Clare County Council was accused of "institutional racism" by Dr Moosajee Bhamjee, described by the Clare Champion as "Clare's most famous outsider". He believes the council is introducing "an apartheid system" into the planning process by "generally not permitting" non-indigenous people to build homes in the open countryside in areas under high development pressure and in vulnerable landscapes.
However, one of the architects of the plan, Fianna Fail's Mr P.J. Kelly, rejected the criticism. "This plan is an extremely relaxed, liberal version of previous plans and during the term of previous plans Dr Bhamjee acquired a luxury home in a prestigious countryside area in Clare and hence his remarks are self-dismissed."
Thugs and vandalism made many headlines. "Brick thugs jeopardise after-dark bus service," warned the Waterford News and Star. In four incidents, bricks and stones were thrown at buses on Monday night. In the worst attack £2,000 worth of damage resulted when a brick smashed a large double-glazed window of a bus. Hallowe'en outrage as fireman attacked", stated the Nationalist and Munster Advertiser. A fireman attempting to put out a bonfire in Tipperary town was assaulted and required three hours of surgery on a fractured jaw and cut tongue.
Also in Tipperary, the Clonmel Chamber of Commerce has described Clonmel as a "war zone" in a letter to the Minister for Justice.
Clonmel both by day and by night was a "no-go area" where "gangs roam the streets with no fear of the law, leaving business helpless and young people being beaten and attacked", stated the letter, which was quoted by the Nationalist and Munster Advertiser.
In Enniscorthy, gardai have warned that a spate of car thefts and reckless driving will lead to the killing of an innocent person, said the Echo.
The Nationalist and Leinster Times reported a shooting incident leading to two arrests on Hallowe'en morning.
The Fermanagh Impartial Reporter complained that the indiscriminate use of fireworks during the Hallowe'en period had created an atmosphere of "terror" which was "more like Bosnia than peaceful Northern Ireland".
Fermanagh District Council wants the Northern Ireland Office to review the sale of fireworks.
"Armed gardai to ensure West is `no pushover' for visiting gangs" from Dublin and Cork, said the Connacht Tribune.
Community tensions over the Traveller issue continue to make headlines. The Sligo Champion reported that a Sligo-based Traveller mother and her 12 children were made homeless when "a home-made bomb ripped through their caravan" in what gardai suspect may have been a "vigilante-style attack orchestrated by some members of the settled community".
The Western People declared that the "Traveller question" must be faced "bravely, squarely and with compassion".
The Connaught Telegraph highlighted the "Third World death rates" among Travellers.
The Western People had the headline: "Knock in shock after `Cnoc Mhuire' gets the chop".
"In Ireland's Marian village of Knock, a holy war is brewing over the decision to replace the familiar `Cnoc Mhuire' road signs with `An Cnoc'," it stated.
The Nationalist and Leinster Times welcomed Bishop Willie Walsh's penance pilgrimage across the Killaloe diocese which is his effort to acknowledge and ask pardon for the hurts caused by those acting in the name of the Catholic Church.
"It is hoped that all those who were personally involved in inflicting abuse will join him and offer themselves to the mercy of those on whom they inflicted so much pain over so many years," the newspaper optimistically stated.
The Kilkenny People accused the Catholic bishops of "appalling syntax" which was "unclear and confusing to the ordinary reader" in a Pastoral Letter published to coincide with the report of the National Economic and Social Council.
"If they wish to promote the Christian message then they should ensure that their documents are written in clear English," advised the People.
A recent invasion of goats around the Meadow View Inn on the Dublin Road in Cavan has a bar owner "pucking mad", stated the Anglo-Celt.
"The New Kids on the Block are eating everything in sight - shrubs, flowers and seem to enjoy the fragrance of empty alcohol bottles."
"Sabbath is a stinker for Castlebar drinkers" as they are being sickened by an obnoxious smell compared to a "1,000 megaton stink-bomb", according to a Mayo paper. One publican claimed that "you can almost time this disgusting pong. It arrives like a nasty fog, usually around closing time on Sunday nights. I've seen customers sniffing the air. One suspiciously eyeing the other."