Ireland's Eye - A round up of Irish news

A look at news from around Ireland

She had been provided with a panic alarm by Community Watch in recent years, but this was not set off during the robbery.

Neighbor Jackie Barrett said people are deeply shocked. "For something like this to happen someone in their own home is shocking. She has said that she will never go out again, the poor woman,” he said.

Gardai described the incident as very alarming. 

The Kerryman

Scum for Rude Tenants
THE government should consider introducing legislation whereby anti-social tenants could be housed in a “scum town,” a Clare local representative has suggested.

The mayor of Amsterdam revealed plans last month to move those engaged in intimidating or violent behavior towards neighbors to new housing units, made in some cases from converted shipping containers. The areas in which these would be located were subsequently dubbed scum villages, where the worst offenders would spend a minimum of six months. Those who remain unreformed would face eviction.

Fine Gael Councilor Joe Arkins mooted the idea of creating scum towns in Ireland at a county council meeting last Monday.

“It sounds drastic but we are at a stage where something drastic must be done in this country,” Arkins said.

“Anti-social behavior in estates, whether private or local authority, is destroying people’s lives and needs also to be addressed by a range of effective legislation including terms of access or withdrawal of state benefits and so on,

Councilor Johnny Flynn said there are people in his constituency who are suffering from “neighbors from hell.”

Arkins suggested the creation of a scum town be considered because “there are landlords not managing their tenants but there are some tenants that neither God nor man could manage,” adding “this is something that the government needs to address.”

Meelick Councilor Cathal Crowe said he believed a “surcharge” on rents should be investigated by the council in the case of people who “breach the code of conduct in local authority housing.” He called on the council to “hit them where it hurts, in the pockets.”

Clare County Council will now contact the Minister for Justice and the Minister for the Environment calling for parts of the Residential Tenancy Act dealing with “bad neighbors and bad tenants” to be strengthened.

Clare Champion

Summer Weather War
THE scorcher of an Irish summer predicted by New Zealand weatherman Ken Ring has been rubbished by Westmeath forecaster Karl Mehlhorn, who says long range weather forecasts are simply "impossible."

Ring, who says he uses the sun, the moon and tidal activity to make his predictions, claimed the summer of 2013 will turn out to be another 1995 (when Ireland enjoyed Mediterranean temperatures) and that the country would bask in a tropical 86 degrees Fahrenheit this July.

However Mehlhorn, whose weather station is based in Killucan, says such long-range forecasts have been tried and tested before and haven't proved true.

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Nster.com