There’s room to improve but we’re happy to be here

CORCA Dhuibhne is a great place to live in, but it comes at a price not everybody can afford.

So says a survey, commissioned by North East and West Kerry Development (NEWKD), which examines the socio economic structure of West Kerry and delves into a broad range of topics ranging from who lives here to how they heat their homes.

As part of the ongoing survey NEWKD has hosted community meetings across Corca Dhuibhne to look behind the bare statistics and get an understanding of how people feel about their home place. The results show that people feel extremely positive about Corca Dhuibhne as things stand at this point in time. However, people are less optimistic about what the future holds.

Some of the big positives about life in West Kerry are that people feel they have a good standard of living, that most people live in warm and comfortable homes and have decent jobs, that the local economy is strong and attracts investment, and that the community produces entrepreneurs and self starters.

People also feel that West Kerry rates very well on key quality of life issues. For example over 90 per cent of survey respondents think the air is clean and healthy, over 70 per cent think we have a high quality natural environment and that the drinking water is clean and tastes good.

However, people are less confident about the future of West Kerry’s environment. Only 46 per cent felt our natural resources are well protected, even fewer people felt that our marine and coastline are well protected and less than 30 per cent of respondents felt that planning and development are carried out in a sustainable way – putting it bottom of the list of things to be happy about.

Meanwhile, NEWKD has also released early details of the ‘Dingle Town Centre Health Check’ survey carried out last November in conjunction with IT Tralee. This survey, which sought the views of business people and ‘town centre users’ (the people who happened to be on the streets in Dingle when the survey was conducted) looked at a different set of issues but also got very positive responses about what people think of Dingle.

The Health Check survey found that both business people and town centre users agree that the most positive thing about Dingle is the ‘feeling of safety and security during the day in town’. People rated Dingle slightly lower for ‘feelings of safety and security at night’, but this compares very favourably with Tralee and Listowel where similar Health Check surveys have been conducted.

Business people and town centre users also agreed that the choice and quality of Dingle’s restaurants and cafes is extremely good with the business owners, perhaps not surprisingly, giving a slightly higher rating than the general public. Both business people and the general public also agreed that Dingle is vibrant, attractive and offers a good range of events.

Views diverged a little when it came to opinions about shopping. Both business people and the general public felt that the best thing about Dingle’s shops is the standard of service, followed (in descending order) by the quality and variety of shops and the range of goods. Both also agreed that value for money is the least good thing about shopping in Dingle. However, shoppers felt more positive about the state of the town’s footpaths

than they did about the value for money they get in local shops. Business people, on the other hand, felt that the only thing worse than the quality of the footpaths was the parking situation in the town – and for everybody who filled in the survey forms, parking was identified as Dingle’s biggest problem.

NEWKD would like to hear from more people about their views on life in Corca Dhuibhne and this can be done by filling in an online questionnaire. Google NEWKD Dingle Peninsula Survey or go to the website: https://forms.gle/5sKZMPZ7jYKCaB196

Further community consultation and planning meeting to be held as part of the NEWKD socio-economic survey of the Dingle Peninsula are as follows:

Thursday , January 30, Scoil Bhreac Cluain, Annascaul at 7.30pm.

Monday, Feb 3, Castlegregory Club Rooms at 8pm. Wednesday, February 5, The Old School House, Camp at 8.30pm.

Thursday, February 6, Halla Le Chéile, Cloghane / Brandon at 7.30pm.

Monday, February 17, Áras Bhréanainn, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh at 7.30pm (to be confirmed).

Tuesday, February 18,Scoil Naisiunta Eoin Baiste, Lispole at 7.30pm.

Wednesday, February 19, Dingle Benners Hotel (to be confirmed).

More information from Seamus O’Hara (NEWKD) on 087-1232429 or e-mail: dingleinfo@newkd.ie