2023 in review - Looking back on March in Louth

March 7th 2023

Two Dundalk Gardai were awarded the Scott Medal Commendation for their actions in the arrest of Mohamed Morei in Dundalk in 2018. Garda Damien Welby and Garda Alan Lynch were commended for their bravery. 

Morei, an asylum seeker who claimed to be fighting for Isis when he stabbed 24 year old Japanese man Yosuke Sasaki to death on the Long Avenue, Dundalk was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity at the Central Criminal Court.
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Hopes were rising in Cooley that US President Joe Biden might pay a visit to north Louth during a trip to Ireland that is reportedly set to happen next month.

Councillor Andrea McKevitt, who is a distant relative of President Biden, told the Dundalk Democrat that reports that plans are underway for a visit have caused “a lot of stir” both in the Cooley Peninsula and among Cllr McKevitt's family.

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A fire that saw around 30 hectares of gorse burned on the Cooley Mountains in north Louth in March “almost probably was deliberate ignition” a Senior Fire Officer with Louth Fire Service told the Dundalk Democrat.

The Louth Fire Service sent four fire engines, two tankers and a Senior Fire Officer to deal with the blaze, which the Senior Fire Officer says, was probably about 2km past the Lumpers pub in the Ravensdale area, and was “well away from any houses”.

March 14th 2023

The contract signing for the €7 million Mount Avenue Link Road Scheme in Dundalk took place, in what the Council said is a major milestone in upgrading the western road network in the town. The successful contractor is Gibson Ireland JV.

The construction contract will involve the construction of a new road from Lis na Dara, on the Carrick Road, to the Mount Avenue Road, known locally as the “back of the wall”.

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Just 1,316 out of 3,115 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued by Louth County Council between the years 2018 and 2022 have been paid, it was revealed at the Dundalk Municipal District March Meeting, through a question submitted by Cllr Antóin Watters.

March 21st 2023

Rain did not dampen the spirits of the hundreds of people who marched in the Dundalk St Patrick’s Day parade, which was watched by thousands who braved the incessant rain to view more than 50 groups take part.

The first parade in four years was one of the largest ever, with a huge number of groups, businesses and organisations taking part under the theme Urban Green. Boxer Amy Broadhurst and athlete Kate O’Connor were the parade grand marshals .

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Fórsa members working at the Louth County Group of hospitals backed industrial action by an overwhelming majority.

The ballot of hospital staff, which concluded on Thursday 16 March, took place due to an ongoing dispute because of what Fórsa describes as “the failure by hospital management to recruit urgently needed staff”.

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Representatives of Louth County Council, who were in New York for the St Patrick’s Day period, met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland on Wednesday, 15 March.

They were briefed at the meeting on Tourism Ireland’s promotional programme in the United States for 2023.

March 28th 2023

Louth politicians on both a local and national level came out to call a halt to the lifting of the ban on “no fault” evictions, set to come into force on 1 April.

Four out of the five TDs representing Louth and East Meath voted in the Dáíl to halt lifting the eviction ban.

At the Louth County Council March meeting, councillors passed a motion, calling on the Government to extend the ban on evictions, with no opposition put forward by councillors from Government parties.

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Minister for Education Norma Foley said she is committed to getting a planned project, that will see a new eight-classroom school building built at Ardee Educate Together National School, delivered as quickly as possible.