

  • Elaine O'Leary

  • Patricia Farrell 

Well done to all of you. Apologies that I entirely failed to upload the answer. Which was of course, Castlecove.

Auntie Agnes’ Angle

Dear Reader

Many people right now are carrying a lot—mentally, emotionally, physically.

Trying their absolute best to keep pushing through. Keeping going.

Holding it all together. That is hard going. 

But without space to reset, nothing changes. It builds and builds  and over time, that impacts how we think, how we feel, and how we show up for ourselves and others. 

We need to learn to pause, calm our thinking. Creating moments of calm isn't about switching off from life.

It's about regulating yourself enough to respond differently.

To think clearly, make better decisions, and create change where it matters.

Research shows that even a 30 second pause makes a difference. Pausing and focusing on breathing in and out. Feeling our inhale as much as we can. This gives our brain the message that we are safe, allowing our body to calm. 

Try it today! Guaranteed to work or your money back 😉 

Thanks Agnes.

The Oracle Cartoon

This week, Tim does, what Tim does, oh so well.

Thanks Tim.

Best Coffee in South Kerry

So, after just two weeks of voting, we have our first leaderboard. At this stage, the results are, as you can see, fairly emphatic. I think there may be evidence that competitors for the ‘Best Coffee’ are just as ruthless as those competing for ‘Best Pint’. The Oracle has taken measures to prevent any such brigading & wish the rest of the field good luck in catching up.

To the individual who put forward a candidate for best Mocha, be aware that this award is not just awarded by public vote & the judging panel will visit your recommended establishment in due course.

So, is it a marathon or a sprint? We now know who will tops the table, but will they still be there when the voting closes?

Everything Else

  • Want to be in a film shooting locally from the 11th of May? Of course you do, just email [email protected] for more info.

  • The Valentia Ferry is back open for business, get on it.

  • Caherdaniel’s answer to Annie Leibovitz, Ruth Brophy takes centre stage at Tional, Wednesday 7-9pm, Tech Amergin

  • Next Friday is the annual walk to Cnoc na dTobar, register here

  • Trad session every Tuesday in Rosie’s Ballinskelligs, more here

  • Have a listen to David Kitt’s ‘South Kerry vibes’ more here

  • Mixed doubles darts tonight in Caraineens, more here

  • Race night tomorrow night in Cable O’Leary’s in aid of the rowing club, more here

  • Giant congratulations to Iveragh Eagle AnnaKate Cournane on her selection for the Ireland U21 squad for the forthcoming Six Nations Series. Incredible achievement.

Thanks

For reading. That’s 100. I had strong doubts we would get to 10. I had grand plans for this issue, a look back, some best bits, all that kind of thing. However, with a council meeting there’s always a chance that one of them might tell something or someone to ‘shag off’ & quite honestly, I think that’s just the kind of media coverage South Kerry needs. I’ll be back on about Reenroe/Greenway/Skelligs Chocolate etc next week.

Heartfelt thanks to Tim & Agnes. There’s no I in team, but I couldn’t wish for a better one.

Thanks to everyone who’s sent in an event, given an opinion, voted, guessed a sign & last but not least told someone else to sign up. There are 850ish of us now, see if you can convince a few more would you?

This would normally be the point where I’d say something along the lines of the next 100 would be alot easier with your support. Which would be most welcome, but I’m holding out on the begging until everyone who supported 50 issues ago, has a magnet.

Good luck, be well, here’s to the next 100.

Dave