1 – Gardai forced to shut road to Laois tourist attraction as parking issues persist
The good weather last weekend gave everyone a chance to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine – but the manner in which some people caused considerable problems in one part of Laois.
Not for the first time, Gardai were called to the road up to Glenbarrow Waterfall where parking chaos had ensued.
On Sunday, cars were strewn on either side of the road leaving it completely impassable for emergency vehicles.
2 – Man dies in Portlaoise following car accident
A man in his 70s has been pronounced dead in Portlaoise this afternoon after the car in which he was driving lost control and veered across a road in the town.
It’s understood that the man was driving out of Portlaoise towards Mountmellick on Coote Street close to the Midlands Park Hotel when he lost control of the car.
The vehicle veered across the road where it collided with a car travelling in the opposite direction.
The man was later named as Canice ‘Ken’ Doheny from Ballinakill. He was laid to rest in Ballyouskil on Saturday.
3 – Sadness at death of Portlaoise teacher John Duggan
There is widespread sadness in Portlaoise and surrounding areas following the death of John Duggan, a highly-regarded teacher in the local CBS secondary school for many years.
“It is with great shock and sadness that we learned of Mr John Duggan’s sudden passing today,” said a letter from Portlaoise CBS management to parents on Tuesday.
“John has been a valued staff member and a past pupil of St Mary’s CBS throughout his lifetime.” John also contributed hugely to Portlaoise GAA as a player and coach over the years and was also a keen golfer and a member of Mountrath Golf Club.
His funeral took place on Saturday.
4- #LoveLaois: The Ridge of Capard – boardwalk, the stony man and views for miles all round
There have been many things over the past year worth complaining about but one collective positive is that the travel restrictions have focussed people on enjoying the positive things that are on their door steps.
How often in the past will you have heard someone from Laois say, ‘I’ve never been up to the Slieve Blooms’, or ‘I must go for a drive up around there’.
As part of our #LoveLaois series, we profiled the Ridge of Capard and how it makes for a lovely day out.
5 – Laois delivery company carves out niche following huge rise in online shopping
The huge rise in online shopping has been a boom to a Laois delivery company which is carving out a considerable reputation offering small companies much needed flexible order fulfillment solutions.
‘One Stop Fulfillment’ based at the Clonminam Business Park in Portlaoise is attracting business from all over the country, due to both its convenient business model which offers a simplified route to market for small e-ommerce businesses, and prime midlands location; an added bonus for businesses facing Brexit delays.
6 – Thirteen of the best walking trails Laois has to offer
As we said goodbye to the 5km rule and hello to the ability to explore our lovely little county again – we’ve been keeping an eye out for the best walking trails in Laois.
Here is our updated list of Laois’s must do walks.
7 – Planning granted for extension to popular Laois restaurant
Bowe’s Foodhall and Café in Durrow is one of the most popular eating establishments in the county and they have recently been granted planning permission to construct a two-storey extension.
Owned by husband-and-wife duo Shane and Sarah Bowe, they have plans in place to build a two-storey extension to the north side of the building next to Bank of Ireland.
The extension will allow for additional seating for customers on the ground floor and office space on the first floor.
8 – REVEALED: Our choice of the top 25 TikTok-ers in Laois
TikTok is huge all the over the world at the moment, and with TikTok-ers popping up all over the county, Laois is no exception.
For those who don’t know, TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.
We put a shout-out for nominations over on our Instagram account and were inundated with suggestions of which Laois people make the best TikToks.
This week we picked our top 20 in the county.
9 – Planning permission approved for new playground in Laois village
Planning permission to build a brand new playground in Borris-In-Ossory has been approved.
The matter came before members of Laois County Council this afternoon and, following proposal by Cllr Conor Bergin and seconding by Cllr John King, it was approved by their fellow Councillors.
After a long campaign and combined efforts by community and voluntary groups in Borris-in-Ossory for many years, a new playground is finally on its way to the village as a result.
10 – WATCH: Zach Tuohy fronts brilliant ad for Geelong and the Bellarine region in Australia
It’s probably because of the distance between here and there but sometimes it’s easy to underestimate how big a deal Zach Tuohy is in Australia.
The Portlaoise man has carved out an incredible AFL career, first with Carlton in Melbourne, and in more recent times with Geelong.
And such is his profile in Geelong, the small city about an hour away from Melbourne, that he is fronting a promotional video for the region.
In a good-humoured quirky video he laments that his family were unable to come visit him last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, leaving Tuohy to enjoy what Geelong and the beautiful Bellarine peninsula have to offer all on his own.
