Poor road conditions, faulty water supplies, job losses and "nixers" by council officials were the main targets of complaints in the regional papers last week.
The most horrifying tale comes from the Wexford People where a wheelchair-bound young man from Kilmore, was "trapped for some hours" when his wheelchair tipped over when it hit a pothole near his home. The Kingdom paper from Kerry has a picture of several hubcaps lined up against a wall on the Killarney-Killorglin road after six cars had been damaged "in the course of an hour".
More encouraging news from Kerry is that the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney now employs no fewer than 17 nationalities, according to Donal Hickey's weekly column. "Initially there were problems with pints served up by overseas bar staff but all that has been resolved and I know a Malaysian man who serves, arguably, the best pint of plain in Killarney," Hickey proclaims.
The Western People has a headline which declares: "Ballina residents close to boiling point after weeks without water supply". Fears in the town are that it will be some time before there is improvement. "We have had no water for weeks. I have five gallon drums trying to store water. This is 2001, this is Ballina and no one seems to care," said a Creggs Road resident.
The editorial writer in the newspaper says: "Clearly there is now a crisis situation in Ballina and Castlebar. It will be a considerable time before schemes can be implemented. There must be a danger that demand for sewerage and water supply services will greatly outstrip supply."
But Mayo is not alone. The Kerryman reports that "almost 2,000 houses" were without water for 36 hours in Tralee this week "after two major bursts occurred in the town's water supply".
Job losses are referred to in several regional papers. The Midland Tribune editorialises on the closure of Lowe Alpine during the week, with the loss of 220 jobs.
"The news comes after the closure of another Tullamore factory, Daiber, while neighbouring towns have also suffered bad blows. Leoni in Birr laid off over 100 workers over the last number of months while Roscrea was hit by the closure of Offray and the west Offaly area by the closure of the power station in Ferbane."
The Drogheda Independent, in its editorial, says: "Allegations of corruption among council officials [has] dealt another blow to the world of local government, which has received quite a hammering in recent years."
The same paper is delighted to report that a young local boy is to star in a new film in Rome. Andrew Gallagher from the town "has been selected to play a major part in Martin Scorsese's forthcoming film Gangs of New York which is currently being filmed in Rome. He will star alongside such greats as Leonardo di Caprio, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz, and travels to Rome in mid January for three weeks filming."
The Mayo News tells us that the health service and its problems are going to be a major issue in the run-up to the next general election, while the Connacht Tribune reports that over 1.3 million visitors brought about "a bumper tourism season last year [for the west of Ireland] with an increase of more than twice the national average in the number of overseas and domestic tourists visiting the region, according to preliminary Bord Failte figures".
Bridges are in the news in Meath and Wexford. The Meath Weekender and Meath Chronicle report that the owner of a truck which plunged over the bridge at Slane causing the death of the driver, Mr Gerry Cahill (38), last summer, has received a bill for £18,500 from Meath County Council for damage caused to the bridge.
The owner of the truck says he will not pay because the bridge is a hazard, a view endorsed by councillors at last Monday's Meath County Council meeting.