Articles Archive for January 2014

Armed robbery, diesel laundering and the theft of livestock were identified by Fine Gael councillor Hugh McElvaney on Monday as the three major streams of serious criminal activity afflicting our county and Border region. Colr McElvaney’s accurate observation was made during a Co Monaghan Joint Policing Committee discussion on the sharp increase in cattle thefts in the county during 2013. It was an interesting and illuminating debate, showing the value of the JPC structure as a forum for broadening public awareness of, and giving vent to public concerns ...

By Cianna McNally Members of Clones Town Council this week called for an urgent meeting with local Oireachtas members and Pobal, an organisation with charitable status that manages various funding programmes on behalf of the Irish Government and the EU, to discuss the security of jobs in Clones business Snipe Design and Training Ltd. Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Kelly submitted an emergency motion asking the council to call on Minister Joan Burton and the Department of Social Protection to reverse its …

When Garth Brooks sings about Friends in Low Places, he hardly has in mind the pavement in the precincts of the McConnon’s Ticketmaster outlet at Old Cross Square in Monaghan Town. But that’s where scores of fans of the country superstar began to congregate early in the evening of Tuesday last in the hopes of securing a ticket for one of the two Croke Park stadium gigs that form part of the Tulsa troubadour’s worldwide comeback tour. The shows take place on July 25 and 26, and the ...

BY PATSY McARDLE CAVAN/MONAGHAN Fine Gael Dail deputies Heather Humphreys and Sean Conlan have raised the ongoing EirGrid pylons controversy with An Taoiseach this week, when it was also announced that an expert panel will oversee reports on the best underground route options to compare them with the Grid Link and Grid West high voltage power-lines. Deputy Humphreys tabled a question to An Taoiseach last Thursday that reflected the swelter of opposition to overhead power-lines and pylons across farmlands in the this region, while Deputy Conlon put down a parliamentary ...

By MICHAEL McDONNELL michael@northern-standard.ie EMPLOYEES at the Abbott Ireland plant in Cootehill are hopeful that the 20 redundancies announced by the company this week — as part of an assessment of its worldwide network — will not be followed up with future staff reductions. The baby food formula processing plant on the Monaghan road outside Cootehill employs about 250 people at present and is viewed as a vital mainstay to the economy of the town. The 20 voluntary lay-offs being sought over the next three months are included in 78 ...

Thefts of cattle and other livestock in Co Monaghan more than doubled in 2013, Monday’s meeting of the county’s Joint Policing Committee was told. Garda Chief Superintendent James Sheridan stated that the crime was now the top investigative priority in the area for his force. Appealing to the public to come forward with any information that might assist the Gardaí, he described social media speculation and rumours circulating in local communities about these crimes as “wide of the mark” and unhelpful to the ongoing investigation. 59 cattle ...

Victory for Monaghan is key to prevent having to play catch-up when the 2014 Allianz National Football Leagues begin on Saturday. by COLM SHALVEY he 2014 Allianz National Football Leagues begin on Saturday, with Monaghan one of the first counties in action when they travel to Newry to play Down. Starting a league campaign as Ulster champions for the first time in 25 years, Monaghan will now be a team that others will be targeting wins against, particularly provincial rivals. Having built up momentum last year by winning six out of eight league games ...

Truagh 2-10 Geraldines 1-09 By COLM SHALVEY Truagh qualified for their first ever All-Ireland final with a four-point win over Louth and Leinster IFC champions Geraldines after a dramatic finish to this semi-final at a wet and windy Crossmaglen last Sunday. Truagh looked to be cruising when they led by three points after playing into a strong wind in the first half and all the more so when Mark Counihan scored the opening goal just after the restart. An unanswered 1-5 blitz in the space of ten minutes brought Geraldines level, however, and they looked ...

The Indoor season is truly in full swing as the Athlone IT Indoor Arena hosted the AAI Masters Championships on Saturday and the AAI U20 & 23 Championships on Sunday. On Sunday Oriel’s Alicia Boylan took Silver in the Junior 3k Walk behind Sinead Burke of St Coca’s. Like on Sunday there was a big entry for the Masters Championships where Monaghan Phoenix pair Damien Barry and Brian Peppard were in action. In the M2 category Damien had an excellent run in the 400m where he finished 3rd and took the bronze ...

Two Mile House 0-13 Emyvale 2-06 By JOHN GRAHAM IT was heartbreaking for Emyvale when Kildare and Leinster champions Two Mile House booked their place in the AIB All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship Final with an injury time winner at Pearse Park Longford last Sunday. Two Mile House opened the scoring with a point by Chris Healy on four minutes and Niall Browne put them two points in front after seven minutes. A minute later Emyvale opened their account through David McAllister and then equalised through a Daniel McMahon free. Then, in the 16th ...