PICTURES: Laois year in review March message that Laois delivers

The Minister for Enterprise got a first-hand lesson in how to create homegrown jobs in Laois when he came to Portlaoise in March. READ MORE BELOW  - TAP NEXT OR ARROW TO SEE MORE LAOIS PHOTOS.

Minister Peter Burke was in Portlaoise to cut the ribbon on Midland Steel's €16m automated smart factory.

Paid for by the Laois company itself, it is in J17 National Enterprise Park, built by Laois County Council to bring local jobs, due to the IDA's dismal record of bringing foreign direct investment jobs in Laois.

Midland Steel's Mountmellick factory will remain its HQ, and is also in a locally built enterprise park.

Minister Burke said there is €7 billion to be invested in IDA supported jobs in Ireland in the next five years.

“We want Laois to be front and centre of that,” he said.

March also saw a Laois electrical engineering company fined €400,000 in relation to the death of a Laois father of four in a workplace accident at a Dublin hospital seven years ago.

However, the penalty handed down at the Central Criminal Court to the Portarlington company John Fletcher Ltd and a director led to anger in the courtroom with one member of the public describing the sentence as a 'f**king joke'.

Emo native Alan Mulhall (34), lived in Portlaoise with his wife and children, when he was fatally injured when a low voltage switchgear weighing 760kg fell and struck his head while he was working at St Patrick's Hospital Dublin on November 23, 2017.

Ambulance crews are incredibly frustrated and there are shortcomings in the emergency service provided to Laois people, a Portlaoise councillor claimed in March.

Cllr Tommy Mulligan, who says his father's life was saved by paramedics in the town's GAA grounds, outlined the situation to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"Paramedics are experiencing incredible frustration with their systems of work.

“Paramedics are a critical part of our community health service, and they provide our community with an invaluable service.

Unfortunately, it appears there are serious shortcomings in the ambulance service in Laois," said the councillor.

The death of Laois student Joe Drennan was a national story in 2025.

He suffered “catastrophic” injuries inflicted in an “unlawful” killing by a driver who drove at such a speed that his BMW turned 180 degrees, became airborne and careered down the road backwards.

These were some of the harrowing details the family of the late Camross man had to endure at the inquest into the circumstances of Joe's death in October 2023 in Limerick.

The Limerick inquest heard that the driving of Kieran Fogarty caused Joe to suffer “multiple traumatic injuries, including severe head injuries”.

“There are situations where accidents occur, this is not an accident. This is not one of those situations,” said Mr Luke O’Higgins BL who represented the family.

Ongoing shortcomings with Portlaoise Courthouse also were in the headlines in March when the case of a notorious criminal came before a judge.

The suitability of the Portlaoise facility was again called into question after a judge agreed to transfer the trial of a notorious criminal to a more modern facility in Offaly on security grounds.

Convicted murderer Frederick Thompson (44), who faces trial over an alleged assault on a prison officer and threats to kill a prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, signed an affidavit outlining his fears that he could be targeted at the courthouse due to the lack of modern facilities.

The trial of the man linked to the Kinihan gang was moved to Tullamore Courthouse, which was refurbished in 2008.