Roadside Sales OK
INDEPENDENT councilor Gerry Ginty this week questioned the legality of roadside strawberry sellers which have popped up around the roadsides of the county in recent weeks.

At the June meeting of the Ballina electoral area Ginty said, “We have a stall selling strawberries on the side of the road. There has to be a health and safety issue, and it’s also unfair on the people who have fruit and veg business in the town and are paying rates and employing people in the town and area.”

However, Ginty was informed by the council executive that there is an exemption in legislation that allows people to sell strawberries and potatoes on the side of the road, so they are not breaking any law or regulation.

Mayo Advertiser

Topless Female Fight

TWO WOMEN have been arrested by Gardai (police) following a topless brawl in front of children.

The fight broke out on a recent morning when parents were bringing their children to schools and child-minding facilities in Doon. One eyewitness said it was like watching wrestling on television.
“It was surreal, completely unbelievable. They just went at each other.  Biting, scratching, pulling hair, kicking, everything, you name it,” said the eyewitness, who didn’t wish to be named.

As the brawl progressed on Monastery Road, near Coonagh Court housing estate, the women were in a state of undress.

“It was in the middle of the street. They were down on the ground on top off each other beating the heads off each other. The next thing the tops were pulled off each other and then a bra went flying through the air,” said the eyewitness.

“You would think that this would have stopped them – but not a bit of it, they kept at it.  It wasn’t a few slaps either, this was vicious stuff. There was blood on the ground.

“Remember now, this was at 9:15 in the morning at a time when mums and dads are bringing their little ones to school and child minders.”

The Limerick Leader understands that the two women involved, both aged in their thirties, were the best of friends but had a serious falling out in recent times.

It is believed that the incident arose following a previous altercation between two males connected to the two parties. “There were men watching them among the crowd,” the witness added.

“I don’t know who they were but they were shouting and roaring. One guy was egging one on, shouting. ‘Kill her! Kill her!’” 

Following Garda investigations two women were arrested in Doon on Monday. They were released without charge with a file to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Father Tony Ryan, Doon parish priest, said the entire community is appalled at what took place and the adverse publicity surrounding it.  He said everyone in the locality is united in “anger and sadness and grief.”

“Please God this is once-off publicity,” he added.

Limerick Leader

Patient Can’t Move
AN elderly cancer patient who cannot get in or out of her home on her mobility scooter because of vehicles parking on her doorstep has expressed frustration at the Department of Environment (DOE).

Popping out of her Lisanally Lane home to get the simplest of groceries has become a real chore for 66-year-old Virginia Farnan as drivers park on the footpath, meaning she cannot maneuver the scooter out of her home.

Farnan has had three major operations in the last five years leaving her with walking difficulties.  She was given the scooter six months ago but has had nothing but heartache since.

“Many people use this street for free parking. Only a handful of the cars are actually residents and the rest are workers or people who park here to go into the city,” she said.

“The drivers park right up on the footpath outside my door so I can't get out. If no one is parked when I'm leaving I worry the whole way home that someone will have parked outside my house while I was away and then I'll have to abandon the scooter somewhere.

“The DOE have been out to the house but say they can't do anything. They told me they can't install a drop curb because there's already one on at the top of the street.

“They say they can't make me a disabled car parking bay because I don't own a car.

"Even getting milk has become such a task and it's very frustrating. I'm worried I will hit someone's car and it's not like I can go around and ask the owner to move the car because it's not my neighbor's car.

“A sign could be put up to say 'Residents Only.’”

The Ulster Gazette

The Cost of Dying

CARRICKFERGUS is one of the most expensive places to get buried in Northern Ireland, according to a new survey published by the trade union GMB.

The union said the survey showed that Carrick Council charges £524 for a burial in a graveyard and £100 for a cremation, which puts the council in the top four most expensive councils for burial charges.

This compares with the cheapest place in Northern Ireland to get buried, Dungannon Council, which charges just £190 for burial in a graveyard and £45 for cremation. Next cheapest is Omagh Council which charges £245 for a burial.

At the very top of the list is Lisburn Council which charges £822 for a burial and £87 for a cremation for residents who die and are interred in the area. This is the highest burial charges in a council in Northern Ireland.

Belfast charges £645 for a burial and £636 for a cremation.

Carrickfergus Advertiser

Dangerous Dancing
A WOMAN who allegedly fell on a wet floor while dancing at a Dublin nightclub with a work colleague has sued for damages.

Ciara O'Connell was allegedly dancing backwards to a song by Shakira in a style from the film Dirty Dancing when the accident happened at Copper Face Jacks on Harcourt Street, the High Court heard.

O'Connell, 33, of Tallaght, Co. Dublin, denied she was engaged in reckless dancing. She had to have two operations following the accident in the early hours of August 4, 2006, and has been left with scarring, the court heard.

Copper Face Jacks denies her claims and says she was engaged in dangerous and reckless dancing with her work colleague, Noel Humphries.

She has claimed Humphries slipped on the floor which she alleged was wet and fell onto her causing her to fall to the ground.

O'Connell said the dispute in the case is whether the floor in the nightclub was wet or not.
O'Connell told the court she and her work colleagues were on a night out and had met for a drink before going to the nightclub.

She said they were dancing in a group when Humphries fell on top of her and she fell with her arm bent at a strange angle.  She said she was just dancing and having a good night out with colleagues.

Humphries later told her he had slipped and he had pulled her down, she said. Her colleagues told her the floor was wet but she did not recall if it was.

When counsel for the club put it to O'Connell that she had been dancing in a Dirty Dancing manner, and that Humphries had leaned back too far and fell over, O'Connell said it felt like he had slipped.

"I could not say why he fell," she said. Nobody suggested to her she was dancing in a reckless manner, she said.
The case continues.

Irish Independent