Kerry council to 'measure' quality of night sky at reserve

Council hears planning concerns over Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve as well as 'meaningful, on-the-ground positives' from the designation

The 700sq km Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve stretches from the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks to the Atlantic, offering some of the clearest views of the cosmos anywhere on earth. File picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

KerryCounty Council has opened a tender process to "measure" the quality of the night sky in one of the world’s few gold-tier dark sky reserves.

The 700sq km Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve stretches from the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks to the Atlantic, offering some of the clearest views of the cosmos anywhere on earth — surpassing even the Grand Canyon and parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

On clear nights, billions of stars are visible from locations such as St Finan’s Bay and the Skelligs. The area was awarded its top-tier designation in 2013 by the International Dark-Sky Association, a global body dedicated to preserving natural darkness and backed by Unesco.

A meeting of Kerry County Council this week heard concerns about how the new monitoring project will operate.

Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae (Ind) said the monitoring could have implications for planning permission. While he had “nothing particularly against” the dark sky reserve, he asked whether it could restrict development and sought clarity on how the system would operate.

He also questioned the value of the designation to Kerry and the cost involved.

A full report is to be brought before Kerry County Council on the reserve.

Councillor Norma Moriarty (FF) said the dark sky designation had helped secure long-awaited public lighting from the Cois Uisce estate in Caherciveen to the town centre after years of campaigning. She said dark sky-compliant LED lights, designed to minimise glare, had now been installed.

“Meaningful, on-the-ground positives are coming from the designation,” Ms Moriarty said.

The council is seeking to appoint an economic operator to design, deploy, commission, and maintain a dark sky-quality measurement and data visualisation dashboard.

This will include the installation and maintenance of an agreed network of sky-quality meters, enabling continuous 24/7 data collection and an interactive digital dashboard for continuous night sky information.

Cloud cover, lunar phase influence, and artificial light at night will all be tracked.

The contract is for three years. 

The Kerry reserve is dedicated to protecting what is now a rare night sky environment with clear sight of the Milky Way for both stargazers and nocturnal wildlife, the tender documents detail.

The closing date for tender submissions on the Government's etenders procurement site is Thursday, May 27.

This article is funded by the Local Democracy Scheme