The Louth GAA team will hold an open night on Thursday May 7th at their centre of excellence in Darver.
The night, which gets underway at 7pm, is a chance for you to meet the players and to get your picture taken with them ahead of their championship match with Westmeath in Drogheda on May 17th.
All are welcome to attend.
Dundalk FC have been awarded a UEFA licence by the Independent Club Licensing Committee of the FAI.
The licence allows them compete in this season’s Champions League, with the three other Irish clubs who qualified for Europe last season also gaining their respective licences to compete in the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Dundalk FC fans based in Dublin are being invited to attend a meeting on Monday May 11th.
The Dublin Lilywhites Supporters’ Club will hold their next meeting in The Mercantile on Dame Street at 8pm that night.
All supporters of the club are welcome to attend.
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one of seven around the country where X-rays may have been misread.
The Irish Times reports today that thousands of X-rays and other scans have been reviewed and hundreds of patients recalled after errors were discovered in the work of three locum radiologists employed by the Health Service Executive.
The worst affected hospital was Bantry in Cork, where 4,388 scans and X-rays taken between May and September 2013 were reviewed and 50 patients recalled, with one of them given a late cancer diagnosis as a result of the mistakes made.
The locum who worked in Bantry went on to work in a number of other hospitals, including the Lourdes. As a result, the Drogheda hospital is carrying out preliminary audits of his work to see if X-rays were correctly assessed.
In 2008, the HSE reviewed more than 6,000 X-rays and scans of a radiologist in the Lourdes Hospital.
Ahmed Mostafa from the Egyptian Embassy will travel to Dundalk next week to with companies interested in discussing potential business with the African country.
Mr Mostafa has been invited to the town on Wednesday by Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and will holding meetings from 10am to 4pm in the Oriel Hub at Finnabair Business Park on the Coes Road.
The meetings are on a one-to-one basis and will last 30-35 minutes each.
If you would like to book a slot for a meeting with a representative from your company and the Egyptian Embassy, then please email Annmarie at projectadmin@dundalk.ie or phone 042 9336343.
There is no charge for this event and slots are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
38 Seatown
An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Louth County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for five new homes in Seatown.
Valentine Mongey was given the go ahead earlier this month to demolish 38 Seatown and build five new dwellings in its place.
However, two appeals have now been lodged against the local authority’s decision to grant conditional planning permission.
It had been hoped to construct a 3 bed terraced house, two 2 bed apartments and two semi-detached 3 bed houses.
38 Seatown, a three bed end of terrace house on a large site with land beside it, was bought for €110,000 in October 2013.
Barrack Close, where the incident occurred
Two local Gardaí came to a man’s rescue earlier today after his house suffered a gun and arson attack in the early hours of the morning.
The incident happened at Barrack Close, off Barrack Street and close to Hyde Park, around 1am.
A number of gun shots were fired at the front door and a front window of the house before what is believed to have been some form of petrol bomb was thrown through the window, causing extensive damage to the front room of the property.
After being alerted to the incident, two local Gardaí fored their way into the house where they found a 33-year-old man asleep in an upstairs bedroom.
They then pulled him from the house before an ambulance and Dundalk Fire Service arrived.
The scene was preserved after the incident, with a forensics team carrying out a technical examination.
Anyone who witnessed anything in the area at the time is asked to contact Dundalk Garda Station on 042 9335577 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
More than 3,000 people in Co Louth under the age of 25 are not registered to vote, according to new figures compiled by the National Youth Council.
In the build-up to the marriage equality referendum on May 22nd, the youth council found that 3,220 people in Louth between the ages of 18-25 had not been added to the electoral register as yet.
Any young person who is 18 years of age on or before May 22nd is eligible to vote. If you are not currently registered, you can do so by downloading and filling in the RFA2 form at www.checktheregister.ie. This form must be brought to and stamped at a Garda Station where the applicant is required to bring ID and then return it to the local authority before close of business on Tuesday May 5th next.
Louth’s youngest GAA club the Cuchulainn Gaels have applied for outline planning permission to build new clubrooms at their ground at Knocknagoran in Omeath.
The application to Louth County Council also includes a proposal for a new waste water treatment system and all associated works, with the local authority due to decide on the matter by June 16th.
The peninsula club are 10 years in existence this year having been founded in 2005.
Three members of Dundalk Rugby Club have been called up to the Leinster Junior squad for tomorrow’s clash with Connaught Juniors at the Garda RFC grounds in Westmanstown.
Johnny Williams, who scored a hat-trick of tries as the Mill Road men beat De La Salle Palmerston last weekend to earn promotion to the AIL next season, will start alongside place kicker Ultan Murphy while full back Stephen McGee will be on the bench.
Kick-off on the day will be at 2.30pm.
Seamus Kirk TD
Garda numbers in Co Louth have fallen substantially in the last five years.
Local TD Seamus Kirk has learned that there are now 38 fewer Gardaí in the Louth Division since 2010, having put forward a parliamentary question on the matter to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.
While Dundalk Garda Station hasn’t suffered like elsewhere, many smaller areas throughout the county have.
Commenting on the figures, Deputy Kirk said: “The figures that I have obtained show that Garda resources have been slashed by Fine Gael and Labour since they came to office. There are now 38 fewer Gardai in the Louth Division compared to five years ago.
“Drogheda has seen the most dramatic reduction in numbers with 22 fewer Gardaí being attached to Drogheda Garda Station since 2010. The reduction in manpower has occurred across the county with Ardee, Castlebellingham, Collon, Blackrock, Dromad and Hackballscross all experiencing personnel cutbacks.
“There is a feeling in communities in Louth that crime rates are on the rise. People do not feel as safe as they used to in their own homes. This comes as no surprise considering the cutback in resourcing for the Gardaí that the Government has overseen since coming to office.
“The Government has been attempting to downplay the crime crisis by hiding behind official crime figures. However Fianna Fáil has spent the past three years saying that gaping holes in frontline policing are leading to a spike in crime levels. Every community that I visit identifies rising crime levels as a top concern. It is no coincidence that these feelings are expressed at a time when Garda numbers are falling.
“It is time for the Government to admit that rising crime levels is a serious problem in our communities. Action must be taken to reverse this trend. More resources are needed for our police force, and this includes restoring manpower to Garda stations. The only resourcing initiative that the Government has announced for policing is a small intake of student Gardaí for this year. However it has been highlighted by Garda management that this intake will barely even cover the number of people retiring from the force each year,” said Deputy Kirk.
Construction on the new school building at St Mary’s College has been “progressing rapidly”, according to the school.
Now they have released aerial shots of just how things are progressing.
It is hoped that construction will be completed in 12 months time.
The new school will then be made available to students in September 2016 and will incorporate the latest educational technologies, classrooms and specialist rooms including indoor and outdoor amenities.
The first intake of new pupils will be the current fifth class students in primary school.
A new radio show will launch on Dundalk FM this afternoon.
LiveWire will be presented by Ciaran Callan and will feature music, chat, entertainment and much more.
The show gets underway at 4pm and you can tune in at 100 FM or online at www.dundalkfm.com
A fundraising concert in aid of St Joseph’s organ restoration will take place in St Joseph’s Redemptorist Church in Dundalk on Sunday May 10th at 7.30pm.
The event will feature both the Setanta Choir and the St Joseph’s senior choir performing Fauré’s Requiem and other choral works.
Tickets are priced €15 for adults or €5 for students and children and are available from the Redemptorist office on 042 9334042 or online at www.setantachoir.ie
Louth County Council chairman Cllr Oliver Tully will hold the annual Chairman’s Charity Dinner on Saturday May 23rd.
The event will take place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel Dundalk and will be in aid of The Malawi Fundraising Appeal.
A drinks reception will get underway on the night at 7.30pm, with tickets priced €70 available from County Hall.
The RNLI Lifeboats will be selling welly badges in the area tomorrow as part of their annual fundraising.
Sellers will be in Blackrock, Dundalk and Carlingford and people are asked to give generously to a cause which has saved hundreds of lives over the last few years.
Barrack Close
Cllr John McGahon
Fine Gael councillor for Dundalk-Carlingford, John McGahon, has condemned the gun and arson attack that occurred at Barrack Close during the early hours of Thursday morning.
A 33-year-old man had to be rescued from the house by two Gardaí after the front room of the property was set alight. Moments before that a number of shots had been fired at the dwelling.
Commenting on the matter, Cllr McGahon said: “I was extremely concerned when I learned of this gun and arson attack. The Barrack Street area is a quiet part of Dundalk. It’s a mixture of older people and young families.
“Local residents are in shock and angered by the events that occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning. This was a brazen and targeted attack that has threatened the safety of a small knit community. Whoever was involved in this attack has no regard for law and order and the rules that the rest of society lives by.
“Barrack Close is a small cul de sac with about 20 semi-detached homes. We are incredibly lucky that no one was seriously injured in this attack. Make no mistake about it, the fact that it occurred at 1am, under the cover of darkness, shows it was deliberate attempt designed to inflict maximum damage.
“If it wasn’t for the quick actions of An Garda Siochana and the emergency services, we could be discussing a serious injury or fatality.
“I would urge anyone who has any information to bring it to the Gardai as soon as possible. Everyone has a right to live their lives without fear of violence. I call on those involved to think carefully about their actions and the repercussions involved.”
Naomh Malachi GFC have been granted conditional planning permission to install floodlighting at their pitch at Courtbane in Hackballscross.
The border club hope to erect six floodlights on the perimeter of the main pitch as part of their plans to develop their facilities.
The Louth and Meath Education Training Board officially opened their new Regional Skills and Training Centre in Dundalk this morning.
Amongst those to attend the opening was local TD Gerry Adams who said he was impressed with the Coes Road facility.
“I want to commend all of those involved in the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board who were involved in the establishment of the Regional Skills and Training Centre in Dundalk.
“There is a wide range of training programmes available for school leavers; citizens wishing to retrain and change jobs, and for citizens with a disability. There are full and part time courses, hundreds of apprenticeships – covering agriculture, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and many more, and courses covering communication technology, health care, engineering.”
Further details can be found at www.lmetb.ie
Kincora House
Plans have been drawn up to convert Kincora House in Seatown Place into student accommodation.
The locally-based KJR Holdings have applied to Louth County Council for planning permission to convert the building at 1 and 2 Seatown Place from a guesthouse into student accommodation.
They have also sought to demolish two small annex’s to the rear of the building as part of their plan.
They will then construct a new four storey extension to the rear, with part of the ground floor to be used for bicycle and car parking, while there would also be a roof garden.
As part of the facility there would be a café/reception open on the ground floor from from 8am to 11am. This would be primarily aimed at students but would also be open to the public.
Louth County Council are due to decide on the matter by June 17th.
Tonight’s Tully Bookmakers Cup final between Bellurgan Utd and Navan Cosmos has been moved to Oriel Park.
The game had been originally scheduled to take place in United Park in Drogheda but heavy overnight rain required a change of venue.
Kick off is at 6:30pm.
