A Kerry councillor has called for the county’s ‘underutilised’ national park to host more events and summer festivals. Councillor Martin Grady said it was a ‘shame’ that the grounds of Killarney House were lying idle, arguing that any other town would have put them to use. While Wander Wild Festival is the only festival that significantly utilises the national park, it still locates much of its events outside the park. Cllr Grady said only five to 10pc of festival was inside the park and argued
the outdoor adventure and wellness festival should have taken place entirely within the park’s bounds. He also highlighted the concert potential of grounds in front of Killarney House, which features large lawns in the confines of its roughly 52 acre estate. “Our National Park is totally underutilised,” he said. “If you sit at the back of Killarney House and look down towards the National Park, you have five or six acres of cut grass down there. “It’s like a billiard table, which is lovely to
see, but it’s just lying there idle. Nobody on it, nothing happening they’re from one end of the year to the next. It’s a shame. “If that was any other town in Ireland you would have a stage up the National Park side of it and you’d have 5,000 to 10,000 people inside there at concerts and things.” Summer concerts, including those associated with Killarney SummerFest, used to be held at Fitzgerald Stadium, providing an open-air experience with great views. Cllr Grady sees the grounds
of Killarney House as a potential location to revive this type of event, adding to the town’s tourism offerings. “I’m not trying to take away from any other business in town or the INEC, it’s a fantastic centre, but Killarney has the ground and we have the capacity to accommodate people,” he said. “Killarney House itself also has so much potential. Muckross House has a coffee shop and restaurant which is miles outside the town and it’s swamped every day. “Killarney House is not used
at all. It’s used for hanging pictures for an exhibition maybe twice a year. There’s nothing inside, it’s an empty shell. “That should be a gift shop, that should be a restaurant, a coffee shop…you could sit out in the sun and kids can run freely, there’s no fear of traffic.” Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Kerry, Killarney, Killarney House, national park, Martin Grady, Wander Wild Festival, summer concerts, Killarney SummerFest, Fitzgerald Stadium, INEC, tourism