A seaweed delicacy is "making waves" in Ballymena, the Ballymena Guardian reported. Bar snacks, Ballymena style, consist of dulse, a dark brown, slimy seaweed that when tried "is as tasty a snack as you will find". The Guardian compared dulse favourably to pretzels, peanuts and pork crackling.
"Dulse used to be an idiosyncratic appeal of the Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, along with yellow man and honeycomb. These days, you can obtain the delicacy in any number of bars from Belfast to Londonderry and many more inland," it said.
Mr Bobby McCaig, a local man, said: "Carnlough is the best place to collect the dulse. I've been collecting it for a few years now. It is definitely an acquired taste, but it must be dried properly. Some people prefer it soft, but personally I prefer it more hard and chewy."
The actor Liam Neeson has received an apology from Ballymena council, the Guardian reported. The council's climbdown comes after a strongly worded letter winged its way from Hollywood in which Mr Neeson said he was disappointed that he had to reiterate that he was "proud to be a Ballymena man."
He was "stung" by an earlier council letter demanding that he explain himself to them over remarks he allegedly made to the late John F. Kennedy jnr's magazine, George, about growing up in Ballymena. He was reported to have said that "as a Catholic growing up in Ballymena he felt like a second-class citizen" and that the July 12th celebration was "some bloody obscure war where some bloody Catholic king was defeated by some bloody Dutch king who was Protestant".
Mr Neeson said he took exception to the offensive tone of the council's demands. "I am extremely disappointed that certain members of the council should see fit to comment publicly on this matter, apparently without even having read the actual article, never mind first seeking clarification as to the veracity of any remarks attributed to me, with the resultant coverage in the local press," he wrote.
This is the second time Mr Neeson has run into controversy with the council over remarks he has allegedly made to the press. Who said begrudgery was dead? Speaking of which, just when it looked as though the fuss over Father Seamus Duffy's claim that Ms Sonia O'Sullivan was a "common slut" for having a baby out of wedlock, another priest has entered the fray. Monsignor Francis Donnelly told the Drogheda Independent that while Father Duffy's remarks were "very unfortunate", the athlete had given people a poor picture of her adherence to Catholic morality. He suspected that "she had abandoned her faith".
"We've done nothing wrong and we've nothing to hide," Sligo Oireachtas members, who between them claimed nearly £176,000 in tax-free expenses in the past year, have told the Sligo Champion.
Mr Michael Moynihan told the Corkman that the £39,000 he claimed was "not enough". "I have to dip into my Dail salary to cover costs," said the TD, who was 11th on the expenses list.
The Nationalist and Munster Advertiser described a "public outcry" in south Tipperary by trade union leaders and unemployed action groups. Union spokesmen based in Clonmel said the expenses system was an "appalling rip-off".
A savage attack by a gang of youths has ended a Dublin man's love affair with Kilkenny, said the Kilkenny People. The man was repeatedly kicked in the head and robbed in a city street. The victim, from Glasnevin, Dublin, was sitting on a low wall having a cigarette before returning to his hotel when a group of "well-dressed" and "sober" young men started chatting with him casually. Then they beat him to a pulp and "left him for dead".
The Argus reported another unprovoked attack, this time on a local councillor and businessman, Mr Donal Lynch, who was recently elected for the first time to Louth County Council. In a clampdown on violence and unsavoury conduct in hurling in Co Kerry, the Kerry County Board imposed heavy fines on two of the top clubs in the county and suspended several officials and players from the clubs. The clubs had to pay the court £2,000 each, said the Kerryman.
"Loo judgment could have chain reaction", declared the Connaught Telegraph.
The lack of a public convenience in Westport has prompted a judge to dismiss a charge against a visitor to the town of urinating in public. There are just seven public toilets in the county, ensuring that in many cases the call of nature ends up in nature, if not on someone's garden wall.