The potency of the Monaghan General Hospital issue as a generator of pungent political debate was demonstrated once again in the meeting chamber of Monaghan Town Council on Tuesday night.
A discussion on the proposals to close the kitchen in the facility which arose at the conclusion of the meeting evolved into a lengthy and at times quite heated discussion when the Fine Gael Cathaoirleach of the authority, David Maxwell, reacted to Sinn Féin suggestions that he and his colleagues consider resignation over the Monaghan Hospital issue with a …

Monaghan town had plenty to celebrate at the weekend when the annual Féile Oriel attracted the crowds to its many and varied events, where an upbeat atmosphere pervaded despite the occasional moodiness of the weather.
And our picture by Rory Geary shows someone with plenty to celebrate after winning the coveted 2012 Senior Fiddler of Oriel title: Nuala McBride from Trillick, Co Tyrone. A delighted Nuala is presented with the Charlie McGuinness Cup by Charlie himself and his son Darragh, while internationally renowned fiddler player Gerry O’Connor (left), looks …

By Michael McDonnell
michael@northern-standard.ie
Monaghan town will be in festive mode again this bank holiday weekend when recessions, referendums and all such mundane concerns will quite rightly be set aside as Féile Oriel’s full programme of trad music, song and entertainment gets underway.
Over 22 traditional sessions featuring top musicians and singers from a wide area will be enjoyed by the punters in Andy’s, Master Deery’s, McKenna’s, McManus’s, Sherry’s, The Shamrock, The Squealing Pig, Terry’s and the Westenra, while a full array of local performers on the ‘Gig Rig’ at The …

Mickey McDonnell
michael@northern-standard.ie
Monaghan town is poised to host yet another great festival of Irish music, song and the craic when Féile Oriel comes to town for the May Bank Holiday weekend.
Like everyone else, the Féile organisers have been feeling the economic pressure — but they have not only kept the show on the road again this year, they’ve come up trumps with a sizzling hot programme of top name acts.
A quick look through the menu should convince festival goers that there’s enough on offer here to …

A novel and environmentally friendly possible use for the site of the stalled mixed-use development project in the heart of Monaghan Town – dubbed “the hole in the ground” locally – was ‘floated’ at Monday night’s meeting of Monaghan Town Council.
Contained in correspondence before the members was a letter on behalf of the Killygoan Tidy Towns Committee which requested the Council to “earnestly consider” allowing the site to become a lake or water storage area.
Advocating such a bio-diversity project in the location, the correspondence stated: “If …

By Cianna McNally
A Monaghan man who successfully secured a €60,000 investment on RTÉ TV show Dragons Den believes he got more than just the money he was looking for.
Noel Lennon who hails from Latton appeared on the show which aired last Sunday night, 8th April.
He pitched his Lennon Easy Anchor, a steel stake which secures items including trampolines, bouncing castles and goal posts to the ground.
Once the Lennon Easy Anchor is hammered into the ground like any ordinary stake, a device is inserted into it which …

By PATSY McARDLE
CASTLEBLAYNEY is facing a huge economic blow with the loss of over seventy jobs at the Cargill Ireland Limited meat processing plant in the Mid-Monaghan town.
Since 2002, Cargill Ireland Ltd., has leased the plant from Castleblayney Community Enterprise, which erected the premises in 1999 to help create jobs and boost the town’s then flagging economy.
However, the English-based meat processing company has cited the loss of substantial markets, and orders, as their reasons for now …

By Cianna McNally
Staff of the video game retailer GAME in Monaghan Shopping Centre – one of 14 Irish stores which closed this week after the group was placed in administration – have been staging a sit-in since Monday, 26th March.
The nine Monaghan staff received what Deputy Manager Neil Durnin described to the Northern Standard as a “very brief phonecall” on Monday afternoon and were informed by the retailer’s head office that the store, which has been in business in the shopping centre for eight years, was to be closed with immediate effect.
…

An eleventh-hour appeal went out from Tuesday night’s meeting of Monaghan Town Council to Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to suspend the operation of the controversial €100 household charge until the public received full clarity on the revenue-generating measure.
The Council adopted a proposal to this effect from Fianna Fáil councillor Robbie Gallagher, who said the introduction of the measure had been rushed and cited a series of problems with it including what he saw as the unfairness of the flat rate method chosen, and flaws in the …

A survey conducted had shown that 50 out of 69 people employed at the site of the new Monaghan Education Campus development were from within a 40-mile radius of the campus, Chief Executive Martin O’Brien informed the members of Co Monaghan Vocational Education Committee on Monday.
Committee member Owen Bannigan had referred to a recent discussion at Monaghan Town Council in relation to the level of local employment on the project and had requested information from the CEO in this regard.
P J O’Hanlon also referred to the …