KERRY NEWS: Book Of Condolences Opened For Victims Of Paris Attacks

The Kerry County Council offices have opened a book of condolences for the victims of the Paris attacks.

IN the wake of the tragic events that took place in Paris last Friday, the people of Kerry have been offered a chance to show their compassion and solidarity with the French people through a book of condolences.

The book has has been opened in the main lobby of the offices of the Kerry County Council in Rathass here in town, with any members of the public wishing to show their solace for the victims encouraged to pay a visit.

Over 129 people were killed in the terrorist attacks in Paris on the night of Friday November 13th with this book opening being just a small act and a show of humanity by the people of Kerry towards the victims and their families.

The council also recently held a minutes silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives.

14Nov2015

PARIS ATTACKS: What I’m Feeling Right Now

Posted in International, Personal by Fergus Writes Things

The people of the world have united behind the people of France, we stand together.

Today is not a good day, we awake to heavy hearts and to a changed world, again.

Everyone by now is painfully aware of the devastation and horror that occurred last night in Paris, where approximately 128 people were killed and countless others left critically injured in six coordinated attacks in different locations around the city.

These attacks have begun to happen so regularly that they have become a sort of ‘norm’ in our lives, but what we will never become accustomed to is the horror and sadness that accompanies each one.

I’ve seen different friends on Facebook posting about goings on in their own lives and different news organisations posting about other things happening in the world apart from the attacks and that’s a good thing certainly.

I firmly agree that our collective lives and the day to day goings on should not be disrupted by the actions of a few.

For me though, for today, it is impossible to think about anything else.

Honestly I’ve just been left incredibly sad by what happened last night and for me it does feel a little strange to say this, as I didn’t know anybody personally affected or have any personal interest affected by the attacks.

The only interest that I’ve had in the attacks, is one that has become more and more evident as the day goes on, like many others around me, my interest has been a complete ‘human’ one.

We feel for those innocent civilians who were just out to enjoy themselves on a Friday evening.

That’s all they were doing last night, some were out eating in restaurants with friends, some were walking the streets taking in the brisk winter air while others were enjoying themselves through the beauty of music at a concert.

Crowds huddled together for safety in the Stade De France last night.

They didn’t deserve to die last night, it’s as simple as that.

I’m just very sad right now that this happened to them and to their loved ones.

They say that ‘war never changes’ and right now this rings true, it will always be the innocent who are the first to suffer.

In the wake of such a horrific scenario, many people today are left wondering.

What do we do in the aftermath of such horrible violence?

How are we supposed to act?

My answer? It made sound naively simple and downright cliché but I think we just need to let ourselves feel.

No analysing the ‘what if’s and the why’s and the what nows’.

We need to allow ourselves to feel all of it.

We need to allow ourselves to feel all of the heavy pain and sadness for those who have lost friends and loved ones.

We feel for all those left alive today who are living in fear on what should be just another brisk, busy and normal morning.

We feel the anger towards the callous and cowardly perpetrators that committed a complete act of senseless violence and brutality against defenseless, unarmed citizens.

The Eiffel Tower is a symbol of strength for all the people of France.

Most importantly though, we need to allow ourselves to feel hope and pride. Pride in the way that we and the entire world reacted to the atrocities last night.

Right now, my Facebook feed is covered in the red, white and blue of France.

Friends have changed their profile pictures to show their support, messages of comfort are displayed for all to see, while buildings and symbols in countries around the planet have been lit up in these same colours to show their solidarity.

This show of humanity is beautifully heartening to see and helps to lift a little of the gloom that has descended on our people today.

We must use this strength and solidarity in the future, we must not and cannot bow to the will of those who are determined to cow us into fear, we must persevere.

While this may not be a good day, we must remember that there will always be something good in every day.

12Nov2015

KERRY NEWS: Hozier Announces Concert In The INEC Killarney For This December

Posted in Kerry News, Music by Fergus Writes Things

Hozier will play the INEC in Killarney in December.

IRISH MUSIC STAR Hozier has just tonight announced plans to play a one-off concert in the INEC in Killarney this coming December.

In news that is sure to have delighted local fans, the Bray native and hit singer of ‘Take Me To Church’, ‘Someone New’ and ‘Jackie and Wilson’ announced tonight that he will be playing the arena on December 21st.

The INEC and MCD productions confirmed the news on their twitter pages earlier tonight.

Tickets are set to go on sale at 9am on Thursday November 19th and will cost just €29.90

This will be a major coup for the Killarney arena with fans of the singer set to flock to see their favourite singer in action.

The concert comes just two days before he set to play at the 3Arena in Dublin as part of the ISPCC Xmas ball.

12Nov2015

WHAT’S ON: Volunteer Group To Hold Information Talk In IT Tralee On Overseas Volunteer Opportunities

Posted in Fundraising, International, Local News by Fergus Writes Things

SERVE will hold an information evening in Tralee later this month.

AN IRISH based charity are getting set to hold an information event in the North Campus of the IT Tralee later this month where they will talk about the oversea volunteering opportunities coming up in 2016.

SERVE is a development and volunteering organisation that is committed to tackling poverty in the majority world and which focuses specifically on programmes and projects that help communities enhance the lives of children and young people in different areas.

They will be holding their information event on at 1pm on Wednesday November 25th in room S114 up in the college and they are encouraging anyone with an interest in overseas volunteering to attend.

“Anyone that is remotely interested in volunteering abroad, learning about other countries and the issues the people are facing, or may be studying topics around this area should definitely attend one of these talks,” said Christina Sayers, a SERVE volunteer who travelled to the Philippines in the Summer of 2014 when talking to Fergus Dennehy today.

“I would recommend this experience to anyone! Fundraising for your project and then being able to actually see where this money is going to and the work that is on going with Serve abroad is truly inspiring,” she finished.

Volunteer application forms will only be available at the sessions so it is imperative that you attend.

The organisation have offices in Cork, Galway and Belfast and you can check out the work they do on their main website HERE.

12Nov2015

TRALEE NEWS: Local Woman Ann Marie Is Looking To Raise Funds To Help Sister Suffering With M.S

Posted in Fundraising, Local News by Fergus Writes Things

Ann Marie Heaslip is hoping to buy a wheelchair accessible car for her sister Carmel.

ONE TRALEE woman is currently in the midst of a tireless fundraising campaign that she has set up in the hopes of providing a better way of life for her sister.

Tralee’s Ann Marie Heaslip is the driving force behind the campaign through which she hopes to raise enough funds to help buy a wheelchair accessible car for her sister Carmel, who has been living with the debilitating disease Multiple Sclerosis (M.S) for the past ten years.

The indomitable sisters are originally from Tipperary, but have been living here in town for the past 18 years. They are hoping that the goodwill of the public, along with a few entertaining fundraising events along the way will be enough to secure the much needed resources.

They have first set up an online fundraiser (click here) with an initial goal of €10,000, but Ann Marie admits that it could still end up costing a lot more than this.

“It’s [the online fundraiser] is trying to raise funds to get a wheelchair accessible car for my sister, Carmel. She has M.S and she’s been wheelchair bound for the last ten years,” said Ann Marie talking to Fergus Dennehy recently.

“She actually can’t go anywhere independently anymore and it costs a fortune if she wants to go anywhere outside of Tralee really. We were thinking that we could get a car and then maybe somebody could drive her around. It’s going to cost a lot, so at the moment, we’re looking at raising the more realistic figure of around €10,000,” she continued.

“We’re trying to get a concert going aswell; I’ve been scouting around looking for a suitable place. Getting the musicians won’t be a problem; we’ve so many family and friends that are musically minded that they’d love to help out,” she said.

“People have been suggesting a cake sale aswell, we’re maybe looking at a little event before Christmas with carol singing being one that has been suggested,” she finished.

If anyone would like to donate to the online fundraising campaign, you can do so by clicking HERE.

So far, the campaign has manged to raise just over €185 of the €10,000 goal. Ann Marie is hoping that more coverage of the campaign will help her reach the goal.

If anyone would like to help Ann Marie in setting up any fundraising activities, she said she would be more than delighted with the help and that you can contact her with ideas on (087) 795 3066.

12Nov2015

TRALEE NEWS: Tralee Scout Troop Raised Money Recently For Temple Street Children’s Hospital

Posted in Charity, Local News by Fergus Writes Things

1st Kerry Scouts helped to raise money for the Temple Street Childrens Hospital with their inaugural Halloween disco.

THE LEADERS in the 1st Kerry Scout Troop here in Tralee were certainly kept busy at the recent Halloween weekend when they welcomed into their den all sorts of ghoulish creatures as part of their inaugural fancy dress disco, in which they managed to raise up to €170 for a worthy cause.

The disco, which was attended by a whole host of terrifying witches, vampires, ghouls and mummies, was held in aid of the Temple Street Children’s University Hospital which provides health care to some of Ireland’s sickest children.

The night saw children from the ages of 6-12 years’ old dress head to toe in their best costumes and head down to the Scout Hall, located on Matt Talbot Road, for a night of sweets, dancing and a whole lot of fun on behalf of the charity organisation.

“It’s a fantastic thing to collect for really, I suppose we were trying to instill a sense of community spirit into our youth members and it’s also part of our programme that we run a community event. So, we thought about this a little bit and we thought ‘what better way to enhance the community spirit’ [than to arrange the disco] and do a little good aswell,” said Jimmy O’Donnell, Group Leader for the troop.

“We invited the girl guides and the brownies and we sent out word to every other scout group in town aswell to join us. We charged three euro in and everything else (tea, coffee and biscuits), it was all donated,” he continued.

“It was mainly a disco for the younger people, for children. We had realised that there was no event like it in town for that age group [6-12 years] that parents could take their kids to,” he said.

This writer paid a trip down to the event and judging by the hoots and howls of laughter emanating from the flashing lights of the ‘disco hall’; it was certainly an event that was enjoyed by all that attended.

The success of it has already led the leaders of the troop to turn their heads to next year and the disco becoming possibly an annual event, in which the troop will raise for a different charity every year.

“We might look at something else next year aswell, for another specific charity, but I suppose we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he finished.

11Nov2015

KERRY VIDEO: This Stunning Footage Of Carrauntoohil Will Leave You In Awe

Posted in Local News, Scenery by Fergus Writes Things

Check out the amazing new footage of Carrauntoohill.

I’VE SAID it before and I’ll say it again, here in Kerry, we truly do live in a ridiculously beautiful part of the world.

Never before has this been more evident than in the new footage of Ireland’s highest mountain Carrauntoohil that was recently uploaded to YouTube by the channel ‘Digital Rising’.

The 1-minute 44-second long clip has already been viewed more 10,000 times and features absolutely stunning shots of the surrounding Kerry countryside.

For anyone that has never had the fortune to experience the mountain first hand, the clip serves to highlight the sheer scale and beauty that it offers to climbers.

Enough rambling however, you can check it out for yourself down below…

11Nov2015

KERRY NEWS: A Yellow Weather Warning Has Been Issued For Kerry For Later This Week

Posted in Local News by Fergus Writes Things

Met Eireann have issued a weather warning for parts of Kerry for later this week.

THERE’S set to be great drying weather out there later this week after a status yellow weather warning was issued for Kerry.

Winds of up to 100km/h are expected to bombard Kerry, Roscommon, Clare, Cork, and Limerick with the weather warning set to go live early tomorrow morning.

“Southerly winds, later veering southwest then west, with mean speeds of 45 to 55 km/h, will gust between 90 and 100 km/h. Winds will be strongest near coastal areas,” read the statement on the Met Eireann website.

The warning will be valid from 6am on the morning of Thursday November 12th and will then stay in place until the same time on Friday, November 13th.

11Nov2015

TRALEE NEWS: Help A Local Community Project Secure Vital Funds By Voting In Video Competition

Posted in Local News by Fergus Writes Things

Inspired are looking to the public to help secure votes.

ONE LOCAL community development project is currently looking to the public to help them secure votes in the ‘Better Together’ video competition which offers a cash prize of €2,000 and which would go a long way in helping the work of the project.

The Tralee based group ‘Inspired’ is the group involved, it is a project that is aimed at working with adults with various learning difficulties and helping them to develop their personal, educational and employment skills.

The ‘Better Together’ video competition is one that provides an opportunity for Irish community and volunteer organisations, NGO’s and clubs to show the rest of the country the work that they do in making the world just a little better.

The selfless team of local volunteers and adults involved in the ‘Inspired’ project are consistently working to better themselves and the community around them with the work that they do, but are now seeking your assistance aswell.

They are asking the public to vote for their video (watch down below) through the ‘Better Together’ voting website HERE.

Voting can be done every day and from multiple devices aswell, the competition will close on November 20th with the awards set to take place on December 9.

Watch ‘Inspired’s’ video entry down below…

10Nov2015

SOMETHING COOL: Watch As Young Man Interviews Himself 38 Years In The Future

Posted in Something Cool by Fergus Writes Things

An 18 year old Peter Emshwiller filming his film ‘Later That Same Life’ back in 1977.

LET’S face it, we all spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about what’s to become of us in the future and what we will end up as in life.

What if though, you could somehow ‘interview’ your younger/older self and ask/tell them anything you wanted, what would you say?

This is the brilliantly simple concept behind Peter ‘Stoney’ Emshwiller’s latest film project entitled ‘Later That Same Life’.

Back in 1977, when he was a long-haired, slightly fresh faced 18 year old, Peter sat down and recorded a series of interview questions which he imagined he would ask his ‘older’ self.

Peter, now 56 years old, recently returned to finish the second half of his project, 38 years later, with the results as strange, wonderful and intriguing as you would expect.

Peter is hoping to release the full length film and has set up a fundraising page HERE to help do so.

You can check out a brief snippet of the film in the video down below…