Author name: oisinkelly

Individuals and community groups are being asked to take part in a major clean-up of Donegal’s beaches later this month. Clean Coasts Big Beach Clean weekend will be taking place on the 19th, 20th and 21st of September. Those who register will receive a Big Beach Clean kit which includes an information pack, bags, gloves, […]

A former Irish Army soldier from Donegal who bit part of a man’s nose off has been jailed for four and a half years. Barry Fitzgerald, whose address was given on court papers as Doire House, Drumnishear, Carrigans, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent on April 14, last year. Derry Crown Court

There are fears of another fish kill in the River Deele if action isn’t taken to stop an overflow from the main sewage system in Convoy. Inland Fisheries Ireland and Donegal County Council both investigated a fish kill in the river in July but its claimed that raw sewage is still running into the waterway.

The Can’t Pay Won’t Pay group is calling on householders in Donegal not to return the Application Packs currently being sent out by Irish Water to assess Water Charge levels. The group says this is the first step in building a boycott of the charges. They say this is a double taxation and predict a

A series of public commemoration events is taking place in Donegal over the next two weeks marking ther 100th anniversary of the First World War. The talks, which are part of the Peace 3 backed “Hands of History” project are being delivered by Steve Hunter of the Monreagh Heritage Centre. The first of the talks

Letterkenny has narrowly missed out on collecting the best Large Urban Award in this year’s Tidy Town’s competition. It was runner up to Kilkenny City which went on to be declared as Ireland’s Tidiest Town. Glenties received a Gold medal in its category and was also Highly Commended. There were silver medals for Raphoe and

Independent MEP Marian Harkin is organising a meeting in Brussels on the issue of new rules being imposed by the Department of Agriculture on the owners of commonage land in Donegal and other hill areas. Speaking following a meeting attended by around 1,000 hill farmers in Letterkenny at the weekend, the Midlands North West Independent

A 47 year old man from Tyrone is due in Basildon court in England later, charged after an Afghan immigrant was found dead in a shipping container in Essex. The body of Meet Singh Kapoor – aged 40 – was discovered at Tilbury Docks last month, along with 34 others who survived. Martin McGlinchley, from

There are calls for a crack down on anti-social behavior in Derry after a group of up to 50 youths gathered in the Shantallow area on Saturday night with a family car being burned out. There has been an ongoing problem of youths congregating in the area at weekends with locals residents expressing anger at

People planning on setting off fireworks, Chinese lanterns or similar items near the coast  are being asked to inform the coastguard in case their activities are mistaken for distress flares. The call comes  after the Bundoran Lifeboat was launched on Saturday following a report from a member of the public that they had spotted a distress

An SDLP Councillor says those responsible for recent security alerts in Strabane are being protected by some members of the community. Patsy Kelly was speaking after 30 homes were evacuated on Sunday morning in the Inishfree Gardens area of the town following the discovery of a pipe bomb type device. It was later declared a

The Lough Swilly Lifeboat was launched in the early hours of this morning after a fishing vessel began taking on water just off Dunree. Both lifeboats were launched and the Sligo based coastguard helicopter was also tasked to the scene, but was not needed as the liferboat crew managed to get a pump on board

  At 10.40pm on Saturday night the volunteer crew of Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat were asked to launch by Malin Head Coast Guard to reports of a red flare being sighted somewhere in Donegal Bay.    A red flare is universally known as a distress signal and when an emergency call was made by a member

A security alert in Strabane on Sunday which forced a number of people from their  homes has been declared a hoax. Up to 30 homes were evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious device in the garden of a house in Inshfree Gardens. The device was later declared a hoax. Ch Insp Andy Lemon told

  There was a strong turn out at a meeting in Letterkenny last night hosted by a group of farmers unhappy with the IFA’s stance on the new CAP deal which they says will be detrimental to small farmers. They group want changes to pillar two of the CAP programme which deals with disadvantaged and

A third person has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following the death of man in a shipping container in Essex in the UK last month. The dead man was one of 35 people from Afghanistan, including 15 children, found at Tilbury Docks on the 16th of August. The 47-year-old man from Dungannon, in Northern

A Donegal Councillor says a fall in the numbers signing on in Donegal last month has nothing to do with job creation or people returning to work. The number on Live Register in Donegal has fallen below 20 thousand last month The figures for August show 19,761 signing on a fall of 1,661 compared to

A solicitor told Derry Magistrate’s Court that his client wanted to go to jail to see if he could abstain from drugs. Before the court was Joseph McCallion (18) of 103 Glenowen Park in Derry who admitted assaulting police and possessing drugs on December 1. The court was told that a foot patrol stopped McCallion

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly T.D.  has  announced the allocation of 271 thousand euro in capital funding to Donegal County Council for improvement works to social houses. The money is part of an allocation of €23 million capital funding to 31 City and County Councils around the country. €162,973

One person has been taken to hospital following a crash on the Ballyraine Road in Letterkenny. The crash happened just after 3 o’clock close to the Mount Errigal Hotel on Friday afternoon. Two ambulances attended the scene. There was traffic disruption in the area for a time but the road is now clear.  

The Mayor of Derry is calling on Minister Edwin Poots to clarify his future plans for services at Altnagelvin hospital following recent speculation that the current funding crisis may have a detrimental impact on local services. There’s been speculation that budgetary problems may hamper plans for staff training, and that could push back the opening

321 cannabis plants – worth around 128 thousand euro – have been seized by Gardai in Donegal. They were found when Gardai searched a house at Magherawarden in Portsalon yesterday. A 28 year old man was arrested at the scene and brought to Letterkenny Garda Station for questioning. Inspector John O’Toole has been speaking about

The number on Live Register in Donegal has fallen below 20 thousand. The figures for August show 19,761 signing on a fall of 1,661 compared to August 2013. The significant year on year fall will be attributed by some to emigration and controversial schemes such as jobbridge while others will see it as an indication

  A meeting takes place tonight in Letterkenny hosted by a group of farmers unhappy with the IFA’s stance on the new CAP deal which they says will be detrimental to small farmers. They group want changes to pillar two of the CAP programme which deals with disadvantaged and rural areas as many farmers will

Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson says the announcement by Minister Alan Kelly of how the property tax will operated is further evidence that the government is trying to dupe the people. Donegal South West Deputy Pearse Doherty says while Minister Kelly is pledging that no authority will receive less than 2014, he fails to mention that

The Buncrana Road in Derry has reopened following an earlier road traffic collision. The road was closed in both directions following the two vehicle crash close to Whitehouse Retail Park shortly after 4pm on Thursday. There are no details of any injuries sustained.