A miserable Irish childhood has become a passport to literary fame. "Extraordinary Tale of Abuse in Mayo destined for best-seller lists: Boy beaten and starved during nightmare childhood," shouted the Connaught Telegraph's front-page headline.
Marian House is an account of "the dark side of Irish family life in the 1950s" and was written by a man, now living in Switzerland, who claims his home in Mayo was run like a prison camp. "Beating and starvation were frequently meted out to the young schoolboy, who was apparently being punished for the fact that his mother died while giving birth to him," the newspaper said.
The abuse was the subject of a recent criminal court action, settled before it came to hearing.
Allegations of inconsistency in the decisions of Donegal County Council's planning department have prompted Cllr Sean Maloney to call for a public inquiry, according to the Donegal Democrat. Cllr Maloney claimed that "rumours are abounding throughout the county because of some of the decisions taken to allow planning to go ahead in certain areas of the county . . . decisions [that] had turned them into concrete jungles".
And Co Clare could yet be exposed as having experienced planning abuses on the same scale as Dublin, according to the former Labour TD, Dr Moosajee Bhamhjee. Serious questions marks are hanging over planning decisions made by the county council, which have led to widespread rumours of abuses within the planning section of the council, the Clare Champion said.
The widespread public perception in Clare, Dr Bhamhjee claimed, is that "if you go to certain builders, they will get planning permission. People feel that if they own a property and apply for planning permission it could be refused, but that if well-known developers own the property permission is more often than not granted."
In an editorial comment, the Clare Champion likened applicants for planning permission to Christians being thrown to the lions. "At last count, no less than 39 people had their planning applications swallowed whole by the lions of the county council planning department since the introduction of the `non-local' rule."
The county development plan was, the Champion continued, "a charter for corruption because it fails to acknowledge that the construction of a home is a basic right of all applicants, regardless of who they are or where they come from. And that failure led to an appalling outbreak of `nod and wink' politicking, as councillors sought over the last few months to ignore their own planning restrictions in promoting pet projects."
The "word on the street", it added, was that the vast majority of planning applications were likely to be turned down and the only way to be in with a chance was to lobby the councillors.
The Celtic Tiger has finally arrived in Carlow town, the Nationalist and Leinster Times reports. Going through the planning stages are: 1,107 new houses, 151 apartments, a retail park, a new supermarket, a multi-storey car-park, a 60-bed nursing home, filling stations and offices, not to mention a list of local authority projects which include housing schemes and a theatre.
Two headlines concerning Travellers provide a poignant contrast. "French commission for Travellers' art work", the Long- ford Leader said. "Travellers' Feud Erupts in Violence," according to the Meath Chronicle.
The Connacht Tribune announced that one of the world's biggest health insurance corporations, Cigna, is to introduce a "work-from-home" scheme.
The Limerick Leader highlighted the tragedy of a 16-year-old in care of the Mid-Western Health Board, who committed suicide while on a home visit in the company of a care worker.
A District Court judge, Judge Mary Martin, accused the Department of Justice of being interested only in money and numbers, the Tipperary Star reports. The judge, who presides over 32,000 cases a year, was also reported as saying: "I cannot keep going."
Two newspapers highlighted inadequacies in hospital services. The Drogheda Independent reported a survey that revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital by the North-Eastern Health Board. Its sister, the Fingal Independent, focused on the claim that lengthening waiting lists showed a "terrible disregard" for patients.