Glounsharoon Being Abused by Kerry County Council – Mayor O’Connell

Killarney Municipal Area Mayor Bobby O'Connell at Glounsharoon 1 — Killarney Municipal Area Mayor Bobby O’Connell pictured amid the Kerry County Council created rubble dump at Glounsharoon. ©Photograph: John Reidy.

Con Houlihan loved it and it showed in the way he wrote about it; Bertie Ahern looked forward to seeing it and spoke accordingly of it; Now Mayor Bobby O’Connell is ranting about it and wants it cleaned up and given its due respect.

Mayor O’Connell is on a crusade to have the ‘viewing park’ at Glounsharoon cleaned up and developed. He’s channelling his ire and placing the blame and responsibility on Kerry County Council – the very body to which he has been elected continuously since 1991.

We’re biased here of course but we all think that the view from Glounsharoon is the best it the world. And it is in so many ways and it certainly is to us. We know we’re home once we hit the brow of that hill. From there we can roll on down into our little valley.

The scene from Glounsharoon which greeted visitors to Kerry on Christmas Eve 2009. ©Photograph: John Reidy — The scene from Glounsharoon which greeted visitors to Kerry on Christmas Eve 2009.
©Photograph: John Reidy

Chicago born, Castleisland reared, Mayor O’Connell is taking Kerry County Council’s abuse of the scenic area as a personal insult to him and his office.

It is, after all, the first real glimpse of the beauty of Kerry. People will point out that there are finer and more scenic views elsewhere in the county – and there probably are – but not if you’re an Islander.

“With the way things have changed in recent years and the way the

On a Clear Day: The spire of the Church of Saints Stephen and John is the one recognisable feature from Glounsharoon as Castleisland and the Maine Valley are enveloped in early morning fog. ©Photograph: John Reidy 30-12-2001 — On a Clear Day: The spire of the Church of Saints Stephen and John is the one recognisable feature from Glounsharoon as Castleisland and the Maine Valley are enveloped in early morning fog.
©Photograph: John Reidy 30-12-2001

electoral boundaries are now, that stuff you see dumped there is probably from Tralee or Killarney,” said Mayor O’Connell.

“You wouldn’t see the likes of that in Aghadoe or anywhere in Tralee and yet it all seems OK for them to come out and dump the leftover road material here beside one of the first and finest views of a county so dependent on tourism,” said Mayor O’Connell.

Cllr. O’Connell was speaking on Glounsharoon on Friday as a heavy cloud covered the valley and the view.

“On a fine day here you’d often see a dozen cars or more pulled in and people out taking photographs of the view here. To see the place treated like this is all wrong and I’m not going to let it go any further. The place has great potential for the whole county and it’s a shame to see it treated like this,” said Mayor O’Connell.

In fairness to him, Cllr Mick Gleeson also proposed, during the summer of 2012, that the area be taken in hand and developed. He too spoke about its importance and relevance to the whole county and its Gateway to Kerry status.