Ireland's Eye - A round up of top Irish news stories

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Lost Pooch Found, Not Returned
A KEADY family has slammed the council's stray dog re-homing policy after their St. Bernard pet had been given a new home less than a week after it went missing -- and the new owners have refused to give the dog back.

Donagh Nugent's eight-month old dog Bella, bought from a breeder in Carlow, went missing on February 13 outside their home. The distressed family searched for days and eventually came to the assumption their dog had been stolen.

In a last ditch attempt, a phone call was made to the dog kennel on Monday, February 18 but there was no answer. Another call was made the next day, and the family were told there was "good and bad news.”

“The good news was Bella had been found on the Wednesday she had gone missing,” Nugent said.

“The bad news was she had been re-homed the following Tuesday."

The pound explained that they could only hold the dog for five days, but Nugent wasn't aware that the five days included weekends and not five working days.

Despite contacting the new owners to inform them Bella's family had rang the pound, they have declined to return the dog to its original owners.

“To be fair to the pound, they have done everything they can to retrieve our dog.  The new owners had originally said they would return Bella but after speaking with the Citizens Advice, they changed their mind and will not return our dog,” Nugent said.

"We just feel like we have been stolen from. Bella was our dog and we loved her very much. I would like to ask the new owners to reconsider and return the dog to us."

SDLP Councilor Thomas O'Hanlon has called for an urgent review of how long the council's own dog warden service keep dogs before being re-homed.

Ulster Gazette

Dying Dublin?
DUBLIN city center is in danger of "dying" during the day, a councilor has warned.
John O’Hara issued the alert after it emerged the city's retail core -– including Grafton Street on the Southside and Henry Street on the Northside –- is "losing market share.”

"With regard to retail, it has to be said the city center is losing market share not only to shopping centers but to digital media (which is) exemplified by HMV closing," O’Hara said, referring to the U.K. music store chain which recently shuttered its doors.

But on the positive side, the capital's nightlife seems to be thriving.

"There is, according to recent planning applications, a growth in restaurants, eating-out facilities and evening entertainment in the city. Maybe that's something we need to look at in the future -– is that a trend we should be promoting or not?" he said.

Fine Gael's Bill Tormey said foot traffic in the city center "seems to be in decline and the traders seem to be losing profits.”

"It seems to be that there may be a long-term trend evolving here where the city center is in fact dying," he said.

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Nster.com