News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

What's going on around Ireland

With the revelations in Irish media two weekends ago that the great-great-grandparents of Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate lived near Graignamanagh and were married in the parish, it has also emerged that Mr. Ryan’s uncle paid a visit to the parish back in 2010.

Bill Ryan and his wife visited the county at the time and were received informally by then-mayor Martin Brett. They also visited Rothe House and the Graignamanagh area.
[Source: Kilkenny People]

LAOIS

Laois County Council has banned gaming machines in a Portlaoise retail/industrial unit development that was recently approved for conditional planning permission.

And should the development near Portlaoise hospital proceed, contribution fees amounting to $24,062 will have to be paid.

Michael Hanley applied on December 21, 2011 for permission to construct three new retail warehousing units and one light industrial unit, and to extend car parking area and all associated works at Ballyroan, Dublin Road, Laois.

Further information was requested from the Planning Department resulting in the proposed development being changed to two new ground-floor retail warehousing units of 92 and 84 square meters as opposed to three.
[Source: Leinster Express]

LEITRIM

Bank of America has confirmed plans to cut 15 jobs at its Carrick-on-Shannon office over the next month.

In a statement issued to the Leitrim Observer last week, a spokesperson for the bank said that “following a detailed review of our operations in Carrick, Ireland, we have announced that we are planning a reduction of around 15 full time equivalent positions in the contact centre and call optimisation divisions servicing our U.K. consumer credit card business and we will be in consultation with the employees in scope over the next 30 days.”

The move comes just five months after Apollo Global Management announced it was officially beginning the process of acquiring the Irish loan book of Bank of America/MBNA. The loan books service some 200,000 customers in Ireland with a debt of around $817m.
[Source: Leitrim Observer]

LIMERICK

A young man has been arrested in connection with a “tiger kidnapping” on the outskirts of Limerick city two weekends ago.

The 19-year-old was arrested at an address in the city Thursday morning and he is being questioned at Henry Street Garda (police) station under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.

He is the second person to be arrested in connection with the alleged abduction of Stephen Cusack from a house in the Castletroy area on August 19. Stephen’s family own a post office.
[Source: Limerick Leader]

LONGFORD

Community groups likely to be affected by the refusal of over 5,000 Longford homeowners to pay the government’s controversial household charge have warned of the potentially devastating repercussions that funding cuts could have on their day-to-day activities going forward.

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Nster.com