StreamScapes Project, Doohamlet

Well done to everyone who participated in the 'Streamscapes' project in Doohamlet in June 2015. The event was run by Monaghan County Council ad facilitated by Doohamlet Tidy Towns and the DDCDA. The aim was to increase awareness of the range of wildlife to be found in our waterways, how water quality affects it and what we can do to improve water quality.

The day started out with a workshop with 5th and 6th class students from All Saints National School. An evening session was then held for all members of the public and we were delighted that over 50 people turned up on a bright sunny June evening. The event took place at Doohamlet Community Centre and Community Garden. Kick sampling was done in the river running through the Community Garden (known as Major Lough Stream) and a wide range of fish, insects and invertebrates were found, including stonefly and mayfly nymph, young trout, eels and evidence of large crayfish (and alas their predators, as what was found was some shell remnants!). Overall we are proud to have found that the species found indicated a water quality rating of 4.4 out of a possible 5.

The workshops were run by the friendly and knowledgable staff of the Coomhola Salmon Trust, based in Cork, We were also delighted to hear they had very positive feedback about Doohamlet, where they based themselves for their week long visit to Monaghan;

"'StreamScapes’ produces aquatic & biodiversity awareness initiatives as part of wider efforts to stimulate public engagement in water quality issues around Ireland.

Monaghan County Council and the Department of Environment produced a pilot project on public engagement on water, and invited ‘StreamScapes’ to be the delivery agent for this aspect of the project. As both Doohamlet National School and Community Association (Tidy Towns) were part of this project, the StreamScapes Team decided to base themselves in Doohamlet for the week.

This proved to be a delight...we stayed in Connolly’s Guesthouse (also B&B and nice Lounge Bar) in the village where our hosts Alexis and Marion Connolly provided us with a comfortable, bright and airy self-catering apartment for the week.

Doohamlet National School was the first stop for the project on Monday morning, 8 June, and the StreamScapes teaching staff (Stephanie & Aaron) took the enthusiastic students down to the local stream to learn about the biodiversity and the ‘bio-monitors’ which live in the stream.

In the evening a Field Trip was produced for a large group of Tidy Towns and Community Group members and local interested residents, followed by a meeting in the Doohamlet Community Centre. It was clear to see how active the local group is; a fantastic community centre and the group had taken an overgrown section of stream next to the centre, cleared it and replanted it with sensible plantings, provided stream-side path and benches and a very clever ‘Insect Hotel’.

We enjoyed our time in Doohamlet immensely and would recommend it to anyone for a great holiday base...in the heart of County Monaghan!"

Many thanks to Bernie O'Flaherty and Aileen Gavin and all at the Environment Section of Monaghan County Council for giving us the opportunity to run this very enjoyable and informative workshop in our community, and thanks to Mark Boydan and his team at Coomhola Salmon Trust.

Photo 1: Doohamlet National School students surveying and sampling their local stream. Note river walk, ‘Insect Hotel’, and community centre in background.

Photos 2 & 3: Doohamlet Community Association taking part in evening field trip and discussing local water quality issues.

Important information about the Eirgrid North-South Interconnector;

Eirgrid has lodged an application for planning permission for this development with An Bord Pleanala. The 10 week statutory public consultation period has commenced. This development proposes to erect pylons and overhead cables on the Ballybay side of Doohamlet. This will not just impact farmers and landowners who live along the route - it may have wider implications for our community.

'On 16th June 2015 a ten-week period of statutory public consultation commenced in respect of the planning application for the North-South 400kV Interconnection Development. The application documentation, including the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Natura Impact Statement (NIS) is available for public viewing/downloading on the dedicated planning application website at www.eirgridnorthsouthinterconnector.ie.

The documentation will be on public display during this ten-week period at the offices of – •An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1 •Meath County Council, County Hall. Navan, County Meath •Cavan County Council, Cavan Courthouse, Farnham Street, Cavan, County Cavan •Monaghan County Council, County offices, The Glen, Monaghan, County Monaghan The documentation is also available for viewing at EirGrid’s Project Information Centres, the locations of which can be seen on the right hand side of this page. All three Information Centres will be open from Tuesday 16th June until Monday 22nd June (excluding Saturday and Sunday) and again at the end of the consultation period, from Monday 17th August to Friday 21st August. During the intervening weeks they will be open during the days and hours stated on the right hand side of this page.

Submissions or observations in respect of the application can only be made to An Bord Pleanála and must be received by An Bord Pleanála no later than 5.30 p.m. on Monday 24th August 2015'.

A €50 submission fee applies to every submission - why not consult with neighbours or friends and combine your submissions to reduce the submission fee....

We urge everyone to have a look at the proposed development, and if you have any concerns to make a submission to An Bord Pleanala. The closing date for submissions is 25th August 2015 - more information is available here;

Doohamlet Community Text Alert Scheme
Over 150 people have already signed up for Doohamlet's Community Text Alert Scheme! The scheme will be launched on the 4th March 2015 at 8pm in Doohamlet Community Centre. Guest speakers on the night will include Ms Vanessa Clarke of Muintir Na Tire, Sgt. Ken Coughlan, Cavan Monaghan Crime Prevention Officer Noel Harraghy and Community Liaison Garda Orla Nelson. Refreshments will be served afterwards - everyone welcome! Subscription to this service is just €5 and new members can join by contacting any of the committee members. More information is available here;
Text Alert Scheme Constitution
Policies & Procedures
Text Alert Scheme Terminology
Text Alert Scheme Information

Doohamlet Insect Hotel Project

In 2014 the DDCDA successfully received funding from Monaghan County Council's Local Agenda 21 Environment Partnership Fund 2013/2014 to undertake an environmental awareness project in the village. We aimed to build new habitats for wildlife in an effort to raise awareness of biodiversity and habitat loss in our area. As part of our Local Agenda 21 Environmental Awareness Project we have decided to focus on insects, but Why? Only 26 land mammal species are native to Ireland Ireland has 375 fish species in its coastal waters About 400 bird species have been recorded in Ireland. There are an estimated 11,500 species of insect recorded in Ireland. Many more remain to be found! Insects form a major part of our natural environment and are a key part of the local foodchain and ecosystem. A large insect hotel and signboard in the Community Garden explains the project and explains how you can create your own insect hotel, while 9 smaller insect hotels have been placed around the village to raise people's awareness of the project. Have you been able to find all 9 of them?? Many thanks to Monaghan County Council who funded the project, Paul Markey and James Rushe for their help in building the insect hotels, and to Eamonn Connolly and the Community Employment Scheme for their assistance in erecting them.

New Piece of Art for Doohamlet Village

If you would like to be involved in the development of a new piece of art to be featured in our village, we invite you to come along to a meeting on Tuesday, 23rd September at 7pm in the Golden Jubilee Hall (Doohamlet Community Centre).