The Celtic Tiger has been tracked down to Clonaslee where it lives as part of the community, according to the Midland Tribune. The Tiger was identified by the President, Mrs McAleese, when she visited the Co Laois town to open its new library and community centre and was "hugely impressed" by what she saw.
"It is a pleasure and a privilege to be in this very special place," she said. "People ask me what does the Celtic Tiger look like; it looks like this place."
There's been no sign of the tiger at an unauthorised travellers' site outside Waterford city which some local councillors want cleared before the county is "shamed" during worldwide television coverage of the Tour de France in July. The Waterford News & Star says the encampment has been in place at Butlerstown for more than a year.
"Something is going to have to be done," Mr John Carey told a meeting of the county council. "In another few months the greatest sporting spectacle in the world, the Tour de France, will be passing this very location, and with the eyes of the world focused on County Waterford that day we will be shamed if this unsightly mess is seen on the TV screens."
The county secretary, Mr Peter Carey, said there was a statutory obligation on the local authority to provide an alternative place for the traveller families concerned and this had not proved to be easy.
Carlow Cathedral has not, after all, lost its impressive spire, but some locals were accused by the Nationalist of losing their sense of humour. A story in the paper's April 1st edition that structural flaws had led to the cathedral "losing its crown" was described as "a sick joke" by Cllr Mary McDonald at a meeting of Carlow County Council. Five school principals signed a letter to the paper expressing their "absolute disgust at the appallingly disgusting article". Undaunted, the paper is already preparing for its next April Fool's story - in 2009, the next time its publication day, Wednesday, coincides with April 1st.
The Nationalist, on its Carlow edition front page, reports a "grave crisis". A county council meeting was told that overcrowding in the cemetery at Drumphea has led "to the remains of some deceased members of the parish being dug up".
"The situation is totally unregulated and some people are unknowingly taking other plots when they go to bury a relative," said Cllr Michael Meaney.
A judge who had accused the Director of Public Prosecutions last month of showing a "despicable" attitude to his court refused to withdraw the remark at a recent sitting of Ballyshannon District Court. Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick had requested that the DPP or a representative of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety give evidence on the standard of Garda breathalysers, said the Donegal Democrat.
After hearing evidence from the assistant director of the bureau, Ms Catherine Ann Leavy, the judge said he was now satisfied that the breathalyser used in a drink driving case before him had been properly tested and approved. But when invited by the State solicitor, Mr Ciaran MacLaughlin, to withdraw his criticisms of the DPP over his refusal to send a representative to a March sitting of the court, the judge refused. Representatives of the DPP's office had come into the court in the past with a "we can do what we like attitude", he said. "Oasis for Nenagh Mass", said an intriguing front page headline in the Nenagh Guardian. Now there's a plan to get young people back into church. Unfortunately, or otherwise, the Gallagher brothers would not be at the Mass in question, but a group of secondary school students planned to sing their song All Around The World and other hits like M People's Just For You.
A woman who crashed her jeep on Macroom's main street, resulting in the vehicle being a "write-off", according to a garda who attended the scene, had a drink driving charge against her dismissed at Macroom District Court. The court was told that Ms Julia Perry of Tooreenalour, Inchigeela was found to have an alcohol concentration of 153mgs per 100mgs of blood, said the Corkman. The legal limit is 80mgs of alcohol.
Judge Brendan Wallace said he was dismissing the case "on the basis that the vehicle was damaged to such an extent that it was no longer a mechanically-propelled vehicle". The taking of a sample of the defendant's breath was therefore unlawful, he said. So, if you're going to drink and drive, make sure you have a right good crash on the way home?
