By Cianna McNally
Clones has become the first town in Ireland to accept the punt as a valid form of currency – again!
A total of 42 businesses in the town officially embraced the punt on Saturday last, 12th May. Change is given in Clones Town vouchers.
As previously reported in the Northern Standard in March, it was canny Clones shopkeeper Tony Morgan who took the first steps towards bringing the old currency back to life ten years after it was replaced by the euro.
The …

By Cianna McNally
Lucky Clones woman Laura Mohan has more than 100,000 reasons to smile after she scooped a whopping €104,000 on the RTÉ TV game show Winning Streak.
Laura who now lives in Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh and husband James celebrated their first wedding anniversary in April and are expecting their first baby together in October. James also has a daughter called Katie who is 11 years old.
Laura who works as a dental nurse in Ballyconnell in Co Cavan bought her lucky scratch card in McCaughey’s Gala …

In the week in which the tide of life throughout the world pauses a while in its course to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage on 15 April 1912, it is likely that fresh flowers will be laid upon the grave in a Canadian cemetery where rests a Clones man who perished in the great maritime disaster.
Lines written by Augustus M Toplady for the enduring 1776 hymn Rock of Ages embellish the marble memorial: “Nothing in my hand I …

By Cianna McNally
A canny Clones shopkeeper has brought the old currency back to life ten years after it was replaced by the euro!
Tony Morgan who owns Liptons on Fermanagh Street is calling on people to dig out any Irish punts they may own as he is accepting them as a form of currency in his shop.
The Embrace the Punt campaign was the brainchild of Mr Morgan’s 21-year-old son Ciaran who read that the small Spanish town of Mugardos had improved tourism and generated business by reintroducing the peseta …

THE Clones St Patrick’s Day parade was a huge success with a capacity crowd lining Fermanagh Street to view a large and fun-packed collection of floats, marching bands and vintage cars.
The anticipated interest in the event was already clear to be seen by 11.30am last Saturday morning as St Tiernach’s GAA car park was full of floats, vehicles, and crowds of kids all busily making last minute preparations for the big march through the town.   
Participation in the parade was so strong that it took almost …

Monaghan Co Council agreed at its March meeting, on the proposal of Pat Treanor, Brian McKenna seconding, to seek a presentation from Waterways Ireland on the progress to date on the Clones section of the Ulster Canal regeneration project.
It was also agreed on Colr Treanor’s proposal to write to the Dept of the Environment in Northern Ireland asking them to expedite the planning application for the development of the Ulster Canal in their jurisdiction.
A letter before the members from the office of Minister for Arts, Heritage …

By Cianna McNally
A Clones town councillor this week called on Clones Credit Union to hold a public meeting for its members as an AGM has not been held in the facility for the past two years.
At a meeting of the town council on Monday evening correspondence received from the Deputy Governor of Financial Regulation with the Central Bank of Ireland Matthew Elderfield in response to letters sent from the town council about the situation in Clones Credit Union was discussed.
The letter said that the bank was subject …

The Dan Thompson Memorial Cup changed hands on Sunday last as Clones came to Sarsfield Park and plundered a victory at the expense of the home side, Killeevan who had won the inaugural tournament last year.
Aghabog, Clones and Killeevan will all be competing against other in junior ranks this year so any psychological advantage that either could gain could be valuable later in the season when league points or more importantly championship progress could be at stake.
Recently appointed Killeevan team manager, Declan McArdle, saw his side open with …

Strong opposition from Fine Gael councillor Hugh McElvaney to a proposal to designate a 3km area around Clones Town as being of “strong urban influence” from a planning perspective was not echoed by his fellow elected members or the executive of Monaghan Co Council when he expressed it at the Council’s February meeting.
Colr McElvaney was of the view that the plan would result in the effective sterilisation of land around Clones and would be an impediment to future development there, but his proposal that this measure be excluded …

“While I intend to explore all possible options that may assist in the advancement of this project, it must also be recognised that the Government is engaged at present in a Comprehensive Review of Expenditure, under which all spending is being examined rigorously,” Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has told Monaghan Co Council in a response to their representations on funding for the redevelopment of the Ulster Canal.
In a letter circulated at the October meeting of the Council, the Minister, after expressing congratulations on …