Articles in the General News Category

Defiant message to EirGrid as interconnector preparations advance The Co Monaghan Anti-Pylon Committee has issued a defiant “Our land is not for sale!” message to electricity transmission grid operator EirGrid as it strives to advance preparations for the building of the north-south interconnector. A statement from the campaign group which we publish in full below reiterates anger at correspondence issued by EirGrid to landowners and voices concern at the operator’s plans for meetings with officials of local authorities in counties Monaghan, Cavan and Meath. A CMAPC spokesperson told the Northern Standard ...

The National Lottery has renewed its appeal to players in Co Monaghan to check their old tickets to make sure they are not a millionaire and still don’t know it! The winning ticket for a Lotto Plus Raffle prize worth€1,000,500 was purchased at Centra on Emyvale’s Main Street for the draw of Saturday August 19, but the prize remains unclaimed. The clock is ticking for the winner to come forward. The prize has to be claimed by Friday November 17. Each of the tickets with the winning Lotto Plus Raffle ...

Representatives of vulture funds were subjecting some Monaghan householders in mortgage arrears to intimidation and “bully boy” tactics, Independent local public representative Seamus Treanor claimed this week. Councillor Treanor called at Monday’s meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District for an intervention by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath TD over what he described as “the extortionist interest rates being charged by vulture funds in our country”. Councillor Treanor said that these rates could be up to 10%, while the average bank rate was around 4%. “When the banking crisis hit some ...

By Veronica Corr Monaghan County Council plans to convert two of the county’s landmark buildings into accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, namely, Ballybay Civic Centre and the former Ulster Bank building in Clones, a meeting of Ballybay/ Clones Municipal District (MD) was told on Monday. Mr. Nial O’Connor, Senior Executive Officer, Housing Section, Monaghan County Council delivered an update to public representatives and officials in attendance of the meeting in Ballybay, which forms part of the plan. Both buildings will form part of the Council’s response to the Local Government Management ...

The merits of Budget 2024, announced on Tuesday, have been strongly emphasised by Government party representatives from the Cavan/Monaghan constituency. But the Government’s spending and taxation plans for the year ahead have been found strongly wanting by Sinn Féin TDs in the area. The Budget unveiled by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD and Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath TD contained few surprises and continued the current Government trend of targeting once-off supports and payment increases at more vulnerable sectors to help them address inflationary and cost-of-living pressures. Cavan/Monaghan ...

Strong lobbying by national and local political representatives had recently taken place with the Health Service Executive in order to bring about improvements in ambulance response times in Co Monaghan, last week’s meeting of Monaghan Co Council was informed. The Council adopted a proposal from Independent councillor Paudge Connolly, seconded by Sinn Féin’s Brian McKenna, that it renew its request for a meeting with the Director of Ambulance Services for Dublin and the North East to discuss the matter. Councillor Connolly bemoaned the fact that a previous request in this ...

Co Monaghan maintained its high standards in Tidy Towns performance when the results of the 2023 competition were announced on Friday last. Glaslough claimed a gold medal and retained its Co Winner status while Carrickmacross also gained gold, receiving a highly commended distinction from the judges. Monaghan Town received a silver medal and a commendation while the Co Endeavour Award went to Oram. Most participants from the county registered improvements in the marks awarded by the judges. Redhills was highly commended in Co Cavan, where the county town laid claim ...

The Co Monaghan Anti-Pylon Committee, the campaign group opposing the construction of the north-south interconnector project using overground infrastructure, has issued a statement to the Northern Standard this week calling for an independent inquiry into EirGrid’s management and operation of Ireland’s electricity transmission grid. “The management of the electricity transmission grid for Ireland has been entrusted to EirGrid since July 2006 – they are a monopoly semi-State organisation which provide the power network for the most expensive electricity in Europe,” a spokesperson for the CMAPC stated. “The closure of power ...

A 17-year-old male was killed in a single-vehicle road traffic accident at Carrickaderry, Clontibret around 1.30 am yesterday, Wednesday September 20. The victim was the driver of the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to the mortuary at Monaghan Hospital. A post mortem is due to take place. The accident location, on a stretch of the old N2, was closed off yesterday to facilitate a technical examination by the Gardaí. Diversions were in place. Monaghan Gardaí requested anyone who might have witnessed the ...

The retention and development of services at Monaghan Hospital remains a Sinn Féin priority, said the party’s Health Spokesperson David Cullinane TD and Cavan/Monaghan Dáil Deputy Matt Carthy when they visited the hospital on Monday last. Deputy Cullinane, who represents the Waterford constituency and was appointed as the Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Health following the 2020 General Election, said that local hospitals such as Monaghan could play an important role in alleviating pressures on larger hospitals as well as providing important services to local communities. Deputy Cullinane pointed out that ...