News Review - March 2022

‘If I’m needed I will go’

AS THE world awoke to learn Russia, on orders of president Vladimir Putin, had attacked Ukraine along multiple axes, Sergiy Balan who lives in Laragh was trying to come to terms with the news. He was considering how he may need to return home.

“I am sad. I don’t know what else to say, what else to feel. This is my country, my people, my family and my friends. I have Russian friends, many, here in Ireland, and I got calls saying they are sorry, they are ashamed by what Russia is doing to Ukraine.”

Garda attack strongly condemned

The Chief Superintendent of the Cavan Monaghan Garda Division described as “very serious and concerning” an attack on an unarmed garda near Blacklion.

“Thankfully the incident has not resulted in a fatality or other serious injury,” Alan McGovern told the Celt. “The exact motive for this attack is yet to be determined but it is extremely concerning that a member of An Garda Síochána appears to have been targeted and doused in some form of accelerant.”

Working in a mail environment

FROM cycling in a skirt to being one of the only vans on the road throughout a global pandemic, Maria Waters looked back on her career as Cavan’s first ever post woman. She retired last Friday after over four decades of service and ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

Something needs to be done

Local fuel suppliers were pleading with government representatives to “act now” to ease rapidly rising fuel costs as some predict the cost of diesel could hit 225 cent per litre before the end of the week. Filling station owners forecast daily increases at the pumps as demand outstrips supply; while some said fuel rations could yet be imposed.

First refugees arrive in Cavan having left ‘everything’ behind

“Thank you” was the simple message from the first Ukrainian refugees arriving to Cavan, seeking sanctuary from the ongoing war back home. The dozens who landed in the past week were from the central Ukrainian region, bordering the Dnieper River, an area that had been heavily bombarded by armed Russian forces. While safe in Ireland, the toll of what they had left behind, not to mention the horrors seen, still weighed heavily. The people who arrived were the wives and children of Ukrainian men living and working in Cavan for many years, at local meat factories - Liffey Meats in Ballyjamesduff and McCarren & Company Limited in Cavan Town.

Extension will solve ‘problems’ at hospital

PERMISSION was being sought for a major extension at Cavan General Hospital in an effort to improve facilities, relieve pressure and resolve problems caused by the current campus layout. A new Emergency Department (ED), Endoscopy Unit (EU) with out patient facilities, and a 16-bed inpatient ward were included in the plans lodged.

MONTH IN NUMBERS

90

The average number of people who attended the Emergency Department at Cavan General Hospital each day in 2022.

GOOD MONTH

• Belturbet artist Eilish McCann launched a well received exhibition in Bailieborough Library.

• More than 30 local first responders - from An Garda Siochána, Fire Service, and the National Ambulance Service - led the Cavan representation at this year’s New York St Patrick’s Day Parade.

• A series of Deirdre Rusk’s images (see above) were shortlisted in the prestigious Irish Professional Photographer and Videographer of the Year Awards 2022.

BAD MONTH

• It was revealed there had been 21 attacks on gardaí in Cavan Monaghan in 2021.

• Gyproc confirmed that their ongoing monitoring had detected a further crown hole had shown up in Magheracloone.

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine sent fuel prices spiralling requiring government to step in.

READ MORE: News Review - February 2020