Author name: oisinkelly

It’s claimed that a fire started deliberately in the Ballycolman Estate in Strabane last night could have killed. A wheelie Bin was set alight next to an empty property in the area – a neighbour was alerted to the fire by a barking dog and the fire service was called. Local Councillor Patsy Kelly says

The Taoiseach says the Cabinet reshuffle is about showing people they can get on with their lives without keeping their heads down and just surviving. Enda Kenny’s replaced a third of the Cabinet and brought a first-time TD straight into Government. Tánaiste Joan Burton says they will work with head and heart to deliver the

The government is being accused of moving to privatise seaweed cutting along the west coast including Donegal. Arramara Teoranta was a state-owned body which was founded in 1947 to utilise the large resource of seaweed available, it has now been sold to a private Canadian company. The company, along with another in Donegal has applied

A woman who died in a car-crash outside Ballyshannnon, Co. Donegal, has been named as former Post Office worker Charlotte Naylor. The widow, born on New Year’s Day 72 years ago, died when the car she was driving collided with a ditch. The tragedy happened on a narrow country road leading to her home at

Sinn Fein Councillor Ruari McHugh has been accused of using the ‘Dergfest’ for his ‘own needs’ with his claims that flags and parades will put people off attending it also rejected. The festival runs from Friday 1st to Sunday the 3rd of August in Castlederg and will be headlined by former Westlife star Shane Filan.

A Sinn Fein TD is backing calls from a former senior planner in Donegal for a further investigation into claims of alleged planning irregularities in County Donegal. Gerard Convie has a dossier of 20 sample cases which show alleged improprieties. In the High Court, Mr Convie previously successfully challenged the findings of a report on

More than 200 local authority staff are earning over €100,000. Environment Minister Phil Hogan has confirmed that there are 216 local authority staff earning a salary of more than €100,000. Donegal County Council chief executive, Seamus Neely earns a salary of €133,072.

A woman in her early 70s has died in a car crash in Co Donegal. The woman, who was travelling alone in the car, died after her car hit a ditch in Cloghore, near Ballyshannon, at about 10.20pm last night. She was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was removed to Sligo General

Garth Brooks says if the Taoiseach wants to talk to him, he would crawl, swim, or fly over this weekend, sit in front of him, or drop on his knees and beg, to try and get go ahead for 5 concerts. In a live press conference , the singer said he doesn’t have a clue

A Donegal priest who advised his parishioners they should not practice yoga has been invited to take a class himself to see the benefits of it. In his weekly Gaoth Dobhair parish newsletter Fr O’Baoill described yoga and other disciplines such as tai chi and Reiki as contemptible. However Sean O Tuathalain, who runs the

A Donegal Deputy says that Orthodontic waiting lists at Letterkenny General Hospital remain unacceptable. Latest figures show 177 people, the majority of whom are children, have been waiting more than a year to see a consultant. Across the HSE West region, there are almost 5,000 people on a waiting list for an orthodontic appointment, almost

A Castlederg Sinn Fein Cllr has said the number of Loyalist parades in the town could put people off coming to the area. There have been two loyalist parades in Castlderg this week with a further five to take place between now and July 14th. Cllr Ruiari McHugh also branded the amount of unionist and

A Donegal priest has warned his parishioners against taking part in yoga, describing it as “unsavoury”.Fr Padraig O’Baoill, a parish priest in Gweedore, issued the warning in a parish newsletter.The weekend bulletin stated Catholic parishioners should not “endanger” their souls by practicing yoga, tai chi or reiki.Fr O’Baoill, who is currently visiting the Catholic pilgrimage

A man who lost his son in the 1998 Omagh bomb has called for sanctions against those who designed the “on the runs” scheme. Under the On the Runs scheme, letters were sent to about 200 republicans telling them they were not wanted by the police. The scheme became the focus of controversy after the

Two pilot whales that a local man in Falcarragh tried to rescue yesterday have beached again. Earlier this week, a pod of thirteen whales stranded on Balliness beach, the majority of those have died and have been buried. A local man went to the beach in the early hours yesterday morning and refloated two of

Talks are taking place today between Dublin City Manager, the city’s Lord Mayor and the Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission in a last ditch effort to salvage all five Garth Brooks’ Croke Park concerts. It comes after the Taoiseach intervened last night and urged all key players to come up with a solution

The Western Health and Social Care Trust has marked the beginning of construction work on the Radiotherapy Unit at Altnagelvin Hospital with staff and key stakeholders. An event was held on the site last evening. The contractor is currently preparing the site to enable the start of construction later this month. The new £50+million Radiotherapy

Police have defended their handling of a suspicious vehicle on Monday which caused significant disruption to residents in the Ballycolman Estate area of Strabane. Around 30 families had to leave their homes as police examined the car which had been abondened in the area for a number of days. Some residents have claimed the police

A car which was the subject of an appeal on Highland Radio has been intercepted by gardai in Castlefin. A caller to the Shaun Doherty Show told how a number of men had approached his house – they were said to be driving a silver Northern Registered Mercedes. They made off in the vehicle when

The Fire Service has said a fire at a bookmakers in Derry was started deliberately in the early hours of this morning. The fire broke out in the roof of Ladbrokes in Central Drive, Creggan at around 4am. Three fire appliances were used and a section of the roof has been removed. Northern Ireland Fire

Two of the thirteen beached whales in Falcarragh have been brought back from the dead and refloated. It was thought that all the remaining beached whales would have died last night and would be buried this morning. But one local man and a group of friends went to Baliness beach in the early hours of

A brother of former Irish presidential candidate and Eurovision song contest winner Dana Scallon has appeared in court in England accused of sexually abusing two young girls. 60-year-old John Brown is accused of indecently assaulting two girls under the age of 16 in the 1970s. He was charged last May after the two women, now

Ticketmaster will reveal later how those with tickets to Garth Brooks at Croke Park can get their money back. It’s after the country singer announced yesterday that he’s cancelling all five of his Irish concerts – due to take place in two weeks’ time – following Dublin City Council’s decision to only grant a licence

Donegal County Council has been granted 414 thousand euro to bring back into use 59 units of local authority housing. The funding is part of a year-long campaign from the Minister for Housing and Planning that will see €30m invested across the country with nearly 2,000 vacant houses returned to beneficial use. Its hoped that

The condition of a young Donegal man who was seriously injured in a fall while on holiday in Spain has improved. 19 year-old Oisin Merritt had been in a coma since he fell from a balcony while on holiday with friends in Santa Ponsa on June 9th. At one point close family members described his

Sinn Féin has questioned whether Phil Hogan is suitable to serve as Ireland’s next EU Commissioner. The environment minister is considered the favourite to be appointed for the EU job as part of the cabinet reshuffle. But Sinn Féin claims one of the minister’s appointees to a top state position should never have been given

The process of burying the last of a pod of Pilot whales that perished having beached in Falcarragh will conclude this evening. The last four whales which remained alive succumbed to the tide this evening. They were part of a pod of 13 that beached on Balliness Beach yesterday morning. Despite the best efforts of

All five Garth Brooks concerts have been called off. Aiken Promotions says it has exhausted all avenues regarding the staging of these events at Croke Park – and no concerts will be taking place. The performances were due to take place later this month. Aiken Promotions – who says it’s very disappointed for the 400,000

There is an appeal for witnesses following a robbery at a house in Glen in Inishowen. A sum of money was taken in the incident at around 4am in the early hours of Monday morning. Two men, who may have been involved were seen acting suspiciously on bicycles in the area an hour later –

A Donegal Deputy has questioned why the government continues to sit on a report examining the future of small schools while seemingly enforcing recommendations contained within it. Fianna Fail Education Spokesperson Deputy Charlie McConologue says it is unacceptable the report, which was concluded for over a year and a half ago has not yet been

A Donegal Senator has been charged with a number of driving offences. Senator Brian O Domhnaill wasn’t in court in Letterkenny yesterday when the case against him was called. He is charged with a number of alleged offences in the Tullygay area of Letterkenny on September 2 last year. Mr O Domhnaill, whose address was given

Promoter Peter Aiken is on his way to the states to try to convince Garth Brooks to play 3 concerts here. Its after Dublin City Council confirmed last night that only the 3 licenced gigs could go ahead. Its now up to Garth to decide if he’s going ahead with the shows, having said it

Eight whales have now died in Falcarragh after thirteen of the animals became stranded on beach yesterday. The remaining five surviving pilot whales are said to be very weak and are going to be allowed to die of natural causes. Up to 100 locals gathered at Balliness Beach yesterday to join a rescue effort after

A bomb alert in Strabane which forced a number of families to leave their homes overnight has ended. Police and the Army were called to examine a suspicious vehicle in the Ballycolman estate last night. Police said two controlled explosions were carried out at the scene but the alert has now ended after nothing untoward