THE implementation of pay parking for Castleblayney could be a very real possibility before the end of 2008.

At Tuesday’s meeting of Castleblayney Town Council, Town Manager Dave Fallon said

“we want to move forward with the issue of pay parking.”

However no decision will be made on this matter without the prior agreement of councillors and a full public consultation.

Councillors are awaiting a copy of the report into pay parking before they open debate on the issue. Cllr Brendan Hughes said he would be “very reluctant to agree to it” before the issue of the present traffic warden is addressed.

Cllr Hughes continued:

“I do not agree with pay parking as a means of generating income.”

He also expressed a wish that if introduced, the scheme would be implemented with common sense in mind.

“I don’t want people to be penalised for trivial things such as having half the wheel of a car on a while line.”

Cllr Hughes said.

Cllr Gary Carville agreed that if implemented the system should be “about traffic regulation” and “it is supposed to be of benefit to ratepayers.”

“We are talking about a report we haven’t seen yet,”

Cllr Joe Brennan added

“Everyone is entitled to have their say including the public.”

Mayor of Castleblayney, Jackie Crowe said

“We need to have as wide a consultation process as possible, with business people and car owners in the town.”

Town Manager, Dave Fallon cited the example of how pay parking was successful in Monaghan Town.

Regarding the financing of pay parking Mr Fallon said:

“We do not see it as a means of raising finances. That is not its sole purpose.”

He added

“If we do happen to raise some revenue from pay parking, it will ease the burden of ratepayers.”

The next step in the process will be for the Castleblayney Town Councillors to read and consider the report before debating the issue. After this happens a six week public consultation process will take place.

MONAGHAN soccer coaching school BEST Sports and Youth Development is opening a new academy for children aged 4-14yrs.

With the recent Monaghan Academy in Beechill selling out in just two weeks there is sure to be great demand for places in the Castleblayney Academy.

The coaching will be a mixture of fun and games for the players under eight years where as the older players will be focusing on skill development, fitness and ball skills.

The academy will be under the guidance of Director of Coaching Barry Dolan. Barry has a lot of experience coaching both at home and abroad.

“This is a new and exciting development for BEST and the Castleblayney area,”

Barry said.

“Our coaches uniquely focus on the strengths of the players and by utilising fun games and personal skills we guarantee that all players will gain confidence in sport and learn new skills.”

The coaching techniques used by BEST come from top coaching methods applied in America, England and Ireland. ‘Coach Barry’ as the players know him has 1500+ coaching hours and has worked with Major League Soccer, Shamrock Rovers FC and a number of local and Dublin soccer and GAA clubs.

The academies usually run for 5-7weeks. This gives the coaches time to develop the players’ current skills and encourage their confidence in future sporting activities.

Castleblaney Academy will start on Tuesday 27 May on the Astro pitch at the Iontas Theatre. 4-8yrs start at 6pm and 9+yrs start at 7pm.

For more information contact Director of Coaching, Barry Dolan 086-8377001 or go on to the website www.best4coaching.com. Places on a first come first served bases booking not essential but is advised as places to go quickly.

Margaret Conlon TD hosted a second year class from Our Lady’s Secondary School in Castleblayney in the Dáil recently. They met the new Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan TD. They visited Leinster House as part of their CSPE project with their teachers Mrs Christie and Ms McManus. They viewed a debate in the Dáil before getting a full tour of Leinster House. Deputy Conlon said: “It was a great time for them to be in Leinster House, just shortly after a new Taoiseach was elected. I am sure this was a beneficial trip for this class and I wish them the best of luck in their future.”

By Gillian McVeigh
gillian@monaghanpost.com

CASTLEBLAYNEY charities may be missing out on the chance to win a €10,000 cash boost in the AIB ‘Better Ireland’ awards as ‘Blayney’ has been misspelt in the text vote.

One community organisation that has been adversely affected by this mistake is the Castleblayney Youth Café. To vote for the Youth Café the public are asked to text CBLANEYC to 53099.

The letter ‘y’ had been omitted from the word ‘Blayney’ and this is causing some of the text votes that have included the letter, to not be accepted.

The Youth Café is one of three Castleblayney projects that has been shortlisted as one of the local deserving children’s projects in contention for a €10,000 award from AIB Castleblayney.

The Youth Café which is located on York Street, was officially opened by Minister Brendan Smith on Friday. The former Minister for Children congratulated Castleblayney Youth Café Consortium for its work in establishing the youth café.

He said the local Community deserved great credit for starting this Café whose purpose is to provide young people with a safe, secure and alcohol free environment to socialise and to address the issue of alcohol use and abuse. The Minister also welcomed the organisers’ goal of developing educational programmes and workshops for young people and parents

The Minister stated that the National Recreation Policy for Young People, which he launched last September, demonstrated the Government’s commitment to improving the recreational opportunities of young people and that establishment of “youth cafés” was identified by young people as their single biggest need during the consultations. The Minister went on to state that the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is in the process of promoting the development of a coherent, structured approach to the promotion of youth cafes.

In conclusion, the Minister thanked Mary Lynch and the members of the Castleblayney Youth Café Consortium for the invitation to launch the Youth Café and wished everyone associated with the project continued success in their endeavor to develop and promote the Café.

To vote for the Youth Café text CBLANEYC to 53099. Don’t forget to omit the ‘y’!

By Gillian McVeigh
gillian@monaghanpost.com

The County Monaghan tidy towns book was launched in the Íontas Centre, Castleblayney on Wednesday last, 14 May ahead of the clean up effort from the residents of Castleblayney.

The book was launched by Mayor of County Monaghan, Gary Carville. Castleblayney locals Pat Merrick and Carmel Redmond, who are Chairman and Secretary of the Tidy Towns committee, have been working tirelessly over the past number of months to ensure that Castleblayney is looking its best.

Speaking at the launch, Mayor of Castleblayney, Gary Carville said:

“I have long been in awe of the selfless spirit of Co.Monaghan’s volunteers – none more so than those who work on environmental projects. I am very thankful therefore to the tremendous work which is done by the voluntary groups of Co. Monaghan, those work in a very real way saves the Council money.”

“For a Council such as Monaghan County Council, where we have little cash to spare from year to year, the support of voluntary groups is vital, and ensures that we can get best use out of the funds that we have.”

Mayor Carville continued:

“The Council recognises that maintaining our towns and villages is a partnership between those charged with looking after them and those who live there. As are the members of this Network, the Council is dedicated to improving the environment in which we all live, and we recognise the importance of co-operation to achieve what none of us could hope to do alone. I hope that this Handbook will provide guidance and support to groups, and thus play its part in ensuring that we continue to enjoy a very successful partnership between Council and community as guardians of the environment.”

Mayor Carville has also been getting involved in the clean up operation in his hometown of Castleblayney.

“One way in which members of the community could assist us all more is in the area of vigilance. A few weeks ago, I was out with the Castleblayney Tidy Towns here on their Spring Clean in the town and some of us went down to the Black Island – a beautiful scenic part of our heritage and our environment here in the town and county,” Mayor Carville continued. “We had to clean up, several messes, the remains of fires, the remnants of parties and lots of other things besides. Yes, we must be vigilant and report such sightings and the behaviour which give rise to them.”

NEIGHBOURS appeared in Castleblayney District Court on Monday in relation to an ongoing feud that has been taking place between neighbours in the mid-Monaghan village.

A minor who is involved in the case alleged that Wendy Coleman (30) of 3 Doohamlet, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan had “set her dog” on her on 27 June 2007. The young person claimed that Mrs Coleman had jumped out of her jeep and pointed at the minor and said “go on dog” to encourage her dog to attack the young person.

The minor then claimed that Mrs Coleman opened her door “a wedge” and stared at her. The youth also claimed that Mrs Coleman made inappropriate gestures and “stuck her tongue out” at the young person.

Barrister for the defence Mr Ken Connolly claimed that if the child had been standing at Connolly’s pub as she claimed, that she would not be able to see Mrs Coleman arriving at the house in her jeep.

The young person claimed that a friend of hers had hit Coleman’s dog with a stone. However when the child’s mother took the stand she said that her son had been in the bath at the time and had not been with the youth.

Garda Inspector, Karl Heller asked the witness if she was sure that her son had not been with the minor involved and she said that she was sure.

When Wendy Coleman took the stand she told the court “that is not true at all.” She said that her dog was a small jack russell which plays with all the children in the area.

She told the court that she remembers the day because her “girls were getting ready [for the youth disco] and were running late.” With regards to making a rude gesture to the young person Mrs Coleman said “absolutely not.”

The court heard how the two families had lived next door to each other but had fallen out after the family of the young person had moved a garden shed belonging to the Coleman family.

Margaret McCormack, who also lives in Doohamlet told the court how her son had fell out with the minor who is involved in this case. She told the court how her son is “not allowed in the park” if the minor or her siblings are in it.

Miriam McKenzie who is now living in Scotland, also gave evidence saying that the complaint against Mrs Coleman “was one of many made up complaints” by the minor’s family. Barrister for the defence Ken Connolly said that the reason the two witnesses were called “was simply for credibility.”

In his summing up Judge Sean McBride said “I am satisfied that the case has been proved.” On the assault charge, the judge ordered that Mrs Coleman pay €500 to the victim. He also imposed a three month sentence, which has been suspended for two years. He ordered that Mrs Coleman has no contact with the family of the victim or put them in fear or molest them.

He imposed a fine of €350 under the Control of Dogs Act. He also imposed a fine of €400 for the public order offence and imposed a concurrent suspended sentence of two months.

By Gillian McVeigh
gillian@monaghanpost.com

THE Courts Service has publically announced their search for a new site for the Castleblayney Courthouse to be restored as the situation has become more urgent.

This is an issue that has been raised at both Monaghan County Council and Castleblayney Town Council meetings over the last number of years.

Mayor of County Monaghan, Gary Carville is extremely concerned about the future of the Courts Service in Castleblayney if an alternative site is acquired.

“I believe that the Council is duty bound to make a submission to the Courts Service in response to their call for expressions of interest in providing a site for the Court. It is imperative that the Courts be retained in the town,”

Mayor Carville said.

County Manager, Declan Nelson has agreed to make a submission to the Courts Service on behalf of the County, regarding the courthouse. He has asked senior officials of the Council to explore all the possible funding options, in view of the deteriorating state of the building. These officials will liaise with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

At present, neither the County Council nor Castleblayney Town Council has the resources to undertake this project alone. There is now an urgent need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley TD, to sanction the loan application that Monaghan County Council made to his Department in 2006 for the restoration of the Courthouse in Castleblayney.

Mayor Carville continued:

“Now that there is a decline in activity in the construction industry and the fall in costs of construction works generally, it is the appropriate time for the Council to be allowed go ahead with the full project,”

“I hope that the Courts Service will look favorably on the submission to be made in the coming days by Monaghan Co Council in respect of Castleblayney. The Council will do all it can to facilitate Court sittings in the interim, until works on the courthouse can be completed, subject to Government approval.”

“Full praise for keeping the campaign on the Courthouse issue going must go to the Board of Castleblayney Community Enterprise Centre as they have kept this issue in focus for a number of years now, despite frustrations that have been put in their way,”

Mayor Carville concluded.