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South Kerry is featured in an ERASMUS+ project that is focusing on the theme of rural community resilience. This inter-territorial project is led by the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), and Dr Breandan O’Keeffe (who is based in South Kerry), is one of the research partners.

Other participants are the University of Ljubljana, two LEADER Local Action Groups i.e. ADRIMAG (Portugal) and Kozjansko (Slovenia) and the EU-wide European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL).

Over the past year, the consortium has successfully surveyed stakeholders and undertaken case studies in several contexts, including South Kerry. Their research with rural communities is feeding into the design of an accredited course (NFQ Level 6) in Rural Community Resilience. The course will be offered on-line in September 2023.

Anybody who is interested in registering is advised to contact Brendan ([email protected]) or any of the project partners. For further information about Rebound, please see the project website: https://ruralresilience.eu/ (English) or https://ruralresilience.eu/ga/ (Gaeilge).

South Kerry Jobs Fair an Overwhelming Success

Both employers and attendees described the South Kerry Jobs Fair, held in Killarney, as an overwhelming success. Almost 1,500 people attended the event while there were more than 50 exhibitors from across a broad range of employment sectors and agencies also present. Some of the employers present confirmed that they employed people directly at the event.

It is the second year of the event which is organised by South Kerry Development Partnership CLG, in conjunction with the Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce, and sponsors included The Great Southern Hotel and Red Chair Recruitment.

SKDP CEO Noel Spillane said that they were delighted with the turnout which was larger than expected. “An excellent range of candidates with broad skillsets attended, particularly from the Ukrainian community which is a testament to their desire to work and integrate into the communities across South Kerry” he said. Senior Executive with Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce Bridget O’Keeffe echoed this and added that there was a super atmosphere in the Great Southern as job seekers spent time with exhibitors looking for the best opportunity for them. “All exhibitors put in a huge effort to select suitable candidates from a very strong talent pool aided by Interpreters where necessary” she noted.

Muireann King from Killarney Distilling and Brewing Company described it as an excellent event and said that they had some excellent candidates that they are looking forward to following up with and hopefully placing.

The level of interest from the candidates attending was highlighted by Siobhan Whelan from the Sheehan Group who described it as an excellent event. T.J. O’Connor from MTU also noted the enthusiasm of the candidates who attended, both those seeking employment as well as those interested in pursuing further education opportunities while Madina Zikare from the Muckross Park Hotel said it was a very busy day with a lot of applicants and they are hopeful of filling the positions they had on offer.

SKDP’s Enterprise Officer Joanne Griffin said she was delighted with the event overall and thanked both the candidates that attended as well as the employers for their commitment to the event. “We were also delighted to have a team of interpreters in place to assist in translation for some of the Ukrainian candidates” she added, noting that many of them are attending English classes and are very anxious to take up employment positions. Joanne added that that they are hoping to expand the event further in 2024 and may look to add new elements to it.