A man who is living in a tomb in Tuam and receiving visitors every night has caused consternation among local town commissioners. "Temple Jarlath in Tuam is the only graveyard in the world in which a live person has taken up residence in a tomb," the Connacht Tribune asserted.
Councillor Tom Reilly said he had made representations to Galway County Council about housing the man, adding "it was a disgrace that he had to lay down his head in Temple Jarlath". Temple Jarlath dates back to the sixth century and is reputedly the site of the monastery founded by St Jarlath.
Enniskillen councillors have condemned protesters for describing children living in a children's home at Killadeas as "Fenian scum", stated the Impartial Reporter. "The sectarian abuse of the five residents evokes images of the Ku-Klux-Klan," believed Councillor Geraldine Cassidy.
She claimed that although the children came from both Protestant and Catholic communities, the abuse they had suffered has been blatantly sectarian. The words "get out or be put out you scum" had been painted on the driveway and burned into the lawn with weedkiller.
Another councillor claimed an RUC man had regularly taken part in the protests.
Street violence and under-age drinking dominated the local headlines in the Republic. The chairman of Tramore town commissioners blamed "downmarket visitors", according to the Munster Express. Michael Flynn claimed there had been "a noticeable decline in the quality of visitors to the resort this summer" and that a "particularly nasty element" was being attracted to the town. His comments left some of his colleagues "aghast" at what they called "extremely offensive" terminology.
Gardai in Waterford have cracked down on late-night drinking and lodged formal objections to nightclub exemptions in an effort to enforce public order on the streets of the city, stated the Munster Express. The new licensing laws had worsened the situation, because patrons were "on the streets longer and later, perhaps with more alcohol consumed", commented the Munster Express.
The newspaper called for "special elite squads" of gardai to deal with hooliganism in the streets of Waterford at closing time.
The Tipperary Star believed it was all too easy to demand a greater Garda presence, but that this would not address the root of the problem, which was the responsibility of parents, "who cannot be allowed renege on their obligation to their children and to society in general".
Blaming families in which two parents worked outside the home, the newspaper claimed "the time and energy required to rear children is reduced. The fall-out from this, more and more young people getting into trouble with the law, has serious implications for society".
The Westmeath Examiner stated that "the spiralling catalogue of unrest on Mullingar streets at weekends continued with two serious assaults occurring on Friday and Saturday night last".
The Gorey Guardian described a "vicious attack" with an iron bar on a young man outside a nightclub in Courtown, the second such incident in two weeks.
The Western People published "horrific stories of kids guzzling drink" and hoped that "readers would be shocked". Reporter Majella Loftus told of seeing 14 and 15-year-old girls drinking out of bottles of vodka, seeing children so drunk they were passing out on the dance floor, and of meeting a girl in the street who was crying because she could not obtain alcohol, without which she would not dare attend a disco.
The Longford News stated that gardai had arrested 14 people over a weekend, mostly for public order offences, in a "clampdown" on street violence. In an editorial, the newspaper commended the action and called for surveillance cameras to assist gardai in "ridding this community of the cancer which has sadly changed the fabric of social life in Longford".
The Kilkenny People warned of a crime-inducing "drug cult" in the town and published an editorial on youth suicide, an unusual step for a local newspaper. It called for a "medical think tank" on the problem and asked:
"Is society putting too much pressure on young people?"
The Derry Journal described the gruesome acts of a "slasher" who is stalking dogs in Waterside. Dog owners have been urged to be vigilant after one dog had its throat slashed and another had its tail cut off after it was snatched from a back yard.
A community worker from the area said: "This is very strange and disturbing behaviour and the person behind it seems to be in need of some kind of psychiatric help. No normal human being would be engaged in such an activity. I don't want to alarm pet owners but it does seem that he is on the rampage."