Killarney Thread

dmeehan wrote: »

<sidebar>whose brilliant idea was it to build a big fecking wall around the national park along the inner relief road, its like the berlin wall ffs. even half height with a wall and the rest with railings, so at least tourists can SEE the amenity that is behind it</sidebar>

I think if they replaced some of the high wall with the wall and railings as suggested from say Golden Gate to the Zebra Crossing at the Plaza it would make this much the national park accessable and open to tourists. I think that a lot of tourists probably don't realise just how close to the national park they are when they are in town. Maybe in the future there might be funds to alter the wall, but I think that taking care of Killarney House should be a priority at the moment. I heard it's in pretty bad state of repair.

FRANKENFURTER wrote: »

kerry what i meant is why not do more there just inside the gates across from the cottage.......why not get a skate board park in there .....why not build a band stand in there .......why not put in facility's so families can go of a Sunday for a picnic.......why not put a running track around some so locals can do circuit training in there .......why not build a mountain bike circuit in there........why not allow someone rent water sports equipment in there ,,....as someone who walks there five or six days a week and see all the different things that could be done for kids teams adults senior citizens with little needed as regards money to do i t.where are all these benches you seem to think are there...there is not one single table in there......and why should everybody have to do without because of mindless thugs...go and look at the playground and see the joy to be had with a little bit of innovation:rolleyes:

I think there is probably no chance to see massive development like this happening, especially given the economic situation. The impression I get from what I've heard about the OPW is that they aren't really interested in developing things like this as its just extra hassle for them. The decision by the O.P.W. to build the playground is to be commended but the situation with parking alongside Port Rd is just a disaster. Passed here on Sunday and on the fine day the playground was jammed but parking was a joke. Getting children in and out of cars from the parking provided has to be a safety concern. Fingers crossed nothing serious happens here.

I think in terms of getting people (especially tourists) to use the national park more there is probably more potential at the Golden Gate end of things as opposed to the New Street end. There is probably a lot more foot traffic by tourists around Christ the King area than around the entrance to the Demesne down by the Cathedral.

It would be brilliant if the park became more integrated with the town, especially when you consider how close it is to the centre of town. There surely has to be a great opportunity here. It has improved a fair bit since the Golden Gates have been opened up but I think there is still massive potential here.

I think if Killarney House was redeveloped maybe have some potential for a public performance space to be incorporated there i.e. band stand

I don't think a skate board would be such a great idea in the national park. I'm also pretty sure since skate boarding would be classified as a high-risk activity by insurance companies there would be an issue with insurance cover and costs. It would be nice to see something for teenagers as at the moment facilities are pretty lacking.

As for people wanting to run, I think a number of joggers use the paths provided, so I think investing in a running track would be a bit redundant. For the rental of water sports equipment, surely Ross Castle would be the best location for this given the rowing clubs and boat-trips opperate from there already. Pretty sure there is someone who rents kayaking equipment at Ross sometimes. Will do some research and see if I can find out more.
Adding a decent water-sports centre at Ross could well be a good opportunity to improve facilities for tourists and locals alike at a relatively low cost.

As someone mentioned already I think a bowling alley would be a good addition to the town. Kinda surprised someone hasn't build one. Sadly can't imagine one will be built in the near future given the economic climate. I wonder if upstairs in the Outlet centre might be a possibility? Near enough to town centre, would improve footfall for the centre especially upstairs, seems to be a fair bit of space going begging up there. Given a reasonally favourable rent and a decent term lease I could see it as a reasonable bet for a business, if the economic cliamte was anyway decent. The increase in football upstairs would surely make it worth the owners while to give a decent terms to whoever did set this up. Would also be an additional all-weather facility for tourists.

dmeehan wrote: »

that is one of the best ideas i have heard for the upstairs in the outlet centre
dunno if it would be physically possible or not??? I wonder if the new bowling alley in tralee would have an impact on the viability of one in killarney

Cheers;)
Don't know much about the physical layout - maybe if it was spread lengthwise between two units upstairs ? - havent been upstairs in the Outlet in a couple of years now, so I'm a bit fuzzy. I also have some notion that bowling lanes/equipment are kinda heavy - don't know where I picked this up and has a good chance of not being correct.

oeb wrote: »

The one in Tralee is stupid expensive. Me and a friend called them up on Saturday, and they told us it would be 42 euro for the two of us to rent an alley for an hour!

Ouch that sounds pretty steep - especially in these times. Do they run any special offers/ have membership/off-peak rates?

kerry4sam wrote: »

A bowling alley is badly needed in Killarney though, well their are a lot of things badly needed in the town but jeez something indoors on days like today with the spontaneoous weather is badly needed!

Just wondering what else you think is needed. Overall I think Killarney is probably one of the best towns in the country in terms of ammenities.

Davidth88 wrote: »

I have always felt that the National Park near the town is not accessable enough . The posters who mention the wall near Killarney House are right , it's horrible , I am not sure of it's purpose . I don't recall seeing signposting for pedestrians either ( it could be I just don't see it ).

Not 100% but I don't think there are any signs indicating how close the national park is to town for pedestrians.

Davidth88 wrote: »

It would be lovely to see Killarney house put to some use, the idea of a bandstand is a nice one, however you would have to be careful it didn't become a collection point for undesirable people after dark.

I'm pretty sure that there have been issues with undesirable people after dark
in here which is the reason there are CCTV at the Golden Gate entrance. It is a bit of a tricky one all right.

Davidth88 wrote: »

The playground is a great addition , however the parking sitaution is a disaster waiting to happen , couldn't the area across the road , which I think has a special needs centre be utilised , and then build a pedestrian crossing.

I really do fear that until someone(most likely a child) is injured here nothing will be done:mad:

Davidth88 wrote: »

anyway , theres a quick ' brain dump' for all the good it will do .

You never know - with the local elections coming up - it has helped in terms of some of things I'm going to be harassing the candidates about.

Davidth88 wrote: »

One of the big problems I see when I am walking around the town to be frank , especially in the summer is the smell of the horses. I usually walk in down the Muckross Rd , it's horrible and also messy. I don't really have a suggestion I am afraid.

dmeehan wrote: »

well the OPW/Council/whoever should deny them access to the National Park until they clean up after "themselves" (sic)

Also, for fouling on the streets there is existing legislation regarding dog fouling and littering. I know that if i was to dump a pile of horse**** on the muckross road i would be prosecuted for littering, why not the jarveys too??

</end of rant>

Totally agree 100% about this. The Jarveys just don't want to do this because it would mean slightly more hassle for them. There should be made use horse diapers similar to the type used in Central Park or else be banned from the National Park as well as prosecuted for littering.
This is one of the main issues I'm going to be harassing the local election candidates on and I would urge others to do so too. It's not good enough that a small minority can inconvience the vast majority of the people, especially when the situation can be remedied so easily.

newman10 wrote: »

Hi MementoMori

Great reading in your threads but one problem as I see is that most of the Ammenities in Killarney are Outdoor and if you were in Town with Teenagers on a wet weekend

Great Pools,Gyms and Spas provided you are in one of the Hotels

I suppose currently the cinema is an option, but you're probably largely right.
The facilities for teens aren't the greatest.

A skatepark might help but insurance could be an issue.
The previously mentioned bowling alley would be an improvment.
Possibly some sort of youth club/drop-in centre with internet access/pool table where teenagers could hang out?

kerry4sam wrote: »

Some of what you mentioned eg:CCTV cameras was already mentioned before and were numerous outdoor possible activites.
The bowling alley was mentioned as an idea for primarily an indoor activity but also for something different in the town.

You mentioned a possible youthclub/drop-in centre - we already have that in town www.kdys.ie who have what you said you would like to see including the drop-in centre which I used to help supervise for awhile at week-ends. It is great to a sense but some teens of that age feel they are too old for it and opt to spend their Friday evenings just lining the streets, sitting on windowsills or hanging down several laneways. The facilities are there, just not utilised to its potential which is a shame imo.

Killarney won't see anything new for the forseeable future as no-one can agree on what's firstly needed and secondly what should take priority in the town.
The only difference Killarney will see over the coming years will be more and more of the smaller shops closing down, unfortunately.

Must say i agree with almost all you have said......we have more than any other town i can think off but the big white elephant is the national park...open the skate park but tell peope they use it at there own risk..for the teenagers we need to open non alcohol bars i said this back when kdys opened first i was involved with the setting up of the games room..this was my proposel at the time...Find premises kit it out like a young persons bar i.e pool table darts plasmas ect.leave the local teenage bands and djs provide te entertainment there........open it from six to half ten weekdays and twelve till eleven thirty weekends......have a specal membership card that you must swipe to get entry and to leave...................you must be at least 15 to get membership and you have to leave when you hit 18.....staff it with collage students and people that are round the 20 to 23 mark......because these people are relevant to that age group..........teenagers are not going to hang around anywhere that there is adults watching over them....ive seen this type of club working very well in germany ,..and im sure it could work here....

newman10 wrote: »

I was speaking to one of the owners of a small shop yesterday evening and he said informed me that he was trying to renogiate his lease but was getting nowhere and he is of the opinion that the whole shopping environment is gone from Killarney.

Sadly all the shops in the town are owed by about less than ten people so there is little scope to renogotiate prices i wa sbrought to the courts two years ago to increase my rent i went to look for a different premises and was told my name was bad because of it now sadly i have about six monts left and must move my shop to tralee...you know things are bad when you have a head shop and a sex shop pen in town and not a murmor over each....bt a year ago there was uproar over a bookies......roll on the first strip club i say.....

kerry4sam wrote: »

I feel sorry for the people whose houses over-look the outlet centre being honest - Their view(scenic) was taken & they were given nothing but an eye-soar that never generated the business it promised when being built.

Prior to the outlet centre there was the bus park, which was in a pretty poor condition - I don't think those living nearby were affected all that much, if at all, in terms of the scenic views by the construction of the outlet centre.

Also I don't think the Outlet Centre is the worst eye-soar by any means.
Ok it's not especially pleasing on the eyes but compare it with the development out by the Tralee round-about
The people reponsible for this development should be shot.
The only small comfort is that fact that it's not doing that well.