MEATH COPS KEEP EYE ON CROOKS
Garda detectives are keeping a close eye on Dublin criminals who are renting properties in Johnstown, a meeting of Navan Town Council heard last week, the Meath Chronicle reports.
In a letter to the council on the issue of policing in Johnstown, Supt. Michael Devine said that the detective unit patrols the area probably more than any other area. For that reason, there was no need for a Garda station in Johnstown now or in the future.
However, the superintendent said gardai were currently examining the possibility of hold clinics in Johnstown Shopping Centre for a few hours each week, something that had been beneficial in other similar areas.
Councilor Joe Reilly, Sinn Fein, disagreed with Supt. Devine. "Johnstown has a population of nearly 10,000. We are not seeking a 24-hour station but one that opens a number of hours a day," he said.
Councilor Shane Cassells, Fianna Fail, said it was important that the State strengthens the garda resources in the town and expressed concern at reductions elsewhere.
CLARE HIGH WINDS CLOSE MOHER CENTER
Clare’s best-known tourist attraction was evacuated last week for the third time in five years, as high winds battered the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center. Because of “exceptional” wind speeds, 30 to 40 staff and visitors were brought by car from the center’s service entrance to the coach and car parks, after it was judged too dangerous to walk the short distance outdoors, the Clare Champion reports.
According to Katherine Webster, director of Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, the center has three extreme weather color-coded protocols, the most serious of which was invoked at lunchtime last Tuesday. When standard wind speeds are approximately 30 kph, white signs are erected, warning visitors to take care at the site. Yellow means winds have reached an “extremely hazardous” 50 kph. Red is for winds of 70kph but gusts can be higher. “Five years ago when we were establishing the protocols,” Webster said, “we found that there is a time when it is not safe for staff to remain on site. It is at that point we put up the red signs and tell people that under no circumstances should they pass the signs.”
KILKENNY IT’S END OF TERM FOR TURKEYS
Some high school students have had an unusual assignment since Sept. 29, but it’s about to come to an end – turkey-sitting. Kilkenny College’s transition year landscape gardening class has been in charge of the birds’ welfare. Each day the students make sure the turkeys have been let out in the morning and locked in at night. On arrival on the campus the four turkeys were four weeks old and quite small. “These turkeys have grown into four healthy big birds that look like they’ll fit nicely on the Christmas table!” the Kilkenny People reports. The organic and free-range turkeys will go on sale tomorrow at a market at the school. All proceeds go to charity.
