Monaghan and Cavan Men's Sheds Left "in Limbo" as the 2025-26 Grant Will Not Be Paid
Representatives of sheds from Cavan and Monaghan met in Belturbet over the loss of the 2025-26 Men's Sheds grant. The Irish Men's Sheds Association says the next dedicated grant is expected in 2027.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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Hall Street, Ballybay. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
Men's sheds in Cavan and Monaghan have been left "in limbo" after the 2025-26 Men's Sheds grant was cancelled, Sinn Féin Cllr Damien Brady told the October meeting of Cavan County Council, the Anglo-Celt reported.
Cllr Brady said he attended a recent meeting in Belturbet where representatives of sheds from across Cavan and Monaghan discussed the funding uncertainty. "There was a lot of confusion around the decision," he said. He explained that sheds are not-for-profit and depend on grants to cover basic running costs. The money "can make the difference between a shed having to reduce its opening hours and potentially closing down altogether."
An 18-month gap
Sinn Féin's rural affairs spokesperson, Conor McGuinness TD, said on 15 September that the Irish Men's Sheds Association (IMSA) had confirmed the 2025-26 grant would not go ahead. The next dedicated grant is expected in 2027. He said this leaves sheds without dedicated support for running costs such as rent, insurance, electricity and heating from May 2025 to the end of 2026, and called on Minister Dara Calleary to restore the grant or provide interim funding.
Cllr Brady cited figures showing that at least 10,000 men visit a shed every week in Ireland.
Sources
This article is an original summary based on the following reporting. We encourage readers to visit the original sources for full coverage.
Members from Men's Sheds across Cavan and Monaghan met in Belturbet after the 2025/26 sustainability grant was not paid. Monaghan has four sheds — Ballybay, Carrickmacross, Clones and Monaghan Town — and Cllr Damien Brady says groups remain in limbo in the final quarter of 2026.
HSE Dublin and North East has two places on its Patient and Service User Council, one for a young adult aged 18 to 25 and one for someone from an under-served community. Monaghan residents can apply.
Twelve homes were listed to rent in County Monaghan on Daft.ie this week, Northern Sound reports, part of a rise across Cavan and Monaghan from single-digit totals at the end of August.
