News Review - December 2022

Quinn Country causes a stir

The whole county, and country, it seemed were talking about ‘Quinn Country’ – a three-part TV documentary broadcast on RTÉ One charting Seán Quinn’s rise and subsequent fall following the collapse of Anglo-Irish Bank and the takeover of his companies.

“What I want to be remembered for is the man that they tried to bury and they weren’t able to bury.” That was the powerful opening to the first instalment of the series by documentary maker and journalist Trevor Birney.

As the series concluded, it was former Fine Gael politician Alan Dukes who grabbed all the headlines.

He suggested in the final programme that people living in the border are more inclined to violence. “Border people have it in their blood,” Mr Dukes said.

“They are living in communities that have a long history of violence of different kinds. And they will more easily turn to it than anyone else will.”

Following wide condemnation of these remarks, the former Fine Gael leader apologised: “Those remarks were entirely unjustified. They offended a great many people and I apologise unreservedly.”

Jailed for dangerous driving causing death

A Belturbet man was jailed for seven years for dangerous driving causing the death of a young Fermanagh woman in a high-speed crash. Laoise Grace Nolan (21) was a rear centre-seat passenger in the Vauxhall Vectra driven by Jack McHugh that crashed on the N3 near Belturbet in the early hours of June 26, 2021.

McHugh told gardaí he’d earlier consumed a cocktail of Xanax and cannabis. He was also on bail for driving without insurance. He was clocked by a pursuing Garda travelling at a speed of up to 200 kmph mere minutes before crashing.

At an earlier date in the sessions, the court heard how “unique” Ms Nolan had been. “She lit up every room she entered, and lived every day like it was her last,” mum Deirdre Nolan wrote in her victim impact statement.

A week after the sentencing, a verdict of ‘accidental’ verdict was recorded at the inquest into Laoise’s death at the Cavan Coroner’s Court.

Renewed appeal on Belturbet Bombing

A CHILLING new photofit of one of the Belturbet bombing suspects was made public as part of a renewed Garda appeal for information.

It came ahead of the 50th anniversary of the blast, which claimed the lives of two teenagers on December 28, 1972.

The bombing killed local girl Geraldine O’Reilly (15) from Drumacon, Belturbet and Patrick Stanley (16) from Clara, Co Offaly. It also injured eight others.

A ceremony will take place today to mark the anniversary.

Over €3.1M to Cavan hotels for refugees

OVER €3.1 million in tax-free payments were awarded to 12 accommodation providers in Cavan who housed Ukrainians over a six-month period, between April and September of this year.

A total of €3,169,705 was split between the hotels and B&Bs across the county under the Accommodation Recognition Payment scheme. These are tax-free payments of €400 per month per refugee to provide accommodation to those fleeing the war in Ukraine. It amounts to an average payment of over €264,000 per property with payments doubled from December 1. Two properties were paid more than half a million euro each. The Bridge Guesthouse in Cavan Town, owned by Rossblue Limited, received the largest sum of money at €591,090, followed by the Lakeside Manor Hotel in Virginia, which received €570,960.

The Seven Horseshoes Hotel in Belturbet, owned by Dooncrellan Limited, received a total of €292,800.

€40M for new Cavan Institute campus

A new Cavan Institute campus is set to be delivered by 2027, following an investment of €40M, catering for 1,000 students.

The funding for the project on the Cathedral Road, adjacent to the existing college building, was confirmed by the Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris, during a visit to the institute.

Cold snap

A cold snap in the middle of the month saw temperatures plummet below freezing, multiple weather warnings issued and 600 tonnes of dry salt spread on roads by council staff across the county in just a week.

Weather records were once again smashed with the coldest day recorded for more than a decade. At the Met Éireann weather station in Ballyhaise, the temperature never rose above -3.1 degrees on Monday, December 12.

NUMBER OF THE MONTH

140-150

The number of people presenting daily at the Emergency Department at Cavan General Hospital, which was seeing a 50% rise in presentations, and appealing to the public not to attend unless in the event of a genuine emergency

GOOD MONTH

• Lacken camogie club claimed the All-Ireland club Junior B title

• Local Independent councillor and former Fianna Fáil representative, Shane P O’Reilly, has announced his intention to run for the Dáil at the next General Election.

• Golfing superstar Leona Maguire was honoured by Cavan County Council with a Civic Reception to recognise her achievements on the global stage

• Cabu by the Lakes won The Anglo-Celt Business of the Year Award for 2022.

BAD MONTH

• Former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes found himself embroiled in a storm following his comments about border people on the TV documentary ‘Quinn Country’

• Learner drivers in Cavan were facing a minimum four-month wait to sit their driving tests

• Arsonist Daniel Murray (40) has his sentence for manslaughter increased to 11 years with the last 18 months suspended at the Court of Appeal after the State successfully argued it was unduly lenient. Murray was convicted of the manslaughter of his uncle Patrick Murray at his home in Derrylurgan, Ballyjamesduff, on August 2, 2018.