Laois politics in disarray Brian Stanley: October 2024 Laois news review

October saw Laois' political landscape in disarray following the shock resignation of former Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley.

A Sinn Féin report into a complaint made against Deputy Stanley came to the opinion that his conduct constituted "sexual harassment".

The alleged incident occurred in Dublin on 11 October last year.

Brian Stanley has consistently stated that the party's complaints procedure was 'seriously flawed' and had described it as a 'kangaroo court'.

Deputy Stanley resigned from Sinn Féin five days after being presented with these draft findings and he has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the complaint was politically motivated.

Budget 2025 was announced on Tuesday, October 1. Free public transport was announced for children aged five to eight years of age, along with a 'Universal Companion Pass' for all over 70.

Children aged eight and under will now travel for free child fares on buses, trains, the DART and the luas under new Budget 2025 expansions. The reduced fares on young adult and student leap cards continue to apply to the end of 2025.    

RTÉ's 'At Your Service' paid a visit to Errill for the first ever wedding in the 13 series long production.

Pat Bowe, a dairy farmer, and his Latvian partner, Iveta Melgaile, have opened a beach resort in the heart of landlocked Laois. 

A 'born again Christian' caught driving a dangerously defective BMW at 227 kph in a 100km zone in Laois gave a garda the middle finger before speeding from the scene. 

The defendant had denied dangerous driving and driving without insurance at Ballytarsna, Borris-in-Ossory, Laois on May 28, 2019. 

Judge Cody said he was proud of the road traffic police in Laois, the only county in Ireland not to have a road traffic fatality this year, he cautiously noted.  

He jailed the man for six months, imposed another six month sentence which was suspended for two years, disqualified him from driving for 15 years and fined him a total of €7,500. 

The Ben and Jake Trust has formally handed over their community funded house near Mountmellick to the Muiríosa Foundation on September 30.

The Ben & Jake House will now serve others with disabilities, as a lasting legacy of their tragically short lives.

The handover marks the last charitable act following what was an incredible six years of community effort to build the house for Ben and Jake Connolly and their family to enjoy the best quality of life possible. 

From the site to materials, to labour, trades and fitting it out with hoists and furniture, it was funded by some €365,000 raised from countless charity events in Mountmellick, Portarlington and beyond. 

October saw the news break that single storey modular homes in Rathdowney which each ended up costing €345,100 to deliver were built for €145,000. 

Deputy Brian Stanley pointed out that the average price of a three bedroom house in Rathdowney was €263,000 as he posted a breakdown of the costs of the 42 units in Rathdowney on his twitter feed.

The 45 square metre single storey units were constructed to house Ukranians who had been displaced by the war with Russia.  

In total, €14,493,000 was spent delivering the 42 units in Rathdowney but the majority of the money was not spent on the actual buildings. 

The Laois Dog Warden has issued a notice ordering the closure of a dog breeding operation in the Rosenallis where 100 dogs were found in recent days.

On arrival at the location on Saturday, October 25, about 100 dogs were found to be present. These included some six breeding females.

The dogs were not found to be in poor health or in bad living conditions but some pups and a small number of adult dogs were removed for their welfare. The Dog Warden was accompanied by a vet and other agencies during the operation.

The written notice outlined the grounds that the operation poses a serious and immediate threat to public health or animal welfare.