News from around the 32 counties of Ireland

Galway

A devastating fire in one of the county’s most renowned bakeries destroyed part of the plant which employs ten people.

Luckily, nobody was injured in the blaze at the Foods of Athenry bakery at Oldcastle, Kilconieron, five miles outside the town of Athenry.

It is thought to have begun at about 10am last Wednesday after the morning’s produce had left for deliveries.

Four units of the fire brigade fought the blaze, which took over part of the converted agricultural buildings.

At one stage the fire crews were unable to enter the buildings because of the heat inside.

Speaking to the Connacht Tribune as two extra units of the fire brigade had just arrived, owner Paul Lawless was distraught. “It’s devastating,” he said.?He said he did not know w?hat had caused the fire. It was “way too early” to speculate when the bakery might be back operating.?“The wheat side of it is destroyed, the gluten-free side isn’t. The dispatch area is gone but that’s cosmetic. We’re salvaging what we can,” he said.

The artisan food business was set up by Paul and his wife Siobhan in a converted bicycle shed in 2000. The family looked to diversify from dairy farming after struggling to raise a family of five on a small milk quota.
(Source: GalwayBay Fm)

Kerry

A small group of protesters have met the Taoiseach in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, last week where he opened the constituency office of Patrick O'Donovan, Fine Gael TD for Limerick.

Parents from schools in Tarbert, Ardfert and Lauragh in Co Kerry, complained to him they have no school buses to service the schools in their area.

The Taoiseach engaged with them and explained that all of CIÉ's costs, including those of school buses, are to be examined to see where savings could be made.
 (Source: Irish Times)

Kildare

During the Derby Festival a number of cars had their windows smashed in the Newbridge area.

Sergeant Seamus Rothwell told the Kildare Nationalist that five vehicles had their windows broken overnight in the Ballymany public car park in the early hours of Sunday 27 June. In all of the cases the passenger windows were targeted and in one case two windows in the car were broken.

Property is believed to have been taken from one car. Policeí are now appealing to anyone who passed between Ballymany and Curragh Racecourse between 10pm on Saturday 26 June and 6am on Sunday 27 June and who saw anything suspicious to contact them.

Also on the same night, cars parked on the Green Road area of Newbridge were targeted by culprits who checked to see if the vehicles were unlocked. All of the cars in the Beechmount area were checked. One car had a Blaupunkt car stereo taken from it. They also tried several other cars in the Rathcurragh Estate. The owners found the cars with their doors open and evidence that they had been searched and rifled through.

Sgt Rothwell said that some people may not be aware their cars were searched. “Our advice is to lock up your cars at night. We believe quite a number of cars were tried this way and searched and not all the owners would know,” he said.
(Source: The Kildare Nationalist)

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