McGahon challenges Adams to lie detector test over IRA claims

Paudie McGahon

A Louth man who claims to have been the victim of IRA sex-abuse as a child has called on Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to take a polygraph test to determine whether he was a member of the IRA or not.

The Louth TD has always claimed never to have been a member of the IRA but Ardee man Paudie McGahon told The Sunday Independent today that he witnessed Adams admit to being the leader of the illegal organisation on a number of occasions.

McGahon said he heard Adams make the admissions at closed republican meetings which he attended as a teenager in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Now the father of three has challenged Deputy Adams to consent to a lie detector test if he refuted the allegations.

“Gerry Adams spends much of his time denying his past and the only way of establishing what is true or false is for him to take an independent polygraph test,” said McGahon

“I personally heard Mr Adams telling groups of die-hard republicans that he was both the leader of Sinn Féin and the IRA. I used to go to these meetings with my father from the time I was 13 – my father was a big republican sympathiser, which is why our home was being used as a safe house for IRA volunteers like the man who raped me.”

The 40-year-old from Ardee said that he was brought to the secret meetings because he was being “groomed” for recruitment.

The meetings took place in Louth, Monaghan, Donegal and Tallaght in west Dublin

Read the full story here.

Louth County Council accepting applications for retained firefighters

Dundalk Fire Service dealing with a recent fire at Mullen’s in Roden Place

Louth County Council are currently accepting applications for retained firefighters across the county.

The roles for suitably qualified persons are available in Ardee, Carlingford, Dunleer, Dundalk and Drogheda Stations. The annual retainer for a retained firefighter is €7,562 – €10,383 per annum.

Candidates must be living and working within a five minute mobilisation time of their local fire station and have a reasonable level of fitness to apply.

Open nights will be held from 7pm to 8.30pm in Carlingford Station on Tuesday October 27^th, Ardee Station on Wednesday October 28^th and Dunleer Station on Tuesday November 2^nd.

The closing date for applications is Friday November 6^th with more details available here.

1916 Lecture Series comes to Dundalk tomorrow night

Following on from successful events in Ardee and Dunleer, the 1916 Commemoration Lecture Series visits Dundalk tomorrow night.

Organised by Dundalk and District Old IRA Commemoration Committee, the event in the Old Gaol will be the third in a series of eight to commemorate the lead in to 2016 and the centenary of the Easter Rising.

On the night Conor Keelan and Donal Hall will give lectures on Seán MacEntee and the Hughes brothers, respectively, all of whom had links to the former Dundalk Urban District Council either as employees or as Councillors.

The series then moves to Newry on November 6th where there will be a lecture on Patrick Rankin, the only participant from that area to partake in the Rising. Four days later in The Shirley Arms in Carrickmacross, Terence Dooley will give a lecture concerning the 100th anniversary of Pearse’s visit to the town.

The series then moves to Drogheda before Christmas where Tom Reilly, author of a biography of Joseph Stanley, will give a lecture on his life.

In the New Year two additional lectures conclude the series. Mary Gallagher returns to Drogheda to discuss the Ceannt connections with the area and Liam Reilly will give a lecture on Volunteer activity in South Louth that same evening.

Finally Ruth Sweetman, a descendant of the O’Rahilly family, will give a lecture on the family in Carlingford.

All are welcome to attend tomorrow night’s event, which gets underway from 8pm.

Renua leader Creighton launches O’Dowd’s General Election campaign

Michael O’Dowd and Lucinda Creighton canvassing in Ardee yesterday

Renua Ireland leader Lucinda Creighton was in Ardee yesterday to launch local candidate Michael O’Dowd’s General Election campaign.

Former Fine Gael councillor O’Dowd, a brother of sitting Louth TD Fergus, will represent the fledgling party in next year’s General Election.

He will have campaign offices in both his native Drogheda and Ardee and will be campaigning in the rest of the county in the weeks ahead.

Renua Ireland’s election platform will be based on “rewarding work, rebuilding trust.”

Yesterday they were the first party reveal their election posters ahead of the General Election. O’Dowd is one of 14 confirmed candidates so far.

Less than a third of drink driving cases in Louth lead to convictions

Less than a third of drink driving cases before the courts in Co Louth since January 2013 have resulted in convictions.

That’s according to figures published in today’s Irish Times, which show that just 32% of drink drivers had been convicted between the start of 2013 and May 2015.

Only Kerry, at 29%, had a lower conviction rate than Louth, which had the joint second lowest figure alongside Waterford.

The national average was 40%, with Offaly having the highest conviction rate at 68%. England and Wales both had a 97% conviction rate in comparison.

In Dundalk, there were 134 convictions for 392 offences (34%) while there were 118 convictions for 385 offences in Drogheda (31%). It was revealed that in Ardee of those convicted of drink driving, none had their licence numbers recorded.

The same judges would be present in the District Courts in Dundalk, Ardee and Drogheda, with neighbouring Cavan and Monaghan also having low conviction rates of 41% and 42% respectively.

Number of large bets placed on McGuinness to be next president

Mairead McGuinness in the European Parliament in Strasbourg

Ardee woman Mairead McGuinness’ odds on becoming the next President of Ireland after Michael D Higgins have fallen.

The Fine Gael MEP was available at 7/1 earlier in the week but has been cut into 11/2 following some hefty bets in the last few days with bookmakers Boylesports.

The betting is interesting as there will be no Presidential election in Ireland until 2018.

RTÉ presenter Miriam O’Callaghan remains the 9/2 favourite with Bernardos chief executive Fergus Finlay behind McGuinness at 7/1.

Local TD Gerry Adams is an 80/1 outsider.

Liam Glynn, BoyleSports’ spokesperson said: “The past few days has seen some hefty bets placed on Mairead McGuinness to become the next President of Ireland with one punter staking €200 on McGuinness at 7/1 in one of our North Leinster shops.”

He added: “Miriam O’Callaghan remains favourite to succeed Michael D. Higgins as President but we have had to clip Mairead McGuinness into 11/2 as the former Ear To The Ground presenter and now MEP is now a five figure loser for the firm.”

Live Register figures in Dundalk fall for the first time in five months

Live Register figures for Dundalk fell for the first time in five months in August.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there were 6,255 people signed on in Dundalk in August, down by 1.4% on the 6,341 who were claiming dole payments in July. This was still 6.4% higher though than in March when there were 5,881 on the register.

On a county level there were 14,611 people signing on last month. This was also the first fall in five months, down 1.2% from June. There were also falls recorded in both Ardee (1.7%) and Drogheda (0.8%).

Eighth consecutive gold medal for Dundalk at Tidy Towns’ awards

Pictured at today’s awards ceremony in The Helix at DCU were Willie Duffy (Chairperson of Dundalk Tidy Towns),
Mary Capplis (Louth County Council) and Art Veerkamp (Parks & Environment Officer – Louth County Council)

Dundalk secured an eighth consecutive gold medal at today’s SuperValu Tidy Towns’ awards at The Helix in Dublin

Drogheda also picked up a gold medal at the event, with Letterkenny in Co Donegal named the overall winner.

Amongst the areas praised in Dundalk were the outdoor gym at the Navvy Bank and the Lisdoo and the Quay Street mural project. The County Museum and a number of local schools were also praised as well as local businesses including The Greenore Railway Saloon on Quay Street, Houstons on Clanbrassil Street, Michael Lynch Menswear on Clanbrassil Street, Toales on Crowe Street, Lins Take Away on Barrack Street and Eno’ and McGeough’s on Roden Place.

The judges pointed out that it was a pity to see the DK Interiors building, formerly Dearey’s, fall into such a “bad state of repair” though. The road surface on Chapel Street was criticised for being “rather rough” and broken in patches, with litter visible near to O’Carroll’s Pub. Chipped kerbs and graffiti at Wrightson’s Lane were also criticised, as well as parts of lower Jocelyn Street which had a “proliferation of cigarette butts plus a few cans and bottles.”

Cracked footpaths, over hanging wires, derelict properties and dated shop signage were all deemed a problem but there was praise for very little dog fouling and Dundalk Retail Park was also deemed to be “well managed”.

In terms of the estates there was good reports for Mulholland Avenue, Avondale Park, Meadow View, Belfry Drive, Belfry Crescent, Barton Park, Aisling Park and Cedarwood Park.

Muirhevnamor also came in for praise with a Sunday World report which described it as the most problematic estate in the country deemed “a most unjustified depiction” by the adjudicator.

There was also good news for Blackrock, which picked up a Climate Change Award and for Dromiskin, which won a Youth Award.

2010 National winner Tallanstown was once again named the tidiest place in Co Louth, with Blackrock second and Knockbridge third.

Tallanstown jumped by four points on last year’s total to 317, with Blackrock also up four to 312 and Knockbridge up two to 311.

Dundalk gained three points to go to 306, with Drogheda also up three to 307.

Objection lodged against poultry houses at McGuinness’ farm

Inland Fisheries Ireland have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala objecting to Louth County Council’s decision to grant Gerry McGuinness conditional planning permission for three new poultry houses and two new egg/general purpose stores at Glebe in Ardee.

The application was to include meal storage bins and soiled water tanks but may not go ahead as planned following the objection from the Citywest-based group.

Inland Fisheries Ireland’s concerns relate to the storage of all effluent, soiled water and solid wastes given the site’s location close to the River Dee.

Gerry McGuinness is a brother of local politician Mairead and is a well known poultry and dairy producer in the Mid-Louth area.

Historical family fun day in Ardee this afternoon

An historical family fun day to support the opening of Ardee Castle gets underway in Ardee at 3pm today.

There will be a family picnic in the park, a fancy dress parade and a walk to the castle, followed by a walk to the River Dee for a re-enactment of Ferdia’s battle.

All are welcome to attend.