A round-up of today's other regional stories in breif...
Celebration of link with 'Hannah Parr'
The first festival to commemorate and celebrate a link between Limerick and Norway will get under way this May bank holiday weekend when the 140th anniversary of the journey of the Hannah Parr will be remembered.
The ship, which had 380 Norwegian passengers on board, set sail from Christiana, now known as Oslo, on April 12th, 1868, bound for Quebec in Canada. However, 16 days into the journey she was blown off course by storms and sought refuge in Limerick.
The ship was in dock for six weeks for repairs.The people of Limerick did their best to make the passengers welcome.
Golf tourism highlighted
The growing contribution of golf tourism to visitor numbers was highlighted yesterday when Shannon Development launched a tourism marketing campaign and its sponsorship of the Irish Open golf championship for a second year.
The development company has put in place marketing initiatives as part of its support for the golf tournament which will be held at Adare Manor hotel and golf resort from May 15th to May 18th.
Plan for viewing tower in Killarney
A viewing tower will provide unrivalled views of the lakes and mountains of Killarney for people stepping out of the local train station but will not be obtrusive, architects, engineers and consultants insisted yesterday at a public consultation process by the promoters.
A new courthouse, a cinema and 18,000sq m of retail, largely underneath the preserved curtilage of the former Great Southern Hotel, form part of the proposal.