ANTRIM

Belfast International Airport has slammed Aer Lingus for allegedly failing to give an “explanation that makes sense” over its decision to shift its services away from Aldergrove later this year.

The comments come after the airline confirmed that from this autumn, its operations at BIA would move to George Best Belfast City Airport.

While BIA conceded that it was “aware” talks had been going on between Aer Lingus and the City Airport for “quite some time,” it said that it was yet to receive the explanation it had asked for.
[Source: Antrim Guardian]

ARMAGH

Newry and Mourne District Council has received an earmarked first-round pass of $1.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its Landscape Partnership (LP) program for the Ring of Gullion project, it was announced last Tuesday. The project aims to conserve built and natural heritage, increase community participation in local heritage, and increase access to and learning about the landscape and its heritage.

Development funding of $9,700 has also been awarded to help Newry and Mourne District Council progress their plans to apply for a full grant at a later date.
[Source: Examiner Newspaper]

CARLOW

Four suspected members of a group believed to be responsible for some of the most high-profile crimes in the southeast over the last two years were brought before Carlow District Court two weeks ago.

A total of seven men were arrested by Gardaí (police) two weeks ago as part of an intelligence-led investigation into the activities of organized groups, which are believed to be responsible for more than 70 crimes committed in Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford over the past 12 months.

Gardaí said the crimes include aggravated burglary, armed robbery, ATM robberies, attempted ATM theft, unauthorized taking of vehicles, theft of plant machinery and criminal damage.
[Source: Carlow Nationalist]

CAVAN

A Cavan-born judge has been appointed to the hearing of cases involving several high-profile former Anglo Irish bank executives brought before the Criminal Courts in Dublin in recent days.

Cormac Dunne from Cavan town was present when, last Monday, former Anglo Irish Bank finance director, Willie McAteer, and the bank's former managing director for Ireland, Patrick Whelan, were charged, and again last Tuesday, when former Anglo Irish Bank chairman and chief executive Sean FitzPatrick was brought before the court.

All three men face fraud charges relating to giving unlawful financial assistance to 16 named individuals, including Ballyconnell businessman Sean Quinn and his family, in connection with the purchase of shares in the then Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Plc, now the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).
[Source: The Anglo Celt]

CLARE

Clare County Councilors have reacted angrily to the fact the council may have to pay $1,230 for the removal of telephone kiosks, which have been labeled as “magnets for anti-social behavior.”

Two North Clare councilors last week requested that Clare County Council ask Eircom to remove telephone kiosks in Lahinch, which Councilor Bill Slattery claimed “are being used as public toilets and for other anti-social activity.”

The phone-boxes are located on Main Street and at the Liscannor Road Junction in the resort town. “It is obvious that the kiosks are not being used,” Councilor Richard Nagle stated. “Everyone has a mobile phone now.”
[Source: Clare Champion]

CORK

There is four times as much oil off the coast of Cork at Barryroe than was originally thought, a discovery warmly welcomed by business leaders in Cork after the announcement last Wednesday.

Studies carried out in March this year show that there is between one and 1.6 billion barrels of oil at the oil field, four times as much was originally expected.

While the actual retrievable amount of barrels of oil will be dependent on drilling, production and other costs, there is still expected to be significant amounts entering the millions.
[Source: Cork Independent]

DERRY

The number of couples getting married in Derry is on the rise, new figures reveal.

Provisional figures just released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) reveal there were 527 marriages in Derry in 2011 with civil ceremonies accounting for almost one third (31%) of all marriages in the city last year.

In 2010, a total of 460 marriages took place in the city.

The latest figures further show that the average age of brides and grooms has come down for the first time since 2005.
[Source: Derry Journal]

DONEGAL

A link to our local heritage was unearthed recently with the discovery of a number of partially-completed millwheels.

The hand-carved stone wheels were found in a bog land area near Creeslough by local hill walkers. This area was where the wheels would have been manufactured many years ago.

The important local history site is where skilled masons travelled to this area of flat-faced granite rock slabs where they marked out the circle and painstakingly chiselled the rugged face until it revealed the wheel outline.

Some of the slabs discovered are still in this uncompleted state.
[Source: Donegal Democrat]

DOWN

The owner of a filling station in County Down has spoken of his frustration after fuel worth $12,300 was stolen.

John McCormick, who runs a garage in Crawfordsburn, said he had been left out of pocket after thieves made off with 7,000 liters of diesel.

He has appealed to the public to be vigilant.

It is understood to be only the second time in NI that a filling station has been targeted in such a crime.
[Source: BBC News]

DUBLIN

A Dublin mom has told of how her son survived a near-drowning accident at the National Aquatic Centre – one year before a four-year-old tot drowned in the same pool.

On the day that tragic Logan Joyce (4) was buried, mom Denise Mahon spoke out about the similarities between his death and the “secondary drowning” of her son Callum (8).

Callum's accident is now to be included into the wider investigation taking place into Logan's tragic death at the popular family center on July 22.
[Source: Evening Herald]

FERMANAGH

The leader of the St. Michael’s Scout Band, which has been a long-standing fixture at Ulster football championship matches and at Ulster finals in Clones, has stood down to make way for a younger person.

On July 22, Bernard O’Connor (70) led the band for the very last time, at the Ulster final between Donegal and Down.

At the start of the year, he had informed the Ulster Council that 2012 would be his last year as leader and, to his surprise, when he opened the match program, he came across a full page headed: “A Tribute to Bernard O’Connor.”
[Source: Fermanagh Herald]

GALWAY

The price of a pint – that’s what a North Galway man has been asked to pay back on a $102,000 debt to Bank of Scotland . . . and it will take him 400 years before it is paid off.

The debtor from Ballyglunin told Tuam Civil Court that the banks pressurized him to borrow almost $6.2 million and still owed them $4.3 million.

However, the court last week was dealing with a debt of $102,000 owed to Bank of Scotland who was seeking an installment order of $1,230 per month. However, they fell considerably short of what they were demanding.

It will take just short of 400 years to pay off this debt but Judge Geoffrey Browne said the bank would be around for a long time.
[Source: Galway Bay FM]

KERRY

It was a dark and stormy night when Amy Winehouse performed at Other Voices – last Monday, a year after her death, producer Philip King remembers her visit.

When singers, musicians and artists make the journey west to Dingle to sing and play at Other Voices, they find themselves in a place that is between worlds at the edge of a continent, a place of exceptional physical beauty that they find inspirational. West Kerry has its own language and accent, a rich literature and a living music.

The itinerant musician and troubadour, weary from the impossible way of life that is the road, sense that here is a haven and good place to sing a song, to lay down a weary tune, a good place to rock and to roll.
[Source: Irish Times]

KILDARE

The locations for the wind farms in Co. Kildare which will form part of the $10 billion investment project announced two weeks ago have yet to be identified.

Element Power say that their Greenwire project will see 40 new wind farms constructed in the midland counties of Kildare, Meath, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly which will channel energy to the UK market via dedicated sub-sea cables. It says the initiative will create 3,000 long-term jobs and as many as 10,000 jobs in the construction phase.
[Source: Kildare Nationalist]

KILKENNY

An Irish boy of 11 who flew to Rome by himself without a passport or boarding pass said that no member of staff asked him for any information.

Liam Corcoran said he was not asked for any documentation as he made his way onto the Jet2.com flight at Manchester Airport just days before the Olympic Games gets under way.

The Kilkenny youngster had wandered away from his mother during a shopping trip in Wythenshawe last Tuesday before travelling a few miles to the airport on a bus after finding a ticket on the floor. Liam told The Sun newspaper that he needed the toilet so decided to head into Terminal 1 of the transport hub – which has been welcoming athletes in the run-up to the Games. He said he walked through a body scanner and metal detector, but his lack of documents was not noticed by staff.
[Source: Kilkenny People]

LAOIS

A podium dancer in a Portlaoise night club had to curl up into a ball to protect herself from an assault by two women, which was committed after one of the women was asked to desist dancing on the podium next to the injured party.

Louise McStay, Pallas, Ballyfin Road, Portlaoise, and Shelly Delaney, Carlow Road, Stradbally, committed the assault at Egans Nite Club, Main Street, Portlaoise, on September 25 last year.

Inspector Martin Harrington gave evidence that the injured party was kicked while she was on the ground and suffered bruising to her back and legs.
[Source: Leinster Express]

LEITRIM

The county saw one of this summer’s rare sunny days July 20 as the Minister of State with responsibility for Sports and Tourism, Michael Ring, made a special visit to Ballinamore to officially open the town’s newly-extended canal sidewalk/cycle-way.

The project was completed a number of months ago and has already proven hugely popular with local residents and tourists alike but the official opening that Friday could not have been timed better with local walker and Olympian Colin Griffin in attendance. Colin was instrumental in developing the idea for the walkway and he told the crowd gathered at Lock 5 how proud he was to see the new amenity become a reality in his hometown.
[Source: Leitrim Observer]

LIMERICK

An old-aged pensioner who violently confronted security staff at Colbert Station with a knife has been told he will go to prison if he does not stay away from Limerick.

Anthony Goodman (67) of Charlemont Terrace, Wellington Road, Cork City pleaded guilty at Limerick District Court to producing the weapon during an incident last June 23.

Insp. Seamus Ruane said Gardaí (police) were alerted to a disturbance at Colbert Station at around 3:20 p.m. and that the defendant was apprehended in the Wickham Street a short time later.

He told the court that Goodman, who was known to the security staff, was later identified on CCTV.
[Source: Limerick Leader]

LONGFORD

Senior Gardaí (police) along the Longford and Roscommon border have launched an investigation into an elaborate scam by a gang masquerading as collectors for Ireland’s top seeded boxer in the upcoming Olympics, John Joe Nevin.

It is believed that thousands of euros may have been gathered in a bogus fundraising collection which duped numerous homeowners in parts of Longford and Roscommon.

The Leader understands three women, believed to be from the Mullingar area, targeted homes in the Lanesboro and Ballyleague area in recent weeks purporting to be fundraising for the Westmeath boxer. However Gardaí have established that this is not the case and that Mr. Nevin is not benefitting from the so-called collection.
[Source: Longford Leader]

LOUTH

Nuala Kennedy is a celebrated traditional Irish musician and internationally acclaimed flute player and singer from Dundalk, Co. Louth

On August 4 she will be headlining the Spirit Store as part of her European tour.

Touted as “spellbinding” and “a delight” by the Irish Times, her live performances inspired her return to the studio to record Noble Stranger, a road-tested collection of innovative originals and traditional songs recorded in Scotland with her touring band.

Kennedy uses her traditional music background as a springboard for the new album which offers a 12-song set on which her adventurous instrumentation and progressive arrangements shine.
[Source: Dundalk Democrat]


MEATH

Members of the Skryne GAA Club and the entire community of the area are anxiously awaiting the latest reports from New York about the condition of a young local player who suffered serious injuries during a savage attack on her in a New York street.

Alisha Jordan (21) was in hospital awaiting surgery last Friday for serious injuries, which included broken teeth, a broken nose and crushing of her skull.

Her mother, Ailish, and sister, Colleen, have flown out to New York to be with Alisha.
[Source: Meath Chronicle]

MONAGHAN

Three people are in hospital in Co. Louth after a road accident in Co. Monaghan last Monday night.
It happened after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a tree at Mahercross on the Carrickmacross to Drumconrath road at around 10:40 p.m.

All three were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment, where one male is said to be in a serious condition.
[Source: Irish Examiner]

OFFALY

Bord na Móna made loss before tax of $3.6m for the year ending March 2012, it was announced last Monday.

The company saw a marginal increase in total revenue, but EBITDA was down by 15.9% to $75.1m from $89.3m.

Bord na Móna blamed this on the prolonged closure of West Offaly Power Station while a refit was being carried out, and reduced fuel sales resulting from a mild winter.

There was also significant non-cash impairment to the company’s resource recovery business of $29m.
[Source: Irish Examiner]

ROSCOMMON

The chief executive of the Roscommon Herald newspaper has initiated High Court proceedings aimed at restraining his dismissal.

Lawyers for Brian Nerney secured permission from the High Court last Tuesday to serve injunction proceedings against Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd. at short notice.

Ms. Justice Mary Laffoy made the application returnable to July 25. The application for short service of the proceedings was made ex-parte (one side only represented). In his action, Mr. Nerney, Carrick Road, Boyle, Co. Roscommon is seeking orders including one restraining TCH Ltd. from terminating his contract.
[Source: Irish Times]

SLIGO

Veteran Sligo newsman Tommie Gorman has spoken of his toughest ever assignment and how the grueling eight-week Michaela McAreavey murder trial in Mauritius affected both himself and the bereaved families. .

In an in-depth interview with The Sligo Champion, RTE's Northern Editor tells how he was taken aback by the “distinct lack of taste” with which some aspects of the controversial trial was conducted; the palpable sense of pain and sadness endured by the McAreavey and Harte families; the “frightening mini-riot” which erupted at the announcement of the “not guilty” verdicts, and his own difficulties in being so far away from loved ones for so long. "It was by far the most difficult job I have ever done. There was no escaping the intensity of it, the sheer sadness of it, the unfairness of it. You would find yourself dreaming about it at night," Mr. Gorman revealed.
[Source: Sligo Champion]

TIPPERARY

Three members of Thurles Town Council, along with members of Thurles Hospital Action Committee, handed in a petition at Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament) signed by 8,548 people calling for the restoration of 22 beds in the Hospital of the Assumption.

The figure from the petition did not include the 5,000 names already gathered in a previous petition, making a total of over 13,000 who are against closing beds at the community facility.
[Source: Tipperary Star]

TYRONE

Dungannon Borough Council is bottom of the heap when it comes to dealing with littering issues, the Courier has learned.

According to recent figures, only two Fixed Penalty Notices were issued in the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough over the course of one year, placing them second last in a list of council littering policies. Only in Strabane were less Fixed Penalty Notices for littering issued . . . it had none for the year.

The Courier has published several stories in the past dealing with the scale of littering in the Dungannon borough and the latest figures for litter notices makes for grim reading.
[Source: Tyrone Courier]

WATERFORD

Neighborly concern led Gardaí (police) to discover an elaborate cannabis growing facility in the bedrooms of a house at 29 Elm Park, Tramore and a second cannabis factory at a second residence in the town.

Two bedrooms had been taken over by the harvesting of the drugs, with plants in various stages of growth and cannabis drying out on hangers in the wardrobe, while ready to use cannabis was also located in jars.
[Source: Waterford News & Star]

WESTMEATH

The Bishop of Elphin Christopher Jones had come out strongly against cohabiting couples last week, saying that it brings children into an "unstable environment" where the couple are unwilling to commit themselves to marriage.

The bishop made the controversial comments at a marriage jubilee celebration in Saints Peter and Paul's Church, Athlone, on July 22 attended by hundreds of people, including a large number of married couples from all over the diocese and their families.
[Source: Westmeath Independent]

WEXFORD

A man has appeared before Gorey District Court on a number of charges relating to a fatal crash in Courtown Harbor on June 15.

Paul Byrne (19) with an address at Ballinatray, Courtown was arrested on Tuesday, July 24 by Gardaí (police) in Gorey and later charged. He appeared in court last Wednesday before Judge Gerard Haughton where he was formally charged with a number of offenses relating to the June 15 crash in which another 19-year-old man lost his life when the jeep he was in broke through a wall and into the harbor at Courtown.
[Source: Wexford Echo]

WICKLOW

Four-time women's world boxing champion Katie Taylor was Ireland's flag bearer at the London 2012 opening ceremony.

The 26-year-old from Bray, County Wicklow, carried the Irish tricolor in front of Team Ireland at the ceremony which took place last Friday night.

As well as her world titles, Taylor has won five European titles, four EU titles and is an Ireland international footballer.
[Source: Belfast Telegraph]