I live in Kerry and am well aware of the terrain surrounding the airport. Standing at the airport, many of the mountains are either in full view or partly shrouded in cloud depending on the day. Taken in conjunction with the heights and spot heights on the charts,it should have been blindingly obvious that the mountains are higher than 2000ft in close proximity to the departure end of 26 on a direct track to VENER.
Judging from the statement in the report that the Kerry controller told the Shannon low level controller that "he's just gone into cloud there now", in conjuction with the diagram of the departure, again it should have been blindingly obvious that the mountain tops exceeded the bottom of the clouds which were at circa 2000 feet.
Regardless of any confusion over the delivery of the cleared height, there is a clear lack of planning and situational awareness evidenced in the report.
Equally as worrying is the delay in installing and implementing the operationof ATM equipment in Kerry tower. Unfortunately this is a cultural thing here with examples of projects, both public and private, in many fields of everyday life being started in response to a need and then delayed time after time for no explicable reason.