Weird and wonderful stories reflect life Beyond the Pale

A COLLECTION of stories from regional newspapers, which has just been published in a book, reveals the country still has plenty of characters.

Beyond the Pale, published by Mentor Books, is the work of Donal Hickey, the Irish Examiner’s long-serving regional correspondent for Kerry.

All forms of human life are to be found in the collection of humorous, strange and weird stories compiled by the Killarney-based author for the 287-page book.

Mr Hickey said the regional press provides a solid service to its readers by faithfully covering the news of interest.

“Many of the stories may seem humdrum, but the issues they cover are important to people living in the circulation area of a particular newspaper.

“Council meetings and court cases provide bread and butter fare and often throw up quirky and humorous stories.”

Mr Hickey said that during a working lifetime in journalism, he has always been intrigued, entertained and sometimes bamboozled by what appears in many of these venerable newspapers, which, despite their great longevity, have in most cases moved with the times.

“I’ve drawn from roughly 200 of the best stories — some hilarious, some unbelievable, others sad and many more downright bizarre — in an attempt to reflect what’s happening outside the Pale in the early 21st century,” he said.

Mr Hickey noted that in contrast to times past, when many newspapers were shy about reporting on hush-hush and sensitive matters that might offend the Church and other bastions of the local establishment, most nowadays adopt a “publish and be damned” policy within the constraints of the defamation laws.

It is all a far cry from 1946, when The Kerryman broke new ground one week and forever dampened the ardour of many rural bulls by being the first Irish newspaper to publish an illustrated feature article highlighting the value of artificial insemination in cattle.

“But now nobody would be shocked if they read about cloning, test tube babies or other new-fangled means of procreation in their local newspaper — all grist to the ever turning mill that is the regional press.”

Mr Hickey is a native of Gneeveguilla, Co Kerry, and has been a journalist with the Irish Examiner for more than 30 years, having worked with The Kerryman and The Corkman. He is also author of The Mighty Healy-Rae, the best-selling biography of Jackie Healy-Rae TD.