Violent behaviour of various kinds is a constant concern in the pages of the regional papers. The current Kerry's Eye has a front-page headline "Frenzied Attack" and tells us how: "Youths watch as girl (16) is kicked unconscious". The attacker was another girl.
On an inside page a report says: "What began as a `lark' turned into a four-month crime spree in Listowel as four 14year-olds smashed car windows, broke into cars and stole property, Ballybunion District Court heard".
The Northern Standard reports that Judge David Maughan, sitting at Monaghan Court, commented that "domestic violence appears to be rampant in Monaghan, mainly as a result of drink. Ninety per cent of the business of this court is related to alcohol or its abuse."
Garda Insp Pat McMorrow is reported as saying there was a "massive increase in the incidence of domestic violence". The Drogheda Independent tells us the "issue of domestic violence was brought into sharp focus by a report published this week which reveals that 62 women and 121 children were accommodated by Drogheda Women's Refuge last year, with an additional 279 calls made to its helpline."
The figures appear in a report by the North-Eastern Health Board which found that the "average length of stay was shorter in Drogheda than in the other two refuges in Dundalk and Meath".
A Waterford News & Star headline proclaims: "Nine months jail for woman who set an alsatian dog on sergeant and exposed her breasts and `mooned' her bottom at gardai". The woman "was on temporary release from Limerick prison after serving one month of a three-month sentence for assaulting a garda".
The same paper has three reports headlined: "Threatened to run gardai into the ground"; "Spat in garda's face at station after breaking glass in pub door"; and "Probation Act applied in courtroom assault against female garda".
The Munster Express reports that a "garda was punched in the chest when he went to arrest a young man in the carpark of Waterford Regional Hospital, the local District Court was told".
The man "was given a three month suspended prison sentence and was fined a total of £390 for assaulting Garda Joe Dunne, obstructing him in the course of his duty and being intoxicated. He was also bound to the peace for three years." The Kerryman carries a report which says: "A Killarney man received a threemonth suspended jail sentence at Killarney District Court for assaulting Garda Adrian Brennan at Killarney Garda station." Judge Humphrey Kelleher was told the man was evicted from McSorley's bar in Killarney and "he later kicked Garda Brennan in the legs".
The same paper reports three men receiving serious head injuries in what gardai "described as a vicious and unprovoked attack in Killarney in the early hours of Sunday morning". No arrests were reported. The Wicklow People reports: "An Ashford man who stabbed a neighbour during a drunken row was ordered to pay £12,900 compensation to his victim at Wicklow Circuit Court". Judge Ray Groarke said the man had "two moments of madness. The first was when he put the knife in his pocket and the second was when he used it."
The Midland Tribune's editorial comments on the problem of illegal drugs, saying: "Anyone who is familiar with District Court sittings in the midlands will be aware of the large increase in drug related offences in recent years. The fact that serious drugs such as ecstasy are now commonplace in our towns and villages is a huge cause for concern".
Traffic problems also get attention. The Connaught Tele- graph's editorial says: "Tackling Westport's grave traffic crisis is very much on the agenda again. At the moment the delays caused by roadworks and what some would say are unnecessary traffic lights are hampering movement."
Good news for those involved in education is fully covered in the Leinster Express and the Laois Nationalist. The former's front-page headline says: "Portlaoise strikes school gold" over a report that "five schools to cater for a total of 3,400 students are to be built in Portlaoise, Education Minister Michael Woods has announced. The Minister unveiled the educational blueprint for Portlaoise when he met schools' representatives and public representatives in the town."
The Laois Nationalist reports: "A multi-million pound package that will see the building of five new schools in Portlaoise and the upgrading and redevelopment of five others in the town has emerged following a behind-closed doors meeting between Education Minister Michael Woods and school authorities."
The report says: "It is proposed locating two new co-educational national schools in the grounds of St Fintan's Hospital, replacing the Sacred Heart, Scoil Mhuire and St Paul's schools. These will cater for over 2,000 pupils."