Author name: oisinkelly

Donegal Senator and Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on Agriculture & Food Brian Ó Domhnaill has expressed concern about the abolition of the Sheep Grassland Scheme. The Senator says Minister Simon Coveney is scrapping the essential programme without establishing a sustainable replacement. He says this will lead to a reduction in payments to sheep farmers in

A Donegal man will be sentenced later this month for criminal damage of his ex-girlfriend’s Facebook page after being acquitted of false imprisonment and rape. The thirty year old accused, who cannot be named, had pleaded not (NOT) guilty at the Central Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning and raping the woman at her home in

4,539 Donegal Students have this morning began their the Leaving and Junior Certificate exams. 2,134 are sitting the Leaving Cert in the county, a further 2,405 are taking on the Junior Cert.   Minister of State for Training and Skills, Ciarán Cannon, is urging students to try not to get too stressed. Meanwhile, it’s emerged

British and Portuguese police are using sniffer dogs to search an area of scrubland in Praia da Luz where Madeleine McCann went missing 7 years ago. Workers have been using strimmers to clear away undergrowth. Sky’s Tom Parmenter is there:

A 16-year-old learner was stopped while driving a tractor on a public road in Co Donegal over the weekend. He was pulled over by gardai in Buncrana, while operating the vehicle on a narrow country road. A picture of the incident was posted on the official garda Twitter feed, along with an appeal to farmers

A car stolen in Eglinton late last week is believed to have been used in criminal activity in Co Donegal. The white Ford Focus was stolen from the driveway of a house at Dunboyne Park in Eglinton in the early hours of Friday last. Police in Derry say several other cars were searched through at

Households in Letterkenny will have three bins from next month, with the introduction of a brown bin for household food waste. Under the new ‘Household Food and Bio-Waste Regulations’, all householders in the Letterkenny area will be required to separate their food waste and make it available for conversion into compost by placing both cooked

The family of Michaela McAreavey have hit out at Mauritian authorities after becoming frustrated with the slow progress in the murder investigation. The family released a statement as the second anniversary of her murder trial approaches. 27-year-old teacher Michaela was murdered in a hotel room on her honeymoon in 2011. They have said they are

It’s been confirmed that the Letterkenny Court Hotel will be renamed “Dillons Hotel” when it is relaunched in September The announcement has been made by Eugene Mc Keever, Managing Director of the Mc Keever Hotels Group which bought the hotel on Letterkenny’s Main Street last month. Mr Mc Keever says the inside of the hotel

A newly elected councillor in Donegal says the tourist potential of Errigal and Dunlewey is not being realised, and addressing that must be a priority. Independent Councillor Michael Colm Mc Giolla Easpaig says he will be looking to the Council to draw up and implement a plan for the area. He says while that area

The new Mayor of Derry is SDLP Cllr. Brenda Stevenson, who has become the last Mayor of the current Derry City Council. The council will continue to operate until April 1st, when it will be replaced by the new 40 member Derry City and Strabane Council, for which elections were held last month. Cllr. Stevenson,

MTV is to host a major concert in Derry’s Ebrington Square in September. It’s reported this morning that Derry City Council is investing close to a million pounds into the event, which has been under discussion for some time. Last year’s BBC ‘One Big Weekend’ was one of the flagship events of the City of

Relay for Life 2014 has been hailed a major success, with the organisers saying over 127,000 euro has already been raised, with more expected to come in from the 46 teams in the coming weeks. This is already well above the 100,000 euro target set for this year, and the committee has confirmed that the

SDLP Cllr Brenda Stevenson will tonight become the last Mayor of the current Derry City Council. The council will continue to operate until April 1st, when it will be replaced by the new 40 member Derry City and Strabane Council, for which elections were held last month. Cllr. Stephenson, a niece of the former SDLP

Police and the family of a missing Derry man say they are becoming increasingly concerned for his safety. 55 year old Patrick McNeilly hasn’t been seen since he was dropped off at the bus depot on Foyle Street at around 1.30pm on 23rd May. It’s believed he may have then travelled from Derry to the Northamptonshire area

More than 20 drugs arrests were made during the weekend at a tribute rock festival in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. Gardai said one dealer with nearly €1,000 of ecstasy tablets was arrested at the Rory Gallagher festival. A spokesman said most of the rest of the drugs arrests were for simple cannabis possession. Gardai said there

Detectives at Strand Road are investigating an overnight petrol bomb attack in Derry. The device was thrown at a house in the Fergleen Mews area at around 2am this morning causing scorch damage to the front door. Anyone who was in the area at around 2am and who witnessed the attack, or anyone with information

A 33-year-old man was charged today(Sun) with assault causing harm to a 73-year-old who fighting for his life in hospital. Lee Mitchell, 33, from Windmill Park, Letterkenny, was accused of the attack on Friday evening on Patrick McLoughlin at his home in Convent Road, Carndonagh. Mitchell was also charged with burglary earlier on Friday at

Almost a thousand motorists have been caught speeding on the roads in the last 24 hours, with the highest speed recorded in Donegal. Gardai say a motorist was detected doing 147km/h in a 80 km/h zone on the R238 at Lisfannan outside Buncrana. Hundreds of speed detection points remain in place across the country following

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following a serious assault in Carndonagh last night. At approximately 9.30 p.m. Gardai were alerted to an incident in Convent Road, Carndonagh where a 73 year old man was assaulted. He was taken by ambulance to Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry where his condition is serious. A man in his 30s was

Twenty seven new jobs will be created as one of Letterkenny’s most popular hotels undergoes a major €500,000 facelift. The Letterkenny Court Hotel has been bought by McKeever Hotel Group, which plans a major refurbishment in the coming months. The company says all 30 staff jobs will be retained and an additional 27 people will

Thousands of people are expected to participate in the 3rd Donegal Relay for Life, which gets underway this evening at 6 o’clock in the grounds of LYIT. Since the first relay in 2012, the event has become the premier Relay in Europe, and the biggest outside the US, raising over 600,000 euro since then. With

Police say they are becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of a 17 year old girl missing from the Omagh area. Kim Hazlett is understood to have caught a bus from Omagh to Derry on 27th May and was last seen in the Waterloo Place area of the city at around 3.40pm on that date.

The case against two former members of the RUC who were due to appear at Derry Magistrate’s Court charged with perverting the course of justice has been adjourned. The two John McGahan (71) and Philip Noel Thompson (54) both with addresses as c/o PSNI, Knock Road, Belfast. They were supposed to appear at a preliminary

A jury in the trial of a Donegal man accused of falsely imprisoning and raping his ex-girlfriend has been sent home for the long weekend after failing to reach a verdict. The thirty year old accused, who cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty to the false imprisonment and rape of the woman at her

Following the bomb attack at the Everglades Hotel the newly elected independent councillor Gary Donnelly has said that Peter Robinson has done more damage to the economy than a bomb ever will. At last week’s local government election Mr. Donnelly topped the poll in the Moor ward and was elected to the new super council

Jack and Sophie were the most popular babies’ names in Donegal in 2013. Across the country, Jack is also the most popular boy’s name followed by James, Daniel, Conor and Sean. Emily is the most popular girls name followed by make  Emma, Ella and Amelia. According to the CSO Jack has been the number one

Funding has been allocated to provide new class rooms and other facilities at Moville Community College. Almost 1.7 million euro will be spent on five news classrooms, a science laboratory, a home economics room and a technology room. The work will include the provision of a learning support room. Deputy Joe McHugh says it’s great

It is claimed the Chair of the West/North West hospital group has shares in a company that compiled a controversial report on the future of maternity services in the region. Senator Mark Mac Sharry says Noel Daly’s reported involvement in the private company that was asked to carry out the report raises very serious questions

Management at Letterkenny General Hospital are today again asking people to avoid the Emergency Department today if possible. The hospital remains very busy today. There has been a lot of emergency admissions over the past few days and high bed occupancy levels are still causing delays in moving patients from the Emergency Department to the

Donegal Down Syndrome is calling on the government to restore all medical cards that have been removed from people over the past two years. The call comes following an announcement by junior health minister Alex White that the review of discretionary medical cards is to be suspended, pending a re-evaluation of the policy. It’s understood

Today is national slow down day. Gardaí and The Road Safety Authority are urging motorists to watch their speed on this – the most dangerous weekend of the year. Figures show a consistent number of fatal collisions over the June Bank Holiday. Road death figures continue to rise, with 74 people killed so far this

The bid to become the next leader of the Labour Party will become a two horse race today. Alex White is expected to announce his candidacy for the top job later this morning. The junior health minister will go up against Joan Burton, while a slew of other TDs are running for Deputy Leader.  

The trial of a Donegal man accused of falsely imprisoning and raping his ex-girlfriend has reached its closing stages at the Central Criminal Court. The thirty year old, who cannot be named, has pleaded NOT guilty to the false imprisonment and rape of his ex-girlfriend at her home in the early hours of April 6,

An explosion has occurred at a hotel in Derry, after a masked man threw a small bomb into its reception area. The Everglades Hotel, in the Prehen area of the city, was evacuated after the device was reported at a 11:15pm last night. The device exploded a short time later when army experts were working

The Government’s drawing a halt to the controversial review of discretionary medical cards that has seen children with down syndrome asked to verify that they are still sick. It’s being suspended while the H-S-E carries out a review of policy aimed at issuing cards on the basis of condition and not income. The decision was

The Emergency Department at Letterkenny General Hospital has issued a statement asking the public to avoid attending the emergency department this evening. The Emergency Department at the hospital is said to be currently extremely busy with above average numbers of very ill patients requiring admission to the hospital. The public are asked to avoid attending