John O’Brien (Retired Prison Officer, Portlaoise Prison) of 38 Avondale Drive, Hanover, Carlow and Lanzarote, Spain, passed away unexpectedly but peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, on 14 March at Portlaoise Regional Hospital.

LOCAL self-taught artist from Togher Aileen Donovan has made history in St James’s Hospital in Dublin after her amazing piece titled She Sells Sanctuary was hung in the CEO building following the recent realisation of a life-long dream of achieving ...

FOUR years after the hit BBC series Peaky Blinders came to a satisfying conclusion in its sixth and final season, Cillian Murphy dons the flat cap once more in the eagerly anticipated Netflix film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

“My client will say that there appears to be a vendetta against him.”

GARDA Lisa Murray served a book of evidence on a 22-year-old Laois man when he was sent forward to the present sitting of Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court on sex offences.

Marie (Nena) Ready (née Clare), St Brigid's Place, Portlaoise, Laois died peacefully on 13 March at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, surrounded by her loving family.  Predeceased by her infant daughter Marie, parents William and Kathleen.

A TAXI driver charged on four counts of sexual assault against a regular customer was sent forward for trial to the next sittings of Naas Circuit Court.

THE square in Rathdowney is in desperate need of a solar bin, as the existing bins are not fit to cater for the volume of rubbish that accumulates at the weekend.

THE Probation Act was applied at Portlaoise District Court to a man who had gathered €500 to be donated for the upkeep of a graveyard.

A PETITION for Abbeyleix to host Irish Famine Commemoration Day is getting strong local and even international support, with signatures from as far afield as Australia and the USA.

YOUNG Laois artists have joined students nationwide in having their works evaluated as judging for the 2026 Texaco Children’s Art Competition gets underway.

DRUGS and a knuckle-duster were found by Laois gardaí when they searched a van they dubbed ‘a mobile pharmacy’.

"I know it well. I got a big fright when I was young."

A LAOIS Co Council-led project has won the National Mpact Award at the All-Ireland Community and Council Awards. The project-in-question, Midlands Ireland, was recognised for its success in driving STEM in the Midlands.

“We went from not guilty to guilty, back to not guilty and now he’s pleading guilty,” said Judge Cody.

TOWNS and villages across Laois are set for a clean sweep, with the upcoming return of Clean Up Week.

TWO Laois natives are in Cheltenham this week, working for champion racehorse trainer Willie Mullins. Julie McDonald from Spink and Niamh Roche from Old Leighlin in Carlow were pictured riding racehorses on Monday morning, 9 March.

Billy Crossan, Kirwan Park, Mountmellick, Laois passed away peacefully on Wednesday 11 March at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, surrounded by his loving family.

THE legacy of a Laois student who was tragically killed in a hit-and-run is being honoured with a memorial prize.

Last month, Laois Bat Conservation Group held its inaugural meeting in Portlaoise library. Its mission? To locate, identify and lead conservation of bats and their habitats, wherever they may arise, across Laois.