REVIEW OF THE YEAR - JANUARY

'The gentlest of men'

Motorcyclist and dad-of-four Gary Murphy, who tragically lost his life following a road accident was described at his Funeral Mass as “the gentlest of men”.

Mr Murphy (48), of Garrymore, Ballinagh, and formerly St Martin’s Estate, was travelling home from Cavan Town when the motorbike he was travelling on was involved in a collision with a second vehicle on the N55 at Corlurgan outside Cavan Town.

Couple die in

poisoning tragedy

A COUPLE in their 60s, who died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a house in north Longford were named locally as Paul and Morag Kavanagh. Their bodies were discovered at the house in Killasonna, 5km outside Granard. The Kavanaghs were living in the area for over 25 years and leave behind two adult children.

Greener on the

other side

After more than a dozen letters of invite from Cavan County Council to get the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, as well as Transport, Minister Eamon Ryan finally attended the local authority.

The then Greens leader was always bound to stop off while touring local authorities to underscore the need for localised climate action plans.

Gove weighs in on

Kingspan

UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove accused Kingspan of trying to “wriggle out of their responsibilities” in relation to the Grenfell Tower fire.

The company replied pointing out: “...expert evidence by the Inquiry’s own experts is that the type of insulation used was not a factor in the speed or spread of the fire and, even had non-combustible insulation been used, this would not have changed the speed or spread of the fire.”

House prices grow by almost eight per cent

ASKING prices for properties in County Cavan have increased by nearly eight per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Daft report.

The Q4 house price report published this week shows that the average asking price across all types of residential properties in County Cavan was €218,527, a rise of 7.6% on the final quarter of 2022.

Roads policing

figures drop

THERE are concerns once again over policing manpower in Cavan-Monaghan after new figures revealed a 58% drop in the number of gardaí assigned to patrolling the region's roads. Membership of the division's Roads Policing Unit, which has now been merged with neighbouring Louth since December, were slashed from 38 in 2009 to just 16 in 2023.

It represents the largest percentage decrease for a rural division in the country and comes at a time when the number of deaths on Cavan's roads hit their highest point in a decade last year

No second date

for James

First Dates featured Cavan man James Donohoe (27) who hit it off with self-confessed ‘cheeky monkey’ Siobhan (24) from Mayo - but a second date was off the cards.

“A week or two before the show [was recorded], I met the girl who I am now going out with,” James explained to the Celt after the show aired on TV.

€2M sale of Liberty building

THE HSE has agreed to purchase the second former Quinn Direct building, now a Liberty Mutual property, at Killygarry.

Contracts have yet to be exchanged on the planned sale. The deal for the property on the Dublin Road outside Cavan Town is believed to be in excess of €2 million.

NUMBER OF THE MONTH

28

The number of people in emergency accommodation in County Cavan, including 11 children, according to figures released in January.

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