It’s like a scene from Dances with Wolves. A young woman with braided blonde hair rides a pony, bare-back across the camp, chased by screeching barefoot children and skinny black and white barking dogs. Smoke wafts in the damp morning air, drifting out across the heather, the forest and mountains that surround and shelter this secluded site.
Two pairs of ladies panties, prison officers accused of lying and a video tape which John Gilligan has never viewed as he maintains the Governor of the prison has refused to give him a video player.
A bird brained documentary from RTE’s legendary chief news reporter simply doesn’t fly, but it’s the best comedy the station has done since Hall’s Pictorial Weekly.
Prostitution is rampant in rural Ireland and it’s getting worse. That’s the stark message this week from support group Ruhama who contend that pimps and criminals behind the sordid business are getting harder to track down due their use of technology. Trafficking of foreign women for the sex industry is now endemic throughout the country they claim, while shockingly Irish women are being forced back on the game, due to the recession.
A cookery book completely produced as a local enterprise in Laois is proving a surprise best seller in the run up to Christmas. ‘Jim’s Kitchen’ the brainchild of Mountrath chef, Jim Tynan has already sold two thousand copies just three weeks after its launch and is on its way to selling out.
Public servants are queuing up for social welfare in an effort to make ends meet. Clerical officers and staff officers are applying in their droves and qualifying for emergency social welfare assistance to meet mortgage repayments and household bills. [...more]
Displaying once again the remarkable courage and emotional maturity which was commended by the trial Judge Peter Charleton the couple at the centre of the horrific attack and rape by Polish man Edward Piotrowski (45) have spoken out for the first time. The pair have broken their silence to encourage other women who are victims of rape to come forward, put their trust in the authorities and seek justice. [...more]
The Irish entrepreneurial spirit is renowned worldwide and many are now hoping that it is such endeavour which can rescue the economy from the current recession. However, the omens are ominous if the fortunes of the 'Irish Entrepreneur' business magazine are anything to judge by. The magazine which is devoted to celebrating success and the all conquering attributes of the Irish entrepreneur is itself struggling to survive. [...more]
The pot-belly stove in the corner of Hume’s Pub is still up to heating the bar. It was bought by Arthur Hume at the outset of the War in 1939 for the princely sum of £2 from Davy Frayne in the Hammond-Lane foundry in Athy. But the stove won’t be stoked or pressed into service anymore as Hume’s Pub has called closing time and last orders for the last time after 147 years in business this week. [...more]
In December 2008, food critic Biddy White Lennon awarded Jim Tynan's Christmas Pudding the accolade of the best plum pudding in the country. This award winning recipe is contained in the new cookery book, Jim's Kitchen which has been selling by the dozens daily since its launch on November 5th. As delicious and all as the pudding is and it remains a yuletide favorite it now has a rival on the best seller list. Demand for the book was grossly underestimated and the entire first edition sold out by December 8th and the book has now gone to re-print. New stocks will be on the shelves by January 22nd. [...more]
Arguably, not that long ago, he was the most popular person in the country, but Bertie Ahern's cache has plummeted if this year's best sellers list is anything to go by. Always a good barometer of public opinion the top sellers in the run up to Christmas show the public have little appetite for Bertie or bankers. [...more]
Fire personnel in Offaly maintain that 999 calls for assistance in badly flooded regions around Banagher and Shannonbridge last week were vetted, and dispatch of tenders declined due to efforts to cut costs and reduce the number of callouts from small stations. The emergency calls for assistance to aid with evacuations and chronic flooding came at the same time as the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen was touring parts of west Offaly to examine flooding in the Shannon basin in person. [...more]
The Sacred Heart School in Tullamore has been forced to hold a lottery to allocate places at the all girls school for next September. The raffling off of school spots has infuriated parents in the Taoiseach's home town as over 50 students have missed out. [...more]
We've seen this situation before with snails and frogs. Now it's the turn of pinkeens and bats to bring urgent bridge repairs and reconstruction to a halt in the midlands. [...more]
Across the country, if you were to ask anyone who uses the internet on a regular basis, be it for business or personal use, they will all have tales of pulling their hair out waiting on painfully slow connections or having to reset their modems every 5 minutes thanks to drop outs or waiting endlessly on the phone to talk to someone in broadband support who will likely have the vocabulary of a 3 year old. In fact, the majority of the time, a 3 year old would be more helpful. [...more]
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