The difficult problem of the state of roads in the country and within our towns and cities continues to attract the attention of regional newspapers. The Sligo Champion marks the first stage of the driving of an "Inner Relief Road" through the centre of the town with the demolition of houses to make way for the road.
"At Upper John Street, residents were busy packing their belongings knowing that, in a couple of weeks, their homes would be a pile of rubble," it says.
The Mayo News has an editorial which says: "Mayo and the West come at the bottom of the priority list. For the coming decade the spending [by the NRA] is to be allocated to Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway. The N5 is not a priority."
The Roscommon Champion takes up the theme, referring directly to the N5 national primary route between Tarmonbarry and Ballaghaderreen. "As matters stand, sections of the route through Roscommon are not earmarked for serious improvement until 2019."
The Roscommon Herald reports that, at a meeting in Tulsk recently, the road system was described as "a death trap and a Third World road which hasn't been significantly upgraded since the days when Charles Bianconi's coaches operated along the route".
The controversy about the bridge at Slane refuses to go away, and another incident recently has added to the problem. The Drogheda Independent reports an accident there last week when "a lorry carrying a load of 47,000 litres of diesel overturned as it came off the bridge, striking and knocking an ESB pole and coming to rest on the opposite side of the road at the traffic lights".
The vexed question about the availability of drugs of various kinds is also an ongoing problem for regional newspapers. The Leinster Express leads its front page with the news that "a Portlaoise business man, who had worked on security during the construction of the new prison, was arrested in Dublin for the possession of ecstasy and cannabis carrying a street value of £120,000".
The Meath Chronicle reports: "Teenagers as young as 13 and 14 are using drugs in Trim, according to local Garda Superintendent, Michael Meally, who hit out this week at users who would not co-operate with gardai." He told a court in Kells that "those using drugs in the town were continually getting younger in the four years he had been stationed there".
The Bray People reports that "local gardai have been battling to crack down on an upsurge in alcohol-related public order offences since the extension of licensing laws.
The paper says: "Last Friday night alone four people were arrested after a disturbance outside a licensed premises on the seafront, and a further five for public drunkenness at other locations in the town".
The Limerick Leader features two of Limerick's favourites sons, Des O'Malley and Richard Harris. In its editorial the paper says: "The more questions Des O'Malley tries to answer about the Arms Trial statement, the more questions he has to answer. That is the nature of trial by media, especially so long after the event. That is why this newspaper favours a full judicial inquiry. Des O'Malley has repeatedly welcomed such a prospect."
The actor Richard Harris, the newspaper reports, "has blasted the official at Munster semi-final [rugby] clash with Stade Francais, claiming they were robbed by the typical English". Referring to the fact that a try by Munster was disallowed, he added: "They were robbed. It's a disgrace."