February: All change for drivers and for Kilkenny’s new Seanad members

Kilkenny increased its representation in the upper house of the Oireachtas, in February, with two members in the new Seanad Eireann, following the general election of the previous November.

Former Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan topped the poll on the Agricultural Panel and was the first elected.
He was joined by another candidate from that November election, Patricia Stephenson. She was elected to Seanad Éireann, becoming the first-ever representative of the Social Democrats to hold that office.

A third local joined the Seanad ranks when Kilkenny woman and former RTÉ broadcaster Evanne Ní Chuilinn was named as a Fine Gael senator by Tánaiste Simon Harris, one of 11 Taoiseach’s nominees.

Preparations for the annual St Patrick’s Day festivities in the county were well underway, with headliners including Sharon Shannon, Kíla, The Tulla Céilí Band and The Kilfenora Céilí Band, confirmed for Tradfest.

ABOVE: Taking part in the Cois Nore 5k!

In the city, the reopening of the Lacken Boardwalk was welcomed. First opened in 2012, the original boardwalk was a victim of its own popularity in that the cross-section proved too narrow to accommodate the large volume of users.
The new boardwalk, is a threefold increase on the original and more accessible to wheelchair users, people with prams or buggies, and dog walkers.

One Kilkenny lady had a brilliant birthday when she struck riches on a National Lottery scratch card — for the second time. Anne Foley, Stoneyford, revealed a €50,000 windfall when she scratched off the birthday present — bringing with it that feeling of deja vu as the very same thing had happened on her birthday eight years before!