Monaghan

The largest ever expansion of Ireland’s National Walks Scheme was announced this week, promising to add 62 new walking and hiking trails across 17 counties.

The 21st annual Pride of Place awards took place in Armagh in November to honour individuals and groups dedicated to improving their local neighbourhoods, creating better places to live, work, and socialise.

Pobal is celebrating 30 years in operation this year. It has expanded rapidly and now has over 700 staff in 12 office locations around the country. In 2022, it distributed €901m on behalf of government departments to thousands of community groups. It's CEO, Anna Shakespeare, is clear, however, that the agency's 30th anniversary celebrations are not about Pobal as such, but about the communities they serve.

During the 1990s, Iceland had some of the highest figures for substance use among young people in Europe. The alarming statistics sparked the development of the groundbreaking Icelandic Model for Primary Prevention of Substance Use, which has since been implemented in 30 other countries, including Ireland.

Organisations in Northern Ireland and border counties in the Republic are being encouraged to apply for funding to provide shared spaces under the new PEACEPLUS Programme.

"We're building very good practices", says Cavan Cultural Champion. The project has already spread from Monaghan to Cavan. It is backed by two local development companies and Tusla.

Private sector companies are not beating down the doors in County Leitrim to convince householders to retrofit their homes. Nor is it happening in neighbouring rural counties. In the meantime, the earth is burning up due to climate change and householders are losing out on a chance to save on energy bills.

by Sorcha Grisewood The town of Monaghan might not be the first place that would come to mind when you think of areas where Irish is spoken. However, there is a growing community of Irish speakers there and huge efforts underway to promote the language.