News from around the Irish counties

(Source: The Kilkenny People)

LAOIS

Union officials and management at Dawn Meats were at loggerheads last week over a redundancy package for Rathdowney workers that may end up in the Labor Court.

One hundred jobs at the Meadow Meats plant in Rathdowney are to be lost next month, as Dawn Meats has decided to amalgamate its boning operations with its plant in Grannagh in Waterford. All workers have been given the option of either redundancy packages or relocation to Waterford. SIPTU branch organizer Miriam Hamilton said agreement had been reached on the conditions of relocation, but they had failed to come to agreement for redundancy payment for workers who did not wish to move to Waterford.

(Source: The Laois Nationalist)

LEITRIM

Concerns have been raised about the future of farming in County Leitrim with falling farm incomes, rising costs and debt burdens and an aging farmer profile. That's the message coming from farming representatives in County Leitrim following the release of the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2008 last week. IFA Regional Development Officer Adrian Leddy, said the recent survey "showed very clearly how low incomes are in Co Leitrim, particularly in the drystock cattle and sheep sectors".

(Source: The Leitrim Observer)

LIMERICK

Nearly five kilos of cocaine valued at approximately €350,000 was seized during a garda (Irish police) raid in a new housing estate in Murroe last Tuesday night. One man was arrested following the raid. The find was the result of weeks of garda and drugs squad surveillance and house searches in the Murroe area led by Superintendant Tom Lundon, of Bruff Garda Division. "We estimate that the cocaine was valued at about €350,000, but we haven't done an analysis yet to determine its purity," Supt Lundon said. Gardai believe that the drugs were intended for distribution in Limerick city.

(Source: The Limerick Leader)

LONGFORD

Longford has the most efficient sewage treatment system in the country, according to an upbeat report released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A study of “Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland” between 2006 and 2007 found Longford County Council was the only local authority to have complied with the conditions of an EU urban waste water treatment directive.

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Nster.com