'A great spirit of resilience in Clones'

Pat Treanor (left) has served as a councillor since 1985 on both the town council and county council, and during this time has lobbied for more investment for Clones.

“Things are looking good at the minute, it’s a great town; a great place to live, to work, rear a family and a great place to visit,” he says of the area.

The Sinn Féin councillor describes the town as an open museum, where stories of the past are still on display today with historical sites such as the round tower, the ‘Wee Abbey’, the motte and bailey castle and more.

“You come to Clones and a walk around the town will reveal a history of the whole of Ireland going back to pre-Christian times,” he says.

Honouring this history has created attractions for locals and tourists alike with developments such as the Ulster Canal Stores Visitor Centre and the Cassandra Hand Heritage, Tourism and Genealogy Centre.

Cllr Treanor praises the “great focus” on the Ulster Canal project currently, adding: “Waterways Ireland tell us that by 2029 it will have connected up to the Erne, the Shannon, and the inland waterways on the island.”

Meanwhile, sports facilities such as the Peace Link and St Tiernach’s Park are enjoyed by many. In the town itself, he said many buildings that had been derelict have been given a new lease of life as a digital hub, offices, and housing.

“It’s really bringing us into the new era and setting us up for a great future,” he says.

He praises the businesses in the town, which cater for “all needs”, while the area also boasts a “very active” community sector.

“There’s a great spirit of resilience in Clones, and people support the businesses that are here, they shop locally whenever possible and jobs are created, jobs for young people leaving school and that gives them a good experience before going out into the wider world, and hopefully when they get their training, they will think of coming back to Clones and be proud of our town.”

Looking to the future, Cllr Treanor will focus on dereliction in the town, where he hopes to see investment to provide further facilities and housing. “The shortage of housing is one of the big issues that we have to deal with at the minute,” he says, describing how the council has funding in place for twenty-four social housing units, while he says a number of private land owners are also developing their sites.

“We need housing badly,” he says.

While the local councillor takes pride in the area, he also takes pride in the people of Monaghan, and in this regard, he congratulated the McKenna family. “The family have put their life and soul into boxing. They deserve every success that they get, and that’s following in the footsteps of Barry McGuigan, Kevin McBride and others who have done us proud in the past. Good luck to them in the future,” he wishes.