Author name: oisinkelly

Key tourism businesses in Donegal have been told that driving growth through segmentation is the best way to maximise the county’s potential for growth. A seminar organised by Failte Ireland last evening said the industry must look at the attitudes and expectations of people in different markets in order to develop memorable tourism experiences. Failte

A business representative group is calling on newly elected councillor’s to reduce commercial rates for businesses across the country. Retail Ireland wants councils to look at offering ‘temporary rate’s holidays’ to entice people to occupy vacant units. The IBEC group, that represents the retail sector, says the industry is vital to the success of local

A Letterkenny Area local election candidate is calling on people to use polling cards issued to people who have left the country to highlight the impact of emigration in Donegal. Independent Charlie Mc Clafferty is urging people to mark the cards “Forgotten Voter – Not Valid”, and post them to the Taoiseach’s office in Dublin.

The SDLP have withdrawn support for Derry local election candidate, Jimmy Carr. The decision comes less than 24 hours before voting commences in the local council elections in the north. SDLP members have been asked to stop campaigning for Mr. Carr’s candidacy. The withdrawal of support for Derry City Cllr Jimmy Carr by the SDLP

A North-West MEP has sent two very serious Garda whistleblower files to the Minister for Justice. Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins-who is contesting the upcoming European elections later this week- says the whistleblowers came to him because of his work for the McBrearty family in Donegal before the establishment of the Morris Tribunal. Mr Higgins said

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Julia O’Donnell in Kincasslagh today. The 94 year old mother of country stars Daniel O’Donnell and Margo died in the early hours of Sunday morning. Funeral mass at St Mary’s Church was concelebrated by 11 priests, led by Fr Brian Logue, a local priest based in Scotland. Before

Paul Doherty, who is from the area and has spent years fishing the local waters, spent over an hour in the sea at Tullagh Bay, near Clonmany on the Inishowen Peninsula after getting into difficulties. Paul joined the Shaun Doherty Show to share his story. “I could see another wave coming and I knew if

A man accused of dangerous driving causing eight deaths is before a court deciding on whether he is fit to plead. The application by Shaun Kelly that he is not fit to plead opened today(Tues) at Donegal Circuit Court. Judge John O’Hagan was told it could be tomorrow before all the evidence, mainly of a

The Parish Council in Glencolmcille says the proposed closure of the Killybegs Tourism College is shortsighted in the extreme. In a letter supporting the college which has been sent to Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar and the Higher Education Authority, the council says the Killybegs campus of LYIT has shown an unparalelled commitment to Donegal, and

Donegal has been allocated 732 thousand euro under the Community Involvement Scheme. Under the scheme, communities must contribute at least 25% of the cost of road improvements either through funding, labour provision, machinery or other forms of benefit. One of the biggest projects is on Tory Island were 210 thousand euro has been allocated to

The Doe Community Association has been summoned to the High Court over an unpaid debt to a contractor as money promised to them by the Department of the Environment has not come through. In February, it was claimed legal proceedings against the development group would be dropped with the commitment that funding owed to it

Met Eireann has issued a rainfall warning for Donegal. The weather service says heavy thundery downpours are likely today, leading to local flooding. Forecasters say very intense rainfall is possible over short periods of time. David Rodgers from Met Eireann said there is a chance of spot flooding:

An Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter crew has been given a prestigious international award this week for “exceptional performance” in rescuing an injured climber in County Donegal. Four crew attached to Sligo based Rescue are in Canada to receive the Fredrick L Feinberg award conferred by the American Helicopter Society. The Sligo pilot

A number of Donegal businesses are travelling to Scotland this week as part of a campaign to boost the renewable energy sector in their region. The businesses are part of “Ren Net”, the Renewable Energy Business Network, a green economy network in the North West Cross Border Group which is being led by Donegal County

The independent think tank Publicpolicy.ie has published a new interactive website dedicated to local authority finances. Using figures from council budgets agreed at the beginning of the year, localauthorityfinances.com provides a per-capita breakdown of every euro being spent by the 31 local councils across the country this year. In Donegal, €138.6m will be spent in

The Chair of the Labour Parliamentary Party says it would be “cowardice” for the party to “run away from Government”. Nominations to succeed Eamon Gilmore, who resigned as leader on Monday, opened last night. A new leader of the party is to be announced on July 4th. Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin will make a

The Public Expenditure Minister says tackling homelessness is an “absolute priority” for the Government. Brendan Howlin say all state agencies will be asked to contribute any suitable properties they have for emergency accommodation – as the Cabinet meets to discuss how to tackle the crisis. Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan is bringing plans to her colleagues

A receiver has been appointed to a number of businesses under the ownership of the Blaney Family. The businesses include two of Donegal’s best known pubs The receivers have been appointed on behalf of the Alllied Irish Bank with debts believed to be in the region of ten million euro. The businesses in question are

The RNLI has released dramatic footage of the rescue of a fisherman who was found clinging to a lobster pot bouy off Tullagh beach in Clonmany. The call for help came when a mother and her son, who were out tending sheep near Tullagh beach, heard cries for help and saw a man out at

Police in Derry are appealing for information about a suspected sectarian assault at the weekend in which a man sustained facial injuries. The injured man believes there was a sectarian motivation to the incident at Foyle Street at about 2.30am on Saturday morning. He was walking towards the Foyle Street car park after a night

What’s been described as a significant cultural tourism initiative has been launched today at the Mevagh Resource Centre. The Mevagh Irish Cultural and Heritage Exchange programme will target Students from colleges in North America and Canada who will be exposed to a wide range of cultural and Irish learning experiences during their stay. The aim

Cross border traffic has resumed over Lifford Bridge following several hours of closure. Earlier this morning, a BMW car and a Scania lorry collided head on shortly after 9am. The driver of the car has been taken to Altnagelvin Hospital. Traffic had been diverted via Clady, but the bridge has now reopened.

Emergency services are at the scene of a road traffic accident on the Lifford Bridge. A BMW car and a Scania lorry collides head on shortly after 9am. The driver of the car has been taken to Altrnagelvin Hospital. His condition is not yet known. The road is currently closed with diversions over Clady.

Positive noises from Education Minister Ruari Quinn on the future of small schools are being dismissed as a pre-election gimmick by Fianna Fail’s Education Spokesperson. Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue says the minister’s comments at the weekend that government policy on small schools will be reviewed is too little too late, as is his assertion that

Housing lists around the country have grown an average of 42 per cent in the past year. Figures supplied to the Irish Times show the biggest jump was in County Roscommon which had 252 households on the list last year, and now has 516. In Donegal the increase is 28% with 2,146 household on the

A war of words has erupted between the HSE and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation over the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement. The INMO says it was told by the state body last week that it wants to implement an extra 80 million euro in savings in the health service – that’s on

Ryanair’s announced an 8 per cent fall in profits for the 12 months to the end of March. However the figure of 523 million euro is slightly ahead of what was expected, when lower fares, weaker sterling and higher fuel costs were taken into account. The airline also saw a 3 per cent jump in

A local election candidate in Letterkenny is claiming a member of his campaign team and her 10 year old sister were intimidated and abused when they attempted to drive past an anti Water Charges protest on the market square. Christy Galligan says the car, which was fitted with loudspeakers and had his name and the

A spokesperson for Lough Swilly Lifeboat says an Inishowen lobster fisherman is “lucky to be alive” after he was rescued from the water off Tullagh beach in Clonmany yesterday afternoon. The rescue  involved the Lough Swilly Lifeboat, Greencastle Coastguard, the Sligo based rescue helicopter and a local vessel. The alarm was raised by two people

Daniel O’Donnell has announced the death of his 94-year-old mother Julia this morning. Mrs O’Donnell passed away at 3.50am as her family kept a bedside vigil. Daniel had rushed home from Scotland where he was performing last Monday night to be at his mother’s bedside. Daniel confirmed the news on his official website stating: “It

A new opinion poll for the European elections has found Sinn Fein’s Matt Carthy leading the way in the Midlands Northwest constituency. 500 voters were polled in each of the the constituency on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. In the Midlands North-West, the poll shows that Fianna Fáil could lose out to two independents.

The High Court has ordered the arrest of local election candidate Patricia McCafferty over her failure to remove allegedly defamatory posts about Bundoran Town Council on YouTube. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan ordered that Ms McCafferty be arrested and brought before the High Court for alleged contempt in the face of orders directing her to remove

The Donegal man who died in a farming accident yesterday has been named as Cecil Killpatrick. He died when he was trampled by a cow close to his home at Carrckbrack, Convoy. The incident happened early yesterday (Friday) morning. An investigation has been launched by the Health and Safety Authority in to the incident.

The Department of the Enviroment has allocated 106 thousand euro of funding for public enhancement projects in Co. Donegal. The money, which is the second highest allocation in the country, will be spent in six location improving access and safety to public areas for local communities and visitors. The work includes car park improvements at

The Mayor of Donegal has blasted the government for what he says his the latest attack on the elderly. Pensioners will feel particularly hard done-by as thousands of them who have medical cards face paying higher Universial Social Charge. The hike from 4 per cent to 7 will reportedly affect up to 360,000 people. Mayor

A Donegal priest has welcomed moves by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to review government policy on small schools. Father John Joe Duffy has been campaigning on behalf of small schools – including those from Protestant faiths – as the Government threatened to close some of them. But the Minister for Education moved to calm fears

A young boy has been the subject of a suspicious approach in Raphoe. Last Thursday, a man in a black car pulled up along side the 10 year-old boy gestering for him to get into the passenger seat of the car. It’s thought a similar approach took place later in Convoy. The matter has been