Shock and disbelief abounded throughout Waterford and the wider hurling world after fourtime All Star winner John Mullane announced he was taking ‘an indefinite break’ from the county panel.

The 31-year-old De La Salle clubman revealed his decision within hours of Tipperary star’s Lar Corbett retirement from inter-county hurling, a massive PR owngoal for the game ahead of the new League season.

The Bar and Bench in Waterford Circuit Court last week paid glowing and warm tributes to Chief Court Clerk, Seamus McGrath, on his final day in court after working 38 years in the service.

Judge Rory MacCabe said it was a sad day for the court service in Waterford, saying goodbye to Mr McGrath who had done his utmost to make judges, solicitors, barristers and members of the public welcome in the courthouse.

Waterford Regional Hospital looks set to be down at least 50 nurses by the end of this year – and not just the 15 whole time nursing positions which the HSE says will be lost through the February 2012 early retirement scheme.

The HSE South local service plan, to be published on Thursday, will outline signifi cant cuts to frontline services and elective procedures at Waterford Regional over the next 11 months.

A total of 744 local representatives on 80 town councils across the Republic are likely to be dispensed with before the next elections in 2014, among them Tramore, Dungarvan, Carrick-on-Suir and Lismore Town Councils.

THE 46-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of an elderly woman at a Waterford nursing home remained in Garda custody last night (Tuesday).

The body of 82-year-old Veronica (Vera) Vollrath (née Power) was discovered at Killure Bridge Nursing Home on the Airport Road outside the city in the early hours of Monday morning.

Gardaí arrested a man at Dublin Airport on Monday afternoon as he was prepaing to board a plane for Frankfurt.

A mysterious black cat, similar in looks and size to a panther, has been spotted, once again, in the South Kilkenny countryside.

The animal, which has been seen at various times in recent years in the Mullinavat and Glenmore areas, is described as being ‘as big as a large Rottweiler but very definite of the cat family’. It appears to be a very secretive and nervous animal that takes flight at the first hint of human contact.

The latest sighting was in  an orchard, not too far from Mullinavat, and the giant cat was seen basking in some midday winter sunshine. The person who observed the cat does not wish to be identified but has been described by neighbours as ‘very sound and not inclined to be fanciful’. A local person said she believed there might have been other sightings in recent months but the people involved probably considered it prudent to remain silent for fear of ridicule.

The fresh sightings of the cat, dubbed the ‘Beast of Listrolin’, comes hot on the heels of an incident in County Offaly during Christmas week when a wild animal, of a type not seen in Ireland for 5,000 years, was shot dead in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Gardai confirmed that the animal was a European wild boar and locals said the beast was reckoned to be about three years old and weighed in at 23 stone after being killed.

Waterford County Council has set up an in-house ‘Unfinished Housing Estates’ team to deal specifically with unfinished ‘ghost’ housing estates across the county, a Council meeting heard in Dungarvan.

The new team will assist in the completion of housing developments and ensure a good living environment for residents as well as remedying some of the ongoing difficulties experienced by tenants on unfinished estates.

The Council has created a register of unfinished estates and has conducted assessments of developments with a view to preparing a detailed site resolution plan with developers, receivers and residents. A priority work programme is now in place for unfinished estates.

Work has already commenced on nine unfinished estates making buildings safe, connecting public lighting and providing footpaths.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) proposed the taking-in-charge of the Clarinwood and Ballycarnane housing estates in Tramore which were to be declared public roads. The matter had taken a long time to finish.

Deputy Director of Services, Gabriel Hynes, said the Council received 73 requests to take estates in charge. It was hoped to take 12 in charge in the next months and a further 20 in 2012. It was slow progress.

Cllr Joe Conway (I) said the two Tramore estates were a credit to the residents and the developers.

The Council has agreed to re-examine safety issues arising from estates at Knocknagranagh and Ballinroad in Dungarvan.

Two men have been arrested in connection with a series of recent aggravated burglaries at homes in St John’s Park and Cherrymount and at the Carry Out in Kilcohan and an armed robbery outside the Bank of Ireland in Lisduggan.

A 25-year-old local man was initially arrested in connection with the alleged incidents last Thursday. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and has since been released, pending a file to the DPP.

A second male, aged 23 and also from Waterford, was arrested at 10.25am on Monday in connection with the incidents. He was released without charge on Tuesday and a file is to be prepared and submitted to the DPP for direction.

Meanwhile another aggravated burglary took place in the city over the weekend, this time at a house in The Folly shortly after 8pm on Sunday. A lady answered a knock on her front door and was confronted by a youth in possession of a knife, who grabbed her arm and pushed his way into the house. The injured party called out for her husband and the man pushed the culprit out the door. Another youth was observed outside the house. Both youths fled.

In other crime news, householders are warned to be vigilant over the festive season as the frequency of home burglaries continues to rise across city estates.

The resident of a house at Shorewood, Ballinakill Downs returned home on Sunday evening to discover the property had been ransacked and some cash and a laptop taken.

A house at Spruce Terrace, Lisduggan was broken into overnight last Friday. The homeowner discovered that both a window in the front door and a rear window were broken. Two TVs were moved to the rear window, though nothing appears to be missing.

A resident at Priory Lawn, Ballybeg returned home shortly before 6pm on Friday to discover their house had been ransacked and some cash, a stereo and a VCR taken.

A staff member at O’Neill’s Sweet Shop on Lombard Street was threatened with a dirty syringe during an armed robbery last Thursday evening. A man in his late 20s or early 30s entered the shop shortly after 6.30pm and demanded money. The culprit was wearing a white baseball hat and a green short jacket.

A petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Ballybeg Park shortly after midnight last Friday night. The device rebounded off the front door and exploded in the front yard, causing minor damage. Nobody was injured in the incident.

A car parked outside a house in St Herblain Park was set alight at around 1.15am on Saturday. The injured party reported that a vehicle may have pulled up outside her house around the time of the incident.

The back passenger window of a car parked at Viewmount was smashed in the early hours of Monday morning and a blue and grey Makita Consaw taken and a cordless drill was taken from a car parked at Pearse Park over night on Friday night.