BEST DAIRY COW IS FROM WEXFORD
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Heather Humphreys T.D. hands over the Virginia Milk Products Cup for the Diageo Baileys Champion All Ireland Cow at the 75th Virginia Show. The top prize of €2500 went to Hallow Advent Twizzle 3, from the Holstein herd owned by Philip and Linda Jones from Killowen, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
Christina McMahon was given a warm reception in Carrickmacross last year after her WBC interim bantamweight title win Pic. Michael Fisher
CHRISTINA MCMAHON SUSPENDED BY BOXING REGULATOR
Michael Fisher Northern Standard Thursday 25th August 2016 p.5
Carrickmacross boxer ‘Lightning’ Christina McMahon has been suspended by the World Boxing Council after she gave interviews about a number of concerns she had before, during and after her WBC super flyweight title challenge against Zulina Munoz in Mexico in March. She was controversially defeated by Munoz on points. Her husband and manager Frick recently revealed evidence of what he claims was glove tampering and improper anti-doping procedures in addition to dubious scorecards.
Christina McMahon still ranks as the WBC interim World Bantamweight Champion received a Facebook message yesterday (Wednesday) from the Chair of the WBC Female Championship Committee Malte Müller-Michaelis informing her of her suspension in the wake of revelations to a number of media outlets which cast serious doubt over the result of the fight in Juarez. She made her comments during the Olympic Games in Rio, when an Irish boxer Michael Conlan was judged to have been beaten by a Russian opponent.
Programme Cover for Tydavnet Show designed by Aoibhe Genoe, Magherarney NS
ANOTHER FUN DAY AT TYDAVNET SHOW
Michael Fisher Northern Standard Thursday 25th August 2016 p.19
The weather wasn’t the best but those who made it to Tydavnet Show to celebrate its 65th year found plenty to entertain them. For those with entries in the various classes including home industries there was intense but friendly competition, with plenty of silverware handed out to the winners.
It was an early start at the Drumshevra showgrounds for the 100 or so stewards who help every year to make this an important day in the calendar for the rural community of North Monaghan and further afield. From 9am the site began to fill with early arrivals for the livestock classes and the horses.
Following heavy rainfalls on Friday, the sportsman jumping which would have been the first event had to be cancelled because of the ground conditions. With a close eye continuing to be kept on the weather, the show went on and the only other casualty for safety reasons was the last event, Tydavnet’s Fittest Family.
Throughout the day people continued to come through the gates, young and old and many in-between. A heavy shower of rain at lunchtime probably had an impact on the numbers and created muddy conditions on many of the paths in the fields. However that did not stop the crowd from enjoying the show.
There was dancing on the deck to the Queen of Country, Philomena Begley from Pomeroy in County Tyrone. Her repertoire included “Blanket on the Ground”, with which she enjoyed chart success. Philomena was accompanied by up-and-coming country star, Cliona Hagan from Ballinderry. She soon had the crowd jiving and swinging along with the music.
This year’s Show President is Patricia Hughes and Mary Sherry is Vice President. The Chairperson is Peggy Treanor and Seamus Sherry, a former President, is Vice Chairman.
Peggy Treanor thanked all the sponsors, exhibitors, advertisers, trade stands, veterinary surgeons and land owners who supported the show every year. She extended thanks to all the volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the year to make it such a successful event.
Suzanne Graham from Tirnamona, Ballinode, is the Show Secretary, who has responsibility for processing all the entries. She is assisted by three others, Carmel Meehan and Patricia Hughes, along with Catherine O’Donoghue and Annette O’Donoghue from Tydavnet. Catherine’s involvement in running the Show goes back some fifty years to the time when she helped her parents at the event when she was only 10 years old.
Another volunteer for many years is the Treasurer, George McCarron from Carrickaderry, Clontibret. He served as President for two years, as Chair for eight years and has been sixteen years in the role of Treasurer. He is assisted by Heather Stirrat from Ballinode.
The chief safety officer is Gerard Meehan and publicity is the responsibility of Barry Sherry and Gerard Sherlock, along with a team handling social media to promote the event: Claire Daly, Suzanne Graham and Conor McCarra.
Tydavnet Parish Show is affiliated to the Irish Shows Association, Co. Monaghan Community Network, and is linked to Armagh County Agricultural Show.
The Parish Priest of Tydavnet Reverend Brian Early is a patron of the show along with Canon Ian Berry of the Church of Ireland and Ballyalbany Presbyterian Minister Reverend Stephen McNie, along with the two Bishops of Clogher, Most Reverend Liam Mac Daid and Right Reverend John McDowell. Fr Early was among the visitors to the show during Saturday afternoon.
This year saw the revival of the Tydavnet Show Queen. After an absence of some thirty years, the committee decided to run a competition to select a 2016 Show Queen. Six ladies came forward for selection and the winner was a local lady, Sinead McCarey, representing McMahons Shop, Scotstown.
Sinead has a strong agricultural background and has already attended many functions as part of her duties. The committee expressed their thanks to Sinead for her contribution and wearing the Tydavnet Show Queen sash and tiara with pride.
Sinead accompanied one of the oldest residents in the parish, Pat McArdle (who recently celebrated his 90th birthday) in cutting a tape and formally declaring the show open. They were joined by Pat’s wife Nora at the display of threshing by Monaghan Veteran and Vintage Club. Norah McArdle is another of the volunteers who helps ensure the show runs smoothly and assists at the dog show and in one of the marquees.
The chief steward in the beef section is Henry Blackburn from Drumgoask, Monaghan. He won first prize in the category for a non-pedigree suckler cow with calf at foot and came second in another class for non-pedigree beef male or female over one year old.
Henry told me he had become involved with the show at the age of fourteen, when he was working at Pattons in Monaghan. He was asked to be a steward at the show and has been helping out ever since.
This year there was another fine display in the poultry section. The overall champion prize went to a Kraienkoeppe hen entered by Ryan McLaren from Dromore in County Down. The breed originates in the border region between Germany and the Netherlands. The birds have an upright stance, long back, strong head and are very fully feathered in the hackle and saddle. The walnut comb and wattles are quite small.
According to one of the judges, “Ryan knows his stuff” and he praised the great presentation of the bird. The teenage farmer started selling eggs from his own chickens when he was six. He rears bantams, silkies and cockerels for competition at agricultural shows and has competed before at Tydavnet. Michael Sherlock from Roslea won the overall reserve champion prize for a duck.
The “Taste of Tydavnet” marquee sponsored by McMahon Centra of Scotstown was popular and featured various stalls relating to home produce and health. Pollock’s homemade pickles and preserves from Cornamundy had a variety of jars for sale. Among the visitors was Francis Meehan from Ardaghy who has been coming to the show for the past 25 years but did not bring his bike this year because of the weather.
Meanwhile Squealing Pig chef Adrian Hackett was busy giving cookery demonstrations. Next week’s issue will feature photos of the cup winners and from the home industries section of the show
Office of the Minister for Arts Heritage Regional Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs at Kildare Street in Dublin
NEW RURAL DEPARTMENT SIGNS ON THE WAY
Bilingual nameplates will reflect new portfolio for Minister Humphreys
Michael Fisher Northern Standard Thursday 18th August 2016
Last month the new portfolio for Minister Heather Humphreys was confirmed by An Taoiseach. The Cavan/Monaghan Deputy is now in charge of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
This reflects her new responsibility for developing an action plan for rural Ireland including the roll-out of broadband to all rural areas. But several weeks after the announcement the signs at the various offices of the Department have still to be changed.
On July 5th An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD signed a Statutory Instrument order No. 357/2016 – Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister). Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in “Iris Oifigiúil” of 12th July 2016.
“The Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 6 (1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939 (No. 36 of 1939), hereby order as follows:
1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2016.
(2) This Order comes into operation on 7 July 2016.
2. The name of the Department of State, the present name of which is, in the Irish language, an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is altered, in the Irish language, to that of an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, to that of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
3. The title of the Minister having charge of the Department of State, whose present title is, in the Irish language, an tAire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is altered, in the Irish language, to that of an tAire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, to that of the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
4. In any enactment or any instrument made under an enactment—
(a) references to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht shall be construed as references to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs;
(b) references to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht shall be construed as references to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.”
Six weeks later at the entrance to the Minister’s office at 23 Kildare Street near Leinster House you will still be greeted by signs in Irish and English proclaiming the ‘Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht”. It’s the same down at The Custom House, where the National Monuments Service is based along with the Built Heritage and Architectural Policy section.
These were once under the wing of the Department of Environment, based at the Custom House. That Department has also been changed and is now the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government headed by Minister Simon Coveney.
The signs for that Department are the old ones and some of them alongside the DAHG ones are in a poor condition with little maintenance of the surrounding area. So perhaps this will be attended to when the new signage is erected.
The matter is in hand. A spokesperson for Minister Humphreys told The Northern Standard that bilingual signage had been ordered for the Department’s buildings and should be in place shortly.
The other locations include offices in Ely Place (Dublin), Galway, Killarney and Wexford. The Department website has already been updated and can be accessed at: ahgrra.gov.ie.
NEW €380,000 FUND TO HELP REVITALISE MONAGHAN TOWNS AND VILLAGES
Minister Humphreys Urges Local Communities to Apply
Michael Fisher NORTHERN STANDARD Thursday 11th August 2016 p.1
The government aims to publish a new Action Plan for Rural Ireland by the end of this year. This was revealed during a visit to Clones on Tuesday by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys T.D. She was launching a scheme to assist rural regeneration.
Minister Humphreys announced that her department was making available a fund of €10 million this year to local authorities throughout the state in order to support the renewal of rural towns and villages. An allocation of €380,000 has been set aside for County Monaghan and each of the other 25 counties to go towards projects.
This was by no means a silver bullet to solve all the problems in rural Ireland, but it was a positive start, she said. They would work from the ground up in order to get the best solutions. The Minister said she did not have all the ideas and did not want to be prescriptive about how the funding should be used. She told the Northern Standard it was up to local authorities in conjunction with local groups to sit down and decide the priorities to be tackled, such as derelict buildings. Local people could identify things they needed to make a difference to bring back life to the towns and villages.
The Minister hoped there would be a quick turn-around time for grant approval, with allocations being made before the end of the year. If it brought back people into towns and villages then it would be a success. She said there were many examples of modern day living, with people turning historic sites into accommodation. She wanted to see people living in towns, creating companionship and community spirit.
She said this first tranche of funding under the Town and Village Renewal scheme represented a serious commitment by government to offer support to rural towns and villages. Each county can apply for grants for up to eight separate town or village projects. Minister Humphreys called on local communities and businesses to submit outline plans to her department for approval in September. Up to 200 towns and villages across the country will benefit from the scheme this year.
A particular focus will be placed in 2016 on supporting smaller towns, with populations of less than 5,000. A maximum of two projects can be supported in each county for those towns with a population of up to 10,000. Funding will be allocated to local authorities to meet up to 85% of the total cost of each project.
In County Monaghan, applications for the scheme will be forwarded through the regeneration committees in Clones, Ballybay, Monaghan, and Castleblayney, as well as the Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the respective Municipal Districts. Funding will be released to local authorities once projects are approved by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The minimum grant for any single project is €20,000 and the maximum is €100,000. The Department says this phase of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme will be reviewed and adapted as necessary for 2017.
Speaking at the restored courthouse building in Clones, the Minister said rural development was a key priority in the Programme for a Partnership Government. Ireland’s towns and villages were at the heart of our rural communities, but the economic downturn had a significant impact on many of them. She said it was incumbent on them (as a government) to help these areas achieve a recovery.
Minister Humphreys went on: “I am launching the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to begin breathing life back into our rural towns and villages. It is critical that towns and villages become areas where economic activity can flourish, where people can live and work, and where people can meet at a social level.”
The Minister continued: “Consultation and collaboration will be key elements of the scheme. It will be administered through the local authorities, which will be required to partner with local businesses and local communities to develop and implement ideas that can make a real and lasting impact in revitalising rural towns and villages.”
She said the scheme was part of the government’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of economic recovery were felt in every part of the country. The scheme also addresses one of the recommendations in the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas report, published in 2014.
Measures taken under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme should have a sustainable and visible impact on the area in question. The type of project to be funded under the scheme could include measures to:
The Minister was welcomed to the town along with other guests by Finbarr Dunwoody of the Clones Chamber of Commerce. The procedures for applying for the fund were outlined by William Parnell, assistant secretary at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, whose brief covers regional development and rural affairs, said the roll-out of rural broadband was a priority and the department was working in conjunction with the Minister for Communications Denis Naughten.
Louise Lennon of Irish Rural Link (an organisation based in Moate, Co. Westmeath) stressed that a good broadband infrastructure was needed. She said the scheme announced by the Minister was a first step in the right direction for the development of rural towns and villages that had been hit by the economic crisis a few years ago. She said it was important to bring facilities back into towns so that younger people could remain there.
Peter Hynes, Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, welcomed the initiative on behalf of the County and City Management Association. He said it showed the importance the government attached to rural Ireland. The local authorities, he said, shared that priority. There were big challenges in the areas of building housing, creating employment and climate change. Balanced regional development and rural regeneration was of critical importance, he added.
Mr Hynes said a key part of that was getting people back into towns and villages. The extent of the challenge was daunting: towns and villages were at the eye of the storm, challenged by the spread of online retailing. He reminded the gathering that it would take time, commitment and resources to tackle the problem, but it could be done. He cited the example of Westport in Co. Mayo where he was appointed town manager in 1996 with a brief for regeneration. Twenty years on, it had been a success. He looked forward to local authorities taking on the challenge so that towns and villages could realise their potential. They would be collaborating with businesses, the department and in particular with local communities to make it happen. This scheme was a big step in the right direction, he said.
Patrick McCarville of the Clones Regeneration Partnership said their committee set up last year would probably concentrate initially on the development of the Fermanagh Street and Diamond area. The town renewal scheme would be another potential source of funding in addition to LEADER.
Mr McCarville said the committee would be meeting at the end of the month to try to identify sites that businesses could do up. But the improvements would not happen overnight and as they heard, had taken some twenty years in Westport. One thing they were not going to do was to attempt to cloak the dereliction by erecting fake shop fronts to give the impression the buildings were occupied, as had been done in Enniskillen during the G8 summit in 2013.
Minister Humphreys told them that Clones with its monastic heritage was a fitting location to launch a scheme that aimed to support the revitalisation of towns and villages all over Ireland. Clones was also a town that had suffered more than most down through the years. Its close proximity to the border during the troubles had a severe impact on economic activity locally and sadly that resulted in a legacy of decline in the town. Unfortunately the scars were there for all to see today.
She went on: “while Fermanagh Street is always a hive of activity and thronged with people on Ulster Final day, the sad reality is that when the crowds move off, we are left with a main street that has far too many vacant premises. That’s a pity because it undermines the good work that is taking place in Clones. And there is an awful lot of good work going on here.”
“You have the superb PEACE Link facility, the recently opened Barry McGuigan Park, the new soccer pitch for Clones Town FC, as well as St Tiarnach’s Park – the home of Ulster GAA and of course a state of the art modern secondary school in Largy College. These are amenities that would be the envy of many towns in the country but unfortunately it’s all about first impressions. And the fact is when you walk on to a main street that has a number of empty and derelict premises, that vital first impression is not good.”
In launching the first phase of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme she said it was critical that town centres – and even small villages – became areas where economic activity was supported and encouraged, where people could visit and enjoy themselves and most importantly where people could live and work with a sense of pride of place.
“I have increased the allocation for the scheme in my department’s vote this year, from €4 million to €10 million, reflecting the government’s commitment to the development of rural Ireland. I want to acknowledge the excellent work which is already being carried out by businesses, communities and local authorities throughout the country to revitalise town centres. There are some fine examples of good practice and I hope that this new scheme will help other towns and villages to replicate and adapt those examples, or develop their own unique solutions to town and village renewal. I am encouraging the local authorities to engage fully with the scheme in order to maximise the benefit for the towns and villages in their area”, the Minister said.
She welcomed the presence at the launch of a number of business people and representatives of local community groups from across Monaghan and Cavan. “You are the people who are best placed to know how we can help your local town. We want your ideas and we want you to work with you. In this regard, consultation and collaboration will be key pre-requisites of the scheme”, she told them.
A project committee, representative of local community and business interests and the local authority, should be established for each project to help design a strategy which should be aligned with broader development plans and opportunities for the area. The most important part of the scheme, however, will be taking practical measures to support the town or village’s social, cultural and economic development, Minister Humphreys said.
She told them that a number of other measures would be announced in the Autumn to support rural development. These would be announced in due course by herself and Minister of State for Regional Economic Development Michael Ring. The Minister observed that there were many vacant or partially vacant heritage buildings in town centres all over the country which she believed offered real opportunity to bring life back into town centres.
If a real and lasting impact was to be made on the regions and on rural Ireland, then every government department needed to make a meaningful contribution to the effort, whether it was in relation to jobs, education, transport, housing or other economic or social policy area. With that in mind, her department would shortly commence work on an Action Plan for Rural Ireland. It would include clear objectives, with regular and structured progress reports that would be presented to the Cabinet Committee on Regional and Rural Affairs chaired by An Taoiseach. This would ensure co-ordination of the rural agenda across government, the Minister stated.
Included in this process will be the consideration of regional and rural issues in the design of the National Planning Framework. This framework is the follow-up to the National Spatial Strategy and its development will be led by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The National Planning Framework (NPF) is a Long-term, 20-year National Plan outlining a high level spatial vision for Ireland. It will be the overarching plan from which other regionally and locally based plans will emanate.
The Action Plan format, successfully developed through the Action Plan for Jobs, takes a strategic approach based on implementation. Government departments are given key objectives which they must meet in the context of regional and local priorities.
Chief Executive of Chambers Ireland Ian Talbot said, “We welcome the commitment by Government to invest €10 million into the regeneration of rural towns and villages with the central aim to improve the living and working environment of local communities and support their potential to increase economic activity. We anticipate that this investment will be a positive step to help revitalise rural Ireland. Ireland has a high number of towns and villages with a population less than 10,000. There are 552 villages with a population of less than 100. Many of these towns and villages across Ireland will benefit from the funding announced by the Minister.”
“Consultation and collaboration with local citizens, business owners and Chambers will be vitally important to the success of the projects chosen for investment under this scheme. We encourage local business to engage with other stakeholders and to work closely with the local authority to develop innovative projects that can deliver long term and sustainable economic benefits, not only for the individual town or village but in turn for the wider county and region.”
Mr Talbot also welcomed the government’s commitment to produce an Action Plan for Rural Ireland similar to the Action Plan for Jobs. He said the courthouse restoration in Clones was a testament to what could be done with a small amount of money towards regeneration.
Mairead McGuinness, MEP for Monaghan and Vice-President of the European Parliament encouraged community groups to avail of the immediate opportunity to work with their local authorities to enhance and upgrade their towns and villages under the new scheme. The MEP said it was a good opportunity for those who had projects and ideas ready to activate to put in their applications by September.
“This funding scheme is due for distribution by the end of the year so those with projects already in mind will be in pole position to benefit. There will be further tranches coming down the line during 2017 and beyond. This part of the scheme will assist those with initiatives to help regenerate their towns and villages and give a boost to those working to bring vibrancy and economic recovery back into communities,” she said.
Mairead McGuinness was joined at the launch by local Fine Gael Councillors Sean Gilliland and Ciara McPhillips (Ballybay/Clones MD). Cllr David Maxwell from Monaghan MD was also present.
In a speech last month Minister Humphreys outlined how she was working closely with the Minster for Communications Denis Naughten, to deliver key elements of the National Broadband Plan and to accelerate and prioritise the rollout of the programme in rural areas. The aim is to deliver high speed broadband to every home, school and business by 2020 through a combination of commercial investment and state intervention.
The state will intervene in areas where commercial providers are failing to reach. The Minister said the Department of Communications was continuing to manage the procurement process for the state contract, which was expected to be awarded in summer 2017. In the meantime, her new Department was working with local authorities to eliminate any roadblocks, so as to ensure that towns and villages and rural areas were ready for broadband when the contract was signed.
She said it was difficult to overestimate the challenge they were facing. The broadband blackspots in need of state intervention accounted for 750,000 addresses, and covered 96% of our landmass. This represented about 100,000km of road network, traversing areas which were home to 1.8 million people. “Put simply: it’s a very big job – it’s akin to rural electrification.
But it will be worth the effort, and it will have a transformative effective on rural Ireland. High quality broadband is one of the many tools we can use to empower rural communities. The revitalisation of rural Ireland must be based on sustainable development”, the Minister added.
“We must learn from the mistakes of the past. We are all well versed on the mistakes of the construction bubble, when our young men were recruited and trained in their droves in an industry which was built on sand. The old approach of ‘an IDA factory for every town’ didn’t work either. It was false promise, and one that was generally never fulfilled.”
“Through the implementation of regional jobs plans, the government is encouraging each region to focus on its strengths. By supporting indigenous businesses and linking education with industry, we can give each region the best possible chance of success. Take for example, a business in my own constituency of Cavan-Monaghan.”
“Combilift is a home grown Monaghan success story – a jewel in the crown of Enterprise Ireland. Since it was first started by Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett 18 years ago, the company has grown into a global leader in forklift manufacturing. It now exports to over 75 countries. Last year, Combilift announced major expansion plans and the creation of 200 new jobs.
Crucially, the company has teamed up with Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board to develop a series of new apprenticeship programmes, to ensure those jobs can be filled by local graduates. It’s a formula that works, and one I want to see replicated nationwide.”
The Minister told the MacGill Summer School in Glenties that sustainable development should also mean national decisions about rural Ireland were not taken in isolation. The report by the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas – published under the last government – looked at how to revitalise rural Ireland. One of its most important findings was the realisation that in order to fully support sustainable rural development there was a critical need for a more integrated approach across all government departments and agencies. “This is not a new concept and indeed much of the relevant sectoral frameworks accept the need for this kind of approach”, she said.
Minister Humphreys added: “this government’s increased commitment to supporting sustainable rural development in an integrated way has already been formalised through its commitments in the Charter for Rural Ireland published earlier this year and the creation of my new portfolio.”
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