Author name: highlandnews

There were calls made to level the playing field in for the Tidy Town Competition in the most recent Inishowen Municipal District Meeting. This year the area seen many awards, including a gold medal for Buncrana. However councillors raised concerns regarding smaller towns such as Malin, Culdaff and Clonmany having to rely on community groups for

The Irish Fish Producers Organisation Chief Executive has welcomed the announcement of over €25m in EU aid to the Irish pelagic sector, but says it is the first of many important steps. Quota transfers from Ireland to the UK after Brexit created a major loss in the sector with less mackerel and herring being landed

Sinn Fein’s Health Spokesperson says the Government must make the timeline for the opening of the Nationals Children’s Hospital public. It’s understood it may not open now until the Spring or Summer of 2025. The board tasked with delivering the new hospital will “provide guidance” on the timeline for the delivery of the long-awaited facility

Donegal County Council is to press the OPW to extend the visiting season at the Newmills Corn and Flax Mill. Cllr Donal Mandy Kelly told a recent meeting of Letterkenny Milford MD that there is huge untapped potential at the site, but Minister Patrick O’Donovan has made it clear that more funding will not be

Independent TD Marc MacSharry has announced he will not contest the next general election. The Sligo-Leitrim and South deputy and former Fianna Fail TD says it has been a privilege to serve in the Oireachtas. He was first elected to the Seanad in 2002 and as a TD in 2016. Deputy Mac Sharry says it’s

Two leading regional rural bodies have announced a new collaboration which they say will offer opportunity for cross border learning and development. Rural Action and Irish Rural Link have come together under the ‘Synergy: Rural Collaboration Project’, which is being supported by the government’s Shared Island Fund. It was launched in Dublin this morning. Seamus

Rural TDs are calling on the government to urgently address, what they say are, alarmingly long waiting times for driving tests in various parts in the country. They say delays of up to 51 weeks in some areas are causing significant distress for thousands of learners, and they’re urging the government to allow learners who

A record number of Junior Cycle students will collect their results today. 71,494  students sat the exam this year, and can get their results in school this morning or online from 4pm. It’s the first time that the number of candidates sitting the Junior Cycle exams or any of its predecessors – the Junior Cert

The vacancy rate in Children’s Disability Network Teams stands at 56% at the moment. That figure was presented by the HSE to a meeting with public representatives and parents in Donegal this week, with Deputy Joe McHugh going on to raise the issue in the Dail chamber last night. Deputy McHugh told Minister Anne Rabbitte

Serious safety concerns have been raised surrounding the Mill Bridge in Buncrana after the wingmirror of a car made contact with pram being pushed on the footpath. Cllr Rena Donaghy says she had called for a new bridge in the area around 10 years ago. Cllr Donaghy noted that while designs had been drawn up,

A Dail discussion on calls for an external review of services at Letterkenny University Hospital was deferred tonight because health minister Stephen Donnelly was not in the chamber. The review was sought by 79 Donegal GPs who wrote to the minister earlier this month, and subsequently backed at the weekend by 11 consultants at the

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has defended the funding given to his department and the HSE in next year’s Budget. Minister Donnelly says it will cover a broad number of areas, but also includes funding for the increased costs of equipment. It comes following reports over the weekend that HSE CEO Bernard Gloster told ministers 800

The Chief Executive of the Saolta Hospital Group has welcomed the call from GPs in their letter to the minister for them to be given a role in how health services are organised and planned across the county. Tony Canavan says that’s something he’ll be happy to facilitate…….

A Buncrana based councillor says a protest last night against the arrival of 66 asylum seekers in the town was the result of a lack of government information and consultation. 66 men were to have been housed in a 19 room building in the town, but their arrival last night in two minibuses was blocked

Gardai in Letterkenny have renewed an appeal for information about an attack on two parked cars at Glenard Park, Long Lane. During the Community Garda Slot on today’s Nine til Noon Show, Garda Niall Maguire told Greg Hughes what happened…….  

A former head of the HSE says it’s significant that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has agreed to visit Letterkenny University Hospital to meet with management there. He’s also agreed to meet with Donegal GPs and consultants, who wrote separately to the minister in recent days warning of the serious problems at the hospital which are

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is facing pressure explain in the Dáil why there’s a 2 billion euro hole in the health service budget for 2024. The Social Democrats are accusing the government of starving the health service of sufficient funding. The party’s spokesperson for health, Róisín Shortall, says serious questions must be answered, and

Donegal County Council’s Road Safety Engineer is to examine the Cullion Road and Listillion Road junctions on the N13 at Lurgybrack outside Letterkenny. The issue was raised at a recent MD meeting by Cllr Donal Coyle, who is urging the council to liaise with Transport Infrastructure Ireland in a bid to have traffic calming measures

A number of Sperrin and Derg based sporting clubs are set to benefit from grant assistance through Derry City and Strabane District Council’s “Support and Sport Programme” and the “Club Pitch Maintenance Programme”. The funding recommendations were made by Council’s Sports Committee, of which Cllr Ruairí McHugh is a member and were formally proposed by

The Justice Minister says she and senior members of An Garda Síochána are working together to tackle the worrying upward trend of road deaths. 150 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, with six people dying in separate incidents since last Friday. It was reported this morning 300-thousand checkpoint breath tests were

The Special Needs Parent Network in Donegal attended a meeting this morning between the HSE and local public representatives in Letterkenny. The HSE’s staffing crisis and it’s effects on the Children’s Disability Network Teams were discussed during the meeting with families impacted by the staffing crisis having their say. Josephine Corkery, a member of the

A former head of the HSE is warning next year’s healthcare budget is not enough. Tony O’Brien, who stepped down from the HSE in 2018, says Budget 2024 is the most destructive for the health service in a decade. At least 4-thousand seriously ill patients won’t be able to access potentially life-saving medicines next year,