News

Monaghan County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), and Department for Infrastructure (DFI) are developing a scheme to replace the Ballynacarry Bridge and realign a portion of the N53/A37 road.

This project is focused on providing a safer passageway over the river Fane on the route between Castleblayney in Co. Monaghan and Cullaville in Co. Armagh

The current road alignment on the departure and approach to the bridge raises safety issues due to the bend on the road and the current sight lines. The bridge itself is an old masonry arch bridge that was constructed in 1835. The existing carriageway and parapets at the bridge location are substandard and collision records show a high number of impacts at the bridge.

The new alignment and the new bridge will allow vehicles to cross over the river Fane in a safer manner and will remove any sharp bends from the route. The cross-section of the realigned road and bridge will have enough space capacity to allow for future active travel to be developed in the area.

The existing road and bridge will still be in place and there will be a junction from the new route that will allow for a landowner or private dwelling access.

Arup have been appointed by Monaghan County Council to deliver the N53/A37 Ballynacarry Bridge Replacement Scheme from Phase 1 Concept and Feasibility stage through to Phase 5 Enabling of Procurement following the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Project Management Guidelines.

The Project is currently at Phase 2 Options Selection. The purpose of Phase 2 is to develop and investigate the various route options for the project and to identify suitable structural bridge forms for the crossing of the river Fane.

Public Consultation outlines an important part of advancing the design process toward the development of route options and allows for the involvement of the public in identifying key constraints.

A Public Consultation will be held to inform stakeholders of the proposed Ballynacarry bridge replacement scheme and route options. This Consultation is planned for the 2nd of March & the 3rd of March.  The consultation is being held at an in-person public consultation with all the displayed documents being made available online at https://monaghan.ie/roadtransport/major-projects/

 

Locations and dates for the two in-person events are as follows:

Public Consultation Event 1: 2nd March 2023, 16:00-20:00 Culloville Blues GAC, 1 Corrasmoo Rd, Crossmaglen, Newry BT35 9JF, United Kingdom

Public Consultation Event 2: 3rd March 2023, 16:00-20.00 The Enterprise Centre Dublin Rd, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, A75WF72

 

Alternatively, hardcopies of brochures and comment sheets are available for collection from the following offices (addresses below) or call +353 47 30597 to request a copy by post or email N53A37Ballynacarry@arup.com.

Monaghan County Council

Second Floor

M-Tek II Building,

Monaghan

H18 YH59

 

Comment sheets can be submitted via email to N53A37Ballynacarry@arup.com or by post to one of the following addresses:

Arup, 50 Ringsend Road, Dublin, D04 T6X0, or

Arup, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7FD

The closing date for submissions is 5 pm on 20th March 2023.

Monaghan County Council and the Department of Infrastructure (NI) value the opinion of the community on the project and welcome comments from the public and interested parties.

 

This Fund is Closed for Applications

Monaghan County Council is committed to supporting local communities to promote, enhance and develop their local area and increase social inclusion activity.

Please note a maximum of one application can be made under each heading, therefore a maximum of two applications in total may be made by any individual group.

Guidelines on criteria and application forms for the Funding Schemes 2023 may be obtained:

• By downloading the forms or applying online.
• By email to comenv23@monaghancoco.ie
• By contacting Environmental Services on 042 – 9661240 for Environmental Funding Scheme
• By contacting Community Development on 047 – 73750 for Community Development Scheme

 

CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS IS 4pm THURSDAY 16^th MARCH 2023

LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

 

Lambing time will soon begin again.

Every year in Monaghan, there are many attacks

on sheep by dogs, particularly around lambing time.

These attacks cause great cruelty to sheep and lambs.

These attacks result in serious losses for the farmer.

Any dog, large or small, may become involved in attacking sheep – MAKE SURE YOUR DOG

DOESN’T GET THE CHANCE!

If you own a dog or dogs, you are required to:

• Always keep your dog under control. This means not allowing your dog off your property unaccompanied.
• Have a microchip certificate of registration which proves that your dog is microchipped and registered to you. (Required since 2016)
• Ensure that every dog under your control wears a collar always bearing the name and address of the owner and that the name and address are legible.
• Have a current licence for each dog in your possession or a general dog licence to cover all dogs in your possession. YOU CAN NOW BUY YOUR DOG LICENCE ONLINE AT monaghan.ie

PLEASE KEEP YOUR DOG LICENCED, TAGGED, MICROCHIPPED AND UNDER CONTROL.

Brendan Smyth

County Veterinary Officer

Tá Lá Fhéile Pádraig ag druidim linn arís agus táimid ag glacadh ainmneacha eagraíochtaí, gnóanna, bannaí ceol agus srl.,  gur mian leo páirt a ghlacadh i spraoi na bliana seo! ba mhaith linn rath imeachtaí  na bliana seo caite a athchruthú agus paráid na bliana seo a mheadú agus a sharú. Beidh duaiseanna ar fáil do na bannaí ceol is fearr agus na flóta is deise

Tosnóidh an pharáid ag 3pm Dé hAoine 17ú Márta agus is cinnte go mbeidh lá iontach ann do chách.

Tá muid ag súil go mór an oiread bannaí, grúpaí pobail, scoileanna agus gnólachtaí gnóanna, ó Charraig Mhachaire Rois agus na ceantair máguaird a mhealladh le páirt a ghlacadh i bparáid na bliana seo.

Monaghan County Council reminds farmers and agricultural contractors to follow good practice when spreading slurry.

• Spread slurry when ground and weather conditions are good (check weather forecast and ground conditions before you spread).
• Leave buffer strips of at least 5 meters away from surface watercourses. This distance increases to 10 m in the first two weeks after and before the prohibited period.
• Leave buffer strips of at least 20 meters away from lake shorelines.
• Avoid steep ground near waterways.
• Avoid heavy application of slurry.
• Be aware of any drinking water supply sources on or adjacent to lands and the distances to be maintained.
• Tankers and umbilical systems must only use a downward facing splash plate.
• Use of a sludge irrigator or rain gun mounted on a tanker is not permitted.
• Spreading from a public roadway or a laneway within your farm holding is not permitted.
• From 2023, everyone with a grassland stocking rate of 150kg N/ha or above must apply slurry using Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) Technology. LESS must also be used for the application of pig slurry

Good land spreading practice optimises the fertiliser value of slurry.

Poor land spreading practice can cause water pollution and can affect Farm Payments.

If you are in doubt whether you or your contractor should spread or not, contact the Environment Section Water Quality team on 042 9661240.

Signed:

Director of Services, Climate Action, Environmental & Water Services

 

 

St. Patrick’s Day is coming upon us once again and we are taking names of any organisations, businesses, bands etc. that wish to take part in this year’s fun! We are anxious to recreate last year’s success and make this year’s parade even bigger and better! There will be prizes for Best Bands and Best Floats!

The parade begins at 3pm on Friday March 17^th and promises to be a great day out for all.

We hope to see as many bands, community groups, schools and businesses’ from Carrickmacross and its surrounding areas getting involved in this year’s parade.

Download application form here:  APPLY HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are reminded to send their feedback to Uisce Éireann

13 February 2023 – Uisce Éireann’s public consultation on the draft Regional Water Resources Plan – North West (RWRP-NW) is closing on 21 February 2023. The plan sets out options for providing a more secure, reliable and sustainable water supply for approximately 732,700  customers in the North West region over the next 25 years. A three month public consultation on the plan began in November 2022 and will close on Tuesday 21 February.

Uisce Éireann’s National Water Resources Plan will be the first resources plan for the entire public water supply in Ireland. The National Plan will identify the needs across our existing supplies and the challenges and opportunities that we face over the coming years including legislation, climate change, the environment, growth and economic development.

Given the scale of the area to be covered, the National Plan is being rolled out in 2 phases. The National Plan was first adopted in the summer of 2021 and Uisce Éireann has since moved into phase 2, which has 4 separate Regional Water Resources Plans.

The four regions are:

• Regional Water Resources Plan: North West
• Regional Water Resources Plan: South West
• Regional Water Resources Plan: South East
• Regional Water Resources Plan: Eastern and Midlands

Each Regional Plan is subject to its own consultation and, once adopted, all of the Regional Plans and the Framework Plan will be treated as a unified National Plan.

Public consultation on the draft Regional Water Resources Plan – North West will continue until 21 February 2023.

The draft RWRP-NW describes the North West Region and the current challenges faced now and into the future in terms of delivering a safe, secure and resilient water supply. It identifies progress made to date – for instance, leakage reductions, capital investment works, and works in progress.

There are 142 Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in the North West Region, which collectively serve 732,700 people or 18% of the population of Ireland, via approximately 17,732 kilometres of distribution network and 119 Water Resource Zones. These treatment plants also serve 74,000 businesses. The region itself covers approximately 26,912 square kilometres, encompassing counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Sligo and parts of Clare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Roscommon. Eight islands off the coast of Ireland are also included in the region.

Speaking ahead of the end of the public consultation period, Mairéad Conlon, Water Resources Strategy Lead for Uisce Éireann said, “We would like to thank those who have engaged with us on the plan so far. We received valuable feedback throughout the consultation from individuals, groups and organisations. We would like to remind those who are interested in sending their submissions in response to the public consultation to do so before Tuesday, 21 February.

“The development of a draft plan on how Uisce Éireann will supply water across the North West region is an important step. The draft Regional Plan will offer key benefits in terms of transformation of our supplies, including the ability to cater for growth and economic development in a sustainable way, improved interconnectivity between our supplies to ensure balanced regional development, and new sustainable water sources that are adaptable to climate change.

“The draft plan sets out how we envisage water will be supplied to homes and businesses across the North West region over the next 25 years. A recorded webinar is also available on our website, in Irish and English, for anyone interested. We have also compiled a list of Questions and Answers from our public webinars and published those online as they may be useful to those writing submissions,” explained Mairéad.

Uisce Éireann is seeking feedback on the public consultation for the draft RWRP-NW and associated SEA Environmental Report and Natura Impact Statement. The documents are available to view at www.water.ie/rwrp/north-west

A 13-week statutory public consultation will continue until 21 February 2023.

Submissions can be made by post or email by 21 February 2023.

Email: nwrp@water.ie

Post:  National Water Resources Plan, Uisce Éireann, PO Box 13216, Glenageary, Co. Dublin

This public consultation is everyone’s opportunity to feed into the process of how Uisce Éireann identifies the water supply issues in the North West and determines what the options are to provide a more resilient water supply to customers within the region.

A recording of our webinar in Irish and English is available at www.water.ie/rwrp/north-west

All submissions will be taken into consideration and responses to the issues raised will be summarised in a Consultation Report, which will be published on www.water.ie/nwrp.

– Almost €29m in funding recouped by local authorities in Voids Programme

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, today published figures showing 2,307 vacant social homes were brought back into active use in 2022 under the Voids Programme. This is just above the anticipated figure of 2,273 vacant social homes, indicating that the intensive work in 2020 and 2021 by local authorities in this area has reduced the number of vacant social homes. The Voids Programme support local authorities in preparing vacant homes for re-letting.

Making more efficient use of existing housing stock is a key action in the Government’s Housing for All plan. The Voids Programme builds on the ongoing work to tackle vacancy and dereliction and bring vacant properties into re-use for housing.

 

Minister O’Brien said:

“Apart from the obvious advantages of meeting demand for social housing, the return of these vacant social homes has a positive impact on communities. It helps avoids vacant homes becoming run down and derelict in some instances and the source of anti-social behaviour.  

“Local authorities seized the opportunity to bring these homes back into active use in 2022 and this will make a real difference to the lives of over 2,300 households.

“It’s important to note and welcome the fact that nationally the number of vacant social homes requiring pre-letting works was lower in 2022 than in 2021 or 2020. This clearly shows that our plan is working. “In 2020 and 2021 we spent more than €88M bringing 6,032 vacant social homes back into use, and evidently, we are reducing the number of voids in need of refurbishment works following those two intense years of tackling vacancy. 

“We are now progressively shifting to a position of planned maintenance of social housing stock to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for social housing stock.”

In 2022, local authorities recouped almost €29 million in funding for stock improvement programmes for the refurbishment of vacant local authority-owned social housing. Of the €28.9 million, €3.6 million supported the transition to planned maintenance and included funding towards stock condition surveys.

The number of vacant social homes that had works done to prepare them for pre-letting was lower in 2022 than in 2021 and 2020. This is a result of the intense two-year period of tackling long-term social housing vacancy and legacy vacancy. It was always envisaged that the programme would revert to more normalised levels in 2022.

Local authorities are continuing to transition from a response-based approach to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach to social housing. This is based on stock condition surveys. The planned maintenance/voids programme in 2022 supported this.

For more statistics on Voids Expenditure click here

St. Patrick’s Day Parade – Monaghan Town (Friday 17th March 3:00pm)

The Theme this year is ‘Pedal Power for the Future’

All ideas welcome from Pedal Power to Eco Power in business and at home!

Fun for all the family from 1pm.

Prizes will be awarded for: 

• Best Commercial Float
• Best Community Float
• Best Float incorporating the Theme
• Best Band
• Best Window Display incorporating theme
• Best Window Display incorporating Gaeilge

Application form here: Monaghan Parade Application Form 2023

Further information available by email monaghan@monaghancoco.ie or call 047-73777

More single applicants will be able to apply for State backed loan

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, today announced significant improvements to the Local Authority Home Loan that will result in more people being eligible to apply for the State-backed mortgage. The prices of homes eligible for a Local Authority Home Loan and income limits of those eligible to apply for a loan are being increased.

The Local Authority Home Loan was launched in January 2022 as part of Housing for All. It supports creditworthy borrowers who are unable to get finance from commercial banks to buy a home. It can be used for new, second hand or self-build homes. It means those on more moderate incomes are helped by the State to achieve homeownership, a key aim for this Government.

The following changes to the Local Authority Home Loan will come into effect on 1^st March 2023:

Increases to house price limits for all local authorities areas:

• Increase from €320,000 to €360,000 – Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, South Dublin, Dublin City, Fingal, Wicklow, Kildare
• Increase from €310,00 to €330,000 – Galway City, Cork City, Louth, Meath, Galway County, Cork County
• Increase from €250,000 to €300,000 – Limerick, Waterford, Clare, Wexford, Westmeath, Kilkenny
• Increase from €250,000 to €275,000 – Offaly, Laois, Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal, Tipperary, Kerry, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Longford, Carlow

Increased income limits for all applicants in each local authority area

• Increase from €50,000 and €65,000 to €70,000 for all single applicants nationwide
• Increase from €75,000 to €85,000 for all joint applicants nationwide
  Speaking after the announcement, Minister O’Brien said:

“I am delighted to announce these improvements to the Local Authority Home Loan which will take effect from March 1^st. Supporting home ownership is a key objective for this Government and the increase in eligible house prices coupled with the increase in income limits will mean more people can access the loan. 

“Importantly, building on changes made this time last year we are again increasing the income limit for single applicants so that those earning up to €70,000 who wish to purchase a home can avail of the State backed loan. The ‘Fresh Start Principle’ also applies whereby people who are divorced or separated and have no interest in the family home, or who have undergone insolvency proceedings, can also avail of the loan. 

“The changes reflect the reality of today’s housing market and we will continue to keep the Local Authority Home Loan under review to ensure it remains a genuine and relevant support for people who want to own their own home.”

Since February 2018 over 3,300 people have got on the property ladder through the Local Authority Home Loan and its predecessor the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan.

Minister O’Brien, along with Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Pascal Donohoe TD, will sign the amendment regulations in the coming weeks. The changes will take effect on 01 March 2023.

Further info:

A Local Authority Home Loan offers two fixed interest rate products:

• 35% fixed for up to 25 years (APR 3.40%)*
• 45% fixed for up to 30 years (APR 3.51%)*

More information on the Local Authority Home Loan can be found at: https://localauthorityhomeloan.ie/

The maximum amounts that can be borrowed will be as follows:

• In areas with a house price limit of €275,000, the borrowing limit will be €247,500
• In areas with a house price limit of €300,000, the borrowing limit will be €270,000
• In areas with a house price limit of €330,000, the borrowing limit will be €297,000
• In areas with a house price limit of €360,000, the borrowing limit will be €324,000.

For more information on the number of local authority loans approved and amounts paid, at local authority area level, click below: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/