Author name: highlandnews

There are calls for extra overtime funding for Gardai across all regions. Government recently announced a plan to boost the overtime budget by 10 million euro in Dublin after a series of high-profile attacks and assaults. However it’s being pointed out that crime is an issue for the entire country. Independent TD for Galway East […]

Air passengers leaving and arriving into Ireland can expect more cancellations and delays today. A fault at Air Traffic Control in the UK has now been fixed, however the knock-on effect to flights right across Europe and beyond is likely to continue for a number of days. It’s not clear what caused the system to

Midlands North West MEP Colm Markey has criticised the decision of the Electoral Commission not to factor the proposed extra European Parliament seat for Ireland into its review of constituency boundaries. The Department of Local Government has confirmed that the report, due out tomorrow, will be based on the existing 13-seat allocation, rather than the

Aontu are inviting parents, grandparents, guardians, teachers and all those concerned to a meeting in Letterkenny tonight to discuss the new sex education content to be taught in school Curriculums. Local Aontu representative Mary T Sweeney says they believe in a teaching model based on fact, but the changes being planned at the moment are

The NCT is no longer going cashless. The operator had announced the move last week. However, Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers says discussions must take place before any such change is made. Age Action Ireland is welcoming the news, saying the measure would have negatively impacted on older people who choose to only use cash.

A West Donegal councillor says at a time when regular pipe bursts at Meenacladdy threaten to flood a local house, it’s not acceptable for Uisce Eireann to say it cannot address the situation because other areas need to be prioritised. Repeating his call for an emergency meeting between Uisce Eireann and local representatives this week,

Two men, a father and a son, were injured after a road accident in Gweedore last night. The two men were walking and were hit by a car on a busy road in the Glassagh area. One of them is now in intensive care. Cllr. Micheal Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig says that the Gweedore community

The chair of Raphoe Community Action has hit out an incident of vandalism in the town on Saturday night. The destruction, which included broken branches and de-potted flower beds, has been reported to Gardaí. On today’s Nine til Noon, Mary Harte told Greg Hughes that at a time when a lot of regeneration money is

A Dundalk based TD says he has concerns that the family of Sean Rooney, the UN peacekeeper killed in Lebanon late last year, will not get justice. The 23 year old army private was a native of Dundalk, but lived in Newtowncunningham for a number of years and attended St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny. On today’s

Pinergy, energy supplier and solutions company, has today announced a second decrease this year to its standard residential electricity prices effective from the beginning of next month. Electricity bills for customers will drop by 9-and-a-half percent – the second time the company has dropped it’s prices this year. Business journalist Jonathan Healy says there will

The first Osprey Bird chicks from a new National Parks and Wildlife Service programme were introduced in to the wild at the weekend. 50 Osprey chicks are being brought in to the country over the next five years. The aim is to establish a breeding colony in the republic. There is breeding taking place in

Most beaches and coastal areas across the country are not clean, according to the latest report issued this morning by IBAL, Irish Business Against Litter. Both Bundoran and Killybegs Harbour are deemed to be moderately littered. There’s been a 50 per cent rise in clean sites overall, but coastal areas are more littered than towns.

One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families, has launched it’s Annual Report for last year. A 15% increase in queries to the national helpline was revealed from the report. This statistic relates to families who struggled with tightening energy, food and housing prices. Karen Kiernan, Chief Executive Officer for One Family organisation says that

Today the Fair Fees Campaign Group has written to Minister for Justice Helen McEntee calling on her to reduce the extortionate immigration fees related to the Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card as part of the upcoming budget. With many anticipating measures in Budget 2024 to ease the burden of the cost-of-living crisis, migrants are calling

The State may start buying new-build apartments that developers can’t sell. The Housing Minister has told the Sunday Business Post he’s considering a new scheme in the Budget, that would see the State use the apartments for cost-rental housing. The backstop could see developers subsidised with up to 144 thousand per unit, to bridge the

A Fine Gael TD is calling for the age limit to buy tobacco to be raised to 21 years of age. Colm Burke has called for the change in order to help Ireland meet its public health target of a less-than-5 percent smoking rate by 2025. The Royal College of Physicians had previously said in

The Federation of Early Childhood Providers is accusing the Department of Children of misleading the public. The Department stated recently there were 46 net closures of creches around the country in the first seven months of this year. Elaine Dunne is Chair of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers. She says the figures on the

An incident room has been set up at Clonmel Garda Station while investigations into the cause of Friday’s tragic crash continue across the weekend. The collision claimed the lives of four young people, the driver, who was in his 20s – and three teenage girls who were on their way to celebrate their Leaving Cert

There are calls for investment into the Meenacladdy area with regards to recurring burst water mains. Another burst occurred yesterday evening affecting houses last night and this morning. Councillor John Séamus Ó Fearraigh says that that area needs proper investment :

It’s the last weekend the hospitality sector and its customers will benefit from the lower VAT rate. Its due to rise from 9 to 13 and a half percent next Friday. That’s despite the sector appealing for the low rate to be extended again, warning that jobs and entire businesses are at risk. Padraig Cribben

A member of the Oireachtas Public Accounts says his colleagues are still waiting for explanations from former RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes about her alleged role in the payments scandal. He was reacting following the publication of the 24-page Mazars interim Report on RTÉ which was published yesterday. According to Media Minister Catherine Martin, the

The Irish Second-Level Students is calling on the Government to construct more student accommodation around the country. The call comes after 62,000 Leaving Cert results were published yesterday. The wait for CAO places and the demand for third-level accommodation places will intensify in the coming weeks with little on offer as it is. Shari Irfan

Works to deliver a further phase of the redevelopment of Burtonport have gone out to tender. A number of buildings have been demolished at the port to make way for the construction of two new buildings which will house a Harbour Master’s office, a viewing area as well as office space for ferries and recreational

Homelessness in Donegal is up 16%. A record 12-thousand 847 people are registered as homeless in Ireland. Department of Housing figures show in Donegal 57 adults are homeless, in the North West as a whole that figure is 120, up 9% when compared to the pervious month. 35 children are also accessing emergency accommodation in

Long-awaited safety works are to commence in Newtowncunningham next week. Just under €1m in funding has been allocated to develop the village’s Main Street and install traffic calming measures. The works are the coming to fruition of a Masterplan developed by the Newtowncunningham Focus Group. Councillor Paul Canning says the safety of the pupils of