Ireland's Eye: What's going on in the old sod

The man, a native of Drum Parish, who didn't wish to be named, said he was extremely annoyed the traditional Christian way of burial had been changed by somebody in an office in Roscommon town without consultation with the local people.

"If I'm going to be buried there like that, I'll change my address and be buried elsewhere in the traditional way," the local man fumed. "It's totally wrong what the council is doing.

“It has a lot of people upset and a lot of people are only finding it out about it because the extension is new and only one burial has taken place there two weeks ago."

He claims this grave is facing north-south, while the graves in the adjacent old graveyard and monastic site are all standing facing the usual east-west trajectory.

The objector said whoever drew up the plan in Roscommon County Council should go back and do it the proper way, accusing the local authority of "terrible cheek" and "a lack of respect" changing the traditional form of burial in a rural area.

However, a spokesperson for Roscommon County Council said the new layout was designed to maximize the number of graves in the extended graveyard in Drum, and the direction which they would be facing was not a consideration or an issue highlighted to the local authority during the planning process.

He said this layout will be replicated in any other new graveyards or extensions in the future.
- Westmeath Independent

Sitting for fun

RESTING his posterior on every seat in Thomond Park in one day proved an insurmountable and rear-numbing challenge for Limerick native Dan Mooney for task 91 on his list of 366 things to do in one year.

But a very worthy attempt saw Mooney succeed in sitting on an impressive 12,000 seats out of the stadium's 15,600, before officials politely asked him to stop before the Sunderland vs. Munster XI clash last week.

"I am in absolute ribbons. I'm in shreds, my knees are sore and so are my ribs for some reason. But I'm okay. I can't believe I left 3,000 seats behind me,” Mooney said.

He agreed his Thomond Park trial was equally as painful as the day he ran the Great Limerick Run for an earlier challenge, which he finished in five hours and 12 minutes.

"But I'm going back to Thomond Park next week. I'm giving my muscles a couple of days to rest and then I'm going back to finish off the last 3,000 seats. There's no way I can leave that behind," Mooney added.

Despite labeling his Thomond Park attempt a failure in his online blog, could it be considered a moral victory of sorts?

"I was actually thinking that. I have the whole plucky loser thing going on. Normally my mates would absolutely lacerate me for failing but they've been nice about it this time," he said.

Mooney is delighted with the public response to his adventures so far, which have included fire breathing, meeting a porn star, being a human mannequin, going shopping in his pajamas, cycling through a McDonald’s drive-thru and shaving his chest.
- Limerick Leader

Stolen penguin found

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