MUCH of the crime reported in the local newspapers from week to week is committed by juveniles. The Longford News said Garda Mary Mangan, Longford's Juvenile Crime Liaison Officer, has called for the creation of a special juvenile education programme aimed at the 10-15 year age group "who have opted to leave, or have been forced out of, the education system and consequently are more prone to falling into criminal habits".

In a letter to the local VEC outlining her proposals, Garda Mangan said she was aware of at least six Co Longford youngsters in this age category who had been expelled from school and she suspected the figure might well be higher. Education "plays a vital role in the battle to ensure that youngsters do not get involved in crime", she believes.

Thinking along the same lines, a teacher's union representative, Pat Kilbaine, has suggested that the Garda officer meet school principals, who would be able to update her on students "who in the principal's opinion could possibly lean towards criminal activity".

The Westmeath Independent reported that two Athlone youths had spent the past year on a "massive crime spree" which, according to one garda, the youths viewed as a "quest", a "joke", a "feat" and a "triumph". "Their only ambition is to see themselves as thieves," the garda said.

"In an unprecedented move, not seen before in the Court District, a special sitting of Athlone Court - was organised specifically to hear the case involving the two juveniles only," said the newspaper.

Pleas of guilty were entered by the defendants to a number of larceny and criminal damage offences, including theft of jewellery from houses, smashing up a pub in the town centre, theft of meat from a butcher's shop, the throwing of a candle box out the window of the Church of St Peter and Paul and the throwing of contents around a fast food outlet after breaking in, the theft of cigarettes and cash from a supermarket, the smashing of windows in a local school and thefts from cars, said the Westmeath Independent.

Before sentencing the youths to a total of 22 months' detention each, Judge John Neilan described them as "thugs" and "bully boys" who would not be allowed to take over the streets of Ireland.

The Clare Champion reported a "domestic violence alert" as statistics for violence in the home are expected to reach their highest level ever this year, with a 40 per cent increase in the number of cases processed through the courts. The "shock figures" were released by Clare Haven House, a women's refuge which had been granted a last minute reprieve from closure.

The mood in Galway last week was "uncannily like the morning of the departure of Bishop Eamonn Casey", the Connacht Tribune told us. Fianna Fail in West Galway is still reeling from the decision by Maire Geoghegan Quinn to leave politics in order to protect her family from unwanted publicity.

In an editorial, the Tribune said its sister newspaper, the Connacht Sentinel, had published news of the incident involving the TD's 17 year old son and several others, an incident which was the subject of a Garda investigation. The Sentinel had not, however, published any names, and the Connacht Tribune believed there was no convincing case for doing so. It also thought that "the entire reasons Ifor Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's withdrawal may be more complex than the publication of a name by a newspaper".

An environmental scandal was reported by the Munster Express, which said that contaminated mud containing traces of hazardous waste has been dumped south of Tuskar Rock, near Carnsore Point, much to the alarm and anger of the local fishing community.

More than 1,800 tonnes of mud containing TBT, an antifouling substance used to preserve trawlers beneath water level, was dumped on the East Waterford/South Wexford fishing grounds just a few weeks ago. TBT is acknowledged by the Environmental Protection Agency as highly toxic and seriously damaging to shellfish.

The ESB is investigating a transformer after a series of explosions caused considerable damage to a large number of electrical appliances in homes in Puckane, the Tipperary Guardian said. One resident lost two television sets, four alarm clock radios and a video recorder.

The Meath Chronicle said an international investigation into the possibility of Irish black market trading in exotic wild animals has been sparked off by a four month old Siberian tiger cub. Jody was an Irish family's pet, but when she got too big to handle she was given to the Irish Seal Sanctuary in Garristown. They are keeping her under tight security after several attempts were made to steal her, probably by people interested in selling her on the black market.