Around Ireland Dun Laoghaire man recovers bionic dog

By Patrick Markey

Hugo’s happy to have his four paws planted on Irish soil.

But if it had not been for one tiny microchip, Anthony Leahy’s dog might have never found his way home.

The Southside People newspaper reports that in October 1998, when Leahy, of Dun Laoghaire, decided to emigrate to Prague, he took Hugo with him.

Regulations now require that pets being taken abroad must have microchip ID. So Leahy had the Wolfhound mix implanted with the necessary chip.

But Hugo went missing somewhere in central Europe while Leahy was on a brief return visit to Ireland. He scoured the streets but found nothing.

"My last chance had to be the microchip. If Hugo turned up at a vet’s practice, or a dog shelter, I hoped that he would have been scanned for identification," he said.

"I phoned the Dublin office of Merial, the manufacturers of the Indexel microchip, and appealed for help and to circulate my new address and phone number. They contacted their European customer services in Lyon, France, who in turn got on to the authorities in Prague," Leahy said.

Three days later, Anthony received a phone call from Prague to say Hugo had shown up at a dog pound, scanned and officially identified.

"I never thought I’d need to put the microchip to the test as Hugo’s a loyal dog and doesn’t stray. It was the best investment I’d ever made," he said.

Cycle for Christ

An evangelical Korean cyclist, who has been pedaling around the world for the last 11 years on a "spiritual journey," recently stopped over for a few days in Clarina in County Limerick to celebrate his 39th birthday.

Johnny Kim stepped out of the saddle to relax before he cycling off around the world for another nine years to complete his 20-year plan of evangelizing people across the globe.

The Limerick Leader reports the Catholic missionary first met Clarina natives, Tom and Siobháin O’Brien, 10 years ago and decided to return to their home for a millennium visit.

"The Irish people are No. 1. I love this country and Knock," Kim said.

"I was born a Buddhist but converted to Catholicism a long time ago. Now I intend to travel around Europe and Africa next year, then the USA and Australia."

The only son of seven children, Kim sports a huge tattoo on his back imprinted with the words, "Peace of Christ, South Korea World Tour." His only sponsor on his travels, Kim says, is "the Virgin Mary." He lives on food and beds that strangers provide.

"Every day there is killing in the world, bombs and war," Kim said. "People are not praying as much as they should, and many are praying for money, forgetting what’s important. We have to pray for what’s important."

Maid bares all

First she was bare. Then they covered her up.

And now, thanks to popular demand, Kerry’s famous statue above the Maid of Erin pub will go naked again.

The Kerry’s Eye newspaper reports that the famous landmark in Listowel caused a controversy last year when a bright blue dress was painted over her topless form. Now, according to Howard Flannery, owner of the Maid of Erin pub, the statue will be exposed again.

"We have had a petition going in the bar ever since she was painted over last year and there have been just short of 1,000 signatures demanding that we return her to her original state," he said.

"The people have spoken, and there is nothing for it but to take the dress back off." The Maid will return to her bare-bodied glory after February.

But before the final defrocking, Flannery will defend his decision to dress the maid during a public debate with a local solicitor.

"It will be like me going up against Ali with my hands tied behind my back, but I suppose I deserve it after painting over the statue in the first place," Flannery said.

Flannery painted a blue dress over the Maid last year during a renovation. She had watched topless over Listowel for more than a century.