News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

Shannon Gaels, Kildallan, Templeport and Corlough will all be confined to one team, having lost a huge number of players to emigration.

Most of those leaving are in the 18-25 year old bracket, with Australia the most common destination.
"The team sheet has got very miserable looking, we're not able to field two teams this year," stated Shannon Gaels chairman John Paul Feeley.

(Source: The Anglo-Celt)

CLARE

Herding with a modern twist is being applied in North Clare, with a farmer able to check his herd from anywhere in the world.

No more will Albert Moylan from Tubber have to rely on a telephone call or a farm-check by a neighbor as he can now be notified by text if there’s a problem back home. He can then log on to his Moominder.ie account to check on the animals.

Distance is no problem due to the ground-breaking technology developed by Albert, a small farmer and software engineer from Cloonselherne, Tubber.

The Moominder.ie system allows a farmer to be notified via text message of physiological events of each cow in the herd, such as heat detection, calving or mastitis among other problems. It is already attracting global attention.

(Source: The Clare Champion)

CORK

The ISPCA in North Cork has launched an investigation after “The Corkman” handed them over disgusting photos of dogs, at what could be a puppy farm, savaging the carcass of a dead animal.
The photos, which are believed to have been taken in recent weeks in the North Cork area, were given to the newspaper by a horrified member of the public.

The first picture clearly shows the carcass of a sheep, which appears burned down one side, that had been left in a pen with the dogs. The second picture shows two dogs, believed to be Bernese Mountain puppies, gorging off the remains of what appears to be the same sheep.

Lisa O'Donovan, ISPCA regional inspector, said that she was "absolutely disgusted" when she saw the photographs.

(Source: The Corkman)

DERRY

The Catholic Church in Derry has proposed a radical shake up of post-primary education in the city which could signal the end of academic selection, single sex schools, and the creation of two new sixth-form colleges.

The ambitious proposals are contained in a new document, “Together Towards Tomorrow,” written by Diocesan Administrator Monsignor Eamon Martin.

Martin is proposing a “family” of Catholic post-primary schools across the city working together in a new partnership towards a phased transition from academic selection. The proposals also include a “substantive change” to the shape of post-16 education in the city with the possible establishment of one or two new sixth form colleges catering for 1,800 students.

The initiative is designed to improve education provision, tackle disadvantage, and strengthen links between schools.

(Source: Derry Journal)

DONEGAL

One of Ireland’s top discount retailers, Lidl, recently gave a selection of its loyal and lucky Facebook followers the chance to shop for free in any of the chain’s large number of stores as part of a nationwide online competition.

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Nster.com