REVIEW OF THE YEAR – DECEMBER

The highs and lows

of Election 2024

The beginning of the month was dominated by the result of the General Election. Although, polling day was November 29, it was late on Monday night, December 2, before the result of the election was declared in Cavan and Monaghan. They were last Dáil seats to be filled in the county with Cavan Monaghan the longest running count at three days and nights in the Cavan Leisure Centre.

It was a case of the status quo being maintained with two seats going to Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil and one seat going to Fine Gael. The seats were filled by David Maxwell (FG), Matt Carthy (SF), Cathy Bennett (SF), Niamh Smyth (FF) and Brendan Smith (FF), the latter two without reaching the quota.

The biggest shock was Deputy Pauline Tully losing her Dáil seat to running mate Cathy Bennett in Monaghan. Fine Gael, which opted to run a three-candidate strategy, missed out on a Cavan seat with the vote apparently split between Cllr T.P. O’Reilly in Virginia and Cllr Carmel Brady in Cootehill.

Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly also ran a great race, challenging for one of the final seats before being eliminated on the 14th and final count having amassed over 10,000 votes.

Government formation

Speculation quickly turned to the formation of the next government and continued to the end of the year with another grand-type coalition between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, propped up by some like-minded independents, the most likely conclusion.

Fianna Fáil was the biggest winner nationally in GE2024.

It won 48 out of 174 Dáil seats. Sinn Féin won 39; while Fine Gael secured 38 seats.

There was also speculation as to whether Cavan might gain a government minister should party leader Micheál Martin look favourably on either Niamh Smyth or Brendan Smith.

It was Deputy Smyth’s third time to secure election; while party stalwart Deputy Smith, who previously held ministerial positions including Minister for Agriculture, was elected for an impressive eighth time.

Council budget struck for 2025

Over €106M is to be invested in public services and infrastructure across County Cavan in 2025. The figure was approved at the local authority December budget meeting at which a 10% hike in commercial rates from January 1 was also passed. It wasn’t a unanimous decision with some councillors expressing anger at the increased tax on businesses; while it was highlighted that the rate remains among the lowest regionally.

Local authority expenditure was forecast to be €106,017,129 for 2025, up from €91,471,902 in 2024. This represents an increase of €14.5M or almost 15% on the 2024 figure and will be financed from the following sources: Local Property Tax (LPT), €12,402,993; Roads Grants, €16,834,357; Government Grants, €37,428,690; Uisce Éireann Service Level Agreement, €4,135,000; Goods and Services, €15,270,446; and rates, €35,216,089.

An analysis of expenditure showed that the local authority would use more than a quarter of its budget (26%) on road transport and safety; over a fifth (22%) on housing and building, 13% for development management, 12% for environmental services, 11% for water services, eight per cent for recreation & amenity, one per cent for agriculture, education, health & welfare, and 7% for miscellaneous services.

All-Ireland champions!

BAILIEBOROUGH Drama Group overcame “ferocious” competition to claim the title of All-Ireland Champions.

The group staged a flawless performance in the The Moat Theatre, Naas, of an original drama, ‘Dying Minutes’, by group member Liz O’Hanlon. Conor Shaffrey also had the honour of taking the Best Actor accolade, having been one of three actors shortlisted for the award alongside fellow actor Fergal Donnelly. This was the third time the group had reached an All-Ireland final, having previously placed second on two outings with ‘The Sacred Heart’s Right Hand Man’ (2016) and ‘Smile Handsome’ (2018).

Lives on the line

EFFORTS were underway to secure the future of suicide prevention and awareness charity - SOSAD.

The Cavan co-ordinator Christine Wynne has revealed that, as the year came to a close, the service was still waiting on word of funding for 2025. “Without that guaranteed funding coming through the door, we can’t really plan [for 2025],” she said. Her comments came as figures showed that the service had its busiest year to date helping those who are struggling with their mental health and also people who have been bereaved by suicide.

At that point, SOSAD had delivered 21,402 hours of free counselling - up 20.43% from last year - through its six offices in Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Louth and Laois, as well as remote services.

NUMBER OF THE MONTH

375

Four days of events took place to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the death of Eoghan Rua O’Neill including reenactments, history talks and a guided tour of Clogh Oughter