News from around the 32 counties of Ireland

Louth

Louth County Councilors made 110 trips to conferences in the past 13 months, new information released by Louth County Council has revealed. A breakdown of which councilors attended which conferences has been released which shows that 14 members of the 26 person council (including Senator James Carroll) made trips since the last local elections in August 2009.
(Source: Dundalk Democrat)

Mayo

A Ballina man who went into Ballina social welfare office to claim the dole bizarrely ended up sprinkling petrol in the foyer because his payment was late on Tuesday last week. The man had tried to get his welfare claim and when he was told there was a delay he became irate and poured the flammable liquid inside the office.

The man believed to be in his 50s left the office without lighting the liquid and sat outside until the gardai arrived at the scene.
(Source: The Mayo News)

Meath

Gardai estimate a crowd of 10,000 attended the rally in support of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign last Saturday. The rally was protesting at the continued downgrading and stripping of services at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. The march took a route from the Trim Road, down by the Fair Green and Church Hill, up Ludlow Street and Trimgate Street to Brews Hill. There was a 25 minute stream between the beginning and the end of the march.
(Source: The Meath Chronicle)

Offaly

The Byrne brothers walked free last week after both were cleared at the Central Criminal Court of murdering cattle farmer Edward Dempsey in a row over a stray animal. Daniel-Joseph 'DJ' Byrne was acquitted last Friday, while his younger brother Jason was acquitted last Wednesday by unanimous verdict. Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charge. The jury of ten men and two women returned their verdict on DJ Byrne just after 4pm last Friday, after almost 11 hours of deliberations.
(Source: Offaly Express)

Roscommon

Plans for a new six-screen cinema in Roscommon town may be delayed until December, but are to definitely go ahead. John Earley of Property Partners Earley, Roscommon has rubbished claims made by the Roscommon Cinema Committee that it was unlikely that plans for the cinema would come to fruition. In a statement issued by two members of the committee they said that” the multimillion euro venture quite frankly looks like never happening”.
(Source: The Roscommon Champion)

Sligo

Over 1,100 people in Sligo last weekend signed invitations asking Minister for Health Mary Harney to come to Sligo to explain her long-term policies for the region's health services. The invitation day was organized by Susan O'Keeffe, Labour candidate for Sligo North Leitrim. In O'Connell Street last weekend in just two hours over 950 people queued to sign the letter of invitation. The letter read: “We have no idea what the plan is for Sligo or the wider region. I am asking you to come to Sligo in person to talk to us about the future of our hospitals”.
(Source: The Sligo Weekender)

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