The destruction of a thorn bush to facilitate Clare County Council's £100 million plan to bypass Newmarket-on-Fergus and Ennis could result in misfortune or even death for those travelling the proposed new road, warned the Clare Champion.
Under the headline "Away with the Fairies!", Eddie Lenihan, a folklorist, gave his grim view that there would be terrible consequences if the council ploughed under the fairy bush, or sceach, located at Latoon, opposite the Clare Inn Hotel, two miles from Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Lenihan recently asked workmen cutting down trees at a ring fort at Ballycasey in Shannon, which will be affected by the Newmarket bypass, "How long do you expect to live?"
Three "yapping poodles" in Knocklong, Co Limerick, were locked up by a judge for their bad behaviour, stated the Limerick Leader.
After neighbours complained about excessive barking and dogmess, Judge Mary O'Halloran spelt it out: the pedigree poodles could have 20 minutes' freedom in the morning, 45 minutes in the afternoon and five minutes at bedtime. Otherwise, they were to be confined to the house.
The theft of a greyhound bitch and a litter of nine pups valued at over £100,000 has mystified gardai in Co Kerry, reported the Kerryman. The entire Walsh family are devastated by the theft from a kennel beside their farmhouse between midnight on Saturday and 7 a.m. on Sunday and they have offered a substantial five-figure reward.
A detective was forced to draw his revolver when he and two garda colleagues were confronted by a pitbull terrier as they attempted to arrest a 30-year-old father of five in connection with an alleged drugs offence.
The incident occurred on a housing estate in Waterford, where the corporation has been considering having all housing applicants vetted by gardai, according to the Waterford News & Star.
The radical plan was deemed an insult during a heated debated by the outgoing city council. "Describing it as the most dangerous motion he had ever seen before him, Alderman Davy Walsh led the criticism of the suggestion, which was eventually withdrawn by its proposer, Pat Hayes, on the advice of a number of his council colleagues", stated the paper.
A couple in Williamstown, Co Roscommon, narrowly escaped death when a freak tornado, which wreaked havoc on the outskirts of the village, spun their mobile home up in the air and reduced it to debris within seconds, said the Roscommon Herald.
Leaving Certificate student Denis Giltenane can lay claim to a record achieved by a very few. Since he started out in junior infants at the age of five, Denis has never missed a single day's schooling, said the Limerick Leader. "I just get up with the morning, eat my breakfast and head for school", he said simply.
For all that, "he is no a great lover of school". He has just had the misfortune to get all the usual childhood illnesses during school holidays.
A £30,000 claim by a man against his former partner, for works he carried out on her house, and a subsequent counter-claim and injunction were dismissed by consent at Ballina Circuit Court.
During the hearing Judge Harvey Kenny was told the woman had been sent a dead rat in the post following the split, her drains were blocked on another occasion with J-cloths, and glue and a substance she believed to be acid was thrown on her car.
The woman alleged her former partner was behind these incidents even though there was no evidence to support this. After some discussion between the parties, the claim was dismissed and Judge Kenny congratulated both parties on reaching a settlement, urging them to "make new lives and get on with living".