Weekly news from around the 32 counties of Ireland

A bundle of joy was born in the back of a BMW during Dublin's rush hour traffic last Thursday. The boy was delivered by his doctor father on the Navan Road. Razan Alresai (22), who is living in Clonsilla but originally from Syria, is the proud mother after the newborn's dramatic arrival six days late. Razan went into labor with her second child at 5.50pm, just a half-an-hour after she started to get labor pains. She then started to give birth in the car after being held up on the gridlocked road. Her husband, Dr Wissam Alsahli (30), was taking her to Holles Street hospital as a precaution, but as soon as he realized his wife was giving birth he rang emergency services to raise the alarm. "When my wife said she was feeling that maybe the head is down there, I had to stop the car. The road was full of cars. No one would move. I had my emergency lights on and I was beeping the horn to try to get people to move but it was a complete gridlock."

(Source: The Evening Herald)

 

FERMANAGH

Enniskillen looks set to benefit from the arrival of a new international hotel. The first Ibis hotel in the North opened this week, and at the opening it was indicated by its chairman and chief executive of its local franchisee, Lord Diljit Rana that he is looking to extend the chain across a number of locations, including Fermanagh. No timescale has been set to date, but the county's tourism potential and it's pulling power as a major cross-border retail destination could prove decisive in attracting the international hotel chain.

(Source: The Fermanagh Herald)

 

GALWAY

Four Galway music venues have been nominated for the prestigious IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Award. Campbells Tavern in Headford was included in the shortlist for the Connaught title, alongside The Crane Bar, Town Hall Theatre and Roisin Dubh. The final nomination in the category went to the Royal Theatre and Event Centre in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The awards recognize Irish venues that provide the highest standards in live music entertainment.

(Source: Galway Independent)

 

KERRY

A youth café in North Kerry that provides teenagers with a safe place to socialize is facing closure due to a lack of State funding after barely over a year in operation. The X-Istance Youth Café in Listowel was opened in August of last year as part of a major push by local development company, North and East Kerry Development in partnership with the Kerry Diocesan Youth Service to address spiraling drug use in the region among other youth issues. Amid growing drink and drug abuse by young people across the county, the café was seen as a significant step to providing teenagers with a safe and healthy place in which to meet.

​
Nster.com