A Co Monaghan councillor has expressed his confidence for robust economic development in Monaghan Town.
According to Cllr Sean Conlon, positive economic development initiatives led by Monaghan County Council, in partnership with local and national business stakeholders, are set to be realised throughout 2026.
This includes developments with the vacant IDA facility and the Lakeland Dairies Site.
A briefing provided by Cllr Conlon at the most recent MD meeting stated that the industrious and entrepreneurial spirit of the business community throughout Co Monaghan has long been recognised as the cornerstone of successful home-grown industries.
Speaking to Northern Sound, he said this success is replicated in kind to the strength of our committed social and voluntary endeavours throughout our towns and villages.
He told Northern Sound: "In efforts at future proofing a sustainable growth environment and continuing to press for supports that were long denied to our rural border location by successive governments, the Monaghan Sinn Féin team have relentlessly pursued Government Departments in accessing funding streams and grant aid especially for the SME sector.
At Council level, these efforts are being realised with the recent Part 8 process being initiated that will proceed towards the sale of 9 hectares of Council land, located off the N2 bypass roundabout opposite Combilift, to committed enterprises intent on establishing new industrial hubs across six sites. A further indicator of the positive business outlook was the high level of expressions of interest submitted by fourteen separate companies for the six sites when advertised earlier in the year.
"The frequent lobbying by the local Sinn Féin Councillors, along with party colleague Cathy Bennett TD at Leinster House, seeking Enterprise Ireland and the State’s economic development agency, the IDA to urgently address the vacancy, four years after construction, of a state of the art ‘Advance Technology Unit’ at Knockaconny now appears to finally have a positive outcome in sight. An Irish based high-tech company, providing innovative manufacturing efficiencies, is set to create a base at this location, providing additional employment opportunities and contributing to the vibrant engineering sector that North Monaghan is internationally renowned for."
Further good news was imparted by Councillor Seán Conlon in relation to the former ‘Creamery’ site at Coolshannagh where Lakeland Daires previously occupied, when he stated it was only a matter of an imminent ‘signing on the dotted line’ that will realise the sale of this substantial 27-acre site. He concluded by wishing the new locally based purchasers the best of outcomes, as it was hoped by all that this former hive of economic and social activity will see a return to its former reputation as an integral economic driver for the Monaghan Town and hinterlands.
