Articles in the General News Category

LIVERPOOL INCIDENT LEAVES MALACHY McCRUDDEN (56) WITH BROKEN LEG AND SEVERE BRUISING • Michael McDonnell A 56-YEAR-OLD North Monaghan man who runs his own haulage business was severely injured during a vicious earlyhours attack in Liverpool on Tuesday of last week, after he confronted a group of men in balaclavas who appeared to be trying to break into his trailer to rob it. Father-of-three Malachy Mc- Crudden had been sleeping in the cab of his Scania truck in an industrial estate in the Knowsley area, near Toxteth, when at about 3am ...

Monaghan experts address artificial intelligence conference Michael Fisher Monaghan is taking on the challenge of being ready for the digital revolution. It’s all down to AI: not as you might expect around here the beef or dairy farmer’s replacement for the bull. It stands for Artificial Intelligence. It’s all about software systems that memorise data to perform tasks enabling machines to take over many jobs being done by humans. It has various uses in manufacturing, construction, banking, the retail industry, healthcare, road safety, legal documents and satellite surveillance. Carrickmacross recently unveiled ...

Peter Hughes Christmas came to Monaghan Town last Sunday, with the formal switch-on of the county capital’s festive lighting display preceded by a Magnificent Show of music, dancing, a galaxy of children’s favourite characters and some words of wisdom and encouragement for the starry-eyed young people in the Church Square assembly from the sage personages of Santa Claus and his good lady wife. Such a show needed a Magnificent Showman and had it in the energetic personage of Colin Walker in his costumeperfect personification of P T Barnum, a rousing ...

• Michael McDonnell THE PARENTS of a young man brutally murdered following a music festival in Carrickmacross eight years ago were dealt another cruel blow in recent weeks when their son’s grave (where his brother is also interred) was desecrated by heartless vandals. Gavin O’Connor (22) from Ballynaclose, Kilmainhamwood, Co Meath (near Kingscourt, Co Cavan) had been found lying on a minor roadway in Lisdoonan with serious head injuries in the early hours of Saturday 4th June 2011 and pronouced dead at Drogheda Hospital later that evening. It transpired ...

By Veronica Corr In our August 1st issue, this newspaper carried a story on its front page about Geraldine and Michael Mooney from Castleblayney, whose quality of life had been seriously affected by the withdrawal of HSE services. The couple, who are both in their late sixties, were informed that they would no longer be attending the local CRANOG day care service because they were over 65 years of age. They also had to deal with a cut to Geraldine’s home care package, which went from five-and-ahalf hours a week ...

The threat of closure being faced by the Cuisle accessible holiday resort in Co Roscommon would have a severe impact on a number of families in the North Monaghan area, Independent councillor Paudge Connolly told the November meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District. In a motion moved at the meeting, Councillor Connolly noted that a number of special needs groups from the local area made use of the facility, and asked that the Municipal District call on the Irish Wheelchair Association “to postpone their proposed closure date of Friday November ...

“Keep your business in town and your town in business” – Monaghan Town’s commercial community has come together to unveil a stellar range of special offers in their stores from tomorrow, Friday November 29 as part of the now firmly established Black Friday retail drive designed to get the vital end-of-year trading season off to a flying start. A wide range of outlets and service providers have prepared some alluring offers for their customers that accent value for money, backed up by the high quality of customer care that traditionally denotes ...

THE Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Niamh Smyth, says urgent action must be taken to address the huge deterioration in ambulance turnaround times over the past two years. She claimed this week that ambulance turnaround times which measure the time interval from an ambulance arrival at a hospital, to when the crew is ready to accept another call, has considerably deteriorated. She said that in 2012 HIQA said that all hospitals in Ireland should monitor the implementation of the National Ambulance Patient Handover Time in line with the National Emergency ...

Michael Fisher The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton TD has begun a major review into the security and sustainability of Ireland’s energy supply as the country moves towards a target of generating 70% of its electricity needs from renewables. Minister Bruton said: “As we phase out coal and peat and move towards generating 70% of our electricity from renewable sources, we need to make sure we are prepared for when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. We will look at the best mix ...

Venue closure driving Magheracloone to ulster silverware COLM SHALVEY REPORTS Magheracloone will look to complete their rollercoaster 14 months on a high by claiming more silverware in Saturday evening’s AIB Ulster Club IFC Final in Armagh. After a nightmare end to 2018 that saw them go from within touching distance of a second consecutive SFC Final appearance to being relegated, as well as the well-documented ‘sinkhole’ leading to the closure of their club grounds, Magheracloone have bounced back on the playing fields of Monaghan and further afield. S even straight wins have seen ...