The Tyrannosaurus Rex of Tullamore - as John Bruton referred to Brian Cowen at the Fine Gael Ardfheis - sat hunched with a cuppa in his hand in an Ideal Homes-style kitchen fitted with all the mod cons a beleaguered politician could need, such as an attractive wife and two sweet young daughters.
The Tullamore Tribune's at-home-with-Brian front-page picture feature was accompanied by a ministerial coup, the £50 million development for Tullamore Hospital.
Once again, the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, illustrated the adage that local newspapers cannot be beaten when it comes to appealing directly to the little people.
The Kilkenny People may have had a front-page lead on nurses at St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, threatening to go on strike due to "severe understaffing", but in Tullamore, all was rosy in the garden. The "dramatic transformation" of its local hospital will "overhaul the existing facility, effectively creating a vibrant hospital for a new millennium," said the Mid- land Tribune.
The Connacht Telegraph gave another politician under fire, Beverly Cooper-Flynn, a chance to gain the sympathy of her constituents with a true confession entitled: "This has been the most horrible week of my political career, by Beverly Cooper-Flynn".
In an "exclusive", the Tele dispute with the Fianna Fail party in a controversy over an alleged payment made to her father, EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn, by Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin".
Lid-lifting aside, Ms Cooper-Flynn told of her deep disappointment at the party's failure to "accommodate" her in framing the wording for the Dail motion calling on Mr Flynn to make a statement on the issue.
Turning her anger against the media, Ms Cooper-Flynn said that she was confident of winning legal action against RTE in the High Court (the action concerns allegations about her employment with National Irish Bank).
The Kerryman took a local angle on the Moriarty tribunal, stating that "the Dingle Citizens' Group is to reapply for legal representation to the Moriarty tribunal investigating payment to politicians, following revelations that a Kerry businessman, Xavier McAuliffe, invested £50,000 in Celtic Helicopters." The Dingle group was refused an application in October for limited representation at the hearing when it expressed the wish to investigate whether payments were made to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey by beneficiaries of certain decisions relating to Dingle.
The Dingle group opposed the granting of the foreshore licence to the Skellig Hotel and, despite the fact that the licence has never been exercised, the group wants the decision rescinded.
Mr McAuliffe is the major shareholder in the Skellig Hotel in Dingle, which in December 1991 was granted a foreshore licence to develop a 350-berth marina and a 40-unit apartment complex by the then minister for the marine, Mr John Wilson, at a time when Mr Haughey was Taoiseach.
In a week when new legislation for a sex offender register was announced by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, the Tipperary Star announced: "Fathers main culprits of child sex abuse." Fathers were the abusers in 15 per cent of cases, according to the 1998 statistics produced by the Tipperary Rape Crisis and Counselling Centre. In 13 per cent of cases, the abuse was perpetrated by a neighbour, in 11 per cent by a brother and 9 per cent by an uncle. Female abusers accounted for 6 per cent of cases and family friends for another 6 per cent; 5 per cent of victims said that they were abused by "a person in authority" and 4 per cent by a grandfather.
"Derelict houses to become prized possessions" said the Leitrim Observer. It was referring not to the desperation of young couples trying to buy houses within commuting distance of Dublin on a mere two incomes, but to generous new tax relief proposals for owner-occupiers in the Upper Shannon region who build, convert or refurbish their homes.