Author name: highlandnews

The Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District is appealing to people to wear life jackets when engaging in water activities. It’s emerged that a group of five kayakers which included a young child were out on the water in Dunfanaghy Bay at the weekend without life jackets. Councillor Michael McClafferty fears there could have been […]

Minister Charlie McConalogue has sought a meeting of Donegal County Council’s Defective Concrete Block Redress Committee as homeowners remain in limbo awaiting approval for remediation works under the revised grant scheme. Minister McConalogue has admitted that the approval process for transitioning homeowners onto the new scheme has been too slow. The Council are currently transferring

The Tánaiste says a timeline can’t be put on the prospect of a United Ireland. It comes after the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris criticised the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for saying Ireland would be united in his lifetime. Mr Heaton Harris described the comments as unhelpful with the Stormont Executive still collapsed. Tánaiste and

The outcome of a public consultation on parking charges in Buncrana is due to be delivered on October 2nd. There was significant backlash to plans to scrap 30 mins free parking on the Main Street with businesses starting a petition which garnered hundreds of signatures. Councillor Jack Murray is confident the proposal to abolish the

€1.5 billion in funding will be required in Budget 2024 to provide quality care for older people and people with disabilities. The Home Care Coalition is calling for a clear commitment to increase both the number of hours of support, and funding for the service next month. The Coalition, which is made up of 23

A Lifford based councillor says it’s clear that Lifford Common is set to become a hugely important part of the town’s growth and development. The area has already been identified as the potential site for a new community hospital, and this week, a meeting of the Lifford Stranorlar Municipal District was told that plans to build 60 social

The Cathaoirleach of Doneqal County Council says there should be a mechanism for local authorities to ask An Bord Pleanala for progress reports on stalled housing applications. Cllr Martin Harley was speaking at a meeting of Lifford Stranorlar Municipal District. He said at a time when there is a housing crisis both locally and nationally,

The HSE has overrun its budget by about 600 million euro to the end of July. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed the figures saying actions have been put in place in a bid to suppress further spending. The overrun will likely complicate negotiations around the budget for the health sector. Minister Donnelly says staffing costs

There are currently over 3 thousand 500 council homes lying empty across the country. That’s despite there being over 95 thousand people on local authority housing waiting lists. The latest figures also show almost 13 thousand people are living in emergency accommodation. In Donegal, there are 171 vacancies, and a waiting list of 2,868. The

Assurances have been given that works to deliver new water infrastructure to parts of Letterkenny are on track. A face to face meeting with Uisce Eireann in Lifford in recent days has been described as positive during which it was confirmed that 2.6km of mains infrastructure is to be installed in Raymoghy and Rossbracken. The

Local authority staff are engaging in industrial action, indefinitely from today. Employees, who are represented by the Forsa trade union, are refusing to carry out engagements with politicians. The union is calling for better pay and conditions for staff who they say are working above their pay grade. Richy Carrothers, Forsa’s Head of Local Government

A Donegal Senator says Europe is very important to Donegal. Senator Niall Blaney in recent days, confirmed his intention to run as one of Fianna Fail’s candidates for the Midlands North West constituency in next year’s European Parliament elections. His party colleague, Senator Lisa Chambers has also announced her intention to contest the upcoming elections.

The Chair of Donegal County Council’s Defective Concrete Block Redress Committee has hit out at the local authority and the Department over the slow pace at which defective block homes are being remediated. The Council is waiting the go ahead from the Department to carry out works on 60 social homes for almost two years

Farmers will protest at the Fianna Fail ‘think-in’ in County Tipperary this morning in frustration over the cut to the nitrates limit. The Irish Farmers’ Association is also angry about the Agriculture Minister’s plan to delay payments to farmers in 2023. Today’s demonstration will be outside the Horse and Jockey Hotel and it will also

  A missing kayaker was recovered inside a cave after a five and a half hour search and rescue operation in Donegal yesterday. The Malin Head Coast Guard received a report that a kayaker had got into difficulty near Owey Island at around 3pm. The Rescue 118 helicopter, Bunbeg Coast Guard, Arrnamore RNLI, Mulroy Coast

Today marks the opening of applications for GP visit cards across the country. The Minister for Health has announced that over 200,000 people are newly eligible for free GP care from today. Donegal Dr Denis McCauley says that pressures on General Practice will be higher due to people attending surgeries more regularly:

Sentient Rights Ireland will host an event in Letterkenny next Saturday. The aim of the event is to raise awareness in society for the plight if animals in Ireland. Denis Nealis, Party Leader with Sentients Rights Ireland has more…..

The Newtowncunningham Community First Responders have announced the successful installation of five new public access defibrillators. These are located at the following locations : – Harkins Gala St. Johnston – Doherty’s Café, Bridgend – Halfway Stores, Tooban – Callaghan’s Gala, Burt – McElhinneys XL Stores, Manorcunningham Defibrillator Maintenance Officer Paul Rooney says that the these

Donegal is among the three counties to escape this week’s thunderstorms. A status yellow thunderstorm warning is currently underway for all counties, except Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. Met Eireann is warning of the possibility of frequent lightning and spot flooding. Alan O’Reilly, from Carlow Weather, says hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean are causing forecasters headaches.

The Letterkenny Dyslexia Association Workshop will return next Monday the 18th September after its summer break. The aim of the workshop is to provide effective literacy teaching in a motivating and systematic way. Odhrán McGowan from the Letterkenny Dyslexia Association says that it is a learning preference as opposed to a difficulty.

The Children’s Minister says upcoming childcare closures this month aren’t ‘warranted’. Creches will be closing for three days, calling for more funding to avoid having to increase their fees by “at least” 25 to 30 per cent. The Federation of Early Childhood Providers says many small and medium sized creches are running at a huge

As the hot weather is set to continue over the weekend and thousands of sun worshipers are expected to head to the beach people are being warned about the potential dangers when swimming. Water Safety Ireland is urging the public to use common sense and watch out for potential dangers if swimming or participating in

Sinn Fein says a failure to provide funding for defective homes is adding to the frustration of home owners across the country. The party’s spokesperson on Housing says Minister Darragh O’Brien must release emergency funding to repair building defects, without delay. Eoin Ó Broin says homeowners were told at the beginning of the year that

Donegal Deputy and Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has called for the introduction of temporary relief after mortgage interest costs increase by 51%. He says that the planned price hikes for petrol and diesel in October should not go ahead, adding that people can’t afford these hikes in the middle of a cost of

There’s calls for the provision of beach wheelchairs to be expanded to all beaches in Donegal. Councillor Johnny McGuinness says the introduction of the wheelchairs to some beaches means those who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to experience the beach can no do so. He says such a resource ensures inclusivity for all: