2023 in review - Looking back on January in Louth

January 3rd 2023

2023 started of on a positive note with local photographer Ciarán Culligan raising an incredible €4,780 for the Little Princess children’s charity after running the Dublin City Marathon.

Ten years after his last marathon, Ciarán was inspired to take on the feat by his nine-year-old daughter Emily, who wanted to fundraise for the charity which provides wigs for children who have Alopecia or are undergoing cancer treatment.

Emily, who had Alopecia since she was 18 months old and got a wig from the little Princess Trust, asked her dad to run another marathon to help raise funds for the charity and give another child the gift of being able to wear a wig when they choose.

January 10th 2023

Dundalk Simon Community raised a fantastic €12,000 from their annual sleep out fundraiser, bringing the total since the appeal began a decade ago to €140,000.

The appeal was started ten years ago by local Greenacres couple Maeve and Terry Curtis, who encouraged people to swap their beds for a sleeping bag for one night of the year.

Sadly, Terry passed away in September 2022 but Maeve was determined to continue with the yearly fundraiser, alongside some hardy volunteers, in his memory.

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Colleagues of fallen soldier Seán Rooney set up a charity fundraiser in his memory. Irish soldiers serving with 121 UNIFIL in Lebanon launched the Seán Rooney 100km run in January to raise money in aid of Rainbows Ireland Child and Youth Grief and Loss Support CLG.

Private Rooney, a Dundalk native who lived in Newtowncunningham, was killed while driving a UN-marked armoured utility vehicle, which came under attack in the Al-Aqbieh area of south Lebanon after becoming separated from an accompanying vehicle.

January 17th 2023

There were no properties available to rent under a standard Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme in Dundalk, and just six properties available to rent under the discretionary HAP rate, the latest Locked Out of the Market study undertaken by Simon Communities of Ireland revealed in January.

January 24th 2023

The plight of people in the mid Louth area who were without water on Christmas Day, and in some cases, right up to 31 December, was highlighted at January's Louth County Council meeting, with Cllr Pearse McGeough telling the meeting that Irish Water is “not fit for purpose”.

Louth people were faced with issues over the festive period including low pressure, outages and “undrinkable water”, Cllr McGeough told the Dundalk Democrat.

“To have no water for a few hours on any given day is inconvenient and a nuisance”, Cllr McGeough commented, “but imagine your water going off on Christmas Day, just as you are preparing the Christmas dinner and trying to get the children washed and dressed for the big day.”

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Argos announced in January that it was closing all its outlets in Ireland, including its stores in Dundalk and Drogheda with the loss of 32 jobs in Louth.

Campaigners protested at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda in January as part of a nationwide campaign calling for the government to increase capacity in Emergency Departments as well as committing to investing in more doctors, nurses and consultants.

January 31st 2023

The Carolan family from Kilkerley raised a massive €5,927 for St. James's Hospital from donations made to their Christmas lights fundraiser. It was their third year raising money for charity.

In 2020, they raised €4,303 for the Dundalk Simon Community. Then in 2021, they raised €8,321.38 for The Rotunda Foundation and the NICU in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Dundalk School of Music (DSM) in January named the first recipient of the scholarship created to support upcoming musicians and vocalists, in honour of the late Liam Reilly, singer/songwriter of Bagatelle fame.

This year’s scholarship was awarded to 17-year-old Meadhbh McCauley from Blackrock who has been playing piano for 10 years, beginning her training with Patricia Duffy in the Dundalk School of Music in 2012.