Deafened ears turned to pleas on fireworks

The hazards of Hallowe'en were highlighted in papers across the State this week. Fireworks with an estimated street value of £500,000 were seized by gardai at Omeath, Co Louth, the Argus reported.

The haul, the largest ever in the northeast, contained "very dangerous and sophisticated varieties, some of which were new to "gardai," the paper said.

The Kildare Nationalist reported that gardai were urging parents to supervise bonfires and "seize illegal fireworks from their children in the lead up to Hallowe'en". The paper said gardai were "virtually powerless to bring charges against people caught in possession or attempting to sell them". The most dangerous type this year is the "Black Cat" which has to be held while being lit and is then thrown, the paper said.

The Midland Tribune also "took up the torch" of the fireworks issue. Its editorial noted a "huge increase in fireworks activity in the lead-up to the ancient festival this year". It said it was no surprise that gardai were receiving "tens of calls" each day in relation to fireworks and bangers. The paper "commended" the Garda for its hard work but said blanket banning of fireworks would not keep them off the streets. "Legalisation of safer fireworks would sound the death knell for the current underground illegal trade which puts children at the mercy of hazardous fireworks", it said.

The Donegal People's Press editorial said the responsibility for ensuring the safety of children at Hallowe'en rested on the shoulders of "full-grown adults", particularly "those in the business of selling illegal fireworks". The warnings, it said, "are issued every Hallowe'en but inevitably fall on ears deafened by the banging".

In a front-page piece headlined "Unique Home Torched by Fireworks?", the Weekender said the fire which destroyed Navan's last thatch cottage might have been started by vandals using fireworks. It said the "unexplained" blaze, which is being investigated, destroyed the interior and restored thatch roof.

THE looming teachers' strike received mixed coverage across the State. The Sligo Champion reported a 93 per cent vote in favour of the strike which will affect more than 4,000 students in Sligo town and county. The paper quoted an ASTI local spokesman, Mr Brendan Duggan, as saying: "This is last resort action. No teacher wants to be on a picket line".

The Leinster Leader felt teachers had not made a convincing case for a 30 per cent pay increase. "It remains extremely difficult . . . to see the justification for a rise of almost a third in basic salary". The paper conceded that teachers had contributed greatly to the success of the economy but felt they were going about their campaign the wrong way by emphasising the problems of the job rather than the need to attract more people to the profession. "Too often, teachers do their own case no good at all", it said.

"Electronic tagging of babies is to be introduced at Wexford General Hospital's maternity unit and at all other hospitals within the South Eastern Health Board area by the end of the year", the New Ross Standard announced. It came the day after new-born John Donal O'Brien was reunited with his parents following his abduction from Erinville Hospital in Cork.

The Wicklow People's editorial welcomed the security review but said it did not go far enough and said concerns about security in Erinville had been voiced before the abduction.

The Munster Express reported that bail had been refused for the 19-year-old Waterford woman charged with the abduction.

A picture of a gravestone on the front page of the Kerryman lent a certain Hallowe'en feel to the tale of a woman who wants to have the body of a "wealthy" Kerry farmer exhumed to prove he was her father. "The woman . . . is hoping DNA testing on the remains of Michael Clifford of Rossmore, Firies, will prove conclusively she is his daughter and therefore entitled to inherit his estate", it reported.

The paper said Mr Clifford, who has been dead for two years, was not married, had no relatives living in the area and did not leave a will. The paper described him, however, as a "colourful character" and said it was thought locally he had a daughter who attended his funeral in 1998.

The Kerryman also reported that sales of Brian O'Doherty's "controversial" novel The Deposition of Father McGreevey had soared following last week's criticism from Cllr Michael Healy-Rae. "One bookseller predicted Cllr Healy-Rae will be looking for a `commission' following his call for the banning", the paper reported.

Although the independent councillor called off the fatwa, he defended his action to the newspaper. "What I did played right into your man's hands," he said. "At the same time you couldn't leave it go unchecked that any person could suggest that the people of west Kerry were having love affairs with sheep." Cllr Healy-Rae concluded: "I have lifted the fatwa, it's OK."