Articles in the General News Category

Comment Our country finds itself on the cusp of uncertainty. In a few days’ time we could have political stability in the form of a new majority Government, or heightened instability as parties scramble around for alternatives to the second General Election of the year. On Monday next, another significant phase in the Roadmap to Recovery from the strictures and deprivations of the Covid-19 medical emergency will be embarked upon with heightened freedoms of movement and association and further reopening of important dimensions of the economy. But the steps will be ...

A quantity of drug dealing paraphernalia and a quantity of suspected cannabis were seized by the Gardaí following a search of a house in the Monaghan Town area last week. The Garda said that the search was carried out under warrant as part of an operation targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs in the Monaghan area. A man in his early 20s was arrested at the scene and detained at Monaghan Garda Station. The Gardaí said their investigation was ongoing.

Questions submitted by Sinn Féin councillor Noel Keelan to the June meeting of Monaghan Co Council sought information on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on the finances and future expenditure of the local authority. Councillor Keelan sought information on the approximate number of businesses premises paying commercial rates to the Co Council prior to the Covid-19 restrictions and the funding this generated. He also wanted to know the number of businesses currently paying rates, the value of this in monetary terms and the plans the Council had to ...

Monaghan Co Council’s annual report for 2019 – distributed to the members of the Council at their June meeting last week – reiterates the description of climate change as the biggest challenge facing the county and the country in the year ahead which Chief Executive Eamonn O’Sullivan has emphasised on a number of occasions in recent times. Reflecting on a year in which the Covid-19 public health emergency had not yet exerted its restraining influence on activity in Co Monaghan, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the services provided ...

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all of us, none more so than the inpatients in our country’s hospitals. With visiting restrictions at large in our nation’s hospitals, our patients have been required to adhere to new guidelines and continue their route to wellbeing and recovery in the strangest of circumstances we could have ever imagined. Patients are now without the close contact and support of their families and friends who typically occupy their bedsides following their difficult days in hospitals. In the most unprecedented and challenging of times our health ...

A member of the Defence Forces from Co. Cavan has been released from hospital in Monaghan after spending 84 days being treated for coronavirus. Seamus Smyth from Mullagh was admitted to Cavan General Hospital on March 27th. He had no idea that it would be take three months before he would be discharged from medical care. After his admission to hospital he was transferred to intensive care, followed by the high dependency unit. The next move was to coronary care, then a medical ward, before a final transfer to the ...

Michael Fisher Tributes have been paid to Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving member of the nine children of Rose (Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy. She died last week at her home in Manhattan, aged 92. Her siblings included US President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Special Olympic founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Senator Ted Kennedy and the Rosemary Kennedy, who visited Castleblayney in 1938, when her father was appointed US Ambassador to the UK. KNOCKATALLON VISIT As US Ambassador to Ireland, she travelled to the border area of ...

Colm Shalvey reports Drumhowan man Noel Duffy completed a marathon undertaking in the early hours of last Saturday morning when he walked his 20th half-marathon this month to round off a virtual trek from his home to Mizen Head in Co Cork, the southernmost point in Ireland. At the time of writing, the money raised was heading towards €15,000 to be split between the Irish Heart Foundation and the Acute Stroke Unit in our Lady of Lourdes hospital, Drogheda; in memory of noel’s mother, Nan Duffy, who died as a result ...

John Graham reports After a 13-week lockdown, the GAA announced that its grounds re-opened yesterday, Wednesday, five days earlier than initially intended. It follows the easing of government restrictions on Friday and the latest recommendations from the Covid-19 advisory Committee. The previous reopening date for clubs was June 29th. From Wednesday, adult teams will be allowed train on a non-contact basis, on the understanding that they follow strict protocols, with minor and all juvenile teams granted permission to return on Saturday. All teams will be allowed to resume full contact training ...

A key role for Monaghan Co Council in helping the county recover from the effects of the Covid-19 control measures and “rebuilding what has been lost” was identified by Sinn Féin’s Colm Carthy when he assumed the Chair of the local authority at its Annual Meeting last Monday afternoon. While the Carrickmacrossbased local public representative refrained from outlining the customary “wish list” of priorities for his term of office due to the financial uncertainty facing the Council, he conveyed a strong rallying cry for social activism by the authority in ...