Articles in the General News Category

CALL FOR DISUSED BUILDING IN ST DAVNET’S TO BE ADAPTED FOR “CRISIS” CASES • Michael McDonnell MEMBERS of the Parents Action Group for Respite Services in Cavan and Monaghan met with Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath at his offices in Dublin on Wednesday of last week, where they outlined to him the hardship they are experiencing because of the ongoing suspension of respite services at a centre in Cootehill that is supposed to cater for families in the surrounding Cavan and Monaghan area. The Parents Action Group spokesperson, Ms ...

Boss seeking clinical edge ahead of league PATRICK SMYTH Converting the coinage of chances generated into the hard cash of scores on the board came under sharp focus from Malachy o’Rourke in his post-match briefing on wednesday last. The Monaghan senior football boss was mostly upbeat as he reflected on his side’s narrow 0-13 to 1-9 loss against Armagh in the teams’ final group game in the Dr. Mckenna Cup “There was a definite improvement on our last outing and we would be a lot happier with our overall performance,” o’Rourke said ...

COLM SHALVEY The countdown is on to Monaghan’s Allianz National Football League Division One against All- Ireland champions Dublin after a stuttering end to the county’s Bank of Ireland Dr. McKenna Cup campaign. Having started in late December with an eight-point win over Antrim, Monaghan were unable to qualify for the Dr. McKenna Cup semi-finals after having to settle for one point from their last two games in Section B. The performance away to a more experienced Armagh side last Wednesday produced more positives than in the previous Sunday’s draw …

Mining company criticised for lack of contact with Magheracloone residents Peter Hughes Mining company Gyproc were criticised at Monday’s meeting of Monaghan Co Council in Castleblayney for what was perceived as their lack of contact and interaction with the people of Magheracloone in the aftermath of the major subsidence incident there in September, and following the discovery on December 19 last of a fresh crown hole in the area. The actions taken by Monaghan Co Council to deal with the December 19 incident, including the closure for a second time of ...

Sinn Féin representative Sean Conlon abstained at Monday’s meeting of Monaghan Co Council when a vote was taken to adopt a regional Homeless Action Plan for 2018-2020. Councillor Conlon felt there was insufficient detail in the document before the members and questioned the level of funding that was being provided to Co Monaghan to deal with homelessness under the regional structure which groups it with counties Louth and Cavan. The SF representative observed to the meeting that the 2018-2020 strategy was ten pages shorter than its predecessor document. He felt ...

Following a tender competition, the contract for the replacement of the Blackwater Bridge in Monaghan Town has been awarded to Fox Building and Engineering Ltd. Monaghan Co Council signed a contract with the contractor on Friday December 21. The Blackwater Bridge replacement contract comprises the demolition of the existing bridge which carries the N2 national road over the Blackwater River just north of Monaghan Town. The works will involve the construction of a new three-span bridge structure at the same location. Associated works include the realignment of approximately 300m of ...

Peter Hughes Monaghan Co Council agreed on Monday to receive a presentation at its February meeting from the mother of a young South Monaghan man killed in a hitand- run accident in 2011. But the majority of councillors voted in favour of the presentation by Mrs Lucia O’Farrell, who is campaigning for justice on behalf of her late son Shane, being taken “in committee”, meaning that its content cannot be reported by the Press. At Monday’s meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Colm Carthy formally proposed that Mrs O’Farrell be invited to ...

Monaghan’s Caitriona Balfe walked the red carpet at the 2019 Golden Globes at The Beverly Hilton in California on Sunday night but her quest for an award remained unfulfilled. The actress from Tydavnet was nominated in the category of ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama’ for her part in the Starz series ‘Outlander’. It was the fourth time she had been nominated for the award in her role as Claire Fraser in the popular time-traveling series. Styled by Karla Welch, Caitriona wore a custom gown ...

Michael Fisher Questions remain over a mystery flight just before Christmas by a noisy Ukrainian registered cargo plane that passed over north Monaghan late at night. Since my appeal for further information, three people have been in contact in the past week about the aircraft, an Antonov AN12 call sign UR-CAJ that was built fifty years ago in the Soviet Union. One person reported hearing something a week ago (Thursday 3rd January) in the Magheracloone area of south Monaghan near Carrickmacross in the afternoon, between 3pm and 4pm. He explained: ...

Peter Hughes The campaign recently initiated in the Cootehill area to improve the provision of respite services in counties Cavan and Monaghan received the backing of Monaghan Co Council on Monday through the adoption of a motion of urgent business tabled by Independent councillor Paudge Connolly. At the Council’s monthly meeting, which was held in Castleblayney, Councillor Connolly made a proposal highlighting the “crisis situation” which had existed in Annalee View Respite Centre, Cootehill since September 2018, whereby access to respite services was not available to those who normally availed ...