The people of Dingle will host a Fungie Memorial Day in order to mark the anniversary of the famous dolphin's disappearance.
October 14, 2020 was a life-changing day for residents of the Kerry town as the iconic animal, which had been a huge tourist attraction, was first recorded missing.
Hopes were high that he would return, but after a few weeks of no-shows, many believe that the porpoise had left the area for the first time in decades.
As the year anniversary of the disappearance nears next week, locals have revealed plans to host a Fungie Memorial Day.
October 17 will allow locals to express their gratitude for the dolphin who helped boost the local area's economy for decades.
Local man Jamie Flannery, whose family has run boat tours around the harbour in Dingle for years, explained: "We want to celebrate the magic that Fungie brought to Dingle and to people from all over the world,
"He was a fantastic asset to the town and he brought loads of people to Dingle over many years with local businesses really benefiting as a result," he told Radio Kerry and The Ray D'Arcy Show.
"People got involved in tours around the peninsula and the whole area of eco-tourism.
"One way of looking at this is that Fungie is a very big loss – but the 37 fantastic years that he was here and the amount of people that had such great experiences with him, we will be marking that."
On October 17, free boat trips out to the entrance of the harbour will run, with passengers asked to make a donation for Dingle Coast and Cliff Rescue and Mallow Search and Rescue.
Between 80,000 and 100,000 would descend on the south western town each year to visit Fungie, with his disappearance causing great stress to natives.
