Author name: highlandnews

A security alert in Strabane earlier today has ended. Police received a report of a suspicious object in the Melmount Road area of the town just after 7.35am this morning. The object was examined and Police have confirmed that nothing untoward was found.

Children as young as 15 are being used as so called money mules. Figures from FraudSMART show more that 12 million euro was illegally transferred via money mule accounts in the first half of last year. The number of bank accounts being used almost doubled on the year before, to 3,000, and the average sum

There’s evidence today of a severe shortage of teachers. A survey carried out by the Teachers Union of Ireland has found that 91% of secondary schools reported difficulties in recruiting teachers in the past six months. 71% of schools that advertised jobs in recent months did not get a single applicant, while 61% experienced problems

Chris Heaton-Harris has been reappointed as Northern Ireland secretary. He was first appointed to the role by former British Prime Minister Liz Truss at the start of September. His reappointment by the new PM Rishi Sunak, strengthens the likelihood of fresh elections in the north, where the DUP has refused to re-enter power sharing until

Motorists are advised to take care on the roads this morning following heavy rain overnight and into this morning. A lot of surface water and wind-blown debris is affecting driving conditions. There is the chance of isolated thunderstorms today.

An Oireachtas committee meeting today is to hear from Mica-affected homeowners and stakeholders from the construction industry to discuss the controversial concrete levy. The levy, which was initially introduced in Budget 2023 in order to pay for the Mica Redress Scheme, has been widely criticised by many. The Government initially proposed a 10% tax on

A HIQA review of child protective services in Donegal published today has found that Tusla’s services in the county were compliant or substantially compliant in all areas. The review analysed a number of areas of their child protective services in the county. The report said the Donegal service provided a good quality, safe service to

Irish Water say that there may be disruptions to water supply in a number of parts of Letterkenny today. Works to repair a burst water main may cause outages in Creivesmith, Ros Suilighe and surrounding areas of the town. Irish Water say repairs there will be completed at 5pm this evening. Mains repairs works are

Detectives in Derry are investigating an assault on a man in Carnhill last night, during which the victim was reportedly beaten with iron bars. The 35-year-old is reported to have been attacked just off Racecourse Road, at around 9.30pm. It’s reported up to seven men may have been involved in the attack, which has left

Rishi Sunak has formally become British Prime Minister. He’s spent time with King Charles this morning where – as is tradition – he was invited to form a government, following the formal acceptance of Liz Truss’ resignation. This afternoon, Mr Sunak’s expected to appoint ministers to his top team. Earlier, Liz Truss formally tendered her

Elective procedures have been cancelled at Letterkenny University Hospital as it faces significant pressure. 145 people attended the hospital’s ED yesterday. Three wards have been impacted by Covid outbreaks. The Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital is under significant pressure today with high attendances and long waiting times. Yesterday 145 people attended the ED. In

550 eligible projects from second level schools across Ireland have been selected for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition from January 11th -14th next year. 24% of the projects look at health, 20% concentrate on the environment, while new technologies and sports are also prominent. 10 schools in Donegal will have student projects at

A draft budget of €180,000 has been passed for the Inishowen Municipal District. The funding from the Development Fund Initiative has been allocated as €20,000 per Councillor in the MD. A plenary budget meeting will be held on November 21st which will set out where further monies will be spent on roads and other projects

Gardaí in Letterkenny are investigating an incident on High Road at lunchtime yesterday, in which a woman was knocked down by a vehicle. The incident, which happened at 1.25, saw the woman brought to Letterkenny University Hospital to be treated for non life threatening injuries. Any witnesses, or anyone who has dash cam or other

The Community Pharmacy NI is warning that prescription medications could run out ‘within weeks’. The organisation has issued the stark warning due to shortages and skyrocketing prices. If left to deteriorate without Department of Health intervention, community pharmacists in the North have said they will not be able to afford to pay for commonly prescribed

People will be able to party until 6am in nightclubs from next year under new Government plans. Justice Minister Helen McEntee is bringing reforms to licencing laws to Cabinet this morning. If you’ve ever been partying into the wee hours in Berlin or other European cities, that’s the model the Cabinet wants to adopt. Nightclubs

The Government is to step up its plans to house more refugees from Ukraine. A meeting of the Government sub-committee addressing the issue has drawn up a programme of initiatives to tackle the problem. There are currently 58,000 refugees in the Country compared to 7,250 this time last year. The scenes of Ukrainian refugees sleeping

The UK government has confirmed it’s going to provide abortion services in Northern Ireland. Terminations have been legal in the North since 2019, but Stormont has not yet established the service, and some women and girls have had to travel to other parts of the UK to get an abortion. Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris

The Lifford Stranorlar Municipal District has agreed to its draft budget for the upcoming year at a meeting earlier today. A budget of €120,000 was allocated to the district, with the standard of €20,000 per elected councillor. The money is from the Development Fund Initiative, and is often given out to community groups as it