In this week's Westmeath Independent

This week’s Westmeath Independent is now on the shelves and is packed with 44 pages of the best local news, sport and photos. Featured stories include:

* Athlone teen Robbie Henshaw could be in line to make his Irish senior rugby debut shortly.

* Eleven people have pleaded guilty to their part in a mass brawl which erupted at a 21st birthday party in an Athlone pub. We have a full report of the court case.

* Rumours of a One Direction concert at Cusack Park, Mullingar, have been quashed by the Westmeath County Board.

* An Athlone resident who suffers from MS tells us her story in advance of World MS Day.

* Over 100 tyres have been dumped alongside a new nature trail in Athlone.

* Reporter Deirdre Verney has a special feature on craft making in Ballinahown 

* We have photos from confirmations in St Peter and Paul's Church, Athlone, and in Drum. We also have a page of pics from First Holy Communion in Moate.

* Athlone man Colin Price, who has brought his engineering skills to bear in Kenya and Haiti, is interviewed for our Independent People series.

* In sport, we have full coverage and post-match reaction from Westmeath's victory over Carlow, and we also report on an All Ireland boxing success for Athlone teenager Cheyanne O'Neill.

* We also have the first part of an interview with Moate's Eric Molloy about his dealings with Alex Ferguson during the time he spent as a young player at Manchester United.        

All this and much more in this week’s paper, which is available in local outlets and can also be accessed in the ePaper format (for more on this option, see: http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/epaper#undefined)