NO SOONER does a new major world figure emerge than the Irish have him pegged down to his roots. Tony Blair has already been claimed by Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, where his maternal grandparents were born.
"Well, he's not exactly from the Erne town but he has a very strong connection," said the Donegal Democrat.
The British Prime Minister's maternal grandmother, Sally Corscadden (nee Lipsett), was born on the winding banks of the Erne, and Tony Blair himself was a regular visitor to the area with his parents until he was about 12, when the family would visit his great grandmother's family, the Lipsetts, said the newspaper.
"The man with the Macleans smile obviously picked up a few tips from the local shams while a youngster holidaying in the area as he has plotted with precision the downfall of John Major and the Tory party since becoming leader of his party in 1994," it said.
The Donegal Democrat also reported that a local drama group was performing a bed hopping French farce, Hotel Paradiso. The name of the group the Butt Drama Circle.
Speaking of which, there was drama at Pocock, Kilkenny, when a nude golfer literally "played out of his skin" last weekend.
"Wearing nothing but a smile, the bearded golfer kept his eye on the ball despite giggles from passers by. Only clues to the identity of the naked swinger who revelled at being barefoot in the park was that he had dark hair and was in his twenties," said the Kilkenny People.
A mother of four who witnessed the prank remarked that "perhaps the new trend will encourage more ladies to take up golf".
The Munster Express said that, for the first time in living memory, a dolphin, or possibly a porpoise, has appeared in the Barrow River near the scenic spot on the old New Ross road known as Pink Rock. The friendly creature has been swimming and jumping alongside boats and seems happy, but locals are worried that the dolphin may have lost its way and be unable to find its way back to sea.
Urinating in public: social taboo or democratic right? The latest ad vice is that as long as you are outside the Dublin Metropolitan area, you may "piddle away".
A solicitor defending a public piddler in Co Kerry told the court that the 1871 act does not apply outside the capital and the judge agreed. How is it that this information never reached Templemore Garda Training College, asked Padraig Kennelly of Kerry's Eye.
"There are many convictions that should be hosed off the Kerry court books," he claimed.
If Mr Michael Lowry TD opened his local newspapers at the weekend, he saw two neutral and sober editorials concerning the revelations about his personal life and the Tribunal on payments to politicians. The Tipperary Star and the Nationalist and Munster Advertiser were united in the view that the electorate would decide and provided no comforting clue as to what that decision might be.
The mood was light at the Roscommon Champion/Longford News, however, which relished the revival in what is called "the greatest spectator sport that is Irish politics" and remarked that "it took Charles J. Haughey to bring back the drama".
"Irish politics had become just a little drab in recent years - it was a period ill befitting a nation used to drama, intrigue, gossip and rumour inside and outside our political corridors. If you think we are being whimsical and not treating recent events with the importance they deserve, then we hold up our hands ... Sure, there are serious issues involved, but there are also hilarious revelations.
Drugs were once again a major issue on the front pages with scare stories abounding. The Westmeath Examiner reported a £10,000 local seizure of drugs, linked drug abuse to "fashion and music", and highlighted the Midland Health Board's finding that 40 per cent of 16-19 year olds take drugs. However, it kept its perspective, also highlighting the view of Dr Des Corrigan, head of the School of Pharmacy at TCD, that "the drug which causes most problems in Irish society is alcohol... Alcohol is the key drug to violent crime".
Among the dozens of court reports concerning intoxicated defendants, there seemed to be a trend towards a tougher attitude. The Leitrim Observer stated that when sentencing a man to two concurrent three month sentences, Judge Oliver McGuinness said: "He should not be allowed to roam the streets ... with impunity, terrorising people."
The Kerryman reported that in Dingle, Judge Terence Finn declared that "anyone involved in assaults, especially when drink was being consumed, could expect no mercy from the court".
