News from around the 32 Irish counties

MEATH
More than 180 new jobs are on the cards for Meath this year with the development of two new 'green industries' for the county. A proposed wood briquette production plant at Balrath, Kells, which will also include a small power station, is expected to create up to 140 jobs, 70 jobs on-site and a further 70 in transport to the facility. In the same week that this new project was revealed, work began on Panda Waste's new €21 million plant at Beauparc, which will convert waste into high grade compost and a coal sustitute, while also producing electricity. This plant is expected to employ 40 people. Shamrock Renewable Fuels Ltd, a joint venture between Farrelly Brothers of Carnaross and HDS Energy of Kells Business Park, is currently seeking planning permission for a renewable fuel plant where willow and other wood is converted into carbon neutral fuels, including wood briquettes and wood pellets.
(Source: The Meath Chronicle)

OFFALY
Offaly's crime rate has dropped by 11.3% in a year, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have revealed. The CSO released the crime figures for the final quarter of 2009 last Thursday, which revealed that the crime rate dropped by 11.3% in the Laois/Offaly Garda Division in 2009, when compared to 2008. In total 6,973 crimes were recorded in the Laois/Offaly division last year, compared to 7,866 in 2008, which represents a drop of 893 crimes. The biggest drop for the Garda division was the rate of homicide offences, which dropped by 80% last year, from five murders in Laois/Offaly in 2008 to just one during 2009.
(Source: The Offaly Independent)

ROSCOMMON
Young Oran man, Shane O’Brien has been chosen as the Lions International YoungAmbassador of the 21st Century after a nationwide competition and a grand final at the Red Cow Hotel in Dublin on Sunday night last. The eighteen-year-old was representing Roscommon Leo Club in the final and received the honor for his work on the 4U youth magazine, the 4U radio show on Rosfm and a plethora of other community and civic projects. A Leaving Cert student at Roscommon CBS, Shane is a son of Michéal and Rita O’Brien from Oran. He has worked on the 4U magazine since 2007. The quarterly publication sees 3,000 copies distributed to secondary schools throughout the county. 

(Source: The Roscommon Champion)
 
SLIGO
Twelve days early and catching his parents by surprise, Shane Filan Junior made the sort of entrance his famous dad would have been proud of. "He certainly didn't keep us waiting. He wasn't due until early February, and up until 8 p.m. last Friday there was no sign he was on his way. But an hour and a half later, he was here," Westlife's Shane said, describing the early arrival of his third child, a brother for Nicole (4) and Patrick (18 months). "There was no panic or anything like that, but we certainly weren't expecting it. Gillian started having pains at about eight o'clock, we went straight to Sligo General, and the baby was born exactly one hour and thirty-four minutes later," he explained.
(Source: The Sligo Champion)
 

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