The warming presence of a kitchen range has become such a status symbol (now that nobody but the range can afford to stay home) that anyone in possession of a new one should keep it under guard.
The Westmeath Examiner said a couple had their new £1,600 range stolen while they were out during the day. The thieves broke down a door to get into the house.
Malachy Byrne, a "straight talker" from Boyle, Co Roscommon, doesn't believe in women playing football. Eddie Coffey in his Carlow Nationalist column gave Byrne the "thumbs up" for his view that "their bodies are too precious to be abused, bumped and humped playing football". They have "their own natural humps and bumps", he said.
In Mallow, Co Cork, the local urban district council suspects something is "seriously wrong" with the bad-tasting tap water because it turns partly to jelly when left standing overnight. A local school was forced to place signs at all the taps stating "Not for Human Consumption". An official told the council the water tastes bad because it has to spend so much treating it to make it drinkable.
"Mayoress welcomes cannabis trials", said the Ballymena Guardian. Ballymena's Mayoress, Ms Lynda Curry, a multiple sclerosis sufferer for 19 years, praised the recommendation by a British House of Lords science and technology committee that clinical trials go ahead for the treatment of MS with cannabis. "A lot more investigation needs to be done into whether cannabis and cannabinoids are effective or beneficial - this must be carefully scrutinised. I would be concerned that it could open the floodgates and give people false hope," she said.
In Co Kerry, the feel-good factor created by Celtic Tiger hype is leading to a great Celtic debt just in time for Christmas. Credit cards and mobile phones are the new "growth areas" in Kerry's burgeoning "debt culture", wrote Breda Joy in the Kerryman. "The attraction of ready spending power and the new-found popularity of mobile phones are luring more people into debt, according to Kerry Money Advice and Budgeting Service. Excessive drinking and simple mismanagement of funds as well as unexpected changes in personal circumstances including illness and job loss are also driving Kerry people into the red," she stated.
The Tullamore Tribune/Midland Tribune said the "Celtic Tiger needs a caring heart". The editorial view was bolstered by two reports. The first highlighted the vulnerability of the homeless to "predatory landlords" who are not kept in check by the urban district council, which admits an "inadequate housing supply".
The second described the "woefully inadequate" services at Tullamore General Hospital. "Resources need to be targeted to improve the education, health and job prospects of the marginalised in both urban and rural Ireland," it stated.
"We are now at a crossroads. We can create a more caring, inclusive society or we can go down the path chosen by other Western democracies. The choice is ours!"
Despite the booming economy, a feel-bad factor was seeping in. In Fermanagh, £29 million sterling has been lost from the local economy in the past two years due to the crisis in farming, said the Impartial Reporter.
In Co Meath, significant job losses are expected over the coming weeks and months at CTM-Southborough, the largest employer in Kells, after the loss of a contract to supply its major customer, Dell Computers, said the Meath Chronicle.
Ballinrobe, Co Mayo is "stunned" by the loss of 38 jobs due to the closure of Betatherm Thermistors, which was worth an annual wage packet of £500,000 to the local economy since it set up four years ago, said the Mayo News. The Longford Leader thanked the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, for the "fine, new Garda Station", which was particularly welcome since visits by Fianna Fail Government Ministers to Longford are "about as rare as white blackbirds".