Author name: oisinkelly

Police in Derry are no linger treating the death of a 19 year old woman in the city yesterday as suspicious, and a man arrested yesterday morning has been released. in a statement issued this evening, the PSNI say – “As a result of enquiries, and after studying the results of a post mortem examination,

Donegal County Council have voted to keep the property tax valuation in the county as it is. Cllrs voted in favour of a freeze by 20-9. The FG and FF groupings voted in favour along with Independent Cllrs Tom Connaghan, Ian McGarvey, Nicholas Crossan and Niamh Kennedy. Sinn Fein and Cllr Frank McBrearty voted against.

    The Chief Executive of Donegal County Council has told members that any reduction in property tax would mean a reduction in services. The Council has collected €8.7m to the middle of this year. A 15% reduction, which has been would mean the local authority losing €1.65m. Sinn Fein are calling for a 15% cut,

A Labour minister says she cannot say whether John McNulty is a suitable candidate for the Seanad. Education minister Jan O’Sullivan says she knows nothing about the Fine Gael candidate, other than what she has read in the papers. The minister admits that the furore over McNulty’s appointment to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern

A dissident grouping styling itself the ‘IRA’ has said it was behind the shooting of a man in Strabane last month. 27-year-old Michael Neeson was shot four times in broad daylight in the Ballycolman Estate area. The organisation said it targeted 27-year-old Michael Neeson because he was “a major drug dealer” who had been warned

A post-mortem examination will be held today to determine the cause of death of a young woman who died in Derry early yesterday morning. The 19-year-old died after being taken to Altnagelvin Hospital, and detectives are appealing for information to trace her last movements. A man remains in custody in relation to her death. The

A Donegal based company has been named best new company at the Innovation Awards at the National Ploughing Championships. Farmflo, which is based at the Co-Lab incubation centre at Letterkenny Institute of Technology has developed Farm Management software designed to make compliance with regulations easier. At present, the firm employs eight people, with hopes to

The Derry and Strabane District Council, which is operating in “shadow” form until next April has backed calls for increased investment in critical infrastructural projects in the North West. The four key projects identified at the meeting were the Derry Belfast rail line, the Derry rail station, the A6 and the A5. The issue was

Sinn Féin is calling on the Arts Minister to make a statement to the Dáil clarifying the appointment of John McNulty to the IMMA board. McNulty – who is Fine Gael’s Seanad by-election candidate – resigned from the museum’s board yesterday just 13 days after his appointment. Last night the by-election’s organiser was asked to

Donegal Councillor Paul Canning has made a presentation to the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as part of its discussion on economic development in the North West. Cllr Canning is chair of the North West Region Cross Border Group, which is made up by the councils Donegal, Derry, Limavady, Magherafelt

John McNulty has resigned from the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The Kilcar man, who was appointed to the State board just six days before being controversially nominated to contest a Seanad seat, said he was resigning because IMMA rules did not allow him contest an election while a board member. The

Donegal County Council have spent €3 million on the Gweedore Sewage scheme, despite it being shelved. It was confirmed a fortnight ago that the long awaited scheme has been put back by Irish Water and will not go ahead for three years. Irish Water now intends to undertake an in-depth business case review of the

A 21 year-old man has been arrested after the body of a 19 year-old woman was found in a flat in Derry. The body was found at a flat in Cromore Gardens area in the Creggan area of the city. The PSNI has confirmed that they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and a

Police in Strabane are warning motorists after there was a spate of car registration plate thefts in the town in the past week. Last weekend along police received 10 reports of thefts in Strabane. The PSNI say the stolen plates are being used in crime. In particular, they are being put on cars that are

A total of 756 new jobs in the Food, Tourism and Hospitality sectors have been created in Donegal since the reduced VAT rate of 9% was introduced in July 2011. The report from the Restaurant Association of Ireland compares the number of direct new jobs to a major local employer, revealing that the 756 extra

Thousands of pounds of damage has been caused to the work site of the new pedestrian bridge in Strabane. Toilets have been burned, lights, mirrors and flashing beacons have been smashed, and machinery has been tampered with. Fox’s building and engineering, who are building the new bridge, have now warned that the works could be

Donegal County Council will decide this week on whether or not to cut property tax valuation. From next year, councillors can vary the property tax up or down by up to 15 per cent. Donegal has about 69,000 houses registered for the tax, but because of lower property values here, it collected just €8.7 million

John McNulty is expected to meet with senior Labour members today, after he addressed Fine Gael’s parliamentary party meeting last night. His appointment to the board of IMMA, just days before his Seanad election bid, was the major topic at last night’s meetings of both the Fine Gael and Labour parliamentary parties. Mr McNulty himself

The Mayor of Boston has said it is ridiculous that Donegal politicians are criticised for going on trips to America. Marty Walsh is on the fifth day of a ten-day trip to Ireland, today he’s visiting Donegal and Derry. In the past, local politicians here have been criticised for going on trip to America at

A Donegal member of the HSE West Regional Forum says it’s frustrating that the members of the body don’t have the power to hold the HSE to account. Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle was speaking after the forum backed a motion he moved yesterday calling for an independent probe into the cause of flooding at Letterkenny

A doctor who was sacked for being unable to take the pulse of a patient has been struck off the medical register. Dr Asia Ndaga is originally from Romania but was living in Northern Ireland when she was recruited as a junior doctor at Letterkenny General Hospital in 2010. Dr Asia Ndaga was sacked within

Donegal County Council is to assess the extent of sewage problems in council housing estates in the Glenties Municipal District. A report will then be prepared on what will be needed to address these issues, and what resources are available to do so. The issue was raised at last evening’s meeting of the District Committee

A Donegal Deputy has demanded answers on what he has called the “outrageous”agency consultant bill at Letterkenny General Hospital. It was revealed yesterday Letterkenny General Hospital is spending €550,000 per quarter filling consultant posts. The HSE is paying private agencies €110,000 every 13 weeks to fill a single consultant post at the Hospital. The five

An inquest in into the death of a Liverpool man killed in a hit-and-run in Co Donegal was adjourned after a woman was charged with causing his death by dangerous driving. Alan McSherry’s body was found by his wife Jo on a narrow country road in Ardfarna, near Bundoran in in August last year. The

The Arts Minister has appeared in the Seanad to explain why she appointed an unsuccessful Donegal election candidate to a state board. John McNulty, who contested the Donegal Electoral Area for Fine Gael was made a director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, just six days before citing that job as grounds to be

The government has been defeated in the Seanad, in a vote over appointments to state boards. The defeat means Arts Minister Heather Humphreys will have to explain why Fine Gael’s candidate for a Seanad by-election was appointed to a state board. Kilcar’s John McNulty – who’s set to be elected to the Seanad next month

Thieves have robbed a number of charity boxes belonging to Foyle Search and Rescue from business premises across Derry city. That’s according to Councillor Kevin Campbell who has described it as a very sad state of affairs. He has urged anyone with information on the culprits to contact the PSNI straight away:

The HSE Regional Health Forum West will today debate a motion calling for a full and independent inquiry into flooding at Letterkenny General Hospital. The motion comes from forum member Councillor Gerry McMonagle who is concenred that an interim report into flooding at the Hospital is made up only of the opinions of people within

Letterkenny General Hospital is spending €550,000 per quarter filling consultant posts. Its been revealed that agency staff on hourly contracts are being used to cover five positions at Letterkenny Hospital. The Health Service Executive is paying private agencies €110,000 every 13 weeks to fill a single consultant post at Letterkenny General Hospital. In total, five