Author name: highlandnews

81% of Principals or Deputy Principals admit to having hired an unqualified teacher in the last year. The figure from the ASTI comes as there are at least 416 unfilled secondary teacher jobs nationwide. The union says it’s dismayed with Minister Norma Foley’s failure to address teacher shortages. The ASTI’s Kieran Christie says new thinking […]

The Head of the PSNI is conceding it may be impossible to recover and track data from police officers being shared on social media. It comes after his force accidentally leaked information including surnames, ranks and base locations of serving officers and civilian staff. A file containing some of the data was left outside of

A private commemoration will take place in Omagh today to mark 25 years since a bomb devastated the town. 29 people, including unborn twins, were killed that day. 220 people were injured. It came just months after the historic Good Friday Agreement and was the greatest loss of life in a single incident in the

People are being urged to celebrate Donegal’s heritage during Heritage Week, which continues until this coming Sunday. Donegal’s Heritage Officer says heritage is not a lifeless relic of history, it is a visible expression of Donegal’s history and culture. Joe Gallagher says our heritage is an indication of where we have come from, and it’s

The Parish Priest of Buncrana has said bombings are an attack on human dignity, and a sign that those behind them hold human life in contempt. Fr John Walsh was speaking at a mass in St Mary’s Oratory last night during which the three Buncrana schoolboys and two Spanish visitors killed in the Omagh bombing

The Western Development Commission has confirmed that Allan Mulrooney will become CEO of the organisation from next month. The Sligo native has been acting as Interim CEO at the WDC since December, when Tomás Ó Síocháin stepped down to take on a new position as CEO of Údarás na Gaeltachta. Prior to taking over as

There could be a maximum of 181 TDs sitting in the next Dáil. The Electoral Commission is compiling a report – due later this month – on the number of representatives needed and the structure of constituencies. This review is considered to be the most extensive in the history of the State and will see

A senior member of Sinn Fein says it’s now clear dissident Republican terrorists do have access to information contained in a data leak from police. Human error was blamed for putting names, work locations and ranks of every officer and civilian employee online for up to three hours last week. Gerry Kelly says a document

It’s likely Third Level fees will be cut as part of Budget 2024. Last year student contribution costs were cut from 3,000 euro to 2,000 euro, with Minister Simon Harris indicating similar was on the cards this year. Ireland’s fee is currently one of the highest when compared with European counterparts. Dr. Joseph Ryan, CEO

The sister of a Donegal student who lost his life in the Omagh Bomb says she doesn’t know how those responsible live everyday knowing the tragedy they caused. 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins died when a Real IRA car bomb ripped through the town on August 15th 1998. Eight year old Oran

As the dispute over pay and conditions for retained fire fighters continues, a Donegal County Councillor has once again called on Minister Darragh O’Brien to intervene. In an escalation of strike action, all retained fire stations went “dark” on Saturday – meaning crews will have no internal communications with local authority radio call centres. SIPTU

The price of a pint goes up again from today. Diageo is increasing the cost of its stout and beer products by 4 cent, after a hike of 12 cent back in February. It’ll affect drinks like Guinness, Smithwick’s, Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13 and Carlsberg. Business costs are being cited as the reason for

2,200 homes and businesses in South Donegal are to receive fibre broadband. SIRO has announced that Bundoran and Ballyshannon are the latest towns in the county to benefit from full fibre broadband rollout. Works to deliver high-speed, future-proofed connectivity are due to be completed by Autumn. SIRO has already connected almost 20,000 premises across Donegal

There’s a call for a scholarship scheme to be set up for Gaeltacht colleges. Conradh na Gaeilge says it would open the door to those who don’t have the financial means to avail of Irish language courses – a rite of passage for many young people. The organisation is recommending a 10 million euro injection

One in four Irish homes now have a source of renewable energy. A new energy census has revealed that counties Cavan and Monaghan at 75 per cent, have the highest rate of oil-fired central heating in the country. Donegal has one of the lowest proportions of natural gas use in Ireland at 1%. Richard Cantwell

Schools will be under pressure when the new term begins in a few weeks time because of a shortage of teachers. There are currently 643 primary school jobs advertised on the Education posts website, with 456 jobs on offer at secondary schools across the country. Principals say the cost-of-living crisis and the chronic shortage of

The victims of the Omagh bombing have been remembered in the town. A memorial service was held yesterday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attack tomorrow. 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins were killed on August 15th 1998. Buncrana students Shaun McLaughlin, James Barker and Oran Doherty were also among the victims

Colm Markey MEP has called for the Government to seek an extension at EU level of the deadline for spending the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) funding. Ireland received €1.165 billion from Brussels to spend on mitigating the impacts of Brexit. The conditions included a requirement to have the money committed works completed and final paperwork

Sinn Fein says the Government should ensure all workers that are not self-employed should not be classified as self-employed. The party’s TD Louise O’Reilly is reacting to food delivery drivers being offered as little as €1 per job, according to the Irish Examiner. She says some food delivery drivers are getting well below the minimum

The Department of Transport does not know the exact number of electric vehicle chargers in Ireland. It’s been revealed – in response to a parliamentary question – that there are over 2,000 public charging points in the State, but that the government doesn’t have a full record as they’re owned by private operators. The government

A leading professor says some people in Ireland will inevitably get sick from the new Covid strain. Eris – a more transmissible form of the Omicron variant – was confirmed here earlier this week Health experts have downplayed the risks, given the high levels of vaccination. However, hospitalisations have climbed in recent weeks, with 400

Ireland’s cosmetic filler business is “totally out of control”. The public must take care when receiving aesthetic medial treatments, that’s according to Dr. Patrick Treacy, advisor to the Irish branch of the British College of Aesthetic Medicine. Dr. Treacy says many of the qualifications technicians travel abroad for, do not give enough training to keep

Industrial action has taken a step up this weekend for retained fire services. They have ‘gone dark’ since 8 o’clock this morning, providing no internal communications other than life-saving information. Around 2,000 retained firefighters are campaigning for better pay and conditions. SIPTU Division Organiser, Karan O’Loughlin, says they will only respond to emergencies:

AIB is to send ‘corrected payment details’ to customers it claims have underpaid their mortgages. The bank says they don’t need to take any action and in the meantime there’s no change to their monthly repayments. Some customers whose tracker mortgages moved from Ulster Bank to AIB were told they would face bill increases from

The concept of free GP care is a good one and will lead to better outcomes. That’s the view of Stranorlar GP Dr Denis McCauley, as six and seven-year-olds are now eligible for free GP care. However, he believes this and the planned roll out of the Doctor Visit card will make it more difficult

Heritage Week kicks off in Donegal this week. This year’s theme is ‘Living Heritage’ and there are over 90 events planned in the County between now and Sunday August 20th. The full programme of events is available on heritageweek.ie. Joseph Gallagher, Donegal Heritage Officer says the week is an opportunity to raise awareness also of