1 – ‘An absolute and utter disgrace’ – Outrage as Laois County Council hand back €600,000 in unspent housing improvement grants
Laois County Council’s inability to spend the majority of a record allocation of grant money from the government has been labelled ‘an absolute and utter disgrace’.
Sinn Fein Councillor Caroline Dwane-Stanley hit out after it was confirmed that €600,000 of a €1 million grant was being sent back.
2 – Meet the Laois singer who is in contention for a spot in Louis Walsh’s brand new project
Last weekend, 125 girls aged between 15 and 21 auditioned in front of music mogul Louis Walsh in Vicar Street.
Among them was 20-year-old Portarlington singer Aoife Coady who was one of the final ones to audition on the day.
3 – 18 clubs represented as Laois GAA, Camogie and Ladies award winners for 2020/2021 announced
A total of 18 clubs were represented among the winners – with Portarlington’s three topping the pile.
Park-Ratheniska, Ballyroan-Abbey, Clough-Ballacolla, Camross, The Harps and Abbeyleix all had two each.
While Kilcavan, Portlaoise, Graiguecullen, Ballinakill, Trumera, Ballypickas, Rathdowney-Errill, Clonaslee, St Brigid’s, St Conleth’s and Ballyfin all represented.
4 – Laois students receive college scholarships following outstanding Leaving Cert results
Two Laois students have been awarded a scholarship following their outstanding Leaving Cert results.
Laura Devoy and Ciara Brennan both received them in Mary I where they are studying Primary Teaching.
5 – Four Laois companies nominated for Apprenticeship Employer of the Year 2021
Four Laois companies have received nominations in a range of different categories for the Generation Apprenticeship Employer of the Year 2021 awards.
71 nominees have been selected in three categories – all stand out companies for their resilience, innovation and commitment to their apprentices.
The four are Allwood Architectural Joinery, Damien Campion Electrical, Property Partners Buggy and ESB Networks.
6 – Contractors told to ‘pull the finger out’ as ‘snail’s pace work’ leaves Portlaoise traders frustrated
The pace at which a huge plan to upgrade a significant portion of Portlaoise is being carried out at has come in for fierce criticism.
Works are currently underway to bring a brand new pedestrian crossing as well as footpath and roadway upgrades as part of a €680,000 plan known as Fort Protector Phase 2 works.
Works at Railway Street, Church Street and Tower Hill began in October and it was hoped they would be finished by early 2022 – but that is not the case.
7 – TV cameras to return to O’Moore Park as Laois hurling champions chosen for coverage once again
The RTE TV cameras will be back in O’Moore Park next weekend as Clough-Ballacolla have been chosen for coverage once again.
They were in Portlaoise last Saturday evening where Clough-Ballacolla made history with their first ever Leinster win – and they’ll be back next Saturday for the semi final against Kilmacud Crokes.
8 – Laois player scoops almost €30,000 in latest Lotto draw as record €19 million jackpot rolls over again
The largest prize in Irish Lotto history remains up for grabs on Saturday night after Wednesday’s historic €19.06 million draw continued to roll without a winner.
As Wednesday night’s jackpot was capped, this meant that the funds that would usually be added to the jackpot were instead distributed to the next prize tier at which there was a winner.
The prize boost resulted in 26 players in 13 counties all over Ireland winning the cool sum of €29,345 each in the midweek draw.
One of those winners purchased their ticket at the Applegreen service station on the Dublin Road adjacent to Portlaoise Hospital.
9 – Portarlington lead the way on our list of nominations for 2021 senior football Team of the Year
Back-to-back Laois senior football champions Portarlington lead the way with a massive 15 nominations for the 2021 LaoisToday Laois senior football Team of the Year.
All 15 of their team that started their quarter-final, semi-final and final are nominated among the 45 shortlisted.
Portlaoise lead the chasing pack with seven nominations while Emo are next with four, Graiguecullen have three and Ballyroan-Abbey, Courtwood, St Joseph’s and O’Dempsey’s have two each.
10 – Former Laois U-20 boss O’Loughlin appointed to Longford senior job
Former Laois U-20 boss Billy O’Loughlin from Arles-Killeen has been appointed as the new Longford senior football manager.
O’Loughlin, who guided Laois to the 2019 Leinster U-20 final and was in charge of Sarsfields in Kildare in 2020, was announced by Longford GAA this week.
