Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 5, 11, 13 and 21. Jackpot of €2,500 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Mary Gormley c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Oisín Reilly c/o Ladies Club; €40 Mullen family (Glencove Manor) c/o Mick Farrell; €40 Marian O’Brien c/o Ashley White. Jackpot for January 8 is €2,650. Thanks to everyone who supports and promotes our Lotto and we hope 2012 is another successful year. Everyone is welcome to the Lotto draw every Sunday night and we would love to see more people regularly attending.

Charity match: Our annual charity match was a great success on the Bank Holiday Monday, January 2. As is traditional, Hugh Coyle threw the ball in to start the game, which featured players from all sections of the club and a wide range of generations, some of whom were being head-hunted by Dermot Brannigan for the Over-35s afterwards. An enjoyable, sporting game ended with Mark McCabe as the match-winner when he scored his second goal to the delight of the big crowd in attendance. The game was refereed by John McCoy, who adopted a ‘let-it-flow’ approach! The clubhouse was busy after the match, with music by O’Hanlon’s Horsebox keeping the crowd entertained, a raffle taking place thanks to the generosity of local businesses and many staying on for the Lotto draw. Well done to Owen Connell for doing a great job in organising the day and we look forward to doing it again next year. Thanks to everyone who took part and donated money, which will go to local charities. We are also grateful for the support of businesses based in the town – some prominent businessmen such as Colm Herron, Frank McEnaney and Terry Gilsenan took part in the game. Keep an eye on the club notes for details of the money raised and the chosen charities.

Monaghan Harps Christmas Variety Concert: We hosted a Christmas concert in the clubhouse on St. Stephen’s Day and it was a very enjoyable and well-attended night. Thanks to all involved in organising it, particularly our Cultural Officer Gerard Clerkin. The concert and session showcased the talent within the club and hopefully, this won’t be a one-off event.

Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise: Happy New Year to all our members, players, sponsors and supporters and best wishes for 2012.

Twitter/McKenna Cup: Monaghan’s game against St. Mary’s in the Dr. McKenna Cup will be tweeted live on the Monaghan GAA twitter page on Sunday. Good luck to our representatives in the first competitive inter-county match of the year in Clones. Don’t forget that we are also on twitter, so follow @MonaghanHarps to keep up with club news.

Upcoming dates: The club’s first monthly meeting of 2012 takes place next Thursday (January 12). Club Officer training for Monaghan has been fixed for St. Macartan’s College on Saturday, March 10.

Membership: Membership fees for 2012, which are being maintained at €20 or €50 for a family, can now be paid to registrar Maurice Galligan c/o Cosy Bar or to Liadhan Treanor in the clubhouse.

Wedding bells: Congratulations and best wishes to Alison Coyle and Dick Clerkin, who got married at St. Macartan’s Cathedral last week.

Sympathy: We offer our sympathy to Club Chairman Dermot Brannigan on the death of his aunt, Una McGarry.

Handball: Ramunas arrived back on New Year’s Day and expressed his delight at having the opportunity of playing in the USA. He reached the last eight and was beaten by the eventual winner, Colin Corbett. Ramunas played excellent handball against Garrett Hurst from California, when he won 21-3, 21-1. In the last 16 he defeated Austin Biddle from Oregon by 21-7, 21-4. Our Challenger 2 competition was won by Eoghan McGinnity who defeated Conor Myles over two close games. In fact the referee for this final was none other than the great Ducksy Walsh who has been coaching our young players recently. He was treated to an excellent performance by two young players with Eoghan in particular showing marvellous backwall kill-shots. What followed was a two-hour coaching session led by Ducksy and Martin. Later on the club held a Christmas party for all juveniles. Thanks to local sponsors for providing refreshments.

Notes: If anyone has any news they want included in the club notes, please email them to pro.monaghanharps.monaghan@gaa.ie by Tuesday morning.

Clubhouse: The Gavan Duffy Park clubhouse, which offers a comfortable lounge and function-room and ample car-parking space, is available to book for parties and functions, by contacting Liadhan Treanor at 086 7837204.