News

Triduum in honour of St. Joseph as part of the year of faith.
The triduum is for 3 days, Monday April 29th, Tuesday 30th and Wednesday May 1st (St Joseph the worker Feast day) with masses at 10 am and 7.30pm in St Joseph's Church Carrickmacross.

Petitions and candles for intentions will be available at the masses. Guest speakers will be at all masses.

Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce Weekly Walking tours are back, commencing Saturday 4th of May 2013.  The tour starts at 11.00am every Saturday morning  from the Court House, Carrickmacross.

The walking tour takes approximately 1.5 hours and is completely free.  The tour brings alive the history of Carrickmacross, there are 14-15 stops along route where your tour guide will give you full history on the town from Famine times to what Carrickmacross is today.  The tour is suited to all ages and the guides aim to keep children interested also!

We advise to wear comfortable shoes as there is walking involved.  We look forward to seeing you! No booking required.

The Monaghan Rose selection night will take place at the Glencarn Hotel on this Saturday, April 20th, with the selected Rose going on to represent Monaghan and contest the Rose of Tralee semi-finals in Portlaoise on the June Bank Holiday weekend.

Local Carrickmacross Company GOLO.ie Insurance have a representative in the competition:

"Joanne Allen works with Golo.ie part time for the last year, carrying out administration. Joanne is a 1st year student studying to be a National School teacher.

Joanne is a fun, bubbly person, and of course this is why GOLO.ie Insurance have asked her to represent them in the Monaghan Rose Finals. Joanne is from Drumacrutten, Monaghan.

We would like to wish her all the best in the Competition." Emma Gollogly, GOLO.ie

The evening starts at 7pm and promises to be a great nights entertainment with performances from Ben Tighe of the Voice of Ireland fame and special prizes from Golo.ie and Cloud10Beauty to be given away to guests on the night with MC for the night in the shape of the excellent Connor Phillips from Cool FM.
A charity raffle will be held on the night in aid of the Castleblayney Crannog centre with prizes including bottles of wine, dinner for two and even an overnight stay in Castle Leslie.

Entry is on the door and is priced at €15. So please come along and support the Monaghan Rose entrants for 2013 (see below)

Closing date for applications 30th April

Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Heather Humphreys, has encouraged local childcare organisations to apply for funding under the Childcare Capital Programme 2013.

Deputy Humphreys said:
“I am pleased with the announcement by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD that €2.75 million is to be provided under the Childcare Capital Programme 2013. This funding will help to support ongoing improvements in the childcare sector and I would encourage local childcare organisations to apply for funding.

“This is the second year in a row that significant capital funding is being provided for the childcare sector. This year’s funding will help to ensure that we continue to improve the quality of early childhood care and education which is of such benefit to our youngest children.

“The 2013 funding scheme covers four strands: small grants to purchase equipment or carry out small maintenance work; grants to improve accessibility of services for children with disabilities, grants to provide natural outdoor spaces that promote active outdoor play and;
grants towards critical works to ensure that buildings are fit for purpose under the childcare regulations.

“I am particularly pleased that funding will be available for the provision of safe outdoor play spaces. It is hugely important that we provide quality play and recreation facilities in order to support children’s development and in promoting physical activity, particularly in light of the rising problem of childhood obesity in Ireland.

“In 2012, Minister Fitzgerald reintroduced a capital funding scheme for childcare for the first time since 2008 and the provision of further funding this year is evidence of this Government’s continued commitment to provide quality childcare facilities.

“The scheme will be administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and full details of the Programme and instructions are available on the Pobal website at www.pobal.ie. Applications must be made online and can be made up until Tuesday 30th April 2013,” said Deputy Humphreys.

Two music teachers from the Carhaix School of Music visited Carrickmacross for the Feile Patrick Byrne 2013 on March 25^th. They arrived in Carrickmacross on the Saturday afternoon and were met by their hosts, Brian Keyes and Breen Jackson. At the concert in Corduff that night Kevin Ruellan and Hoela Barbedette performed for the large crowd. Hoela played the harp while Kevin accompanied on the clarinet and bombard. The audience gave a warm welcome to the musicians and enjoyed the Breton music.

On Sunday, the two visitors played a full part in a number of workshops and music sessions. The weekend was rounded off by a trip to Dublin on Monday with visits to Trinity College, the Guinness Hop Store and other attractions.

Hoela thanked the Keyes family for allowing her to use their harp and both visitors were delighted with the reception received from the host families.

The two music teachers hope to bring a group of their students to Carrickmacross in 2014 to participate in Feile Patrick Byrne and other music activities.

Closing date for applications 12th April

Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Heather Humphreys, has welcomed the allocation of €1 million by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs for the development of youth cafes and has urged local groups to apply for funding.

Deputy Humphreys said:
“I am very pleased that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has allocated €1 million for the development of new youth cafes and I would encourage local youth groups in Monaghan to apply for funding.

“The provision of youth cafes is vitally important for young people today as it provides them with a safe, alcohol free environment in which to socialise with their friends.

“The Youth Café Funding Scheme is concerned with promoting the structured development of new youth cafés around the country by giving support to local organisations and groups which are providing youth services. The criteria for the Scheme places a clear focus on both long term sustainability and service planning.  The scheme will be administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

“Last year €82,000 was provided for the establishment of a Youth Café in Carrickmacross and I was delighted to be involved with that project. I would strongly encourage other local youth groups around the county to apply for funding this year. Details on the application process can be found on the Department of Children and Youth Affairs website at www.dcya.gov.ie and the closing date for applications is Friday 12th April,” said Deputy Humphreys.

The 40th Annual General Meeting of Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce took place on Tuesday 26th of March in the Fiddlers.    There was a large attendance.  It was great to  see new business owners in present, they were welcomed by the President, Jim Hand.

Helen Cunningham from Ability Activation North East give a short presentation on benefits to business in employing People with Disabilities in Monaghan.

Liam Duffy Accountant was thanked by the Chamber for all his work over the years on the administration of the Chamber of Commerce Gift Voucher scheme and accounting, we are grateful to Amatino for their services now.   We were informed by our Walking tours Coordinator Lorraine O’Reilly that over 500 people took part in the Walking Tours for 2012.  Many group tours were also arranged for scouts, local schools, Belgian tourists, vintage clubs, American tourists.  In particular the walking tours proved to be very beneficial  for the Spanish Students who come to town each year, their daily meeting points were clearly shown to them along the route of the tour.   The tours have become more child friendly by creating puzzles and worksheets for them to fill out and colour in.

Andrew Spare was thanked for his on-going work on the Carrickmacross Webcam, which we hope will be up and running later this year.

All in attendance agreed that the Chamber of Commerce and its members have managed to run a very successful calendar of events for 2012,  2013 appears to be similar.

Many promotional ideas were put forward by business owners, the Chamber Committee look forward to working towards these in 2013.   The elected officers remained the same;  President:  Jim Hand of Handwear & www.shoeheaven.ie, Secretary:  Breda McGuigan of www.aura.ie PRO:  Emma Gollogly of www.golo.ie formally Gollogly Insurances.

The winners of the FREE draw held at the AGM were:
1st Prize €20.00 Carrickmacross Gift Voucher to Rory McEvoy, Stationery Solutions 2nd Prize €10.00 Carrickmacross Gift Voucher to Dick Burke, AIB Bank 3rd Prize €10.00 Carrickmacross Gift Voucher to Rosie McChesney Daisy.

Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce meet monthly for a short meeting to arrange future events, we invite any business owners/ members to attend.  As always regular updates can be found on www.carrickmacrosschamber.com, we send regular text alerts and reminders for meetings, if you are not receiving these please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or any of the Committee members.

Despite the inclement weather the Carrickmacross Annual Easter egg hunt was a great success with over 700 entries this year. This was the 3rd Annual Easter Egg hunt which was run and promoted by Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce. There were 72 Businesses displaying easter eggs in their windows for the hunt. There was free kids entertainment in town, including, face - painting, bouncing Castles and slides.
There was great fun all around!

Photo: Emma Gollogly

Winners were:
1st Prize - Jamie Coleman, Clonseady, Magheracloone.
2nd Prize - Molly Jane McEneaney, Carrickmacross.
3rd Prize - Kornelija Paulauskaite, Foxfield, Carrickmacross.

Well done to everyone who took part.

The Carrickmacross Annual Easter egg hunt is well underway. This is the 3rd Annual Easter Egg hunt which is run and promoted by Carrickmacross Chamber of Commerce.   There are 72 Businesses displaying easter eggs in their windows for the hunt.  Look out for the signs.   Entry forms are available from Bits and Bobs, Birdys, Stationery Solutions, and Keegans.   There is no cost to take part.   Weather permitting on Saturday 30th from 1pm there will be kids entertainment in town, Face- painting, bouncing Castles and slides.

The last entries for the Easter egg hunt must be returned to Bits and Bobs before 11am so the Easter Bunny can count them!   The winners will be announced later on in the afternoon. Everyone welcome!

Fine Gael TD for Cavan / Monaghan, Sean Conlan, has today (Tuesday) welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn TD, that St. Joseph’s National School in Carrickmacross has been added to the list of approvals for Additional Accommodation and Emergency Works.

“I am very pleased that St. Joseph’s has been added to the list of approvals for Additional Accommodation and Emergency Works, resulting in two new classrooms and two new resource rooms being built on to the school.

“St. Joseph’s has been in urgent need of additional classroom space and resource rooms in order to provide the children of Carrickmacross and surrounding areas with the standard of education that they are entitled to. Teachers have been struggling over the last number of years to manage without the proper facilities they need to do their job.

“With the country in the midst of a baby boom, this situation was only going to get worse, so I am delighted that steps have been taken by Minister Quinn to address this shortage of facilities.”