Author name: oisinkelly

It’s emerged a diocese in Minnesota is suing the diocese of Clogher, alleging it sent a priest to Minnesota knowing he was a child abuser. Irish Central reports the New Ulm diocese has filed a lawsuit against the diocese, which encompasses parts of Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Donegal. The lawsuit alleges that Clogher sent a […]

A priest from Donegal who was acquitted in 2012 of sexual assault charges has resigned from ministry in the Diocese of Derry. Fr Eugene Boland, a parish priest in Cappagh, County Tyrone, stepped aside four years ago while allegations were investigated. He had resumed his duties just two weeks ago, after it was confirmed legal

The Health and Safety Authority has expressed serious concerns over new figures showing people in the fishing industry are 40 times more likely to be killed at work, compared to the overall economy. The figures mean that roughly 1 in every 1,000 fishermen are killed at work every year. The Health and Safety Authority has

A post-mortem is expected to be carried out tomorrow on the body of a woman who died in a house fire in Sligo this weekend. 34-year-old Caitriona Feely lost her life after a blaze broke out in a home on White Strand View in Aylesbury Park on Friday night. The fire is believed to have

A car in Derry has been damaged in what police are describing as a hate crime. The incident happened in the Fountain estate in the early hours of Saturday. A 16-year-old boy and three men aged 18, 21 and 24 were arrested following the incident. All three have since been released on bail pending further

Two men in their early 20s have been killed in a road accident in County Tyrone. The car crashed though two gardens and ended up on its side on the Old Coagh Road in Cookstown. It happened at about 4am this morning. No other vehicle was involved. The road was closed for a time but

An investigation is underway after a 34 year-old woman died in a house fire in Sligo town last night. Fire crews and gardai were called to the house on White Strand View in Aylesbury Park at around 9.20. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was removed to Sligo Regional Hospital

A man who was disorderly in the casualty department of Altnagelvin Hospital on Christmas Eve has been jailed today at Derry Magistrate’s Court. John Paul Harkin (34) of 316, Bloomfield Park in Derry who has 129 previous convictions appeared at Derry Magistrate’s Court to face theft an disorderly charges. On December 24 Harkin was arrested

The 48th British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly plenary session gets underway next week with debates about workplace development in the future set to top the agenda. The Taoiseach Enda Kenny, CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary and the IDA’s Frank Ryan will be among the speakers to address the conference which meets in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham,

The Mayor of Letterkenny has urged young people to protect their mental health, and seek help if they feel under pressure. Cllr Pascal Blake was speaking at the senior Academic Awards Presentation at St Eunan’s College, telling the gathering it was an honour to do so as the last mayor of Letterkenny. He told the

A Garda, whose past duties have included security at Aras an Uachtarain, has been suspended from the force for allegedly harassing two women. Donal Maguire appeared in court today charged with a total of four harassment offences on various dates over the past 18 months. Garda Maguire is accused of harassing one of the alleged

A paedophile who stalked schoolboys in a town was identified today(Fri) as former Order of Malta medical trainee. He also attended Neighbourhood Watch meetings in his local town, Ballyshannon Patrick Lenihan, 44, who had up to 80 porn pictures of boys in mobile phones and who tried to persuade schoolboys as young as 12 in

A public meeting is taking place next month to address what is being described as growing concern over proposals to locate a salmon farm off the Donegal coast. The Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages group claims B.I.M. intends to apply for a license to locate salmon cages off Gola Island near Gweedore. They are hosting

A Donegal barrister has said he believes there is more to come on the taping of telephone calls in over 20 garda stations across the country, including Letterkenny. Speaking to Greg Hughes on the Shaun Doherty Show, Damien Crawford said there are a number of issues to be taskled by the commission which was announced

A Letterkenny Councillor is calling for immediate action to complete repairs on the Glencar Road before the town council is abolished in two months time. Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh, a sitting member of Letterkenny Town Council who is contesting the county council elections in May for Fine Gael says money was agreed to fix the road

  Transport Minister Leo Varadkar will officially open the new Bruckless Bridge this afternoon, almost two years after the work was completed. Donegal County Council says hroughout the years the 90-degree bend at the bridge was responsible for many collisions, and in recent years, its importance as a link to the Port of Killybegs had

Donegal Local Development Company says any community or voluntary groups considering starting a rural transport scheme should make contact with them. Expressions of Interest are now being sought from Community and Voluntary Groups wishing to avail of a transport grant within DLDC’s catchment area. The grants target socially disadvantaged communities, and DLDC Project Officer Margaret

  The Chief Executive of the Donegal Education and Training Board has established a Teaching and Learning Council which will have a broad remit. Shaun Purcell says members of the council are looking at good practice in their Schools and Centres with a view to sharing these throughout the network, with an initial focus on

There are fears that recordings of phone calls in Garda Stations could impact trials – even where evidence within them wasn’t used in court. A number of lawyers say they believe if information in the tapes recorded at Garda stations – wasn’t disclosed in court it could re-open dozens of cases. Taoiseach Enda Kenny says

The Irish Cancer Society is calling on members of the public to get behind Daffodil day today. Over 5,000 volunteers are selling Daffodils right across the country, and the charity says it’s hoping to raise 3.4 million euro. 30,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year, approximately 1,000 of them in Donegal. Mark Merritt

The PSNI has committed to review evidence against all those who were awarded letters of comfort as part of an “On the Runs” scheme. The DUP group leader on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Jonathan Craig, has welcomed the review. Last month, the British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a judge would conduct a

The inquest into the death of Denis Donaldson has been adjourned for the 13th time after being told that there could be vital new evidence in the murder investigation. Mr Donaldson’s family snubbed the hearing, saying they plan to sue the gardai. Supt Michael Finan told Coroner Denis McCauley that he was looking for a

The High Court in Belfast has been told that the Omagh bomb could and should have been prevented. Lawyers for Michael Gallagher whose son was killed in the blast claimed there was enough intelligence available ahead of the terror strike. Michael Gallagher is seeking to judicially review Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers over her decision

The family of a British intelligence informant say they will take legal action against the Gardaí over their failure to allow an inquest into his death. The family of Denis Donaldson say today will mark the 13th time that Gardaí have asked for his inquest to be postponed. Next week marks the 8th anniversary of

A Donegal woman is one of three Irish people are heading to Brussels today to take part in the first ever EU-wide Citizens Dialogue Forum. The Citizens Dialogue is a new platform in which the European Commission adopts ideas from EU citizens on the future direction of Europe. As promised in the Lisbon Treaty, three

The Taoiseach says he’s concerned about the fallout of the secret recordings in Garda stations – and it could have implications even for tribunals. Enda Kenny says defence lawyers will be interested and already a case has been concerned – he says that’s why a Commission of Investigation has been established. Mr Kenny told reporters

    An election candidate has called for an end to what he describes as discrimination of island voters calling for them to be allowed go to the polls at the same time as those on the mainland. Islanders traditionally cast their votes a number of days before those on the mainland, this has been to

A new road safety campaign is being launched this morning urging motorists not to use bluetooth or handsfree mobile devices while driving. The “Switch Off before you Drive Off” campaign is focussing on the fact that even if the phone is not in your hand, it is still a distraction. Donegal County Council is one

Staff shortages in the Donegal Mental Health Services are to be raised in the Dail,, with Donegal South West Deputy Pearse Doherty saying he’s very concerned about the issue. Earlier this week, the friend of a service user expressed concern that a cancelled appointment and the prospect of a six month wait to be seen

Army bomb experts have been examining the scene of an explosion that badly damaged a parked car in Derry last night. It happened at about 1045pm outside a house in Carrickreagh Gardens in the Creggan area. No-one was injured in the explosion. Several homes were evacuated while the area was examined by police. The road

The Justice Minister has apologised to two Garda whistleblowers. Alan Shatter has also corrected the Dáil record that Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former Garda John Wilson did not co-operate with an inquiry into the penalty points issue. The move eases pressure on the Minister with Labour happy with the correction.

The Mayor of Buncrana says the designation of a special enterprise zone in Coleraine has the potential to damage Inishowen. The Coleraine designation was announced in the wake of the announcement that 250 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency jobs are being absorbed into the current DVLA structures in Swansea. However, Cllr Peter Mc Laughlin says

Its emerged that in 2007 gardai sought a system to automatically record telephone calls and radio traffic from the Garda communications system at Letterkenny Garda Station. Letterkenny Garda station was one of 27 stations for which Garda sought the system. The system, which  included hard drives to store recordings of communications, allowed Gardai with certain

A local election candidate is calling for the introduction of a one-way system in Letterkenny in an effort to ease traffic congestion. Labour’s Christy Galligan has drawn up his own traffic management plan which includes that proposal as well as the upgrading of access roads and progression of the Bonagee link. Traffic in the town

  A Donegal County Cllr has expressed his disappointment after the Transport Minister refused to meet with a delegation regarding the upgrading of Fintra Bridge. Minister Leo Varadkar contacted Cllr Brendan Byrne on Tuesday via email saying that he was not in a position to meet with any delegation due to a full diary. This is despite the fact the Minister

Police in Strabane have confirmed that a security alert at a supermarket in the town last night was a hoax. At around midnight last night police recieved a call of a suspicious package being left in Asda. Workers and shoppers were then evacuated from the store as police and sniffer dogs carried out searches. Within

Twelve cars have been broken into during a crime spree in Derry. The PSNI are appealing for information after parked cars were targeted by thieves in the Waterside area. In the early hours of Monday morning, police received 12 reports of incidents at Prehen and Kilfennan. Items including money and a mobile phone were stolen.

The Justice Minister has given a commitment to meet the family of a Letterkenny soldier who was murdered while serving with the UN in Lebanon. Minister Alan Shatter confirmed in the Dail yesterday that he will meet members of the family “either this side of Easter or shortly afterwards.” Hugh Doherty, was shot dead during

Donegal County Councillor Frank McBrearty has called for Justice Minister Alan Shatter to resign. Cllr McBrearty – given €1.5M in compensation after being framed for murder by gardai – accused Deputy Shatter of failing the people of Ireland. Meanwhile, it also emerged last night that calls into and out of Garda stations were recorded up

The Letterkenny to Lifford Road has reopened this morning after a two car collision close to the Dromoghill turn-off last night. The road was closed for a number of hours last night and diversions were put in place. Two people were rushed to hospital after the collision, were they are said to be in stable condition. Gardai

The Justice Minister says the fact that recording of phone calls in garda stations was in place – and for so long – is of serious concern. Alan Shatter has addressed the Dáil after Cabinet decided to establish a Commission of Investigation into the matter. He says he is constrained by the fact a civil

Part of the Letterkenny to Lifford Road has been closed this evening, after what has been described as a serious traffic accident. The accident happened close to the Dromoghill turnoff. Emergency services are currently at the scene and diversions are in place.

Police in Foyle are seeking information about a man who stopped his car and spoke to a seven-year-old girl in Eglinton on  Monday. Police says they want to speak to the man to determine the exact circumstances. At around 8.40am on Monday, the driver of a car described as a ‘black jeep’ stopped beside the