Monaghan Matters Comhairle Contae Mhuineacháin Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council N e w s l e t t e r Spring 2019 CONTENTS P03: Corporate Services P04: Corporate Assets Corporate and Energy Services P04: Heritage P05: Tourism P05: Economic Development P05: Planning Heritage P06: Housing P07: Roads P07: Library P08: Community and Enterprise Community P11: Museum and P11: Environmental Services Enterprise P12: Water Services P12: Fire Control and Civil Protection P12: Finance Municipal Districts P13: Local Enterprise Office P13: Municipal Districts CORPORATE SERVICES Success for Monaghan in the LAMA Community & Council Awards 2019 The 2019 All Ireland Community & Council Awards took place on Saturday, 9th February 2019 in the Croke Park Hotel hosted by RTE Sports commentator, Marty Morrissey. These awards recognise and celebrate community and councils working together. They provide a great opportunity to highlight and celebrate the work done within our communities, to reward our unsung heroes and recognise the phenomenal contribution they’ve made to our lives. Monaghan County Council were shortlisted in four out of the twenty five categories and were delighted on the night when the Derryvalley Catchment Project picked up the award in the Best Environment/Ecological Project Initiative category and www.repairmystuff.ie secured the award in the Best Waste Management Programme category. Monaghan’s Mindszenty Finnegan also took home the Silver Award in the Community Volunteer of the Year Category. Congratulations and well done to all involved in the shortlisted projects. Laserfiche Run Smarter Award for Monaghan County Council Recently Laserfiche recognised a group of international businesses, services and organisations that “have demonstrated innovation at the highest level”. Monaghan County Council, working with Bizquip, have implemented Laserfiche technology in a range of areas, working to future- proof Council services and is delighted to have won the 2019 International Laserfiche Run Smarter Award. Bizquip, a driver of Laserfiche technological solutions in Ireland, accepted the award on behalf of Monaghan County Council at an international conference in California, attended by over 4,000 delegates from around the globe. Monaghan County Council has fully embraced a digital strategy to enhance its day to day running of services. It also means that it has created a more cost efficient, user-friendly service in an increasingly progressive workplace, being able to reallocate staff to other areas as a result. The Council has looked at how to better deliver services in a busy local authority, that deals with everything from housing and maintenance, to capital projects, libraries and sports. By digitising documents and changing how data is stored, the staff of the Council are able to access information in considerably less time. The Council have also moved to more automation within its services. This frees up staff time to deal with the people who use the services. Local and European Elections 2019 Polling Day: Polling for the European Parliament and Local Elections 2019 will take place on Friday 24 May 2019. It is intended that a referendum on divorce will also be held on the same day. The Polling Day Orders will be made in due course and the hours of poll will be confirmed then. Supplement to the Register The closing date for the Supplement to the Register is Tuesday 7th May 2019. Seachtain na Gaeilge The closing date for the Supplement to the Postal and Special Voters List is Sunday 28th April 2019. Sheol Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia i mbaile Muineachán, le deanaí. Ba mhaith le Coiste List of Forms required for the Referendum: Gaeilge, Comhairle Chontae Mhuineacháin, buíochas a ghabháil do gach duine a tháining go RFA 2 – Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Register of Electors – Closing date Muineachán le haghaidh an imeacht. Tuesday 7th May 2019 RFA 3 – Application to change your address in the Supplement to the Register of Electors – Recently, Seachtain na Gaeilge was launched in Closing date Tuesday 7th May 2019 Monaghan. Monaghan County Council’s Irish RFA 5 - Application to change your status in the Supplement to the Register of Electors - Language Committee would like to thank Closing date Tuesday 7th May 2019 everyone who came to Monaghan for the event. PVS 1 – Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Postal Voters list by persons with a Physical Illness or a Physical Disability – Closing date Sunday 28th April 2019 A short video of the event launch can be viewed PVS 2 – Application for inclusion in here: the Supplement to the Postal Voters list https://www.facebook.com/Monaghancoco/videos/8171 by electors unable to vote at their 76968640394/ polling station due to circumstances of Occupation, including certain Students – Sunday 28th April 2019 To check if you are registered to vote or to download forms go to: https://monaghan.ie/register-of-electors/ and www.checktheregister.ie Spring 2019 P a g e 3 CORPORATE ASSETS AND ENERGY Ban On Use of Plastics Within Public Bodies Government Departments, public bodies and schools are set to crack down on single-use plastics, with a number of measures including no longer purchasing single-use plastic cups, cutlery and straws for use within their offices. Richard Bruton, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment said “the public service must be the first to show that it takes policies for sustainability seriously, if we are to persuade the rest of society to make the step changes which we need to make. The government has approved a plan to stop purchasing single-use plastic, to cut waste in food and paper, to improve efficiency in the use of energy and water and to reshape procurement to choose sustainable options.” In addition, all public bodies including state agencies and schools will not purchase single- use plastic beverage cups, cutlery and drinking straws after 31 March 2019 – except where specific public health/hygiene or safety issues arise. From 1st April 2019, paper cups will only be purchased by Monaghan County Council water coolers that are used within a public area, i.e. Planning Reception and Conference Room within Glen HQ, and the Training Room in MTEK 2. Our Environment Section are currently sourcing re-usable bottles and will be in touch with staff regarding rolling out of same. These efforts will comply with the reduction of single use plastic as stated above and will also eliminate the need to purchase 20,000 plastic cups on an annual basis. Corporate Assets recently completed the It is planned to roll this incentive out to Glen HQ installation of a new access ladder and Fall and MTEK 2 first, and to other buildings by the Restraint System to Glen HQ as part of its Health end of March 2019. and Safety requirements. Eastern Local Authority Energy Group Monaghan County Council hosted the Eastern Local Authority Energy Group regional meeting on Monday the 28th January 2019, in conjunction with SEAI. We were delighted to host colleagues from Cavan, Louth, and Kildare County Councils, as well as colleagues from several sections within Monaghan County Council. Mr. Noel Burns, on behalf of SEAI facilitated the meeting and gave a very informative presentation on Energy Awareness. The event provided a great insight into how each Local Authority is addressing its obligations of achieving 33% energy reduction by 2020 and the challenges faced. HERITAGE Heritage at the Heart: New Podcast Series A series of five podcasts on Monaghan heritage places and people has been produced and are being released each week on the Council website. Accompanied with specially commissioned music by distinguished Monaghan composer Michael Gallen, the series features Sliabh Beagh, Mullyash Cairn, The Tin Church in Laragh, Donagh Old Graveyard and the Black Pigs Dyke. The programmes were produced by the Heritage Office and recorded onsite by Noel Murphy of Northern Sound. They present interviews with local people, custodians, and heritage specialists, with lots of lively discussions and stories about the places and their value to the community. Each podcast is about 15 minutes in length. The series was funded by Monaghan County Council and the Heritage Council as part of the implementation of the County Monaghan Heritage Plan and the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The series is available on the Monaghan County Council website: https://monaghan.ie/heritage/heritage-at-the-heart-podcasts/ Spring 2019 P a g e 4 TOURISM Patrick Kavanagh Centre The signing of contracts for Phase I of the refurbishment of the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen took place on Monday February 25th 2019 in the Civic Offices, Carrickmacross. The winning contractors, Monaghan County Council members and officials, members of the Patrick Kavanagh Centre's committee and a representative of Fáilte Ireland were present. This major tourism project will entail the development of a Kavanagh interpretation centre as well as an information and service centre for Kavanagh Country. It will sensitively tell ‘the Kavanagh story’ in an interesting and contemporary manner in keeping with best practice elsewhere in Ireland and beyond. The Interpretive Centre will utilise ‘immersive’ & interactive techniques which will excite & inspire visitors. The Centre will be fully integrated with the Kavanagh Trail and Kavanagh Country so that it will have a wider market appeal and will also link with local food, drink and activity offerings. The Graphic above highlights the overall concept of what the offering will be. It is this integration between the immersive experience at the Centre and the local Kavanagh sites, drumlin landscape, local food and drink and cluster of local attractions that will provide a unique tourism product of real significance for County Monaghan. Photo credit: Pat Byrne ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING Rural Regeneration and Development Fund - Announcement County Development Plan for the period 2019- In February Mr.