Author name: highlandnews

All roads on DCC’s winter programme to be gritted tonight

Donegal County Council has confirmed that all designated routes will be gritted from 8 o’clock this evening. The roads are as follows: 01: National Primary North 02: National Primary Central 03: National Primary South 04: Inishowen South 05: Inishowen East 06: Inishowen West 07: Milford South 08: Milford North 09: Cill Ulta East 10: Cill

All roads on DCC’s winter programme to be gritted tonight Read More »

Madden & Finucane Solicitors secure maximum award for historical abuse victim

Madden & Finucane Solicitors, has secured the maximum £80,000 award for a client from the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board. The client suffered one of the most severe cases of abuse heard to date by the board, which is responsible for compensating victims of abuse in Northern Ireland’s residential institutions between 1922 and 1995. In

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Uisce Éireann and NI Water join forces to improve water quality in Donegal

Uisce Éireann and NI Water have announced a €32 million PEACEPLUS project called the Water Enhancements through Sustainable Treatment or WEST, to improve water quality in Donegal Bay, Lough Erne and Lough Melvin. The project will address water quality issues caused by agriculture, forestry, and urban runoff in counties Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh,

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Inpatient waiting lists up and outpatient lists down at LUH

National Treatment Purchase Fund figures have been released for November, showing a slight increase in the numbers on the inpatient waiting list at Letterkenny University Hospital, but a fall in the numbers waiting for outpatient appointments. There were 1,349 people awaiting inpatient appointments, up just over 2%, and 14,427 awaiting outpatients appointments, down just over

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DCC passes 3 Year Capital Budget providing for projects worth €1.8 billion

It’s estimated that almost €1.8 billion will be spent on capital projects in Donegal over the next three years, with €418 million set to be spent in 2025. As well as passing its revenue budget at the third time of asking last evening, Donegal County Council also passed its three year capital budget. Chief Executive

DCC passes 3 Year Capital Budget providing for projects worth €1.8 billion Read More »

Midlands NW MEP calls for EU crackdown on deepfakes

There are calls for the EU to crackdown on deepfakes. They’re images, videos, or audio edited using AI, sometimes depicting fake scenes involving real people. The European Parliament’s Gender Equality Committee has passed an amendment from Midlands North West MEP Maria Walsh, calling on the EU to speed up detection and prevention of deepfakes. She

Midlands NW MEP calls for EU crackdown on deepfakes Read More »

Man continues to be questioned in connection with disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin

A man in his 30s is continuing to be questioned by Gardai in relation to the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin. The child was reported missing in August of this year but Gardai believe he was last seen alive in 2022. Yesterday, Gardai searched two properties in County Louth in relation

Man continues to be questioned in connection with disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin Read More »

Labour TDs to meet later to discuss whether to continue with coalition formation talks

Labour Party TDs are meeting later to discuss whether to continue with coalition formation talks. Ivana Bacik met with Simon Harris and Micheál Martin earlier this week. The Labour Party leader will give a recommendation to her parliamentary party this afternoon and it’s expected that will be not to continue with discussions about forming a

Labour TDs to meet later to discuss whether to continue with coalition formation talks Read More »

Information not yet given to Private Rooney’s family will soon be made available

Information not yet given to the family of Private Sean Rooney regarding his death will soon be made available to them. Private Rooney, a native of Newtowncunningham was killed after the convoy he was travelling in came under attack in December 2022 in Lebanon. His family previously expressed frustration that the UN had failed to

Information not yet given to Private Rooney’s family will soon be made available Read More »

Commercial rates will remain the same for 2025 – John McLaughlin

Next year’s budget for Donegal County Council was passed yesterday after lengthy deliberations and two adjourned meetings. The impasse was a 4.47% increase in commercial rates, which most elected members could not agree to. However, the executive was able to cut the projected expenditure by €1.5 million to cover the cost of keeping the rate

Commercial rates will remain the same for 2025 – John McLaughlin Read More »

Donegal County Council, County House, Lifford

Donegal County Council pass Budget 2025

After two adjournments, Donegal County Council has finally passed its 2025 budget. The revised document, which was presented this afternoon, includes no commercial rate increase. Council officials worked over the weekend to reduce the estimated spending plan by €1.5 million and introduce cost-saving measures. Cathaoirleach Cllr Niamh Kennedy, speaking at County House Lifford, expressed concern

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Donegal County Council set to pass budget at third time of asking

Donegal Council is set to pass its budget for 2025. When the budget meeting reconvened this afternoon after two previous adjournments, a revised document was presented which does not involve any rates increase. Members were assured there will be no major reduction in services. Opening the meeting this afternoon, Cathaoirleach Cllr Niamh Kennedy confirmed that

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Advisory committee formed in Creeslough to advise Irish Red Cross of grant applications

An advisory committee has been formed in Creeslough to advise the Irish Red Cross on how the Community Grant Scheme for the area should be spent. Voluntary, community and social groups as well as non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations, schools, sports clubs, and groups operating in the areas where those impacted by the Creeslough tragedy live

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Doherty concedes SF is most likely heading for the opposition benches

Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has acknowledged that there is little prospect of his party Sinn Fein being able to form a government, and they will be concentrating on being a strong and effective opposition. This week, Sinn Fein is speaking to Labour, the Social Democrats, and other parties of the left. However, on today’s Nine

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Donegal people expected to spend an average of €615 per person this Christmas

People in Donegal are expected to spend an average of €615 per person on Christmas gifts this year. According to PayPal, the average spend on social outings in the county is expected to be €303 this festive season. 46% of Irish consumers surveyed say they would prefer to send money to family and friends to

Donegal people expected to spend an average of €615 per person this Christmas Read More »

Car seized and fines issued at multi-agency checkpoints in Inishowen

A vehicle has been seized and a number of fines issued during multi-agency checkpoints in Inishowen this week. On Tuesday, the Road Safety Authority, Revenue and waste enforcement officers from Donegal County Council assisted Gardaí at several checkpoints in the peninsula. Gardai say three vehicles turned away from the checkpoints. They were followed and this

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Fishing groups say EU quota agreements “probably as good as we could hope for”

Fishing groups say agreements on EU fishing quotas for next year were “probably as good as we could hope for”. European Fisheries Ministers reached agreement after prolonged negotiations on opportunities for Irish and EU fishers in the early hours of yesterday morning. While the overall quota is up 4 per cent, two of the most

Fishing groups say EU quota agreements “probably as good as we could hope for” Read More »

Taoiseach says it’s important to get new Government in place for January

The Taoiseach says it’s important to get a new government in place for January. Simon Harris says negotiating teams will continue to meet over the coming days, in the hope of agreeing a serious policy framework within the next few weeks. Meanwhile the Social Democrats are expected to announce whether or not the party will

Taoiseach says it’s important to get new Government in place for January Read More »

Derry City and border areas named frequent locations of vehicle ramming

A total of 58 police officers have reported injuries after being involved in incidents where police vehicles have been deliberately rammed this year. A large amount of this occurred in Derry. PSNI have recorded 40 rammings this year until the 30th of November. However, it’s believed the figure may not fully reflect the true extent

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Donegal County Council, County House, Lifford

Hopes agreement will be reached for DCC budget 2025 as talks enter third day

A meeting to discuss the Donegal County Council Draft Budget for 2025 is to enter its third session today. An increase in commercial rates to 4.47% has become a roadblock to members reaching an agreement. A number of private meetings have taken place between the executive and elected member groups since the initial meeting date,

Hopes agreement will be reached for DCC budget 2025 as talks enter third day Read More »

Major outage affecting Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

Tech giant Meta is currently experiencing a major outage across all its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Users are reporting issues with accessing the social media sites right across the world. 888 Facebook users in Ireland have reported problems to the website Downdetector while 583 reports of issues with Whatsapp have been recorded over

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Donegal business man awarded €140,000 in court over social media post

Peter Casey, a Donegal businessman and former presidential candidate has been awarded €140,000 in damages for defamation, arising from a social media post. RTÉ reports that Acupuncturist, and former local and general election candidate Kim McMenamin made the post on Facebook in April 2023 to 2,000 followers. It was in relation to a property in

Donegal business man awarded €140,000 in court over social media post Read More »

Man convicted of PSNI officer’s manslaughter is sentenced after failing to return to prison

A 37-year-old man has been sentenced at Craigavon Crown Court today, Wednesday 11th December, for being unlawfully at large while under sentence. Shane Frane was given a sentence of six months, to run consecutively with the one he is currently serving. Mr Frane was released from Maghaberry Prison on January 17th last on an eight

Man convicted of PSNI officer’s manslaughter is sentenced after failing to return to prison Read More »

Uisce Eireann dealing with burst pipes in Letterkenny and Buncrana

Uisce Eireann says repairs to a burst water main in Letterkenny may cause supply disruptions to customers in Hawthorn Heights and surrounding areas this afternoon, with works are scheduled to take place until 5pm. Meanwhile, repairs to a burst water main in Buncrana may cause supply disruptions in Lisfannon Heights and surrounding areas until 6:30

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Road safety message must be emphasised – NW Road Safety Partnership

The North West Road Safety Partnership has launched its Christmas Road Safety Campaign, aimed at promoting safe driving during the festive season across the North West of Northern Ireland. The group covers the Derry City and Strabane, and Causeway Coast and Glens council areas, but is stressing that with 18 deaths on Donegal’s roads so

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McConalogue welomes overnight agreement on EU fish quotas

Agreement on fish quotas for 2025 has been reached by the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council. The negotiations, which began on Monday and concluded in the early hours of this morning. Marine Minister  Charlie McConalogue says the outcome is positive, as the talks resulted in the successful application of the Ireland’s Hague Preferences for a

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