They'd buy you and sell you in Donegal

A PLACE called Nancy's Bar in Donegal "bought" Ms Caroline Breslin and Ms Jenny McHugh, tied their feet together, then made them clean a kitchen from top to bottom.

Ms Karen Doherty was bought by a Kilcar man who told her to get her face painted as a witch, then took her around the bars in Ardara. Ms Claret Molloy outbid all comers for a young French chef and promptly disappeared, said the Donegal Democrat.

Could such robust inclinations as were shown at the Weaver's Fair Slave Auction be the reason the north west is enjoying a "powerful and growing influence" in tourism?

Over half a million foreign tourists, flocked to the region in 1995, creating £96 million in revenue, according to the annual report of North West Tourism.

Changing patterns in the distribution of overseas visitors mean that access to the country is moving eastwards and that's good for the northwest, said the paper. More than 60 per cent of the US market is coming through London, British tourism is - increasing, land bridge connections are bringing more Europeans and national primary routes have improved, increasing access from the east.

"Small wonder that [the Minister for Trade and Tourism] Enda Kenny is going around with a smile on his face", commented the Western People.

Mass tourism? It's "the stuff of nightmares", moaned the Limerick Leader in what seemed to be a classic case of sour grapes. There was little reason to be envious of those "honeypots" - Connemara and Killarney. "Too much tourism is detrimental to a community socially and environmentally ... At worst tourism can be dehumanising, not least to the tourists themselves. At a resort in France a couple of years ago coachloads of tourists videoed a family of three sinking in quicksand. None of the tourists raised the alarm. One of the family died."

God forbid it should happen in Limerick. Then again, what was happening in Limerick would certainly not attract tourists. The Limerick Chronicle's front page reported that "youths on a rampage smashed the windscreens of 10 cars in the city" in what gardai described as "a mindless, nonsensical act of violence."

Such acts were not confined to Limerick. "Cars burned in Roscrea rampage", said the Tipperary Star. Vandals set seven cars ablaze in one hour of "mindless" violence that has left the townspeople "stunned".

THERE was comfort in the Limerick Leader's front page lead which told us that 69 per cent of teenagers confess to having a "sense of sin", according a survey of senior second level students by the Prior of Glenstal Abbey, Father Dominic Johnson. Then again, that this news is so astonishing that it, makes a front page would sea you thinking.

Perhaps the judge who gave three, 16 year old robbers two year probation instead of a custodial sentence, as reported by Kerry's Eye, was relying on their "sense of sin" to turn, them round. Wearing masks, the three had used a lump hammer and a gun lighter which looked like the real thing to relieve a post office of £2,317.05 in cash, and cigarettes worth £135.28.

Gardai in Co Galway are bringing in reserves as rumours spread of a possible repeat of the "Battle of Tuam", the Connacht Tribune reported. In Drumconrath, The Meath Chronicle reported, 60 people were involved in a street brawl between rival football supporters in the early hours of last Monday morning.

The bank holiday weekend, alcohol intake and the rising rivalry before an upcoming game, it appears, all combined to result in a free for all faction fights.

In Co Sligo, a judge blamed late night restaurants for acting as "magnets" for such people. Judge Oliver McGuinness stated at Sligo District Court that "in practically every assault case in Sligo there was a mention of late night fast food premises".

"It is time that some form of authority to license these places to ensure they close at civilised hours was put in place," observed the Sligo Champion.

In the wake of the Northern elections, no fewer than six major provincial newspapers representing all corners of the Republic said an IRA ceasefire was essential before Sinn Fein could participate in talks. "Ill judged" and "not helpful" were two of the ways which some of them described the recent political manoeuvrings of Mr Albert Reynolds.

The Longford News/Roscommon Champion said "the call in the wake of the Northern Ireland elections by Mr Reynolds for Sinn Fein's inclusion in all party talks without the prior reinstatement to the IRA ceasefire was a remarkable development", adding: "Every utterance the former Taoiseach makes on the subject does not have to be taken as the right path forward." And that was his own constituency talking.