May: Castle visitor numbers soar, but so do numbers in emergency accommodation

ABOVE: Two-time European indoor champion David Gillick was a special guest at the Kilkenny parkrun, which celebrated the parkrun and Vhi partnership. It was also a special day for long-time participant Angela Lalor, who completed her 200th parkrun

The number of people accessing emergency accommodation in Kilkenny recently jumped from 34 to 40, according to the Department of Housing.
This latest increase was recorded during the last full week of March, when the ban on evictions was still in place
Kilkenny Castle soared past some incredible competition to take the title of the most popular paid visitor attraction managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in Ireland.
The landmark topped the pile in a field including the Rock of Cashel, Kilmainham Gaol, Clonmacnoise and Dublin Castle.
According to the OPW, visitor numbers at the Kilkenny attraction soared from 900,000 in 2021 to 1,418,171 in 2022.
The family of a woman who died following a massive post-partum haemorrhage at St Luke’s Hospital called for an inquiry into maternity services at the hospital.
Tracey Campbell Fitzpatrick bled to death at St Luke’s following repeated phone calls to an on-call consultant to attend to her. The consultant was on call in the early hours of March 28, 2016 when he was called on three occasions by a senior midwife.
The family’s call for an inquiry came in the wake of a number of other incidents relating to women’s healthcare.
There was no clear objective to deliver a South East Technological University (SETU) student campus in Kilkenny City contained within the SETU Strategic Plan 2023-2028.
Mayor of Kilkenny, David Fitzgerald, described the plan as ‘very disappointing’ from a Kilkenny perspective.
A new Academy of Jewellery and Goldsmithing Centre of Excellence opened in Thomastown.
The Sessions House building, a former courthouse in the centre of Thomastown has been transformed into a new home for the jewellery academy.
It was officially opened by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys.