Locals have taken charge of the priestless parish of Killanena-Flagmount, Co Clare "with something approaching enthusiasm," said the Clare Champion.
"Two months ago, Bishop Willie Walsh faced a shocked, bewildered and angry congregation across the floor of Killanena church as he endeavoured to explain how their parish would function without a resident clergyman. "When Dr Walsh returned to Flagmount church on Tuesday night for further talks, the mood was brighter and the turnout a little lower, sure signs that the anger and confusion have abated to a significant extent."
In an editorial, the Clare Champion said that "it may be the smallest parish in the diocese of Killaloe but it is home to some of the most intrepid souls in Ireland . . . Rural communities too have generally been led by an outsider and, in rural Ireland, that has more often than not meant a parish priest.
"Consequently, the prospect of taking on such onerous responsibility can be terrifying for many people who are used to being led and are perhaps unsure of their own capacity for leadership."
As the crisis in clerical manpower deepens, Killanena-Flag mount is writing itself into the history books as a model parish of the future, the paper said.
"I am afraid to go down town," a young Tullow mother told the Nationalist and Leinster Times after two men attempted to abduct her as she walked home from her weekly bingo session. Judith Gahan, married with a four-year-old daughter, said her terrifying ordeal left her with the belief that her name could have been next on the list of young women missing in Ireland.
A "mystery chemical-like smell" in the sewage system has prompted some residents to leave their homes in Ratoath, according to the Meath Chronicle. "Residents claim the smell is so nauseating that life has become unbearable," it said. A shopkeeper said some of his staff had become ill and customers had complained that the smell had contaminated fresh food. The health board is investigating.
Laois Midland Health Board members and "Fianna Fail in general" are feeling public hostility after their shocking "U-turn" on the Portlaoise cancer centre, said the Leinster Express. At a well-attended public meeting, "bitter disappointment was expressed at the health board decision to centralise cancer services in Tullamore rather than to spread the services between the hospitals in the region".
Johnny Mee, the Labour chairman of Castlebar Urban Council, confessed his "twin phobias" to the Connaught Telegraph - a fear of flying, which has forced him to cancel a trip to Germany, and a fear of heights, which makes him choose his route carefully. The condition is obviously not hereditary, added the newspaper, because his son, James, celebrated his 39th birthday by skydiving in Australia.
Viagra, the impotence drug, "raised a laugh" at a meeting of the North Eastern Health Board when Dr Paul McCarthy told members he had brought his prescription pad to the meeting and would hold a clinic for members immediately after the meeting, said the Anglo-Celt.