Northern Standard

BLACKWATER 1OK A HUGE SUCCESS

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:55:15 +0000

The Blackwater 10k Run took place in Gortakeegan/Rossmore on Sunday the 13th May. There was a great turn out of an estimated 1000 participants of both runners and walkers. The weather was also a great benefit to the success of our day as the rain held off until we had the last of our runners and walkers safely home.
Our overall winners this year in Senior Men were
1 Patrick Cassidy Glaslough harriers 00:34:13
2 Paul Gleeson Clones A/C 00:34:44
3 Dermot Kerr Armagh AC 00:35:05
4 Paul Finnegan Armagh AC 00:35:35

Senior Ladies
1 Denise Toner Clones A/C 00:40:46
2 Nuala Reilly Drogheda District AC 00:43:07
3 Fionnuala Duffy Unattached 00:43:12

Junior Men
1 Caoimhin Kelly Glaslough harriers 00:36:16
2 Ariel Lanza Monaghan Phoenix 00:42:50
3 Thomas Gorman Unattached 00:47:18

Girls Fun Run
1. Amy Hamill Glaslough Harriers 00:17:07

Boys Fun Run
1. Ultan O’Rourke Monaghan Phoenix 00:16:18
2. Lorcan O’Rourke Monaghan Phoenix 00:16:15
3. Paul Peppard Monaghan Phoenix 00:16:26

Ladies Over 35
1 Barbara Murray Unattached 00:44:45

Ladies Over 40
1 Helen McCrystal Monaghan Phoenix 00:45:44

Ladies Over 45
1 Patricia Campbell Omagh Harriers 00:47:37

Ladies Over 50
1 Angela Trappe Unattached 01:04:46

Ladies Over 55
2 Eileen Mc Nally Glaslough harriers 01:14:00

Men Over 40
1 John Mc Ardle Blayney Rockets 00:37:35

Men Over 45
1 Delfin Dimentel Monaghan Phoenix 00:35:51

Men Over 50
1 Dermot Kerr Armagh AC 00:35:05

Men Over 55
1 Conor Cooney Drogheda District AC 00:44:44

Men Over 60
1 Nigel McMillan Unattached 00:48:58

Congratulations to each and everyone in all their categories.

You can check out all the times for the runs on www.boards.ie or you can follow the link from our Facebook page, Blackwater 10k-13May 2012.
The committee would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to all the volunteers on the day, without their help the event would not been a success.
To Monaghan United Football Club for the use of their facilities. A huge thank you to all our sponsors, The Northern Standard, Ace Cabs, Step to Better Health, Eastern Balti House, Magills Jewellers, O’Hanrahan Travel, Pet Shop on Line and Pinky& Perkys without their generous sponsorships we could not proceed. Thank you to Perks Beverages for supplying coffee and tea and the ladies of Monaghan Hospice Homecare for helping with the food. To Combi Lift and Brendan Mallon for their very kind donations and to a local company who supplied us with water. Thank you one and all.
If you have any comments you want to pass on good or bad please do so on our Facebook page. We will look forward to reading them and see where we can improve on next year’s Run which will be bigger and better .
Geraldine Connolly(Club PRO)

[Show as slideshow]

MONAGHAN HAVE NO RESPONSE TO DERRY LATE SHOW AT GORTAKEEGAN

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:15:05 +0000

A LATE fusillade of scoring by Derry City put Tuesday night’s Airtricity League Premier Division clash with Monaghan United out of the home side’s reach in a bewildering flurry of late-on action that stood out in stark contrast to the indifferent footballing fare that had gone before.
Roddy Collins’ side, desperate to improve on their poor home record, would have been hoping to profit from the Candystripes’ rather indifferent run of recent form that culminated in defeat in the Setanta Cup final last weekend to Crusaders.
And there was little early evidence that losing out on what is a particularly meaningful trophy for the Derry side had galvanized them into a meaningful response.
A yawn-inducing first half had the large contingent of travelling supporters fidgeting on their seats as City attempted to unlock a diligent Monaghan defence with Aidan Collins exerting a measured influence, and keeper Michael Schlingermann ever alert.
Schlingermann’s adroitness was put to the full test in the tenth minute when Derry dangerman Patrick McEleney unleashed a surprise shot from around the 30 yard mark that forced the Monaghan custodian to go full length to push the effort around the post.
There was little else of note to set the pulses racing before half-time, little in the way of …

PUBLIC CO-OPERATION CONTRIBUTES TO GARDA SUCCESS AGAINST “CREEPER” CRIMES

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:03:43 +0000

Garda Inspector Pat McMorrow told last week’s meeting of Monaghan Town Joint Policing Committee that thanks to co-operation received from the public the Gardai had recorded some success in combating the recent wave of “creeper” crimes in the area.
In a comprehensive report on the Gardai’s actions against local crime activity, Inspector McMorrow expressed thanks to the members of the public through whose assistance the Gardai had experienced success in the detection of a number of “creeper” burglaries.
“There will be people appearing before the courts very shortly,” he stated. “We are delighted we have made this breakthrough, and we hope we can eradicate the problem we have had here for some time.”
Inspector McMorrow told the meeting that eleven burglaries had taken place in April at houses in rural areas in the middle of the day. Three had been carried out in one day, and these crimes were being perpetrated by travelling criminals.
The public had reported suspicious cars in some areas, and this had led the Gardai to intelligence on a particular outfit based outside the jurisdiction who were involved in these crimes, and they hoped to make a breakthrough in this regard.
On April 13 five burglaries had taken place in the Tyholland/Scotstown area. On April 16 three homes were broken into at Tullyard, and Cashel, Annyalla. The Gardai believed a criminal gang from Dublin was involved. This showed how vulnerable the area was to travelling criminals from Dublin and Northern Ireland who were hitting the area at will.
Inspector McMorrow said cash and jewellery were taken in the incidents, which occurred when houses were unoccupied. The back door was burst open, and a factor was that …

CARS CATCH FIRE AFTER BRAZEN KINGSCOURT BANK ROBBERY

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:00:39 +0000

• Michael McDonnell

Gardai are still appealing for information following last Friday’s audacious raid on a bank in Kingscourt which resulted in a number of vehicles on the street catching fire.
An armed and masked gang rammed the door of the Bank of Ireland at Main Street, Kingscourt with a white-coloured Citroen van a short time before 5pm.
Two of the men then confronted staff — who had just closed to the public for the day — while armed with handguns.
A substantial sum of cash is reported to have been taken, but it is understood that no shots were fired.
The six-strong gang then set fire to the van, which caused a number other vehicles on the street to catch fire in turn.
Thy escaped in another car, which was later found burned out, about two miles away on a slip road off the main Kingscourt-Bailieboro road. A third vehicle was used by the raiders to make good their getaway.
Kingscourt’s main street was closed for a period while fire services dealt with the stricken cars.
It subsequently emerged that there is no garda car based in Kingscourt to respond to such incidents.
Anyone with information is asked to contact gardai at Bailieboro 042 969 4570, or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

TOO MANY COOKS…?

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:58:18 +0000

The sharp political exchanges at Tuesday night’s meeting of Monaghan Town Council over the latest threat of a significant removal of services from Monaghan General Hospital (see story, page one) shows that this long-running issue is still one that can raise the passions of our local politicians.
Partisans of Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, the main participants in this occasion in the verbal volleys generated by the topic, may derive satisfaction from what they perceive as the successes of their representatives in delivering telling blows in the course of the repartee.
The more neutral, and, perhaps, more cynical, reader might be tempted to look upon the content of the debate as more hot air impotently expended far from the concentration of the decision-making power that ultimately determines the level of health services we enjoy in this county.
There is a degree of accuracy in that assessment, but Tuesday night’s debate, and the one which preceded it at Monaghan Co Council level last week, are insightful of the confusion and conflicts that contribute to the sorry state of local health provision – and often cloak it in a camouflage of contradiction when it comes to the assignment of ultimate responsibility.
There can be no doubt that proposals that seem to be in train to remove kitchen facilities from Monaghan General Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in Castleblayney and assign these functions to St Davnet’s Hospital in Monaghan Town, from where food will be distributed to the other centres, are, in the bald way they have been presented thus far, patently ludicrous as cost-saving measures.
It is easy to see why some might assign more sinister motives to the stratagem, and fear that the ultimate closure of the Monaghan and Castleblayney hospitals is what is really on the cards.
There is a degree of comfort to be derived from the indication given by Monaghan Town Council Cathaoirleach David Maxwell that the proposal might only be in the preliminary stages of consideration.
The local political furore and the publicity it has generated might be of some ultimate purpose if it concentrates the minds of those contemplating this step on the inherent fallacy as well as the inevitable unpopularity of its implementation.
But who ultimately makes that decision?
Some strong emotions were stirred by the statement in correspondence to Monaghan Co Council last week by Fine Gael Deputy Sean Conlan that the Minister was unaware of this proposal, and that it had been conceived at local management level by the HSE.
It is plausible and understandable that a degree of responsibility for implementing efficiencies is devolved to those on the ground in health service administration.
They, after all, have the local knowledge and the detailed information at their disposal to at least posit recommendations in this regard.
Given the perception that much of the damage inflicted on health services in our region has derived from distant diktat by shadowy and unaccountable figures secreted in the labyrinth of HSE bureaucracy, it is hard to question the principle of local determination in this regard – even if, in this specific instance, the measure under consideration appears fundamentally misguided.
But it is equally hard to accept that the Minister himself would not have his finger firmly on the pulse of such local deliberations and, in light of the acute sensitivity of further proposals to diminish services at hospitals in this county, would not have his political antennae attuned to detect any measures likely to incite controversy.
That the Minister apparently had to be told by the political representatives of his party in the locality that this measure was being contemplated seems eloquent of what is fundamentally wrong in our health services.
Most reasonable thinking people would assume that the Government Minister is, in Colr Robbie Gallagher’s description on Tuesday, “the boss man”, and would probably concur with Colr Gallagher’s plainly put assertion that he “bloody well should know” of such decisions if he was in contact with his officials.
This gross level of disconnect, as Colr Sean Conlon put it, is troubling.
The impression of decision-making in health matters being outside the purview of the person in whose ministerial responsibility the governing determination should lie has been abroad long before Dr Reilly took office.
But Dr Reilly took on the Ministerial mantle with the mandate to change this situation – and his declarations prior to the last General Election and in his early days in office promised a fundamental overhaul of health administration that has so far had only superficial manifestations.
The Minister appears to be a sincere and decent man, and not one to eschew the delivery of hard truths to a potentially unreceptive audience, as his recent addresses to conferences of health service professionals illustrated.
We would respectfully seek to prevail on him once more to come to Co Monaghan and in a suitable public forum tell the people of our county the plain truth about what the future holds for Monaghan General Hospital and health services generally in the county.
It is no more that our readers, many of whom voted for Fine Gael candidates in the last General Election with the hope that a change of government would see some level of service restoration at the hospital, deserve.
No matter how often and how passionately the hospital issue is debated at our local political forums, no determining clarity will emerge unless and until the Minister takes such a step.
In its absence, the suspicion of a malign covert agenda to bring about the ultimate closure of Monaghan General Hospital, and perhaps other long-standing health institutions in our county, will persist.

URGENT CLARITY NEEDED ON ROUTE OF CLONTIBRET TO THE BORDER ROAD PROJECT SAYS CO COUNCIL

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:54:43 +0000

A Fianna Fáil motion of urgent business was passed at the May meeting of Monaghan Co Council calling on Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and the National Roads Authority to act to ensure that the Clontibret to the Border N2 road project was moved to road selection/design stage as soon as possible.
The motion stated that a decision on this matter was required to avoid the sterilisation of large areas of land in the North Monaghan area, and to ally the concerns of farmers and landowners along the route, as well as to allow for proper planning under the new Co Development Plan.
Moving the motion, Robbie Gallagher said it was very important that, if this project was to go ahead, its design was narrowed down in its route corridor as soon as possible, because of the potentially serious impact on the development of land in the North Monaghan area for a long time to come.
Colr Gallagher thought it was imperative that they got the proposed corridor reduced. €1 million was needed in order to advance the project to this stage, and it was very important that this funding was obtained.
Seconding the motion, Pádraig McNally described this issue as “a hot potato” with the IFA, who felt that their members …

MERCHANTS OF CLONES SEEK THEIR ‘POUND’ OF FLESH!

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:53:09 +0000

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 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 as a valid form of currency.
A promotional short film has been uploaded on YouTube and can be found by searching ‘Embrace the Punt.’
More details can be found by logging on to the website www.embracethepunt.com which at present has over 1,500 views.
Local traders will no doubt be confident that the punters will be pounding their doors to take advantage of any good deals on offer in their latest initiative. Who knows, the idea might catch on nationally, as it’s no secret that many high-profile economists have been hankering back to the days when Ireland had its own currency and the economic independence that went with that!

ROBBERIES – PUBLIC URGED TO CONTACT GARDAI ABOUT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:49:19 +0000

“People should be aware of what is going on in their communities and be prepared to lift up the phone and ring the Gardai if they see suspicious activity,” stated Chairperson Mary Carroll at last week’s meeting of the Monaghan Town Joint Policing Committee when members discussed preventative measures that could be taken to counter robbery crimes in the locality.
Monaghan Community Forum representative Gavin Shipley said he knew someone who was recently a victim of a “creeper” robbery, where the perpetrators gained access to their house and took the keys of their car.
He stated that he had looked into this matter a bit further, and pointed out that an anti-snap cylinder could be obtained which when fitted to an outside door would ensure that the door remained locked even if an attempt was made to open it by thieves. He asked if the Gardai could conduct a form of public awareness campaign to make householders aware of this. It was a simple measure, but one that was very effective and inexpensive.
The Chairperson said that a lot of the prevention against crimes of this nature had to do with people looking out for …

JUDGE WARNS PRESS HE WILL SUE IF ANY MORE “SNIDE REMARKS” ARE PUBLISHED

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:47:25 +0000

A DISTRICT COURT judge has warned what he described as the “Dublin media” that he will “sue the pants off them” if they publish any more “snide remarks” about him.
Speaking during a bail application at Clones District Court on Friday, Judge Sean MacBride said he was the “best qualified judge in the country” when he was appointed, and had been the only district judge in Ireland with an LLM (Master of Laws) degree at the time.
Referring to “snide remarks that were made about me by certain persons in the Dublin media”, the outspoken judge said newspapers would have to be “very careful” about what they published in the future.
Having reminded the court of his legal qualifications, including the fact that he was the youngest third-level lecturer in Ireland while lecturing at University College Dublin when he was 23 years old, and having also referred to his achievements in athletics, in which he had represented Ireland, Judge MacBride said he wanted to remind the Dublin press that …

SHARP EXCHANGES AS MAXWELL CHALLENGES SF OVER NORTH HEALTH CUT

northernstandard — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:44:35 +0000

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 strong – and evidently pre-prepared – attack on SF’s association as part of the governing Assembly in Northern Ireland with a series of closures and cutbacks in the health services there.
The subject of the hospital was broached under “Any Other Business” by SF councillor Donal Sherry, who referred to the recent controversy over proposals to close the kitchen facilities at Monaghan General Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in Castleblayney and provide food for both institutions from the kitchen of St Davnet’s Hospital in Monaghan Town.
Colr Sherry proposed that the Council write to the relevant authorities in order to put an end to “the myth of where the fault lies” for this decision, which he described as “another knife in our health services”. He thought the proposal was part of a strategy to demoralise local …