For or against "The Rally of the Lakes"

colrow

We're 30 miles from Killarney, and our local roads are closed, we have only been aware that this was so , since last Thursday. Now here in a farming community we are prevented from carrying out are farming tasks because our roads have been closed, and we are not supposed to drive on them. We can't leave our houses from 8.30 to 14.45.

Why don't they close Killarney town centre down and hold the rally there.

What do other people think.

aidan_walsh

If you've ever been to Killarney town, you'd know that it is effectively closed as well.

kerry4sam

It doesn't matter where you are in or near killarney for this week-end, everyone is going through the same thing...

I think it's great for the town being honest, wouldn't have much luck finding accom for the night for instance as they're booked out ...

They were circling the town right up until 5am this morning and the guards were going all night driving down the centre of the roads to see what the actual hold-ups are (and more often than not it would be 2drivers chatting as one was going up and street and met the other coming back down, again!)

For the week-end that's in it it'd be better to just accept it, it's been going on for years and for many more to come ...

Promises to be a quiet winter if that's any consolation

dh0661

Judging by the amount of rubbish, broken glass, cans and fast food wrappings, we saw around Killarney car parks today. I don't think that the rally done much for the image of the town, with tourists that were not in Killarney for the rally.
We (hubby & myself) were very embarrassed when we went to Ross Castle, four coaches and several jaunting cars full of tourists walking around in this filth, I don't think it was this kind of "scenery" any Killarney person would like to promote.

kerry4sam

The same happened last year and their was a piece in the daily star at the time that did do some untold damage to the promotion of tourism for Killarney.

The event brings thousands of people to the town on an annual basis and although it was a bank-holiday i don't see how the hotels/b&b etc would all have been so busy but for the crowds that followed the rally here.

With the thousands of people comes rubbish and trash and that is an unfortunate and somewhat un-contollable aspect of it.

Last year their were fights almost every hour but this year the guards done a fantastic job with crowd control and alleviated the noise from the busiest roads by setting up check-points etc but the litter aspect is something that we can't do anything about. While locals would want nothing more than a somewhat quick-fix workable solution to issues like that...their is none! If people don't have the basic manners of using one of the numerous bins then their is nothing, unfortunately nothing anyone in the town can do about it.

The locals and guards can only do so much with issues like rubbish and broken glass on the scale like has happened with 30,000+ people in a town like Killarney on the rally week-end ...

edit: In saying the above ... we also host the Killarney Summerfest and although we would also have thousands attending those concerts aswell, we don't seem to have the same trouble with litter and broken glass ...

dh0661

kerry4sam wrote: »

The locals and guards can only do so much with issues like rubbish and broken glass on the scale like has happened with 30,000+ people in a town like Killarney on the rally week-end ...

edit: In saying the above ... we also host the Killarney Summerfest and although we would also have thousands attending those concerts aswell, we don't seem to have the same trouble with litter and broken glass ...

What we saw yesterday in one of Killarney's more prime visitor attractions was disgusting. If I was a resident in the town and able to gather a few friends, I would have went home and got a roll of black bags, a shovel and brush and made a few phone calls. I would have some attempt to lessen the embarrassment I felt when I saw tourists walking around in this filth.
Tralee, my home town, gets a bad press for not being able to cater for tourists in the same way as Killarney does, I can say now that it's been a long long time since I saw parts of Tralee (except for one area thats due to be demolished shortly, that attracts tourists of a different kind:o) looking as bad as what we witnessed on Monday morning.

kerry4sam

dh0661 wrote: »

What we saw yesterday in one of Killarney's more prime visitor attractions was disgusting. If I was a resident in the town and able to gather a few friends, I would have went home and got a roll of black bags, a shovel and brush and made a few phone calls. I would have some attempt to lessen the embarrassment I felt when I saw tourists walking around in this filth.
Tralee, my home town, gets a bad press for not being able to cater for tourists in the same way as Killarney does, I can say now that it's been a long long time since I saw parts of Tralee (except for one area thats due to be demolished shortly, that attracts tourists of a different kind:o) looking as bad as what we witnessed on Monday morning.

What you 'saw' in "one of killarney's more prime visitor attractions" was extremely unfortunate. Situations where you 'saw' what you did happen at most 3times in any given year which is great for a town with the attractions and facilities and standards that Killarney holds on a annual basis (and tourism figures will prove that for you).

When was the last time Tralee saw the crowds that Killarney saw on the week-end just gone eh? The only times Tralee holds such vast numbers is Rose of Tralee fest and some GAA matches. Need i remind you of the rubbish and broken glass on the streets of Tralee last year for the Rose Fest . Did you "gather a few friends, I would have went home and got a roll of black bags, a shovel and brush and made a few phone calls " last year when it happened or will you be doing it this year when it happens again

The Rally of the Lakes has far too many pro's for anyone to make a satisfatory and upholding complaint. As i said before "While locals would want nothing more than a somewhat quick-fix workable solution to issues like that...their is none! If people don't have the basic manners of using one of the numerous bins then their is nothing, unfortunately nothing anyone in the town can do about it." and I stand by that.

I don't disagree that the sight was "disgusting" and i know that it does nothing but damage the beauty of Killarney and one or more of my town's attractions but if you do have viable and workable solutions feel free to post them / PM me / or better still lodge your opinion and concerns to the Killarney Town Council who would be more than happy to listen to them.

The Rally of the Lakes is one of many great events that Killarney hosts but that finishes in the late afternoon and what happens after that is as a result of the people who follow the rally and other people who just happen to be in the town when the event is there and the locals can't do anything about their actions in the hours after the Rally of the Lakes

dh0661

That's fair enough, if you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites, who am I to argue. By the way I dont recall seeing dustbins in Ross Castle car park.
I know in Tralee, for all big events, that council cleaning crews start at 5am and are finished before 9am.
I heard on radio Kerry that at night all car parks in Killarney were either closed or had security for the rally weekend, why was this not the case at Ross Castle ?.

kerry4sam

dh0661 wrote: »

That's fair enough, if you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites

I am only one person responding to you here and can therefore only speak for myself here. Where did I ever say that I “you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites” …??? Read back through my responses...you won't find those words with my name attached and i would like a withdrawal of that by you

kerry4sam

dh0661 wrote: »

That's fair enough, if you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites, who am I to argue. By the way I dont recall seeing dustbins in Ross Castle car park.
I know in Tralee, for all big events, that council cleaning crews start at 5am and are finished before 9am.
I heard on radio Kerry that at night all car parks in Killarney were either closed or had security for the rally weekend, why was this not the case at Ross Castle ?.

Funds would be an issue for the Council and seen as Killarney would have more tourism sites and larger events to be cleaning up after it’s a case of prioritising and funding as I’m hoping you can understand?

Do you have a link for what you say you heard about the car-parks being closed? I can confirm that yes: most of our public car-parks and church-grounds were either completely closed down or had security measures in place (one major lesson learned from last year and their were 1 or 2 from this year which will be learned for next-year)…They were public car-parks and if you travelled to Ross Castle as you say you did you would have noticed that it’s at the end of what’s locally called Ross Road. You would have as a result (by the layout of the entrance down to Ross Castle) have had to pass by numerous private houses and estates and it would not have been feasible nor possible to block the road nor the car-parks as the cars that would have gone down to even the end of the last private dwelling house would have no-where to turn below. I’m sure measures will be put in place for next year similar to those put in place when the Killarney Races are held down there but with the other prioritised resources that were needed in and around the town it wasn’t possible to shut that car-park down all week-end. Nothing I can do about that.

dh0661

kerry4sam wrote: »

...you won't find those words with my name attached and i would like a withdrawal of that by you

I am only sorry that all the local jarvevy men, and I presume that there were other local people were there also, could not take the incentive and make some effort to either call the council or make some attempt to make the place cleaner.

kerry4sam

dh0661 wrote: »

...if you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites...

kerry4sam wrote: »

I am only one person responding to you here and can therefore only speak for myself here. Where did I ever say that I “you and the people of Killarney are happy with this filth in one of the town's prime visitor attraction sites” …??? Read back through my responses...you won't find those words with my name attached and i would like a withdrawal of that by you

dh0661 wrote: »

I am only sorry that all the local jarvevy men, and I presume that there were other local people were there also, could not take the incentive and make some effort to either call the council or make some attempt to make the place cleaner.

I won’t have the likes of you blacken my name and put words in my mouth so I am waiting for an apology from you….

Firstly you blame me and the other locals for not phoning people and arranging a clean-up , then not providing bins down in Ross Castle and now it’s the fault of the jarvey’s for not "could not take the incentive and make some effort to either call the council "… as a matter of interest and amusement, who is next in line by you to be blamed???

If you done your research and knew your facts you would know that those car-parks are under the supervision of the Killarney National Park Authorities and the onus and responsibility for closing the car-parks down is with them. The OPW (office of public works) was off with it being a bank-holiday until Tuesday (I’m curious at to what you will say about that FACT ).

The road down to the car-park was closed by the Gardai on Sunday night which did alleviate the problem…as I did say earlier their were 2-3 lessons learned this year will will benefit the town for next year.