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DOWN

The mother of a child who died in a Belfast hospital in 1996 has broken down while giving evidence at the public inquiry into the girl's death.

Jennifer Roberts' nine-year-old daughter, Claire, died in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

She is one of five children whose deaths are being examined by the hyponatraemia inquiry in County Down.

During her testimony last Thursday, Mrs. Roberts became extremely emotional and had to leave the witness stand.

She had been recounting to the inquiry how, at the time of Claire's death 16 years ago, she and her husband were told their daughter had died from a viral infection.
[Source: BBC News]

DUBLIN

Tributes have been paid to a Dublin dad-of-three who dropped dead in front of his wife after energetically performing the popular “Gangnam-style” dance.

Eamonn Kilbride (46) was celebrating with colleagues at their Christmas party in Blackburn, in England, when he suddenly suffered a heart attack Saturday, December 8.

The Dubliner had performed the vigorous dance moves from the well-known Korean music video just moments before he collapsed with chest pains.
[Source: Evening Herald]

FERMANAGH

Fly tippers beware.

That’s the stern warning from Fermanagh District Council this week following news that, over the past 12 months, refuse staff had to remove 260 illegal items, including advertising banners.

Gerry Knox, the council’s director of technical services, said the removal operation was very time-consuming, and costly.

“It’s something we have to keep at because there were some persistent offenders. You get a lot of advertising for business, which is for personal gain, and that is not permitted, somebody running a shop sale for example.”
[Source: Fermanagh Herald]

GALWAY

Members of the “Tribes of Galway” living in the U.S. are being invited to compete in an oyster eating competition as part of The Gathering 2013.

So far, 74 gatherings within the county have been registered on The Gathering website since it launched 10 weeks ago.

One of the biggest events is the Tribal Shuck-Off event on Sunday, September 29, as part of the yearly seafood festival.

Entry is open to those with a link to one of the 14 “Tribes of Galway,” the merchant families that drove Galway’s prosperity from the mid-13th century to the 19th century – Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Ffont, Ffrench, Joyes, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris and Skerrett.
[Source: Galway Bay FM]

KERRY

Not for the first time the twin issues of emigration and rural depopulation have been highlighted at a county convention, with Kerry chairman Patrick O’Sullivan citing the example of Coláiste Na Sceilge, who just three years ago won an All-Ireland colleges football title.

“In the past few years the number of students attending Coláiste Na Sceilge has fallen dramatically,” said O’Sullivan, “an indication of the serious affect rural depopulation is having in south Kerry.

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Nster.com