Author name: highlandnews

The Leas-Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District says he will not support a new County Development Plan if it does not facilitate the building of houses with entrances out onto the N56. At present, planning for such developments is being refused on safety grounds, but Independent Cllr Michael McClafferty says in many cases, these applications

A former Orthopaedic Surgeon at Letterkenny University Hospital says the more that surgical services are contracted out to private hospitals, the more of a risk there is that the hospital will be downgraded. Peter O’Rourke says the more surgical services are scaled back, the more of a threat there is to the hospital’s future. Speaking

  UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s in the North today to discuss ways to resolve concerns over the Northern Ireland Protocol. He’s due to meet party leaders at Stormont later this morning. Keir Starmer criticised the British Prime Minister’s approach to the Protocol during his meeting with the Taoiseach in Dublin yesterday. Sinn Fein Chief

A County Donegal GP says it’s right that the HSE is scaling back its covid contact-tracing operations. The health authority’s planning to reduce them at the end of the month, with staff at centres in Limerick and Galway to be redeployed to other government departments. Staff in Limerick will be transferred to work with the

The Donegal president of Saint Vincent De Paul fears that cost of living crisis is going to worsen later this year. The latest Consumer Price Index data from the CSO shows prices rose by 7.8% in the year to May 2022, the largest increase in almost 38 years. It comes as SVP records over 78,000

A Donegal Deputy is calling for an emergency budget to support workers and families as inflation hits its highest rate in four decades. Inflation hit 7.8% in May, the biggest annual increase since 1984. Sinn Fein Finance Spokesperson, Deputy Pearse Doherty says this further highlights the need for targeted measures to support low and middle-income

Northern Ireland residents were unable to purchase shortbread online from Scotland to mark the Queen’s Jubilee. That’s according to East Derry MP Gregory Campbell, who was addressing the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster on how the Protocol is affecting business. He said a constituent contacted him to say the shortbread could be ordered from

The Foreign Affairs Minister has said no-one in the EU believes the UK is serious about negotiating a solution to issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Simon Coveney has said work needs to be done to arrest the rot in the relationship between the two sides. The minister said he is serious about addressing unionist

There’s renewed concern about staffing levels at Letterkenny University Hospital after it emerged that 87 nurses and midwives have resigned from the hospital since 2020. That’s more than twice as many as the 38 who retired over the same period. The figures were revealed to the Donegal News on foot of a Freedom of Information

The new traffic lights in Letterkenny are to be raised at a Municipal District meeting next week, with claims that they are hindering rather than helping traffic movement. Over the past fortnight, new traffic lights have been implemented at the junction of Joe Bonnar Road and Neil T Blaney Road, but it’s the lights at

The British Government has delayed the publication of the Bill which would unilaterally scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol. The DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson had indicated that it would be published today, however it’s reported a last minute disagreement over what form it should take has led to its delay. The Irish Times says

The North’s Infrastructure Minister has reaffirmed his commitment to deliver the A5. The project, estimated to cost about £1.2bn, will provide 85 kilometres of new high standard dual carriageway between New Buildings and just south of Aughnacloy. The reconvened A5 public inquiry is due to take place in the Autumn and following this time limited

A Donegal teenager has compared public transport in rural Ireland to living in the Stone Age. 17 year old Finlay Thomson from Belcruit was speaking in the Seanad in recent days as part of a delegation from Foróige who presented their perspectives on the climate crisis at a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate.

Levies and taxes on fuel should be eliminated or substantially reduced on a temporary basis, according to a South Donegal TD. It’s after the Society of the Irish Motor Industry issued advice to motorists on how to reduce spending on petrol. Avoiding unnecessary trips and removing heavy items from the car to lighten the load,

It’s been confirmed that more than 200 people have signed up as plaintiffs in a High Court case being taken by the Defective Blocks Ireland group. Six of those are lead plaintiffs who will take the main cases, represented by Coleman Legal. Next week, Coleman Legal will be in Buncrana hosting appointments with affected homeowners

The Government is to give people free vouchers to use remote working hubs, a number of which have been developed in Donegal. Last month, Donegal County Council announced a scheme to provide free hub access to people holidaying in the county that need to connect with their work for a time. Minister Heather Humphreys  unveiled

The Taoiseach will address the European Parliament this morning. The address will mark 50 years since Ireland decided to join the then European Community and comes after an appeal to Boris Johnson to pull back from acting unilaterally over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Speaking in Strasbourg last night, Michael Martin said everyone should now do

More than 131 thousand students will begin their Leaving Certificate, Applied and Junior Cycle examinations this morning. This year marks the full return of externally delivered examinations for all candidates since the year before the covid pandemic. The numbers registered to sit exams this year have increased by 6 percent compared to the last time

  More than 4ooo volunteers across Ireland are set to take part in World Ocean Day today. Marine litter has become a global problem, with the main cause being attributed to human waste. Charities Clean Coast and National Spring Clean have joined forces to organise more than 230 beach clean-ups for today. 12 of them

The sod has been turned on the first phase of ‘LK Green Connect’. The development will see the delivery of high quality walking, cycling and public realm infrastructure in the town. It’s part of the wider planned network, LK Green Connect that will ultimately connect across a series of town centre destinations. Phase 1 will