Author name: highlandnews

The PSNI has confirmed 16 officers were injured after rioting broke out in Derry yesterday. Police were carrying out searches in the Creggan area of the city, as part of a terrorisim investigation, at the time. It’s thought children as young as 8 were involved in the disorder. Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton:

The Agriculture Minister says his door is always open to farming groups, who want to discuss issues affecting the industry. It follows a large picket outside the Department of Agriculture yesterday, where a meeting was scheduled to take place to discuss new nitrogen limits. Four of the five farm groups invited to the meeting by

Industrial disputes will increase in the coming months, if the Government doesn’t offset the rising cost of living. SIPTU says the Coalition must take steps to increase real wages for its workers, as inflation reached 6.3% this week. Energy, fuel and social welfare are areas identified by the Union, where the State could intercede. SIPTU’s

The government’s being warned the taxation of construction materials is counterproductive during the current accommodation crisis. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland is opposing the 5% Defective Concrete Products Levy, saying it hinders development at a time when construction costs are soaring. It was introduced following the publication of a redress scheme for those impacted

Farm leaders are being told they were ‘wrong not to attend’ yesterday’s meeting with the Agriculture Minister. The Irish Farmers’ Association was meant to talk to Charlie McConalogue about new changes to nitrogen limits for dairy farmers,  but boycotted the meeting instead. It held a picket with four other groups outside the Department of Agriculture,

Uisce Eireann has been criticised for failing to inform a significant number of Buncrana businesses prior to planned works which forced them to close their doors. Councillor Rena Donaghey says it is totally unacceptable that business owners were not informed of the works and were left without water for four hours. She has called on

Agriculture and Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue has pledged to invest money from the new Maritime Fund into an initiative to attract more young people into the fishing industry. He was speaking at an online meeting of Donegal County Council’s Fisheries Committee, which was told there have been only 20 new entrants into the sector this

O’Doherty’s Keep in Buncrana has been sold to a private bidder. The owners of the Keep in Swan Park felt they were left with no other option but to put it on the market as they made fruitless attempts to secure funding to restore it and keep it in use. Councillor Jack Murray says the

Uisce Eireann is appealing to people in Donegal to conserve water. The utility says they are experiencing some issues in the Letterkenny area as the county basks in sunshine. Uisce Eireann has renewed its appeal to people to ‘Think Water Conservation’ as the warm weather is set to remain for a few days and demand

The OPW has been criticised after it emerged the gate into Grianan of Aileach is being locked in the evenings, it seems without any consultation with Donegal County Council or the local community. Cllr Jack Murray says this came to light when a visitor attempted to get into the facility to photograph the sunset earlier

Families of those killed during the Troubles say the passing of the British Government’s legacy bill marks “a dark day for justice”. Despite widespread opposition – it’s cleared the UK House of Lords and is now on the verge of becoming law. The bill will effectively end prosecutions linked to past violence – and stop

A new second tier of child benefit could lift 40 thousand children in Ireland out of poverty. The ESRI has carried out an analysis of increases to the payment, and found a second tier of eligibility would help more children. It found a second rate of the payment would help more than 100 thousand households,

Ireland set new record highs for wind generation in August. A new report from Wind Energy Ireland shows the amount of electricity generated by wind last month was up 71 per cent on the previous August. It means Irish wind farms provided 32 per cent of the island’s electricity over the first eight months of

The number of empty shops and offices across the country is the highest its been in a decade. A Geodirectory report shows the amount of vacant commercial properties around the country rose by 0.2 per cent to 14.1 per cent, the highest level on record since 2013. 20 out of the counties surveyed recorded rises

Ned’s Point is a fire hazard waiting to happen. That’s the view of Councillor Nicholas Crossan who is calling for a number of fire hydrants to be installed in the locality. He fears given the landscape with houses dotted among a vast amount of trees, if a fire was to start it would engulf the

An Inishowen Councillor is warning that businesses are on the brink of closure due to the lack of tourism in the peninsula. Councillor Johnny McGuinness says there is a lack of enthusiasm from Failte Ireland and Donegal County Council to promote Inishowen as a tourist destination. He says as a result, businesses are being severely

Controversial legislation that would end historical prosecutions related to the Troubles has passed the Commons. The law change, which is opposed by every political party in Northern Ireland, would end Troubles related prosecutions and offer conditional amnesty to those accused of various murders. The legislation is expected to get Royal assent in the coming days.

The Mica Action Group is hosting a series of public meetings in the coming weeks on the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme. The meetings aim to update homeowners on the enhanced scheme which came into force in July. MAG Chair, Lisa Hone says affected homeowners are still struggling to get to grips with the scheme:  

A person has been rescued after suffering a cardiac arrest on Mount Errigal this afternoon. A rescue operation involving the Rescue 118 helicopter, Donegal Mountain Rescue and the fire service was launched earlier. Malin Head Coast Guard has confirmed that the person has been airlifted to Letterkenny University Hospital. Laura McFadden, PRO Donegal Mountain Rescue

  The owner of the Adventure One Surf School says she is rebuilding her business after their storage facility was burnt down at the weekend. It happened at Glassan, Creeslough, close to the local national school at around 4 o’clock on Sunday morning last. Anne O’Donnell says having spent five years building up the business,

A Defective Block homeowner who is living in a mobile home with his family after the recent demolition of their home in Donegal says they are now stalled in limbo, because while they’ve been told they had clearance to demolish and rebuild, delays in changing from the old scheme to the new scheme mean they still haven’t

The CEO of Inclusion Ireland says they were saddened and shocked but not surprised by revelations in latest report from the Ombudsman for Children. The Nowhere To Turn investigation found children with disabilities were being left in inappropriate healthcare settings because proper respite services were not available to them. The OCO report highlighted the story

The government is being warned that pressures on voluntary and community organisations providing supports for people with mental health issues have reached unsustainable levels. The national coalition for mental health, which represents over 80 organisations, says the voluntary and community sector requires 115 million euro to meet demand. CEO of Mental Health Reform Fiona Coyle

People’s lives are being put in danger because hedges can’t be cut. That’s according to Councillor Martin who is calling for a review of the current policy prohibiting hedge cutting between March and September. He believes there needs to be flexibility when it comes to overgrown hedges which are impacting road visibility. Councillor McDermott says