Author name: oisinkelly

There is a spat amongst two local election candidates over the issue of polling clerk positions being offered to people on the live register. The call was made by Labour’s election candidate Siobhan McLaughlin, but Labour has been accused of hijacking the issue by Peter Cutliffe who is a long time campaigner for the move. […]

A Northwest MEP is calling on the government to instigate a significant effort to have Northern Ireland exempt from the new HGV tax. The UK tax, which will see hauliers crossing from the south into Northern Ireland charged £10, comes into effect from April. Some Donegal Hauliers says they will be forced to move their

The Fianna Fail party has passed a motion from Donegal North East delegates calling for active and serious participating and engagement in the political process in Northern Ireland. The motion was passed without debate at The Fianna Fáíl Ard Fheis which is taking place this weekend. The party’s leader Micheál Martin has now confirmed Fianna

Gardai have renewed an appeal for information into a single vehicle crash in Letterkenny which left a young Lifford man in a critical condition in hospital. 23 year-old Darry McDaid was driving a silver BMW which crashed between the Polestar and Dry Arch roundabouts in the early hours of Thursday morning – he’s still being

A Donegal County Councillor is calling on ferry operators to come forward if they are interested in running the Lough Swilly service. It links Buncrana with Rathmullan A closing date for tenders for the ferry was March 12th, but Donegal County Council has received no applications to date. Councillor Liam Blaney says the service is

A Strabane family have welcomed the announcement that a vaccine that protects against a deadly form of meningitis is set to be introduced in the UK and Northern Ireland. Meningitis charities said more data had led to today’s decision, and it was a “wonderful outcome”. About 1,870 people contract meningitis B each year and one

Veteran Cllr Victor Fisher has quit Fianna Fail after claiming he was “shafted” by the party he has served for 45 years. The former Mayor of Letterkenny says he is deeply hurt that he was not asked to stand for election by the party in the forthcoming local elections. And the local businessman said he

Gardai are currently investigating an incident at Burnfoot where the body of a man has been discovered. The man, believed to be aged in his forties and from the local area, hadn’t been seen in recent days. The body was found at Carnashannagh, Burnfoot, and it has been removed to Letterkenny General Hospital were the

The Donegal Diabetes Parent Support Group is holding a public meeting on Sunday in Letterkenny as part of the campaign for the retention of a full time nurse to deal with children who have diabetes. Parents say there will no longer be a specialist nurse available to them, and that will dilute the care available.

A Lifford man is still in a critical condition in hospital this today after he was in a car accident in Letterkenny in the early hours of yesterday morning. The 23 year old was driving a car which collided with a wall between the Polestar and Dry Arch roundabouts. No-one else was in the car

An overturned lorry at one of Strabane’s busiest roundabouts has caused major traffic disruption today. The lorry overturned on Bradley Way, blocking the roundabout near Asda in the town, affecting mainly traffic travelling on the busy A5. A PSNI spokesperson said the area would suffer from “major disruption” until further notice. There is currently a

The outspoken Independent TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan says he believes he’s in with a “very good chance” of being elected to the European Parliament. The Roscommon/South Leitrim deputy confirmed this morning he will be a candidate in the Midlands-North West constituency. Luke Ming Flanagan says he’s conducted a poll which suggests he’ll have enough support

It’s emerged that no submissions have been made from Ireland to a major EU consultation on the possible health implications of pylons. Speaking after a meeting with EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg, North West MEP Jim Higgins said he was told there had been a total of three submissions made to the study, none of

Fianna Fail’s Ard Fheis gets underway later today. They’re the last party to hold the event before the European and local elections. They’ll set out their stall to voters on the economy, healthcare and crime with the theme – ‘Recovery for All’. Speaking to Highland Radio News as he prepared to leave for Killarney, Donegal

A protest takes place this afternoon in Coleraine following last week’s announcement that almost 250 DVA jobs in the town are to be transferred to Swansea. The trade union NIPSA says the government must understanding that the people of Coleraine will be be defending these jobs and the service, the campaign is far from finished.

Police in Derry have confirmed that two officers filmed lifting a drunk woman into a bus lay-by on St Patrick’s Day have been moved from any duties that bring them into direct contact with the public. The incident happened in John Street on St Patrick’s Day. Police say the decision to reposition the officers is

A County Derry gas fitter has been sentenced to two years in prison and two on licence for the manslaughter of two teenagers in 2010. 52-year-old George Brown, from Ballygawley Road, Aghadowey, admitting killing Neil McFerran and Aaron Davidson and a string of other charges, including health and safety breaches. The pair died after they

A man who was rescued from Lough Ree after a boating accident yesterday afternoon has died in hospital. The man in his 20’s was one of two who were taken from the water and brought to Portiuncula hospital in a critical condition. He was later transferred to University College Hospital in Galway where he passed

The lobby group Into the West is calling on the North’s Regional Development Minister to clarify his intentions for the old Waterside Railway Station in Derry. Yesterday, it was confirmed that the outcome of a public consultation on the future of rail services showed a clear majority in favour of refurbishing and reopening the facility.

The Transport Minister says he doesn’t share or agree with the criticisms of the Garda whistleblowers. Leo Varadkar is describing the actions of Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former Garda John Wilson as distinguished. He is also calling on the Garda Commissioner to withdraw his “disgusting” remark made in relation to the whistleblowers. Minister Varadkar says

Donegal has been allocated 1.5million euro under two packages announced by Minister Simon Coveney today. 700 thousand euro has been granted to Killybegs for Phase 1 of a small craft harbour while Donegal County Council has been given 751 thousand euro to repair 28 piers and harbours damaged by the severe winter storms. The biggest

There has been a slight increase in land values in County Donegal but the figures show that very little land is being sold in the county publicly. The figures show the average price paid for land in Donegal increased by 4.4%. The statistics are contained in the annual land price magazine published by The Irish

A Councillor says a road closure in Letterkenny today, which led to significant traffic jams and delays for motorists, underlines the importance of the proposed Bonagee Link Bridge Road. The road was closed after a 23 year-old man was critically injured in a single vehicle collision on the Port road between the Polestar and Dry

Seven primary and post primary schools in County Donegal will benefit from the Summer Works Scheme 2014. The schools are part of a national investment of almost €36 million in the first round of school improvements and will receive funding to carry out small and medium scale building works. The schools which had their Summer

A Derry woman, who was captured on camera being left in a bus lay-by by two police officers while incapacitated, has called for the officers to be sacked. Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle 23 year-old Bridget Mongan admits being drunk at the time, but said the officers should have left her on the pavement. She

The Port Road in Letterkenny has now reopened after an overnight collision left a Lifford man fighting for his life in hospital. The 23 year old was driving a car which collided with a wall between the Polestar and Dry Arch roundabouts shortly before 1 o’clock this morning. No-one else was in the car at

Malaysian authorities say the sighting of two objects which may be connected to missing flight MH370 are credible but have yet to be confirmed as debris of the aircraft. The images were picked up by Australian government satellites in the Southern Indian Ocean. One item is described as 24 metres long and is said to

Police believe a sex attacker who targeted young girls in Portugal may be linked to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. The man abused five girls aged between 7 and 10 during break-ins at holiday homes in the Algarve. The attacks all happened in the three years before Madeleine vanished in 2007. Madeleine’s grandparents are from Donegal and

A new viral craze has taken over Facebook and this time it’s for a good cause. The trend began early last night and has had a snowball effect with hundreds of females in the Northwest posting photos of themselves with no makeup on the social networking site. This latest craze allows friends to nominate each

The Physics Department in St Columba’s College, Stranorlar, recorded last night’s small earthquake has been felt in Co. Wexford. The signal reached the College’s seismometer within 80 seconds. The British Geological Survey have measured the magnitude as 2.2 on the moment magnitude scale. Below is a map of the recording captured in Donegal

Donegal dog owners are being urged to be extra vigilant as we approach peak lambing season. Under the Control of Dogs Act, dog owners can be held liable for financial damage caused to farmers and costs can run to several thousand Euro. PJ McMonagle is the Donegal Chairperson of the IFA – he says even

A week long event to raise awareness of the importance of talking to young people about their sexual health takes place in Donegal next month. ‘Let’s Talk About Sex Week – Talking about sex in a healthy way is OK!’ runs from April 7th to 12th and is organised by the Donegal Youth Service in

Police in Derry are investigating reports of a shooting incident at a house in the Melmore Gardens area in the early hours of this morning. It was reported that a loud bang was heard by neighbours at around 1am, and upon arrival at the house, officers found the front window broken, strike marks on an

A 15-year-old youth has been charged with a number of offences including attempted rape and common assault and is to appear at Derry Magistrates’ Court this morning. His arrest followed reports that a 13-year-old girl had allegedly been attacked. The assault is believed to have happened in the Rathkeele Way area in Creggan yesterday morning.

It has emerged that players taking part in a rugby match in Strabane at the weekend were shot at by a group of youths with suspected BB guns. The incident occurred at Milltown on Saturday as Strabane Rugby Club took on Carrickfergus. Its claimed a group of 3 to 4 youths, with their faces covered,

The PSNI’s continuing to question a man arrested in connection with the killing of Jean Mc Conville, one of the so-called Disappeared. The west Belfast woman was abducted and murdered in 1972, and her body wasn’t found until 2003. A 77 year old man has been detained by the PSNI’s Serious Crime Branch. Belfast Security

The former Chairman of the Labour Party in Donegal has entered the election race as a Independent candidate for the Letterkenny/Milford area. Peter Cutliffe quit the Labour Party in November last year. At the time he said he felt the Labour party represented the people. He also took issue with the fact that at that

The Chair of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee Cllr Noel McBride is urging anyone with an interest in setting up a community alert and text alert scheme in their area to come along to a public meeting next week. The event is being held in the Radisson Hotel, Letterkenny on Monday, 24 March, at 8pm.

A Derry Councillor is calling for an immediate internal investigation after video emerged last night of a number of policmen in Derry apparently lifting an intoxicated woman from the middle of the road and laying her in a bus lane before driving off. The incident was recorded by a number of men in a building

A Donegal Councillor is expressing concern at the lack of political movement with two weeks to go until the controversial 10 pounds levy is imposed on trucks entering Northern Ireland. The issue hit the headlines last month when a number of hauliers in Donegal met to discuss the impending tax, but since then, not much

  Three children were hospitalised last night, and up to a dozen had to be seen to by paramedics after what the PSNI have described as a “drinking party”. Up to 60 teenagers gathered at Strabane Golf Course yesterday evening, it’s believed the gathering was organised via social media. The Golf Course Road in Strabane

Pramerica in Letterkenny has been named one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces today. A spopkesperson for the company there is a culture of mutual respect and teamwork at Pramerica, and this award is shared by everyone in the organization. The Great Place to Work study identifies and recognises the best employers – and therefore the most