The winners in the Belturbet Festival Trout Fishing Competition in August 1992 ( from left): Robin O’Donnell, Dublin, 2nd, three lb; Pat Beggan, Clones, 1st, 6lb 8 oz; Kevin McDonnell, Ballyhaise, 3rd, 2lb 6ozs and Aaron Hegarty, juvenile winner.

From the Archives

Published:

1997

25 years ago

Fury at fee increases

Dundalk Students Union expressed their outrage at the Minister for Education’s decision to increase the capitation fees payable by students at the beginning of every academic year for registration, exams and student services from £150 to £250. The union described the Education Minister’s decision as regrettable and they appealed to him to reconsider his proposals. The beginning of any academic year was described as a very stressful time for students, that puts a significant strain on their financial resources.

“This represents an increase of 66 per cent in fees and is a firm indicator that any person trying to improve themselves through third level participation and education will be penalised for doing so,” said a union spokesperson.

They felt that the students would not see a 66 per cent improvement over the next year in their student services and therefore felt that this additional money would be better utilised in paying for their accommodation, transport and books.

Allocation for roads

CAVAN Fianna Fáil TD, Brendan Smith, welcomed the allocation of an additional £250,000 for county roads in County Cavan. He said that the allocation included £150,000 for improvements to the Cavan/Cootehill Road, while the further £100,000 was for spending on local tertiary roads.

The new allocation was part of an additional £5 million being provided by the Minister for Environment, Noel Dempsey, for non-national roads in 1997. The Minister said that works using the additional £5 million would be monitored by the Department and would compliment road improvements being carried out under the voluntary community involvement in the Road Works Scheme, which had been in operation in most county councils since 1994.

1972

50 years ago

Census report

The popular of the 26 counties in the Republic had jumped to almost three million (2,978,248), the highest figure recorded since the establishment of the State. However the trend was not repeated in Cavan and Monaghan, where the numbers were down.

The figures were revealed in the first volume of the Census report compiled by the Central Statistics Office, which deals with the population of district electoral divisions and larger units of areas.

It brought the population increase for the decade, 1961-1971, to almost 160,000.

The population of the three counties of Ulster—Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal—was 207,204, compared with 208,303 in 1966. The population of the County of Cavan at 52,618, showed a decrease of 1,404 on the 1966 figure, but the population of the urban district of Cavan at 3,273 showed an increase of 29 people.

The population in Monaghan for the 1971 census was 46,242 compared with 45,732 in 1966 (an increase of 510), while in Leitrim the population dropped from 30,572 in 1966 to 28,360, a decrease of 2,212. The population of Meath at 71,729 was up by 4,406 on the 1966 figures, while Longford’s population decreased by 739 to 28,250.

The percentage decrease in the population in Leitrim, at 7.2 per cent, was the highest in the country; while Longford was the only county in Leinster to show a reduction in population.

In the five-year period the population of Leinster continued to show the highest rate of growth. The number in the province increased from 1,414,415 to 1,498,140; Munster’s population went up by more than 22,000 to 882,000 and Connacht’s population dropped by 11,000 to 390,902.

Insurance scandal

In our weekly ‘The Steering Column’, Hugh McGrillen was quite vocal in his opinions on the national scandal of insurance.

It read: ‘The Institute of Insurance Brokers of Ireland asked the Government in November 1969 to set up an enquiry into motor insurance in this country. Whether the two years old Commission (which, as far as I know, is still in operation, was the result of this move by the Brokers, no one seems to know. The Institute never got a reply to their request.

‘For a start, there is a frightening number of young drivers on our roads who are insured in name, but not in fact or in law, because their policies are invalid due to false declarations of age. Obviously it is difficult to make any kind of accurate estimate, but try and work out how many drivers under 25 in this country can afford to buy a car and after that pay over £100 per year for insurance. There are probably 30,000 car-owners under 25!

‘The dangers in this explosive position are too obvious and everybody except the Brokers’ Institute is obviously turning a blind eye to it.’

1922

100 years ago

Shoot out in Bailieboro

This week 100 years ago, our Bailieboro correspondent wrote: ‘On Monday about 12 o’clock a motor lorry and Ford car from Cootehill reached Seeorum on the main road to Bailieboro for the purpose of filling a trench. On arriving at the spot, the Ford car with difficulty passed over and, no sooner had it gone across, when shots were fired from the hills on both sides. The Ford car proceeded to Bailieboro and returned with reinforcements. Several shots were fired, but nobody was injured. Alarming reports reached ‘Bailieboro’ a short time later, but there was intense satisfaction on hearing later that nobody had been killed.’

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