MD pays tribute to Standard ‘Bible’

Carrickmacross–Castleblayney Municipal District paid a deeply emotional tribute to the Northern Standard and its staff, past and present, ahead of the publication’s last issue this week.

Elected members, meeting at the newly opened Castleblayney Library last Monday, December 15, opened proceedings by reflecting on the newspaper’s remarkable legacy and the generations of lives it documented across Farney and beyond.

Cathaoirleach Paul Gibbons (SF) described the Standard, published each Thursday going back 186 years, as a defining feature of county life that “defined people’s weeks”.

“The phrase ‘end of an era’ gets bandied about all too often, but after 186 years, I think we can safely say this is the end of an era,” he said. “Thursday is Standard day.”

PJ O’Hanlon (FF) said the closure was something few could ever have imagined. He recalled reading the paper while away at boarding school to stay connected to “news from home”, and later persuading a Sheffield newsagent to stock it while he was working there.

By week’s end, he said, the shopkeeper was selling five or six copies- even though they arrived a week after first publication.

'Iconic'

The Standard, he said, was “iconic”, particularly for its fixtures and match reports long before WhatsApp groups and social media existed. “It was a part of life,” he said, describing its loss as “a loss to the county”.

Noel Keelan (SF) said the paper had been a trusted source of news in Monaghan households for generations.

“The Standard was not just picked up in Monaghan — but across the region, the island and even the globe.”

He recalled how copies were regularly posted to emigrants, keeping them connected to home and informed about local affairs. Its disappearance from the news-stands, he said, marked “a bad day for democracy”.

Cllr Keelan added that the role of local newspapers was more vital than ever as an antidote to the spread of “misinformation and disinformation” online.

“The people of Monaghan will miss the Northern Standard when it's gone,” he said, proposing that the MD send a formal letter of thanks to the paper.

Colm Carthy (SF) described the Standard as a “vital” lifeline of information, particularly for older residents. He recalled reading it as a teenager during lunch breaks and, like others, relying on posted copies when he emigrated to Australia, with several issues sent together to reduce postage costs. For many in Monaghan, he said, it was the “Bible” for local news, and its absence now leaves a challenge for the council and the MD in keeping communities informed. Aidan Campbell (FG) also stressed the importance of a “free press” in the face of false information.

He too had a story to tell, recalling a priest who returned home from Kenya each Christmas and was often better informed about local events than many residents, thanks to copies of the Standard sent overseas.

Even now he said he continues to post the paper to Monaghan friends living elsewhere in Ireland.

Peter Conlan (SF) recalled that the Standard and the Farmers Journal were the most sought-after papers in his family home, shared back and forth between readers.

“It's the small things people take for granted that are going to be missed,” he said, noting that what appeared in its pages was accepted as “gospel”, summed up by the phrase: “I read it in the Standard.”

Cllr Conlan paid tribute to the Smyth family, the editorial and production staff led by Peter Hughes, and photographers Pat Byrne, Jimmy Walsh and Rory Geary. Former journalists Michael Fisher and the late Patsy McArdle were also remembered, with particular praise for Shercock native Veronica Corr for her professionalism. In turn, Ms Corr thanked the councillors for their generous remarks.

Concluding the tributes, Director of Service Cathal Flynn said there was “no better record” of local history than the Northern Standard.