Antrim

The streets of Antrim echoed to the sound of more than 8,000 pairs of feet as more than 70 Lodges from the East Antrim Combine's nine Districts joined the colourful parade through the town.

At the stroke of 11am the procession started in brilliant sunshine with the clattering of hooves as King William of Orange, flanked by the North Irish Dragoons, moved off from Fountain Hill at the head of Antrim's biggest ever Twelfth of July parade.

Within minutes drums, flutes, bagpipes and brass joined in the mix, along with cheers from the huge crowds that lined the route through the heart of the town.

Among them were visitors from all over the UK and further afield, accompanied by 60 bands from Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

(Source:Antrim Guardian)

Armagh

UCD student Natasha McShane, who suffered serious head injuries after being attacked with a baseball bat in Chicago, has returned home to Ireland.

The 23-year-old postgraduate student from Silverbridge in South Armagh was celebrating with a friend, Stacey Jurich (24), when they were attacked last April.

Ms McShane had secured an internship which meant she could prolong her stay in the US city where she had been studying for the semester.

Ms McShane was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where she will undergo a crainioplasty procedure under the care of renowned trauma-surgeon Dr Tom Flannery. Following her recuperation, she will continue her rehabilitation programme in a nearby specialised unit.

(Source:Irish Times)

Carlow


Three accidents at the same bend little more than 24 hours apart have left residents at Crossneen, Carlow terrified that someone will be killed outside their homes.

The accidents happened just hours apart last Thursday/Friday, smashing into the front wall of two neighbouring houses and writing off four cars.

The treacherous bend is located at the end of the row of bungalows on the road from Graiguecullen to Milford, a stretch used by large volumes of traffic.

Luckily no-one was seriously injured in the accidents but residents warn that it’s only a matter of time before the dangerous bends could claim lives.

“There is a serious ongoing danger to life here,” said resident Rosaleen Kearns, whose wall was damaged in both the first and the third accident.

(Source:Carlow Nationalist)

Cavan

A Cavan man who was found guilty of the murder of a 33-year-old father of one was sentenced to life in prison in the Central Criminal Court on Monday, July 12.

Trevor McCabe (35), of Mountpleasant, Ballyconnell, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Darren McGrath (33), in Belturbet, on May 20, 2008.

Last week, the accused was found guilty of the murder of Mr.. McGrath by a jury of eight women and four men, who reached their majority verdict of 10-2 after almost eight hours of deliberation.

It was the prosecution's case that Mr. McCabe shot Mr. McGrath as he slept in bed beside his fiance. They said Mr. McCabe entered the house with a shotgun at approximately 5am, shot Mr. McGrath twice in the head, and then drove away.

(Source:The Anglo Celt)

Clare

Five weeks after they were spirited away at dawn, the Kilkee diving boards at Newfoundout in the West End, have been returned to their former plinths.

Clare County Council put the boards back in place on Tuesday morning at 7am. The only significant difference is the presence of new signs at the location and a new handrail, which is situated between the upper and lower boards.

Both boards were removed by the local authority for health and safety reasons before being temporarily restored for the duration of an Irish Water Safety risk assessment report, only to be taken down again.

Acting Kilkee town manager Nora Kaye, who informed the monthly meeting of Kilkee Town Council on June 8 that the boards were to be removed, has acknowledged that the health and safety audit should ideally have been carried out last September, before the boards were taken down for the winter.

(Source:The Clare Champion)

Cork


A man arrested in Darwin in connection with an attack on Cork man David Keohane will appear in court early tomorrow morning.


New Zealander Kane Desmond Tupuolamoui, aged 21, was arrested in Darwin yesterday and brought before a local court early today, where his extradition to Sydney was approved by a magistrate.

He was flown to Sydney this afternoon, Irish time, and was due before a local court early tomorrow, Irish time.
According to New South Wales police, he will be charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder David Keohane at Coogee, Sydney, at about 3am on August 9, 2008.

The 30-year-old from Ballyvolane is currently wheelchair-bound after receiving head injuries in the incident.

(Source:BreakingNews.ie)

Derry

The team behind the City of Culture bid were on cloud nine last night as the news swept across the Guildhall's main room that we had won the title.

Oonagh McGillion, who has spearheaded the bid on behalf of Derry City Council, said the result was fantastic.

"Words cannot describe how we are feeling at the minute," she said. "The sense of joy and feeling so proud of the people in the city and anticipation of what this will do for the city and the region.

"It started last September when we went to an information seminar. At that stage we submitted the proposal and got positive feedback. We could tell they were impressed and it was about getting the city and all of Northern Ireland behind the campaign and making sure the city was happy to do it.

(Source:The Derry Journal)

Donegal

More heartbroken parents, shattered families and grief-stricken parishioners will unite in grief to bury four more victims of Sunday night's horrific road crash in Inishowen.

It should have been a day of celebration for one of the victims, but instead it is a day of sadness and great mourning.

Ballyliffin's Paul Doherty should have been celebrating his 20th birthday. Instead his mum and dad will be doing something no parent should be faced with - burying their child.

The parents and families of Eamonn McDaid, aged 22, of Cruckaheeney, Ballymagan, Buncrana, Ciaran Sweeney, aged 19 of Ballyliffin and Damien McLaughlin, aged 21 of Umricam, Buncrana, will also bury their sons.

(Source:Donegal Democrat)

Down

The Police Service of Northern Ireland seized £500,000 worth of cannabis plants in a raid on a cannabis factory in Co Down.

Detectives from the Organised Crime Branch uncovered and shut down the factory on the Newtownards Road in Bangor.

Heating and lighting equipment used in hydroponics cannabis growth was also seized.

Police removed the plants and equipment from the premises for examination.

(Source:Irish Times)

Dublin

A humpback whale has been spotted in waters off Howth, north Co Dublin.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said it was the first sighting of a humpback in the eastern Irish Sea in almost 20 years.

The mammal, which tends to have a preference for shallow coastal waters according to Pádraig Whooley, sightings co-ordinator with the group, is believed to be sub-adult “or a teenager in human terms”.

The mammal was photographed within metres of the Cardinal marker off Howth Head, between Ireland’s Eye and Howth harbour.

The photographer, Sean Pierce of Shearwater Sea kayaking, said: “It stayed around Cardinal Mark off Howth for over two hours. [It] just seemed to be lolling about pushing head into trailing weed and perhaps scratching itself.”

(Source:Irish Times)

Fermanagh


The son of a man killed in the IRA's notorious Poppy Day bombing has demanded to know why a memorial to the victims has still not been reinstated - six weeks after a Government watchdog ruled it was wrongly removed.

Stephen Gault, whose father Samuel was one of 11 people who died in the Remembrance Day attack at the cenotaph in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in 1987, has now launched a public campaign to get the photographic tribute back on the wall of the town's fire station.

The montage of the victims was controversially taken down only days before the 20th anniversary of the atrocity in 2007. In May this year the decision by the NI Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) - taken after an anonymous complaint about the picture from a member of staff - was found to be "ill considered" by Northern Ireland Ombudsman Tom Frawley.

(Source: Irish Independent)

Galway


The on-street festival atmosphere that characterises Galway Race Week is set to be extended to West side of the city this year after a group of publicans succeeded in applying to have Dominick Street temporarily pedestrianised during the Races.

A stage for musical entertainment is to be erected outside Monroe’s Tavern as Dominick Street closes to traffic from 7pm to 2am between July 29 and August 1.

A glass exclusion zone will be enforced between Lower Dominick Street and Henry Street in the same manner as has been successfully implemented throughout much of the city centre in the last two years.

(Source:Galway News)

Kerry

Tralee’s first  gold medal at the International Children’s Games the world’s largest multi-sport youth event for 12- to 15- year-olds, held this month in Bahrain, has boosted plans in Kerry to host the games in 2015.

The ICG which now attracts up to 1,800 participants in sports ranging from athletics to swimming, and against a backdrop of historical and scenic visits, has a growing international reputation, but is little known in Ireland.

Eoin O’Carroll (15), Caherleen, Tralee, a member of Tralee Harriers Athletic club, took gold in the long jump in the Gulf state with a personal best of 6.65 metres – competing in the relay final in between jumps.

Eoin who also reached the final in Athens last year, but was forced out due to injury, said the games were “a brilliant experience”.

(Source:Irish Times)

Kildare


An armed robbery in Athy on Saturday ended in high drama when two gardaí from the local station chased the raider and disarmed him of the handgun he was carrying.

Staff at Perry’s supermarket were terrified on Saturday afternoon when the lone raider, with his head covered by a balaclava, entered the store wielding the gun.

“He threatened the girl at the till and demanded money,” Sergeant Pat Slater of Athy garda station told the Kildare Nationalist.

The man then took a sum of money and ran out of the shop but, having received a call, two gardaí from the nearby station quickly gave chase on foot.

“They followed him to an area of scrubland which is located behind the local scout den,” said Sgt Slater, adding that the two gardaí then managed to disarm the man and recover the money.

(Source:Kildare Nationalist)

Kilkenny

A truck which came within inches of demolishing a family home would have killed two people if it had crashed at the same spot exactly 24 hours earlier. The McEvoy family of Johnstown are still reeling from the experience when the huge juggernaut ended up in their front garden right at the front door of their picturesque home at 8pm last week. The night before, the couple had been out working on the garden, trimming the bushes.

Although the accident is understood to be as a result of driver error, it has highlighted the huge increase in heavy traffic through Johnstown, Cullahill and Durrow over the last eight weeks despite the presence of the new motorway from Cork to Dublin. Since the new toll station opened on the motorway, two months ago, there has been a huge increase in the number of hauliers using the village. They are avoiding paying the toll of E6.50. They are also cutting E17.5 kilometres of their journey time to Dublin from Cork.

(Source: Kilkenny People)

Laois

County hall has claimed to make every effort to avoid taking people to court, despite figures showing that it has the largest number of local authority repossessions in the country.

A total of nine local authority houses were repossessed in Laois from 2005 to 2009 - two more than the figure for Dublin City Council. The figures released in the Dáil claim that none of these repossessions were voluntary, although this is disputed by the local council.

In the past week, two people appeared before Portarlington District Court, having fallen into arrears on payments to the council. The court heard that one Portarlington couple face losing their home if they don't come to an agreement with Laois County Council in the next month. The couple owed n377.31 when the notice to quit was served on them in 2008. However, they now owe the council more than n2,768. They made no payment since September 8 last year.

(Source:Leinster Express)

Leitrim


Local residents and business people have expressed their anger at what has been described as "a lack of out of hours backup" by Leitrim County Council following a sewage overflow on New Line, Manorhamilton on Monday evening.

According to residents the sewage pipes in the area began to back up and raw sewage began flowing out of a man hole cover at around 5.45pm on July 12. The situation worsened that evening with sewage also flowing out of another manhole cover further down the road.

Breege Golden, who owns a business on New Line, told the Leitrim Observer that she had been forced to close early on Monday "because of the foul smell" emanating from the sewer and she had been unable to open on Tuesday morning until 11am.

"We (the shop owners and residents) contacted everyone we could on Monday but there seemed to be nobody to help after hours and nobody has given us any explanation for why this happened. It's absolutely disgusting. The smell has been horrendous. I can't imagine what it's been like for local residents," she said.

(Source:Leitirm Observer)

Limerick

A Limerick man has been found guilty of the murder of a Ukrainian teenager at a house in Corbally two years ago.
John O'Loughlin, 21, of Cecil Street, had denied murdering 16-year-old Roman Vysochan at 12 Carraig Midhe on May 10, 2008.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Limerick returned this Friday afternoon with an unanimous guilty verdict after two hours of deliberations.

Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed a mandatory life sentence on Mr O'Loughlin.

Tetyana Vysochan, the victim's mother, wept in court as Garda John Flanagan read a victim impact statement on her behalf.

(Source: Limerick Observer)

Longford

Gardai have confirmed that a male member of staff was assaulted during the robbery at Ulster Bank Granard.
The man was taken to Mullingar General Hospital and treated for minor injuries. He has since been released from hospital. No shots were fired during the incident.

The robbery took place at approximately 5pm on Thursday evening when three men entered the bank and demanded money. A number of staff were on the premises at the time. One of the men was armed with what was believed to be a pistol and another was armed with a knife. An undisclosed sum of money was stolen during the robbery.

Gardai examined CCTV footage andthey have confirmed that all three men were wearing dark clothing and had their faces covered during the robbery.

(Source:Longford Leader)

Louth

A man being questioned by gardaí in connection with suspected dissident activity in Co Louth has been released without charge.

He was arrested, along with four others, following a Garda operation over the weekend.

He was released from Balbriggan garda station this afternoon and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

One of the men arrested appeared before the Special Criminal Court on Monday charged with having explosives substances and ammunition.

The other three men who were detained were released without charge.

(Source:Irish Examiner)

Mayo

Serial criminals in Mayo are walking the streets again within hours of being sentenced to a jail term, leading a local judge to comment on how there is little or no deterrent aspect to jail sentences she hands down.

Judge Mary Devins made the comments last week as she heard evidence in two separate cases of serial criminals serving only a fraction of their sentence in jail before being released and appearing before the courts shortly after.

“The deterrent aspect of criminal acts in the district court system is almost negligible and makes your job very hard Inspector,” Judge Devins said, addressing the prosecution’s Inspector Martin Byrne.

And a Mayo Garda chief gave examples of criminals who are sent to jail only to spent an hour at reception at Castlerea Prison before being released again, admitting it is making the job of Gardaí in the county very difficult.

“It is frustrating for Gardaí who are about and about trying to deal with crime and protect society and they bring a criminal to Castlerea and the offender could be home as soon as the Gardaí,” Castlebar based Superintendent Willie Keaveney told The Mayo News.

(Source:Mayo News)

Meath

A security guard was injured in an armed raid on a cash in transit van at the Beechmount Shopping Centre in Navan on Friday morning. A shot was discharged into the back of the G4S security van, which had pulled up in front of an ATM machine at the centre.

Nobody was injured by the gunshot, but the security guard was beaten by one of the raiders and taken to hospital.

The shopping centre was extremely busy at the time and shoppers and staff were very badly shaken by the raid, which involved two men who were wearing motorcycle helmets.

The raiders made their getaway on a scrambler motorbike which had been inside a van, in which they had been waiting for the security van to arrive.

The scrambler was later found abandoned near the Ardboyne Hotel.

Garda technical experts examined the scene

(Source:The Meath Chronicle)

Offaly

A marble statue that was discovered at Annaghmore house in Tullamore has been sold for over €287,000 (£241,250) at auction.

Die Spinnerin by Rudolf Schadow was expected to fetch between £120,000 and £180,000 sterling at the auction held in Sotheby's, London last Thursday.

The piece was discovered along with two other marble statues entitled Venus Italica and Hebe from the workshop of Antonio Canova in their original location of Annaghmore House.

The works were created in 19th century Rome and formed part of a European Sculpture and Works of Art sale in London. The works had been brought into Sotheby's Dublin office.

(Source:Offaly Express)

Roscommon


The community of Kilrooskey have been forced to shell out another €1,500 after heartless thieves stole a life-saving defibrillator, available to the public for medial emergencies.

The Ballagh/Curraghroe Defib Committee have now been forced to spend the money to purchase another defibrillator after extensive searches of the locality and Gardai investigations failed to find the device.

Frank Fallon, a member of Ballagh Curraghroe Defib Committee, said that the community is disgusted that someone would steal such an important device.

"It is just shocking that someone would take this. It serves no purpose for anyone, other than to save lives. We were shocked at the theft but know that it had to be replaced as soon as possible. The nearest defibrillator is more than two miles away, and if an emergency did occur, this is just too far away," he said.

The theft occurred on the night or the early morning of June 2nd/3rd when the device was stolen from the outside of a house. The new location of the device is Ballagh church and replacement defibrillator will now be available for use.

(Source:The Roscommon Champion)

Sligo

A delegation from the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism and Culture, Sport, Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs will visit Co. Sligo on Monday.

During Monday’s trip, members of the Committee will take part in a tour of The Model’s exhibition space and will have an opportunity to preview elements of its upcoming summer exhibition.

The Model’s premises re-opened in May following an extensive redevelopment programme and hopes to enhance the tourism potential of the north-west region overall.

It is expected that much of the discussion will focus on the role of the arts in offering sustainable development potential for Sligo and the wider north-west region.

(Source:OceanFM)

Tipperary


The Chief Executive Officer of North Tipperary Vocational Education Committee, Mr David Leahy has expressed his regret that some 25% of teachers working in the sector in the county remain unvetted by Gardai. And, he revealed that it could take up to three years to have 100% of the staff appropriately vetted such is the level of demand being placed on the Vetting facility in Thurles.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the VEC in Nenagh, Mr Leahy said that he is not happy with the situation but he added that he was not, in any way, casting aspertions on the staff employed throughout the county who have not been vetted. The VEC caters for thousands of second level students in centres at Thurles, Templemore, Borrisokane, Newport, Roscrea and Nenagh as well as many adult learners in a host of schemes, projects and courses throughout the county.

(Source:Tipperary Star)

Tyrone


Householders in the Dungannon District have the second poorest quality drinking water in Northern Ireland, according to the latest report by NI Water.

Tests carried out at customer taps showed that local tap-water is 99.47 percent compliant with stringent safety standards, less than the Northern Ireland average of 99.74%.

Only Carrickfergus District had a worse rate at 99.4%.

The report revealed that an emergency supply brought in for the Cabragh and Gortlenaghan areas of Killeeshil and Galbally during January's 'big freeze' exceeded chemical safety levels.

It also highlighted an incident at Altmore reservoir, which serves a population of 16,000, in which aluminium safety levels were exceeded in August 2009.

(Source:Tyrone Times)

Waterford

Tesco is to create 110 extra jobs in Waterford city in a new store that will open in Ballybeg within the next twelve months, according to an announcement from the company.

The new store in Ballybeg will be part of a nationwide €113m investment that will see the opening of seven new outlets and the overall creation of 748 jobs.

The company already employs more than 13,000 people in Ireland and the majority of the new jobs will be outside Dublin.

The President of the Irish Farmers association, John Bryan, said he welcomed the creation of employment but it was not a good thing that one company had such a dominant position in the Irish market. Suggesting that it would be farmers and primary producers who would be paying for the new stores, Mr Bryan insisted that his members could not afford to take lower prices from Tesco.

(Source:Munster Express)

Westmeath

Local Gardai are investigating allegations of an assault in Athlone on a youth who was in the care of the HSE.

Recent national media reports stated that a 17-year-old girl, who was on a HSE-supervised holiday in Athlone, made a complaint that she had been sexually assaulted by an older man.

The incident is alleged to have taken place in the vicinity of the Hodson Bay Hotel on June 29 last.

The teenager reportedly claimed that she had been supplied with alcohol by the man before the pair moved to the neighbouring Athlone golf course.

Afterwards the girl was said to have made the assault allegation to her care workers, who in turn contacted the Gardai.

It's believed that an area around the 16th hole of the golf course was examined by Gardai during the course of their investigation.

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent, Athlone Sergeant John Lawless declined to comment on the details of the incident.

(Source:Westmeath Independent)

Wexford


The jury in a corruption case against a Wexford based garda has been discharged by the judge following over two weeks of evidence.

After legal argument, Judge Alice Doyle discharged the jury following a defence application to have the case against now retired garda John Joe Synnott struck-out.

The trial of the 53-year-old opened on 1 July with the defendant charged with deceiving his superiors by producing a false traffic accident report, falsely reporting a traffic accident for the purpose of gaining advantage for himself or others and, by deception, inducing Axa Insurances to pay out €23,332 as a result.

Mr Synnott pleaded not guilty to all charges arising out of an alleged traffic accident at Newtown Road, Wexford, on 9 September, 2007.

The case was put back for mention at the next sitting of the Wexford Circuit Court in October with Mr Synnott remanded on continuing bail.

(Source: RTE News)

Wicklow

A man who shot and wounded his father after an argument was sentenced to eight years in jail at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court  with the last three years of the sentence suspended.

Patrick O’Byrne (19) had pleaded guilty to intentionally and recklessly causing serious harm to his father Séamus at the family farm at Three Wells, Aughrim, on September 29th last year.

The court heard the defendant and his father had an argument that day because he did not go to work drawing soil in Rathdrum.

Returning home on his tractor, Mr O’Byrne got a phone call from his wife Bernie to say their son Patrick had texted her saying he was going to kill his father. When Mr O’Byrne got down off the tractor, his son called out “Do not move” and pointed a shotgun at him. Mr O’Byrne ran towards the cattle shed and Patrick shot him in the back and shoulder.

(Source:Irish Times)