Articles in the General News Category

Plenty of thrills and spills in ‘new normal’ style of championships Colm Shalvey reports The long-awaited start of the club football championships arrived under the ‘new normal’ last weekend. A new format using home and away venues for the round-robin stage, limited crowds in the grounds, onlookers using any imaginable vantage point to get a glimpse of the action, dressing rooms remaining out of bounds and several clubs offering live streams of their games meant it was anything but an average championship weekend. However, despite the lengthy layoff, the games across the ...

McGuinness saves the day as Ballybay bravely battle back for hard-earned draw John Graham reports Ballybay staged a strong recovery in the dying embers of this Greenfield Foods Senior Football Championship contest in Pearse Park last Sunday that saw them finishing level with the County champions, which gives each of them a point apiece in this round-robin section of the competition. Earlier it looked as if Ballybay could actually overturn the champions in that they started with a flourish to lead by four points at the end of the opening quarter and ...

SUBSIDY OF €32 MILLION URGENTLY NEEDED TO KEEP BUSES ON THE ROAD Michael Fisher The future for private coach operators is bleak because of Covid-19 restrictions, according to the industry’s representative body, which includes five companies from the Co. Monaghan area. In an open letter they say a 95 per cent drop in revenue incurred by operators will lead to many regional Irish coach operators going out of business. They estimate that 11,000 vehicles are currently off the road. The collapse of these companies would undoubtedly have a ripple effect on ...

New local authority campaign seeks public support to keep Monaghan public amenities clean “Be Clean, Keep It Green, Take Your Litter Home” is the mantra foregrounding a local authority campaign launched on Monday to enlist the public’s help in keeping popular public amenities throughout Co Monaghan in the pristine condition necessary for all to enjoy them. As the campaign got formally underway at a photo shoot in a resplendent Rossmore Forest Park in Monaghan Town, where the recently developed children’s play area was in busy use, Councillor Seamus Treanor, Cathaoirleach of ...

The disproportionately high number of asylum seekers being housed in emergency accommodation in Co Monaghan was highlighted this week by Independent member of Monaghan Co Council Paudge Connolly. Department of Justice statistics supplied to the Northern Standard by Councillor Connolly disclose that Co Monaghan has 280 asylum seekers in the St Patrick’s Direct Provision Centre in Monaghan Town and another 207 people in emergency accommodation at various locations in the county. Of the ten least populated counties in Ireland, Co Monaghan has the highest total of asylum seekers although the ...

On Monday morning, 20th July 2020, what was described as a soft launch took place at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre Inniskeen, which has received an extensive refurbishment which cost in the region of €1 million. Booking is advised and the centre is open from Monday to Friday from 10am to 4.30pm. There was a small gathering present for the soft opening, with members of Inniskeen Enterprise and Development Group, Monaghan County Council and Carrickmacross/Castleblayney Cathaoirleachs, Local Authority officials and representatives of the media at local and national level. A larger ...

The long anticipated prospect of gold mining taking place in the Clontibret area of Co Monaghan moved a significant step closer this week with the announcement by Irish company Conroy Gold that it had entered a joint venture with Anglo Asian Mining Plc which would “materially advance plans for the development of Ireland’s first modern producing gold mine at its gold discovery area in Co Monaghan”. Conroy Gold said the agreement would also lead to the further exploration and development of a series of gold targets across a 65-kilometre “promising ...

Michael Fisher The number of people closing their Pandemic Unemployment Payment claim has dropped by almost 100,000 in the past fortnight. Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys TD said that in Co. Monaghan her Department was now supporting 4,000 people, less than half the number during the peak of 8,200. In Co. Cavan, 4,400 people are receiving this support payment compared to 9,700 during the peak. The Minister stated: “As Minister for Social Protection, I want to stress that there can be no room for complacency. Much more needs to ...

Monaghan Volunteer Centre and Monaghan Integrated Development are delighted to announce the launch of the County Monaghan 2020 Volunteer Awards. The awards, which take place annually, seek to recognise and celebrate the efforts and achievements of volunteers across County Monaghan. This year nominations are being sought in three categories: Volunteer of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and Volunteer Group of the Year. Over the past number of years volunteers from all walks of life have been award recipients. Representatives from youth groups, older persons groups, community development projects and… Monaghan Arch Club, ...

The North East Pylon Pressure Campaign has noted with interest the publication of EirGrid’s plans to move on to the next stage in its major project for a new Kildare to Meath Line (KML). This will involve strengthening the electrcity grid between south of Naas and Dunboyne, driven by higher demand for supply and data centre needs. According to the NEPPC, EirGrid has decided to change its approach in terms of which criteria are important in making a decision as to the most suitable technology. For the second North-South Interconnector ...