Articles in the Headline Category

Monaghan Co Council agreed on Monday to seek an urgent meeting with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton in an initiative to boost employment creation in the county by heightening its profile as a magnet for inward investment. A discussion generated by a motion of urgent business from the Sinn Féin grouping heard strong criticism of the Industrial Development Authority for what members perceived as the IDA’s virtual neglect of the county as a location for new enterprise and investment. The unanimously supported SF motion read: ...

By Veronica Corr Prompt action by fire crews prevented the spread to other premises of a fire that broke out in Chinese Acupuncture and Care, Dawson Street, Monaghan on Tuesday last. Dermot Brannigan, Acting Chief Fire Officer, credited the early detection, reporting and fast response of the fire brigade, as reasons why the fire didn’t spread to neighbouring premises. Two units from Monaghan and one unit from Ballybay responded to the call, and a total of eighteen fire fighters from the retained service were on-site. Multiple breathing apparatus units were used. There was ...

Irish gymnast Kieran Behan, who qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games last week, has strong connections with County Monaghan. Behan, whose mother Bernie (née Gavan) comes from Newbliss, sealed his place at the London games when finishing fourth in the floor final at the Olympic test event. The story of Behan’s journey to become only the second Irish gymnast to reach the Olympics is an inspirational one, as he has overcome serious adversity through the years.  Aged just ten, Behan had a benign tumour removed from his thigh and the operation ...

Elaine Alexander, affectionately know as Shooter to her friends, has been crowned as Northern Ireland’s Adventure Icon as voted for by the public during the recent OutdoorNI.com Awards in association with Surf Mountain. Miss Alexander, who last year successfully circumnavigated Ireland by Kayak in a fundraising challenge for the Share Holiday Village in Lisnaskea, won over forty percent of all votes in this much coveted category. Upon receiving the award Miss Alexander said, “It is really lovely to be recognised by the public in this category. There were some outstanding individuals nominated ...

Plans to convert the former Customs and Excise building on Monaghan Town’s Armagh Road into a business enterprise centre are to be pursued at Government Ministerial level by Monaghan Town Council. The Council agreed at its December meeting to the terms of a motion from the Sinn Féin members seeking a meeting with Ministers John Perry and Richard Bruton to outline the opportunity that exists for the development of the proposal, which has been mooted strongly by Colr Sean Conlon in recent times. The SF motion said that ...

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said “Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news.” Luke 2,8-10 Those words are probably very familiar to you. Perhaps some of them are even more familiar than you may think.  If someone asked you what were the most frequently repeated words in the whole Bible, what ...

Sisk, the developers of Co Monaghan Vocational Education Committee’s multi-million campus project at Knockaconny, are offering local workers an opportunity to complete their apprenticeships by working on the scheme. Workers who may have had their apprenticeships interrupted by lay-offs in the construction industry in recent times will be considered for relevant employment at the campus site so that they can complete their training, Chief Executive Officer Martin G O’Brien told Monday’s VEC meeting in Monaghan Town. Mr O’Brien said that if there were apprentices in the area who ...

Monaghan Co Council, on the proposal of Co Mayor Seamus Coyle, has made an urgent plea to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to relax lending restrictions imposed on the country’s Credit Unions. The appeal was issued on Monday after the Council was told in Clones that curbs on Credit Union lending was leaving needy families in the county vulnerable to the predations of unscrupulous moneylenders charging exorbitant rates of interest. The former President of the Irish League of Credit Unions, Mr Jim McMahon, told councillors that one moneylender ...

By Patsy McArdle CASTLEBLAYNEY launched the town’s glittering Yuletide festive fare on Friday night last with the ceremonial switch-on of the annual Christmas illuminations . Parents and excited children from all over the area gathered at the Super Valu Shopping Centre complex to await the arrival of Santa Claus, who was taxied to the area from the nearby Glencarn Hotel, by the local Fire Service. The president of the Chamber of Commerce Mr. Patrick McFadden was joined by other members of the Chamber and by ...

MONAGHAN MUSIC STAR SHINES BRIGHT AT BIG CHRISTMAS SWITCH-ON Monaghan Town’s rising star of the contemporary music scene, singer-songwriter Ryan Sheridan, radiated celebrity charisma to rival the brilliance of the Christmas lighting array he formally brought into dazzling display before a pulsating crowd estimated to be in the region of six thousand people in the centre of the county capital on Sunday afternoon last. The big switch-on of the festive illuminations in the town was the culmination of an afternoon of entertainment and attraction enjoyed by an unprecedented gathering of ...