Author name: highlandnews

The North’s Secretary of State is meeting Stormont party leaders again later – for further talks on a proposed financial package for Northern Ireland. The £2.5 billion offer includes a deal on pay for public sector workers,  who’ve been taking to the picket lines. But it’s dependent on the restoration of Stormont, which the DUP

  A Community Activist in Donegal has expressed grave concern at the government’s proposals to lessen the level of support for Ukranian refugees, saying he doesn’t believe the measures will reduce the numbers seeking support here. Declan Meehan, who manages the Milford & District Resource Centre, is one of the organisers of a welcome event

There’s calls for full transparency from Uisce Eireann in Donegal. The Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District says communication from the utility is severely lacking as he received correspondence from Uisce Eireann yesterday acknowledging a complaint he submitted in August. While attempting to report a water outage in Falcarragh today it initially was not accepted

There’s a warning that lives right across Donegal are at risk. It’s comes as it’s emerged eight ambulances were backed up outside Letterkenny University Hospital yesterday. Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn is to raise the matter along with the ongoing crisis at the hospital’s Emergency Department with the Taoiseach today. He is again calling for urgent

The average motor insurance premium last year cost a driver €568 – down 7% on 2021’s figures. That’s one of the findings from the Private Motor Insurance Report from the Central Bank which has been published today. The total earned premium for private motor insurance in Ireland in 2022 was €1.3 billion, with the industry

The US was one of ten countries which voted against a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. 23 other countries, including the UK, abstained from the vote on the Israel-Hamas conflict at the United Nations General Assembly last night. Ireland voted in favour, with the vast majority of the 193 members supporting

Drivers are warned of a new pedestrian crossing that is in place on the N56 in Carnmore in Dungloe. It is to come into effect at 11am this morning. Cllr. Micheal Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig has been calling for this crossing for at least four years. He is welcoming their installation:

Tend to more than just your land and livestock. That’s the message being shared to farmers this Christmas as a study at UCD has found that suicide ideation is twice as high among this cohort. Midland North West MEP Maria Walsh says more funding and targeted mental health initiatives need to be delivered. MEP Walsh

A Donegal Deputy pressed the Government for a cross-sectoral response to the mortgageability of remediated homes under the new defective concrete block redress scheme. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Dáil yesterday if a committee will be established, as outlined by the Banking and Payments Federation, as they cannot give mortgage assurances to homeowners with defective

Another price cut by SSE Airtricity is expected to trigger an energy price war. It’s cutting its electricity and gas rates from February 1st by between 13% and 11.5%. It follows cuts to its rates from the start of last month. But Daragh Cassidy from Bonkers.ie says these cuts are coming from a high price

Stricter rules for new arrivals from Ukraine have been agreed by Cabinet. State accommodation will be offered for the first 90 days only. In that time, a reduced welfare payment will be made of €38.80 cents per week, that’s down from €220. It will revert to the higher rate when people leave state accommodation. Taoiseach

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help repatriate the body of a Letterkenny University Hospital nurse’s mum to Zimbabwe. Valerie’s mum, Mavis travelled to Letterkenny to spend Christmas with her. Sadly, she passed away suddenly within 24 hours. The cost of repatriating Valerie’s mum’s body could exceed €10,500. Valerie’s friend, Faith, on today’s

The Health Minister says some hospitals are failing to clear their weekend patients, leading to an increase in trolley numbers. Stephen Donnelly says he has met with the HSE to ensure the right rostering is in place for the next few weekends. 747 patients were waiting for a hospital bed yesterday, 57 at Letterkenny University

It’s emerged a cattle trailer used in the theft of almost €40,000 worth of quads from a South Donegal business was stolen from a nearby business. Three brand new Suzuki quads were taken from Carron Quads, Ballintra between 1am and 7am yesterday morning. CCTV footage shows a white transit van, believed to be involved close

A Church was ransacked and cash stolen from a number of properties during a spate of burglaries in Inishowen in the early hours of yesterday morning. A sum of cash was stolen from a house in Lecamy while at St Columba’s Church, Ballinacrae, the sacristy was ransacked and damage caused to a tabernacle. It was

The Government is expected to sign off on a number of changes for new arrivals from Ukraine. Under the plans state accommodation would only be provided for 90 days. It’s also proposed while in State accommodation their welfare rate would be slashed from €220 euro to €38.80. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle says it’s a decision

Councillor Donal Coyle has been elected as the new Chair of the Donegal Education and Training Board. Councillor Coyle says the delivery of the new Errigal College building in Letterkenny will be high on his agenda. Having previously been a teacher and school principal for many years, he knows all to well how important education

A draft deal that falls short of calling for fossil fuels to be phased out, has sparked fury at UN Climate talks in Dubai. Environment Minister Eamon Ryan – who’s the EU lead negotiator on climate finance, says the text will have to be ‘re-worked’ if its to make it across the line. Minister Ryan

A number of people in Donegal Town were confused yesterday when the bottle banks were no longer there. A sign was in put in place by Donegal County Council to redirect the public to Laghy recycling centre, the nearest recycling facility available. Cllr Tom Conaghan says it is to facilitate resurfacing works on the site,

An independent report’s issued 37 recommendations following a major data breach at the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The force admits failing to “proactively secure and protect” the details of almost 9,500 officers and staff which were mistakenly published. PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher says the report highlights key areas where improvement is needed:

There were 57 admitted patients awaiting beds at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 21 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. That’s the second highest figure in the country after Limerick, which had 109. Sligo University Hospital returned the country’s third highest figure of 54, 34 of whom were on trolleys in the ED. That gives

The Special Needs Parents Donegal Network say they had a very positive meeting with the HSE on Friday to discuss issues with Childrens’ Disability Network Teams and the availability of equipment and services. Spokesperson Jo Corkery says they made progress on redeployment, school service provision and equipment needs, although more needs to be done, and

The preliminary results of a study into the cause of defective concrete blocks in Donegal suggests the primary cause of the problem is sulphate attack caused by pyrrotite, with direct evidence that foundations are also being attacked and are at risk of failure. Professor Paul Dunlop of the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at

Donegal County Council is to explore the possibility of developing a marine safety initiative, similar to the road safety roadshow which has been attended by thousands of Transition Year students in the county. The suggestion was made by Cllr Martin McDermott, who says he was struck by the fact that a recent rescue on Lough