Kerry Today

Five teenage boys have been killed after driving their car – believed to have been stolen – on the wrong side of the road. They crashed into another vehicle on the M9 motorway near Moone, Co Kildare. Two women in the other vehicle are in critical condition and another woman and a seven-year-old boy are seriously injured. Jerry spoke to Fine Gael Kildare County Councillor Ivan Keatley and Kerry TD Pa Daly, member of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Sinn Féin’s transport spokesperson. Jerry also spoke to Eddie Walsh, GRA rep for Kerry, and independent councillor for Tralee Sam Locke.

Recent CSO figures show almost half of people in Kerry who were released from prison in 2023 reoffended within the year of release. Ireland has historic levels of overcrowding in prisons which contributed in part to the controversial release of Alison Chawke who was one month into a one-year prison sentence. Jerry spoke to Jason Kew who’s a senior practice specialist at the Centre for Justice Innovation in the UK. Jason is a former police detective. The Centre for Justice Innovation has managed to reduce reoffending rates by one third in areas where its programme of working with offenders has been put into place.

Jerry spoke to Denis Drennan who’s president of the ICMSA about the cost-of-living and farmers’ concerns about this and the impact of drought. There’s also a controversy about Irish butter being sold in the US.

Kerry’s Eye newspaper reported yesterday how several dolphins were stranded at Feothanach in West Kerry. Sadly, not all, could be saved. This morning,

Catherine Curran found a dead dolphin calf at Trá na Susan ach, Meeligoleen, Ballinskelligs.

A turbine, weighing the equivalent of 19 double decker buses, has arrived in North Kerry, from Foynes Port, following a journey from Italy.

Its arrival is described by the company behind the redevelopment of the Tarbert Power Station site as a milestone for the project.

Multinational SSE has invested €300 million in the new 300-megawatt power station. Jerry spoke to Greg Acton, head of corporate affairs with SSE.

This week Jerry spoke to two brilliantly talented young boys who came first in their competitions at this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.

Michael O'Connor from Killarney came first in both the melodeon and button accordion categories for ages 12-15.

Rian Gleeson from Killarney also placed first for scéalaíocht among 12-15 year olds.

Eighty-three-year-old Vincent Pierse, who’s originally from Ballyduff and now lives in Co Roscommon, also enjoyed All-Ireland success.

He came first in his category for storytelling at the Fleadh in Belfast.

More than 60 Fianna Fáil politicians have signed a letter demanding that the Government get the HSE to fund the Skyclarys drug for patients with the rare, degenerative, inherited disease. Jerry spoke to Fianna Fáil Kerry TD Michael Cahill and to Helena Quinn, whose 23-year-old niece Aoife has Friedreich’s ataxia.

This year’s Féile Thrá Lí begins tomorrow and runs until August 18th. Jerry spoke to organisers Mark Sullivan, manager of the Rose Hotel, and Eamon Cunningham, Tralee Municipal District officer with Kerry County Council.

Jerry spoke to Rosi Leonard, who is a data centre campaign lead and network development coordinator at Friends of the Earth Ireland.