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ISLAM IS NOW THE SECOND RELIGION OF BOTH TRALEE AND KILLARNEY

THE Muslim community in Kerry continues to grow though members of the Islamic faith are still mainly concentrated in Tralee and Killarney, according to the latest Census figures published by the Central Statistics Office.

The Census results show that there are now 1,623 Muslims living in Kerry compared with 1,510 in 2011 when the previous Census took place.

Of these, the vast majority live in Tralee and Killarney. Tralee is now home to 937 Muslim people while there are 466 residing in the Killarney area.

In both towns Islam is now the second religion with Muslims now outnumbering the towns’ Church of Ireland congregations by almost two to one.

In Tralee there are 471 Church of Ireland members while in Killarney there are 260.

The Islamic community in Kerry has almost trebled in size in the last 15 years according to past Census results. However the rate of the community’s growth has slowed significantly in the last five years.

In 2002 there were 554 Muslims in the county and this had jumped to 1,060 by 2007. The next five years saw a similar jump with another 450 bringing the county’s Islamic population to 1,510 in 2011. By comparison the community grew by just 113 in the last five years.

The size, and continuing growth of the Islamic community in Kerry – which has one of the highest Muslim populations of any rural county – provides a strong supporting argument for the community’s calls for a dedicated place of worship in the county.

In September 2015, Kerry County Council granted planning permission for a mosque and Muslim community centre at Killerisk in Tralee.

Permission was granted subject to several conditions including a stipulation that there would be no call to prayer from any PA system on the site.

Work on the mosque is yet to get underway.