THE strangely contradictory values which shape this country could not have been better illustrated than by these two reports. The Western people said that Mayo's ancient sites are so treasured for their tourism potential that Mayo County Council as become one of the earliest to employ an archaeologist.

Then the Leinster Express told us that a 16th century bridge was demolished in Portlaoise in an act described by local historian Mr Frank Meehan as "vandalism".

Considering such utterly contradictory approaches to life on this island, is the Government really sure that "regionalisation" is a good thing?

The regions don't seem to think so.

Commenting on the "stiff opposition" to the Government's decision to establish 10 regional education boards, the Tipperary Star said: "The experience of the regionalisation of health services has left the public sceptical and unconvinced that regionalisation makes for improved services."

Money which could go towards improved education would, instead, add another tier of bureaucracy.

You'd want to be careful during a slow news week, whenever there is a local newspaper reporter around.

The Clare Champion made a front page banner headline out of a Kilrush UCD member's description of a local housing estate as "like Sarajevo" and the Kerryman's front page made a meal out of a primary school inspector's comment that a "Dunblane type massacre could happen here".

The thought that the John Paul Housing Estate in Kilrush could be compared to war torn Sarajevo may seem implausible, but the Clare Champion ran with it nonetheless. Under the headline, "Emergency Steps to Tackle Disaster Housing Estate", chief reporter Tony Mulvey told us the area had "become like Sarajevo because of the amount of damage caused to it" and that "some tenants regard John Paul Housing Estate as a purgatory before moving elsewhere to live".

This was strong language, indeed, but what were the facts? We were told about "incidents of elderly residents being bullied by children", "indiscriminate dumping", weed ridden approach roads and collapsed boundary walls - damage not quite on the scale of Sarajevo, but enough to prompt Kilrush UDC to unanimously vote £51,800 emergency money toward maintaining the estate.

The Keryman quoted south Kerry primary schools inspector Ms Chris Nolan on the Dunblane massacre: "I think it could easily happen here. There are some people of diminished responsibility - and with violence being portrayed as entertainment on the visual media, and no indications being given of what is morally wrong confusion can be caused in their minds and something terrible could happen," she said.

The Kerryman's editorial endorsed Ms Nolan's view that TV violence sparked violence in troubled minds.

Giving troubled minds a reason to stay very angry was the subject addressed by the Andersonstown News editorial. It commented on incident in which junior football clubs from all over the North attended a presentation ceremony which "was thrown into chaos when organisers proposed a loyal toast (to the British monarch) at the end of the dinner and many nationalist players and officials refused to stand up."

The newspaper commented that "it shows how far we have come in recent years when nationalists can't attend a social event hosted by one of the premier sporting bodies in the country without an attempt being made to exclude and humiliate them by the time honoured unionist tradition of putting them on the spot."

RTE is stalling plans for the Republic's biggest windfarm in south Donegal because, it claims, the £12 million project will "seriously disrupt" both television and radio signals, the Donegal Democrat reported. Apparently when the turbines are built on high ground they can block or reflect signals.

The Kerryman reported that a proposed £1 million investment by a Nigerian investor as part of a "passport for sale deal" has become the main hope in the latest efforts to save the 220 jobs at the struggling Kerry Fashions plant in Tralee.

The Italians are moving into Inistoige, Co Kilkenny, a town which managed to turn itself into a permanent film set.

The Kilkenny People said that, following the filming in Inistoige of Circle of Friends and Widow's Peak, the "Latins" have moved in to make Where the Sun is Rising, an Italian comedy series about two Italian families (one rich and one poor) who jointly inherit an Irish summer home and move there.

A row between Kilkenny and Waterford over a water treatment plant was the lead story in both the Kilkenny People and the Munster Express.

The People highlighted an allegation that Waterford Corporation tried to hide from the public its attempt to purchase land for a controversial waste water plan at Belview in south Kilkenny. Belview residents are willing to go all the way to the European Court of Justice to stop the plan.