In Dublin we are not quite up to date on the correct terminology for people who wield mops, buckets and polishing cloths. In Co Mayo they are already calling cleaners "hygiene cleaning technicians." Ballina is to be the site of the Republic's first College of Cleaning Science, developed in conjunction with FAS, according to the Western People.
Do not bother trying to sign up your spouse, because the course is reserved for career cleaners only. It will include trainee-ships in cleaning application and skills, which will be 50 per cent college and 50 per cent in-company training. There are 75,000 people employed in cleaning, an industry growing faster than the dust under the average bed.
Kerry's Eye wanted to know if what appeared to be a low-flying Tornado fighter jet, spotted flying over Ballyduff towards Shannon at a height of between 200 and 400 feet, had anything to do with NATO activity. Shannon Air Traffic Control said it had no report of such an aircraft, adding that "the very idea of a jet travelling at 200 to 500 feet is just not on. It would be clipping the treetops."
Inishbiggle is to get its cable car within the next 12 months, the Mayo News reports. The island community has been campaigning for years for proper access to the island and the cable-car project has been a political football spanning several general elections.
"There are 55 to 60 people on the island and this will give them proper transport to and from the island for the first time in their lives. Up to now it has been by currach across some of the most treacherous currents in Europe," said Mr Pol O Foighil, of the co-op.
The "not so Merry" brothers have broken their mother's heart, the Corkman asserted. "Twin brothers from a well-known Rathcormac horse-breeding family celebrated their 38th birthday in a Fermoy court which heard of a history of bad blood between the two and claims of assault involving a pitchfork."
Their mother said it was "horrific" that her sons, Brett and Hugo Merry, were accusing each other of assault. Brett Merry was convicted of assault on his brother, while charges against Mr Hugo Merry were dismissed.
A north Co Kerry village is in turmoil over what the Kerryman called "a teen rape case", involving a man, now in his 20s, accused of raping a girl, aged 15 at the time. The village "is being torn by serious rape allegations which are to be the subject of a trial to be heard in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin next week. Some locals fear the fabric of the close-knit community could suffer long-term damage from the fallout of the case," the Kerryman adds.
"Locals have begun to take positions on the merits of the case and it is understood the villagers are almost equally divided in their views on the allegations.
"The families of the alleged victim and the accused rapist are both well known throughout the parish. Both families are held in very high esteem and the prospect of a robust prosecution and a hard-fought defence during the course of the court case is causing concern locally."
The Kerryman also claimed that five convicted murderers and more than 20 serious sex offenders who have been released are living in Kerry. Last week a twice-convicted rapist from Dublin was forced to flee Ballybunion after his identity became known. The man is related to the first family to move with Kerry Rural Resettlement four years ago, and they, too, have left Ballybunion.
A Garda source told the Kerryman: "The majority of the offenders are known within the communities in which they are resident and are leading relatively normal lives within those communities."
The Fingal Independent comments that, instead of taking people from Meath to work in Dublin, buses are forcing people to use their cars. Overcrowding, aggressive drivers, an inadequate supply of buses at peak times and uncaring Bus Eireann are the main problems, according to commuter campaigner Mr Ken Hall of Dunshaughlin. Bus Eireann rejected the criticism.