The horrific collision which resulted in the death of a two-year-old boy at Slane bridge received widespread coverage in the local papers. The crash, which involved a lorry and three cars, was given front-page treatment in the Weekender. It tells us the boy's death "brings to 11 the number of people killed on the black-spot bridge in as many years".
The Drogheda Independent also gave the deaths front-page treatment.
We are told the newspaper "has learned that there are no plans to remove heavy traffic from the area around Slane bridge, which last year claimed the lives of two truck-drivers."
In an editorial the paper concluded: "There was adequate warning that Slane bridge and the approach roads to it are hazardous in the extreme. The long list of road accidents and the many fatalities bear witness to this." The paper offered its support for a campaign to make the bridge safe.
The Westmeath Examiner made the case editorially for "Mullingar's role as a centre for the Defence Forces". The paper argued that Mullingar had a proud history of involvement with the Army: "It would be a poor day and a sad day if the barracks was to be downgraded, or closed, and it is up to the people of the area to ensure that this never happens."
A huge list of 5,000 waiting for admission to Tralee General Hospital was reported in the Kingdom, which also reported that "Paidi is being closely courted by Bertie Ahern". Paidi O Se is the former Kerry player and manager of the present team. If he were to win a seat he would be joining his former team-mate, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, in the Dail.
The Kingdom, in common with its local rivals, the Kerryman and Kerry's Eye, gave extensive coverage to the deaths of two close teenaged friends, Rachel Greensmith and Claire O'Donnell, in a car crash near the village of Castlemaine.
In the Mayo News, a court report described the closure of "three function rooms in one of Mayo's best-known hotels for a five-day period following a conviction for under-age drinking". The paper reported: "The Traveller's Friend Hotel in Castlebar is the first licensed premises in Mayo to be closed under tough new legislation which was introduced last summer."
The same paper celebrated its winning a second European Newspaper Design Award at a ceremony in Aachen in Germany. The Irish Times and the Evening Echo of Cork were the other Irish winners.
Overproduction of milk is of concern to the Kilkenny People. Its headline read "Massive Bill Looms". Apparently suppliers of milk to the Glanbia processing company are "facing hefty penalties for producing too much milk".
The paper reported: "Farmers supplying milk to the Ballyragget processing plant are four million gallons over quota."
A mixture of poitin and honey did the trick for a greyhound called Smokey Marshall at the national coursing meeting in Clonmel, according to the Nationalist. Tom O'Dwyer, the breeder and joint owner with Danny McCann, told the newspaper that the greyhound had a cough the week before the meeting and the medicine worked, with the result that the dog won a £25,000 prize. "Don't ask me where I got the poitin but it did the trick," he said.
The launch of "The Ship of Dreams" was celebrated in style by the New Ross Standard, which carried a front-page colour photograph, a two-page poster, also in colour, and a four-page report inside as the tall-masted Dunbrody was launched by the former US ambassador, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith.
The launch was attended by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who was congratulated in an editorial in the Corkman for his speech in which he called for "the rejection of racism in all its forms". The launch of the replica ship "reminds us that emigration is at the heart of the Irish experience and captures the central place of the Famine in our history, too," the Taoiseach said.
The Connacht Tribune in its editorial praised Enda Kenny following his bid for the Fine Gael leadership: "Enda Kenny did Mayo and the west of Ireland proud in his bid for the leadership. The high-profile leadership battle will not do his image any harm at all."
The Donegal Democrat reported that "drilling an exploratory well in search of oil off the Donegal coast [will start] in a matter of weeks". A drilling rig was on its way from Egypt to Donegal, according to the managing director of the drilling company, Mr Brian O Cathain.