The headquarters of the amalgamated Cavan and Monaghan VEC is to be in Monaghan.

There will be a sub-office for the merged VEC in Cavan.

The Government announced revised proposals for VEC mergers in June.

The Government is cutting the number of committees from 33 to 16 - a move which had been mooted by the previous administration, although the original plan was slightly changed, affecting different areas.

This news is another boost to the County Monaghan VEC - work is already underway on the new Education campus on the Armagh Road.

The €35 million Education Campus is the largest school building project in the State this year.

Speaking following the announcement by the Minster for Education, Ruairi Quinn, that the location for the merged Cavan Monaghan VEC will be in County Monaghan Sinn Féin VEC Councillor Matt Carthy said:

“As someone who is opposed to the planned merger of VEC’s I do however welcome the announcement that the headquarters of the suggested Cavan Monaghan committee will be in County Monaghan. On far too many occasions in the past when public services have been moved it has been Monaghan that has lost out.

“I also welcome the fact that Cavan will retain a sub headquarters. That is only right and fair.

“I commend the members of County Monaghan VEC and the CEO and staff and the other voices who made a comprehensive case that Monaghan should be the location of the Cavan Monaghan VEC committee should such a merger proceed.”

Fine Gael deputy Sean Conlon says the announcement about the headquarters is a first step towards retaining services in Co Monaghan, while his colleague, Heather Humphreys says an Oireachtas delegation from Monaghan met with Minister Quinn to put forward a strong case as to why the headquartered VEC should be located in Monaghan.

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The Government announced revised proposals for VEC mergers in June.There will be a sub-office for the merged VEC in Cavan.

The Government is cutting the number of committees from 33 to 16 - a move which had been mooted by the previous administration, although the original plan was slightly changed, affecting different areas.

This news is another boost to the County Monaghan VEC - work is already underway on the new Education campus on the Armagh Road.

The €35 million Education Campus is the largest school building project in the State this year.

Speaking following the announcement by the Minster for Education, Ruairi Quinn, that the location for the merged Cavan Monaghan VEC will be in County Monaghan.   Sinn Féin VEC Councillor Matt Carthy said:

“As someone who is opposed to the planned merger of VEC’s I do however welcome the announcement that the headquarters of the suggested Cavan Monaghan committee will be in County Monaghan. On far too many occasions in the past when public services have been moved it has been Monaghan that has lost out.

“I also welcome the fact that Cavan will retain a sub headquarters. That is only right and fair.

“I commend the members of County Monaghan VEC and the CEO and staff and the other voices who made a comprehensive case that Monaghan should be the location of the Cavan Monaghan VEC committee should such a merger proceed.”

Fine Gael deputy Sean Conlon says the announcement about the headquarters is a first step towards retaining services in Co Monaghan, while his colleague, Heather Humphreys says an Oireachtas delegation from Monaghan met with Minister Quinn to put forward a strong case as to why the headquartered VEC should be located in Monaghan.Fine Gael TD for Cavan Monaghan Heather Humphreys expressed her “absolute delight” following the announcement by Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn that the headquarters for the newly merged Cavan/Monaghan VEC will be located in County Monaghan.

Deputy Humphreys said the news represented further good for Monaghan from an educational perspective.

“The decision to locate the new VEC headquarters in Co Monaghan along with the commencement of works on the new educational campus points to a bright future for Monaghan in terms of expanded educational facilities.

“I and my Oireachtas colleagues in Monaghan, Deputy Sean Conlan and Deputy Caoimhghin O’Caolain previously held a meeting with Minister Ruairi Quinn in relation to the location of the VEC headquarters following the merger between Cavan and Monaghan VEC. At that meeting, Minister Quinn was made fully aware of the benefits of locating the headquarters in Co Monaghan.

“First and foremost the Minister acknowledged that we have an excellent CEO in the form of Mr Martin O’Brien. As a former member of the VEC, I would just like to acknowledge the huge work Martin has done since coming to Monaghan. He has pioneered the construction of the new education campus on the old army barracks site and has been very successful in obtaining funding for many other projects in VEC schools throughout the county at a time when there is limited resources available.

“In the past, much has been made of the fact that Monaghan has lost out on a number of important services and with that in mind, it is hugely encouraging to see that on this occasion we have been chosen as the preferred destination to locate this vitally important facility.

“Following the Government’s announcement regarding the amalgamations of VECs in June, there was a fear that once again Monaghan would lose an important service to the county. It is for this reason that we felt it was necessary to arrange the meeting with Minister Quinn to ensure that these concerns were brought to his attention. It’s important to point out that there was a cross party presence at that meeting and that Minister Quinn was very receptive to the points raised. I believe that the Minister’s decision reflects what is possible when we all work together for the benefit of Co. Monaghan.

“Following on from the meeting with Minister Quinn, I also raised this matter with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD. I made the point to him that in recent years a number of important enterprises in Co Monaghan have closed. The loss of these facilities coalesced with the fact that Monaghan is located in close proximity to the border meant that the town had suffered substantially from an economic perspective and in this respect the further loss of the VEC service simply could not be countenanced.

“This announcement represents a significant boost for Co Monaghan however it is important to remember that there will also be an office located in Cavan town and in that respect Co Cavan will not be left without a VEC presence,” concluded Deputy Humphreys.