On Thursday June 9, something very special occurred in Cahersiveen, described as a “very unique occasion”, the ambassador of the south African country of Lesotho visited the south Kerry town.
ekhulumi Ntsaoaole and his family were touring around the county taking in the breath-taking sights that Kerry has to offer when they stumbled upon Cahersiveen native and Acard manager, Kieran McCarthy. Ntsaoale and his family were fascinated by the town and were eager to learn more.
“We’re renovating the barracks and the heritage centre in Cahersiveen at the moment, and I was sitting in the barracks when four people came up to me looking to find out the history of the barracks” Kieran said.
I told them how the barracks were burnt down during the troubles and they were fascinated by it, they had such a huge interest in the barracks, the heritage and the culture surrounding Cahersiveen. They then told me that they were from Lesotho, and I could not believe it” he added.
When Ireland hosted the Special Olympics in 2003, Cahersiveen hosted the Lesotho teams. A committee was set up for the duration of the games and the Lesotho team members were part of that committee.
“What are the chances?”, he said. The ambassador was touring Ireland for a few days, he was in Cahersiveen at that particular moment in time and he said that he was off to Clare later that day” he added
Both Mr McCarthy and Mr Ntsaoaole were both equally taken aback by the circumstances in which they found themselves in.
“Before he left, he insisted that he gets a photo next to the plaque dedicated to Lesotho in the town, we got Christy Riordan from The Kerryman to take a proper picture and Mr. Ntsaoaole has been e-mailing me since looking for it” he said.
Mr McCarthy was over the moon with the outcome of their visit:
“They had a very good time, they loved it, I’m just so proud and delighted with how it all worked out. Mr. Ntsaoale said that he and his family will be back and I look forward to his visit.”
