Author name: highlandnews

EU officials have recommended Ukraine become a candidate for European Union membership. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the process is “merit based” and progress now depends on Ukraine carrying out reforms. Moldova has also been made a candidate for membership. The Taoiseach says the recommendation is historic and has pledged Ireland’s full support.

The Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter in conjunction with Letterkenny Tidy Towns is hosting a conference on dereliction next month. The conference will feature a variety of local and international experts on the issue of dereliction, and will explore how unoccupied buildings can be used to rejuvenate towns as well as provide much needed housing. The conference

A Fine Gael Councillor says that focus now must be put on the future rather than past events, after the spat between Deputy Pearse Doherty and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar in the Dail yesterday. The argument began with Deputy Doherty raising a case involving the Tanaiste that is currently under review by the Director of Public

Concerns have been raised about the impact of knotweed at the river walk in Doochary. The invasive plant has been identified at the popular walkway and has previously been treated. However, Cllr Noreen McGarvey believes further professional action is now needed to tackle the recurring issue…

Anyone at high risk of Covid-19 is being asked to get their booster vaccine now so they will be ready for a potential autumn jab. The HSE has been monitoring an increase in Covid cases across the country recently. The rise has been blamed on emerging variants of Omicron with the health service reiterating that

A Day of Action on the Cost of Living Crisis is being held tomorrow in Derry, Strabane, and elsewhere across the North. The Derry Cost of Living Crisis Campaign will be holding a series of actions in local communities this Saturday, followed by a short protest at 1pm at Newmarket Street by Millennium Forum in

The message being given to drivers going to the Donegal Rally this weekend to drive safely. The Donegal Road Safety Working Group has issued the appeal, saying that some people who attend the rally will drive dangerously and disrupt the local community. They’re also asking parents to make sure their sons and daughters get enough

Talks between Government and trade unions on a new public sector pay deal have broken up overnight without agreement. Unions sources say the discussions continued until the early hours of this morning at the Workplace Relations Commission, however they say there’s a significant gap between both sides. Unions had been pressing for pay rises in

  The HSE has confirmed that it has shared the validation report which uncovered further abuse at Ard Greíne Court in Stranorlar with Gardai. The report contains information on abuse against residents at the facility carried out by 11 other residents between 1991 and 2002. It’s in addition to the alleged abuse carried out by

Exchanges between the Tanaiste and Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty reached new levels today. Heated dialogue between the pair have become the norm in recent times over the cost of living crisis. However, when responding to Deputy Doherty in the Dail today who told Leo Varadkar that people are continuing to struggle with the cost of

There could be thousands of more homes impacted by mica defective blocks throughout the country. It’s estimated 7,000 homes are impacted, mostly in Donegal. The rough cost of the mica redress scheme announced by the Government this week is 2.7 billion, and it has been extended to homeowners in Clare and Limerick. However, Josephine and

A Donegal TD says it’s vital that the voting age be lowered so that young people’s voices are heard in the climate debate. Deputy Thomas Pringle is bringing a bill forward next week on lowering the voting age to 16. He says the voices of young people must be part of the climate debate, as

An engineer again has raised concerns with the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme, saying he doesn’t believe the enhanced scheme agreed this week will adequately address the problem. Dr Ambrose McCloskey says there is still not enough information about the exact nature of block degradation, and previous recommendations that there be more research have not been

Donegal County Council is being asked to consider allocating its vacant houses through a choice based letting model, which would involve advertising vacant properties and inviting people to register an interest. The change was suggested by Cllr Michael McBride, who suggested it could speed up the letting process. Officials told him that while choice based

Parts of the country will see a mini heatwave before the weekend, but it will largely bypass Donegal. Temperatures will reach up to 22 degrees in parts of the country this afternoon, rising to almost 25 degrees tomorrow. However, the weekend will see cooler temperatures and more unsettled weather. Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather says

More Irish household are experiencing fuel poverty than ever before. An ESRI study found 29% are struggling because of soaring energy costs, up from the previous high of 23% back in 1995. Inflation between January and April means households are now paying an extra € 21.27 per week on energy, that rises to € 38.63

Letterkenny Milford Municipal District has been told that keeping traffic moving and the town open will be priorities for gardai over the rally weekend. Cllr Gerry McMonagle, chair of the Joint Policing Committee, told the meeting that very productive discussions have taken place between the council, gardai, Letterkenny Chamber and the rally organisers. He said

Donegal County Council has confirmed that it has no responsibility for the completion of Tory Island Seawall. The seawall on Tory island was started a number of years ago, but was never finished due to a lack of funding. At a recent Glenties Municipal District meeting, it was stated that the council has liaised with

Close to one in ten remote workers have relocated within Ireland since the pandemic began. Research by the Western Development Commission and NUIG shows Cork and Galway are the most popular places to move to, 4% of people relocated to Donegal. Meanwhile 16% said they’d like to leave Ireland entirely. Policy Analyst with the Commission

Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle is calling on the government publish the data on the number of children with additional needs who are without an appropriate school place for September. A survey, carried out by the group ‘As I am’ showed at least 267 children are in that position, a number of them in Donegal .