Review of the year: December

One of the year’s most striking  guest pieces was written by Katie Kelly in December about her life as a wheelchair user. She wrote with great honesty and strength of character about the challenges she faces daily and her determination to fight for opportunities, every single day of her life.

The Carnegie Library celebrated its contribution to Kilkenny life with the help of actor Pauline McLynn and local legend Brian Cody was celebrated with a wall in his honour at his former school, De La Salle with artwork by Paul Murphy. 

Education stories included the announcement of a new, dedicated further education and training (FET) college campus in Kilkenny, catering for up to 5,000 students. Minister Simon Harris  made the announcement which marked a major good news story for the county. 

Another highlight was the news that Thomastown is to get 95 new community nursing home beds (including a number of dementia-specific beds) by the end of 2023 at St Columba’s Hospital.  In addition to the beds there will be shared spaces and therapy spaces with facilities including family overnight stay room, clinical treatment rooms, physiotherapy and occupational therapy rooms and hairdressers’ rooms. 

In a year marked by growing concerns about climate change, Kilkenny Mayor David Fitzgerald  hosted a  meeting at the Town Hall  about Kilkenny’s bid to become Ireland’s first Carbon Neutral City. It was addressed by journalist and climate change activist,  John Gibbons gave  a stark analysis of the climate change, saying  “This is not a climate change crisis, it is an everything crisis.”