Author name: highlandnews

The Rector in charge of the group of parishes which includes St Eunan’s Cathedral in Raphoe has spoken of her shock and distress at the vandalism of headstones in the graveyard grounds. Yesterday, gardai issued an appeal for information after damage was caused to eight headstones, some of which were broken while others were pulled

The Agriculture Minister says he disagrees with claims the government has ‘let farmers down’. The claim was made by the Irish Farmer’s Association President Francie Gorman at its AGM yesterday. He told the meeting that farmers’ livelihoods are ‘under threat’, and believes there has been an ‘abject failure’ by the government in relation to delayed

Early Childhood Ireland says 8,200 children in Donegal are being failed. The organisation says the ongoing issues facing early years and school age care settings in Donegal can only be addressed with a coherent 5 year plan. They say the lack of proper planning is failing providers, parents, and, most importantly, the estimated 8,209 children

Minister Eamon Ryan is due to visit Donegal this week. The Minister is expected to travel to County House Lifford on Friday afternoon. Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District, Councillor Michael McClafferty says he will seize the opportunity to make the Minister aware of the issues facing people in Donegal, particularly in rural areas. Councillor

A major announcement on the UK Post Office/Horizon scandal is expected today from the British Prime Minister. More than 700 sub postmasters, including in Co Tyrone and Derry were wrongly convicted over financial irregularities between 1999 and 2015 – which were caused by a faulty computer system. The scandal’s in the spotlight after the release

A re-evaluation of the Fair Deal scheme may be one way to ease the pressure on the nursing home sector The ESRI reported yesterday that 60 nursing homes had closed between 2018 and 2022 with 336 beds lost since the start of the pandemic. There are warnings that more homes may close their doors this

85% of households in Donegal still reliant on high carbon fuels for home heating. That’s according to a report published by Liquid Gas Ireland yesterday. They say that many rural counties have a high rate of fossil fuel dependency, and in the case of home heating oil between census 2022 and 2016, that has increase

Temperatures could drop as low as minus three tonight. Met Eireann’s cold weather advisory is to remain in place until Saturday morning. It’s warning of widespread frost and ice, as well as hazardous travelling conditions. Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather says the current cold spell is here to stay:

Five people including a young child have escaped serious injury following a fire in Buncrana last night. Part of Church Street remains closed off to facilitate a technical examination of the scene following the blaze which broke out shortly after 1am at apartments above a restaurant. All occupants were evacuated and a number taken to

Donegal County Council is once again being urged to expand it’s winter gritting programme. It’s after a car overturned on a busy road in the Gweedore area yesterday in icy conditions. Councillor Micheal Choilm MacGiolla Easbuig says there are many houses along the Meenaniller road as well the NowDoc service, a nursing home and school.

An Inishowen Councillor believes a gang is responsible for an overnight break in at his shop in Culdaff. Extensive damage was caused and McGuinness’ Grocery Store ransacked sometime between 3:30am and 4am this morning. It’s believed tools stolen from a nearby farmyard were used to gain entry to the shop. A large amount of cigarettes

2023 was a record breaking year for ShopLK gift card sales. Over €5.7 million worth of gift cards were sold last year. Since its establishment in 2004 by Letterkenny Chamber, sales have increased year on year. Chamber President, Fionnuala Rabbitt says the economic benefit of the card sales is four fold:

Gardai have described the damaging of headstones in the graveyard at St Eunan’s Cathedral, The Diamond, Raphoe as ‘despicable’. Damage was caused to 8 headstones, some were broken while others were pulled out of the ground between December 19th and January 3rd. Meanwhile, on January 3rd between 12:10pm and 2pm a person entered the graveyard

A large amount of money and a substantial amount of valuable jewellery has been stolen from a house in Letterkenny. A safe within the property at Creeve was forced open and a number of rooms ransacked between 3pm on Wednesday last and 12:10am on Thursday. Among the items of jewellery stolen was a white gold

A Donegal doctor is warning of an increase in scabies. The condition is a highly contagious skin infestation caused by mites that get under the skin and lay eggs. An increase in the condition has been reported in the UK also with fears extreme shortages of treatments will lead to the spread of it. Dr

The Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Grant scheme is designed not to work. That’s according to an affected homeowner and campaigner. Paddy Diver says there’s widespread frustration among those impacted with their mental health suffering as a result. He told today’s Nine til Noon Show that the vulnerable are being left even more vulnerable by the

Nursing Homes Ireland says an ESRI report released today, must act as a wake up call to Government. It shows a reduction of 336 beds from the beginning of the pandemic, while HIQA has recorded 50 nursing home closures between 2018 and 2022. The report shows Donegal has one of the lowest supply of nursing

There’s further calls for urgent clarity on the future of the mental health residential unit in Carndonagh. The unit provides residential and outreach services for patients experiencing mental health difficulties. Aontu representative, Mary T Sweeney has described the proposal to close the facility as ‘senseless’. She says an expansion of the services is vitally needed

It’s emerged the Finance Minister ignored warnings from officials in his Department before introducing tax breaks for landlords in the Budget. A FOI request by Sinn Fein found Michael McGrath was advised against moves that would see landlords receiving a boost of 1 thousand euro a year by 2026. The Minister said the measure was

It’s been confirmed that the Banking and Insurance Redress Focus Group will continue its work. That is despite an announcement in recent days that the Redress Focus Groups were unable to carry on due to a lack of resources, support and assistance. Members of the Banking and Insurance Redress Group have been invited to a

Donegal County Council and Letterkenny-based ERNACT network are co-designing a community-based Virtual Power Plant with another four communities in Northern Europe under a budget of €1,498,935. The project commenced in June 2023 with the first steps to develop a viable business model completed. Once operational, the plant will collect, analyse and communicate real-time energy data

A workshop was hosted in Ulster University to examine the difference between the responses to the defective concrete crisis in Quebec and in the Donegal/Derry region. It was hosted by Dr Eileen Doherty and Professor Paul Dunlop who visited Canada last September. Issues arose in both countries around the same time in the year 2010,

The Redress Focus Groups are stopping operations. The campaign group released a statement on Saturday saying that due to a lack of resources, support or assistance, they would not be able to keep the initiative to its current level. Roisin Gallagher, founder of the groups added it’s hoped this will be a temporary pause: Statement

Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty hopes a General Election takes place this year. Yesterday’s Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent opinion poll revealed that support for Sinn Fein is up to 30% while support for Fine Gael has dropped to 20% and backing for Fianna Fail is down to 17%. Deputy Doherty told today’s Nine til Noon Show that