Antrim

A woman and two children escaped injury following a bomb attack in Lisburn. Two petrol bombs were thrown into the kitchen of the house in the Finch Gardens area of the city shortly before 4am last Thursday. A 10-year-old and 15-year-old were in the house at the time but escaped unhurt along with the woman. One of the bombs caused scorch damage to the floor and graffiti was daubed on the back walls of the house.

(Source: Belfast Telegraph)

Armagh

A man aged 51 has died after falling into a frozen lake in Lurgan Park last Sunday week. Two fire service crew and a paramedic also ended up in the water during an attempt to save the victim. A police helicopter was tasked to the Co Armagh park at around 2pm, beginning a dramatic two-hour rescue bid involving around 100 members of the emergency services. Recently a man was rescued from the same lake after going into the water to save his dog. Two park wardens risked their lives and crawled on their stomachs to reach the man who fell through the ice.

(Source: Belfast Newsletter)

Carlow

Oozing style and sophistication beyond her years, Carlow’s very own Hollywood starlet wowed on the red carpet last week. Ardattin native Saoirse Ronan joined co-star Colin Farrell last Wednesday in London for the premiere of their new film, The Way Back. Word on the film-maker’s market is that the Carlow girl could be tipped for an Oscar for her performance in the film, which is based on Slawomir Rawicz’s memoir The Long Walk and tells the story of soldiers who escaped from a Siberian gulag in 1940.

(Source: The Carlow Nationalist)

Cavan

A Dublin man who was caught cultivating cannabis with a street value of €13,000 in a house on the outskirts of Cavan Town was handed a two-year sentenced when he pleaded guilty to the offence at Cavan Criminal Circuit Court. Kenneth Donnelly, 8E Pearse House, Dublin 2, was charged with cultivating the cannabis without a licence at Pollamore Far on March 28, 2009.

(Source: The Angle Celt)

 Clare

Clare County Council has awarded a €1 million contract to L&M Keating Ltd, Kilmihil, to carry out a refurbishment and extension to the Sweeney Memorial Library in Kilkee. The proposed scheme comprises additional library space, theatre and exhibition space, and multifunction spaces. Construction work on the proposed development is expected to get underway in the coming weeks and be completed by the end of 2011.

(Source: Live PR.com)

Cork

UCC and CIT will receive €6.2m from the Government for small scale building works and the upgrading of high tech equipment, according to Fianna Fáil TD and Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheál Martin. “The money will allow for improvement, refurbishment and health and safety works on buildings in both campuses, to ensure our students can continue to study in comfort and safety,” he said.

Source: (Cork Independent)

Derry

Extra jobs are 'on the line' with news that a Waterford-based business, Rigney Dolphin - which provides customer service centres for other companies - will soon be setting up a base near Altnagelvin Hospital in Co Londonderry. The Stomont Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has announced that Rigney Dolphin is to establish a new customer service centre in Londonderry, creating almost 300 jobs. She said that Invest NI has offered £1.2m of support toward the investment that will generate over £4million annually through the creation of 297 jobs over the next three years.

(Source: 4NI.co.uk)

Donegal

Donegal's newest country music sensation, 10-year-old Simon Donegan, has just returned from a triumphant performance in Nashville. Simon, who has been described as "Ireland's next Daniel O'Donnell" was invited to perform for millions of listeners across the US on the Midnight Jamboree radio show. Despite only starting to sing within the last two years, Simon, who goes by the professional name Simon Peters, has already built up a glittering career.

(Source: Donegal Democrat)

Down

County Down teenager Eoin Monaghan is to become one of the youngest contestants to reach the final of TV quiz Countdown. The 14-year-old, who attends Abbey Grammar School, made it to the final of the Channel 4 show after beating off stiff competition in earlier rounds. Eoin was the second seed on the cult TV show which is hosted by Jeff Stelling. Mr Stelling labelled Eoin a "boy wonder" after his performances on the show.

(Source: BBC News Northern Ireland)

Dublin

Gardai have taken out a major distribution network for crack cocaine and heroin and arrested 45 people after officers went undercover in Dublin. Operation Marshall — a covert operation lasting six months — targeted on-street supply and distribution right across Dublin's inner city, but primarily the south-inner city. Gardai infiltrated the gangs across the supply line building files of evidence. Last Wednesday and Thursday officers went after their targets with the arrest of 45 people.

(Source: Belfast Telegraph)

Fermanagh

Three men from Northern Ireland have been jailed for IRA membership. Gerard McGarrigle, 46, from Mount Carmel Heights in Strabane was sentenced to five years in prison. Desmond Donnelly, 58, from Drumall, Lisnarick, Fermanagh and Jim Murphy, 63, from Floraville in Enniskillen, were given three years and nine months. They were arrested in February after Irish police received a tip-off that dissident republicans were about to carry out a tiger kidnapping. They had denied membership of an illegal organization but were convicted last month.

(Source: BBC News Northern Ireland)

Galway

Galway City proved relatively resilient to the economic downturn on the jobs front during 2010, with the creation of more than 1,100 new positions. Although Live Register figures continued on the rise for most of the year, there were also more than a dozen significant jobs announcements – the majority of which were attracted by the IDA. Last week two companies based in Galway announced a total of 220 new jobs – bringing the total number of jobs announced here to 460 in just four weeks.

(Source: Galway Tribune)

Kildare

Gardai held a checkpoint in Naas last weekend to check on the social welfare status of taxi drivers in the town. In total around 33 cars were checked by social welfare and PSV staff last Saturday night in Naas town centre. “The checkpoint was conducted in relation to investigations into social welfare fraud,” said Sgt Whitty. Some people driving taxis may be receiving the Back to Work allowance and only permitted to drive a certain amount of hours a week.

(Source: The Kildare Nationalist)

Kilkenny

A former resident of St Joseph's Orphanage in Kilkenny city is to run as a candidate in the upcoming general election. Noel G Walsh of Rioch's Street in the city spent his childhood in the notorious institution where a number of pedophiles preyed on young children with devastating consequences. One of a family of 13, he overcame the physical an d sexual abuse there and is now a community activist, helping people with their problems they may have with the HSE and/or various government departments and agencies of the State.

(Source: Kilkenny People)

Kerry

Quite where the Irish Open will find a headline sponsor for next July’s event is still anyone’s guess, but at least the European Tour were able to confirm one of the best established events on the schedule will return to Killarney Golf and Fishing Club over the August Bank Holiday weekend next year. George O’Grady, the European Tour chief executive, made the announcement when in Dublin for last week’s Irish Links Society Dinner.

(Source: Irish Times)

Laois

A little Chinese teapot, valued at €100, created a saleroom sensation last week when it sold for €50,000. The teapot, which would barely fill a mug of tea, was the unexpected “sleeper” in an antiques auction at Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, Co Laois. The buyer was a Chinese collector who bid by telephone from Beijing. The teapot was made in China during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng who ruled between 1723 and 1735.

(Source: Irish Times)

Leitrim

The latest figures from the Australian Department of Immigration have revealed a massive increase in the number of Irish people emigrating to Australia with just over three thousand Irish citizens were granted permanent residency in the financial year ending June 2010, a 22 percent rise on the previous years

(Source: Leitrim Observer)

Limerick

Gardai have caught red-handed the man behind the forged €50 notes that have been circulating in a county village for the past few weeks. The matter was reported to gardai and a search was conducted at the end of last week in Doon. It is understood a note was found in the man's wallet. A Garda spokesperson confirmed a man was found in possession of one of the notes. "We did a search and found a dud note with the same serial number as the rest of them. A man was interviewed and he made admissions in relation to the other notes," said the spokesperson.

(Source: Limerick Leader)

Longford

A County Longford senior footballer had to have part of his scalp glued back together after he was viciously assaulted outside a Sligo nightclub, it has emerged. Newtowncashel student, Peter Foy suffered a broken and dislocated jaw, a fractured eye socket and extensive damage to his teeth during the frenzied attack along Sligo town's Market Street on November 7.

(Source: Longford Leader)

Louth

Around 100 protestors lined both entrances to the Louth County Hospital last Monday to protest at Mary Harney's visit. While the Minister for Health was already inside when the bulk of the group arrived, they made their feelings known about the number of cutback in services at the hospital under her watch as both she and locally-based Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern left the grounds following the official opening of the new North Eastern Regional Colposcopy unit.

(Source: Dundalk Democrat)

Mayo

A well-known 48-year-old Swinford man with a physical disability died after slipping on a sheet of ice outside his isolated home. John McCann of Barnacoogue, Swinford was found outside his home lying on a sheet of ice after having to walk almost 5k in the snow because he couldn’t get a lift home in the bad weather conditions. Gardaí in Swinford confirmed that the man had a head injury and that he may have been exposed to the cold for 24 hours.

(Source: The Mayo News)

Meath

An elderly couple were shocked and shaken after being the victims of a deception burglary at their Proudstown home, outside Navan, last Monday afternoon. The couple, who are in their 80s, answered a knock to their door where they found three men who claimed they were there to check their water supply. One of the men kept the couple talking at the door, while the other two searched the house. It is believed that they made off with a quantity of cash in the region of €5,000.

(Source: The Meath Chronicle)

Monaghan

A Fermanagh based priest has called on the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains to seek an exhumation order to determine if a body buried in a grave in Co Monaghan is one of the “disappeared”. Fr Joe McVeigh has urged the commission and the Department of Justice to carry out further checks on what appears to have been a secretive burial at a graveyard at Urbleshanny Church just outside Scotstown in Co Monaghan. Fr McVeigh said that several years ago he was provided with confidential information by an “old-style republican” that a body was discovered buried at a shallow level in the grave.

(Source: Irish Times)

Offaly

Two men have been arrested following a raid last Thursday by Customs Officers and Gardai on an oil laundering facility at Kilclonfert near Daingean. The plant is understood to have the capacity to launder in the region of 100,000 litres per week. At that level, the output of the plant represents a potential loss to the Exchequer of an estimated €50,000 a week. Over 12,000 litres of laundered fuel and a gravel truck with a concealed tank of 20,000 litres capacity were seized.

(Source: Offaly Express)

Roscommon

Boyle actor Chris O’Dowd has drawn on his own Christmas experiences as a child to come up with a new comedy film, ‘’Chris O’Dowd’s Little Cracker’, previewed on Sky1 last weekend. The short film was written by Chris O’Dowd and Nick Murphy and tells the story of a ‘Young Chris’ who has developed a dislike for Santa Claus and embarks on a cunning plan to catch him.

(Source: The Roscommon Champion)

Sligo

The Central Criminal Court in Dublin has been told of a Sligo "house of hell" in which a father raped and indecently abused his two daughters over a 16-year period. In victim impact statements read to the court last Monday, both women described the horrific abuse they had been subjected to by a man one of them said 'should not and does not deserve to be called a father'.

(Source: The Sligo Champion)

Tipperary

Gardai in Thurles have warned online shoppers to on the alert for a scam which allows hackers to access personal computers. Scammers, claiming to be from Microsoft and other respected technology companies, are contacting consumers to falsely inform them that their computers have a virus. The cyber criminals then persuade the victim to download a file, which allows the scammers to gain access to their computer. This, in turn, allows the criminals to access the victim's personal details, including financial information.

(Source: Tipperary Star)

Tyrone

A friend of a murdered man's son has denied that he “concocted” his story to blame the defendants for the killing in Dungannon. It was while under cross-examination from defence QC Brendan Kelly at Belfast Crown Court that Patrick Bell, a friend of Kevin Hughes, denied that his claims of seeing Martin Murray with a knife was “a concoction... to make sure that one of the Murrays paid for this killing”. Martin Murray (23), from Windmill Drive; his cousin Liam Murray (24), from Windmill Court; 24-year-old Kevin Toye, from Windmill Court, all Dungannon, and 25-year-old William McDonagh, from Kew Gardens in Ballymena, all deny murdering 49-year-old Eamonn Hughes on September 14, 2008.

(Source: Belfast Telegraph)

Waterford

A leading city credit union has employed a solicitor and is also taking on a debt collector in a bid to recoup €2.8m in bad debts owed by its members. The scale of the debts were outlined by Sean O’Brien, president of St. Dominic’s Credit Union, which has branches at Summerhill and Ferrybank, in the city, and Mooncoin in Co. Kilkenny, when he addressed the annual general meeting last week.

(Source: Waterford News $ Star)

Westmeath

The Bogfest 2010 which was held in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland has raised a total of €6,600. The natural setting in Tinnemuck was ideal with a very enjoyable day for everyone who attended. Preparations are underway for Bogfest 2011, hopefully with an even bigger turnout. Approximately 500 people turned up this year and the target is to double that for 2011.

(Source: Westmeath Independent)

Wexford

Four men have each been sentenced to ten years in prison for disposing of and trying to destroy the body of Rebecca French in Co Wexford last year. At the Central Criminal Court, Judge Barry White described the killing of the 30-year-old as 'brutal' and 'savage'. He said the sentence was the maximum he could impose.

(Source: RTE News)

Wicklow

An application by Bank of Ireland for €11.75 million judgment orders against a Co Wicklow property developer over unpaid loans has been adjourned after the developer became ill in court and was taken to hospital by ambulance last week. The full hearing of the bank's action against George Wilkin, Roselawn Green, Boghall Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, was listed for hearing before Mr Justice Sean Ryan at the Commercial Court after talks between the sides failed to resolve the case.

(Source: RTE News)