CO COUNCIL AGREES ADDITIONAL FUNDING COMMITMENT TO GET BIOCONNECT OVER THE LINE

The members of Monaghan Co Council agreed on Monday to make a significant financial commitment in order to ensure that the BioConnect project being developed at Knockaconny in Monaghan Town is successfully completed. Rising construction costs have necessitated the seeking of additional Enterprise Ireland investment in order to complete the building of the new agri-food research initiative which has promised to deliver a significant level of graduate employment for the county and which lists some of the county’s foremost food businesses among its stakeholders.

On Monday the Co Council agreed to allocate €200,000 from its Industrial and Economic Development Fund as matching money for the grant application, and to give a bridge-funding commitment to support the project over the wait time for the grant to be paid. While members accepted the proposal put before them by the Council executive, South Monaghan’s P J O’Hanlon (Fianna Fáil) evoked the “quid pro quo” principle in giving his assent, making it clear that he would expect similar access to the fund in question for future industrial development projects that arose in his own Carrickmacross- Castleblayney Municipal District area.

His sentiment was shared by Seamus Coyle of the Ballybay- Clones Municipal District. Both councillors felt that Monaghan Town would be the main Bio- Connect beneficiary, even though the initiative has been…