Author name: oisinkelly

A security alert is underway in the Waterside area of Derry after two loud bangs were heard in the city in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police say they are currently investigating two incidents in the area. It comes after they received reports of loud bangs outside a house in Lapwing Way and outside […]

A Donegal Senator is accusing the Education Minister of purposely delaying the publication of a report into the future of small schools to avoid a local election backlash. Senator Brian O’Domhnaill says the minister has had a report examining the future of small schools for nearly a year but is sitting on it to avoid

Gardai are asking motorists to drive with extreme care this morning has high winds batter the county. Met Eireann say they were expecting windy conditions overnight and Donegal got the worst of it. It’s understood a number of trees are down around the county, and motorists driving the Lifford to Letterkenny Road are asked to drive with care

The Sharon Glebe country house outside Manorcunningham has been extensively damaged in a fire overnight. The fire broke out at the €1.3M 200-year-old country mansion at around 8pm. The front quarter of the former rectrory was extensively damaged. No-one was injured. Local Cllr Paul Canning said the quick reaction from the fire service ensured no-one

Search teams are looking for a Malaysia Airlines flight, with 239 people on board, which has gone missing. A navy official in Vietnam claims it’s crashed off their southern coast of the country – although that’s not been confirmed. The Boeing 777 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The airline says no Irish citizens

A Donegal Deputy is calling for a final push in opposition to a new HGV cross border tax which comes into effect at the start of next month. The tax will see hauliers crossing from the south into the Northern Ireland charged £10. Some Donegal Hauliers say that as a result, they may have to

Bunbeg Post Office has been saved from closure for the next three months at least. An Post has confirmed that they will appoint a postmistress to run the post office on a three month contract. The post office has been under threat of closure following the retirement of its postmistress. Hundreds attended a public meeting

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties says a unanimous Supreme Court judgment quashing a Donegal man’s attempted rape conviction should send the Government clear message on fair trial reforms. The five-judge court overturned the 2008 conviction of Raymond Gormley of Glenwood Park, Letterkenny who was jailed for six years for the attempted rape of a

The Lower Main Street in Letterkenny has reopened to traffic and pedestrians following the collapse of a building earlier this morning. Nobody was hurt during the incident. It’s understood the wall in an old shed collapsed after a number heavy showers of rain. Mayor of Letterkenny, Pascal Blake says council engineers and the owners of

A letter bomb intercepted at a postal office in Derry was addressed to Maghaberry Prison in County Antrim. The viable letter bomb was discovered at the city’s main sorting office on Great James Street yesterday evening. A second letter, also addressed to the prison was found at a postal office in Belfast. The Mayor of

Villagers from Sion Mills in Co Tyrone have held a protest march this morning against proposals to bring a waste treatment plant to the area. Donegal based firm Connective Energy Holdings have submitted an application for an anaerobic digester on the grounds of the old Herdmans Mill site in the village. Members of the ‘Sion

A Strabane family say their lives are being made a misery by people cruising in cars in Strabane claiming the police or council have done little to address their concerns. They claim groups of people in their cars are congregating on Dock Street and in two adjacent car-parks. Its claimed, drag racing, screeching tyres and

A Letterkenny Town Councillor is calling on the council to explain the on-going problems with traffic lights at LYIT. Since their installation the lights have been used intermittently, they are now off with a central barrier and traffic works signs on the site. Councillor Gerry McMonagle says there have been a number of incident at

The Lower Main Street of Letterkenny has been closed off this morning after a derelict building, close to the old Kelly’s building, partially collapsed. The area has been closed off to traffic while the scene is assessed – there are fears that buildings beside the collapse may also be in danger of coming down. Traffic

There is an ongoing security alert in Derry. Emergency services are attending the alert in the Great James Street area following the discovery of a suspicious package. Army bomb experts have been tasked to the scene to deal with the object. There are no further details at present.

The INMO says Letterkenny General Hospital’s maternity unit it severely understaffed. It currently has a ratio of 41 births to each midwife – compared to an international best practice ratio of 29.5 to one. The figures have been released by the INMO today which says the situation nationally has worsened greatly over the last five

A police investigation has been launched following a vehicle hijacking in the Carnhill area of Shantallow this morning. At around 1.30am a man was assaulted by a number of males and had his car, a blue Toyota Starlet, taken. Police say the man suffered cuts and bruising to his face in the incident. The car

Gardai have issued a warning to the public across Donegal regarding the advertising and sale of fake iPhone 5’s. The phones look like the original Apple i Phone 5 and come boxed with an instruction manual, a charger, and earphones. However, the phones will not power up, accept a sim card and are useless with

600 people have applied for five part-time jobs in a Derry restaurant. It’s understood a large number of the applicants were University graduates and people returning from Australia. The Mandarin/Karma restaurant placed an advert in the local media last month seeking the part-time waiting staff. The owner of the business, Stan Lee, said he’s overwhelmed

Gardai are investigating after a house was ransacked and two firearms were stolen in Newtowncunningham. The robbery happened yesterday afternoon between 1pm and 2pm in Rooskey, on the road between Killea and Newtowncunningham. A substantial sum of money and a hunting knife were also stolen along with the two shotguns. A local farmer noticed a vehicle

The head of the Labour Relations Commission has been drafted in to resolve a dispute between Croke Park residents and stadium management. Kieran Mulvey has agreed to chair discussions after residents expressed outrage over the number of concerts to be held there this year. Garth Brooks and One Direction will perform for eight nights at

Two people have been killed in a fire in Co Galway overnight. The blaze broke out at a flat in Gort shortly before 3 o’clock this morning. Both bodies have been removed to University Hospital Galway where post mortems will be carried out later. The fire broke out at Tom O’Donnell’s Flats on Gort’s Railway

A Glasgow taxi driver who told passengers from Donegal speaking the Irish language in his car to leave the vehicle has had his licence suspended. Alan McKinnon has been taken off the roads for a month and instructed to take a customer courtesy course after Glasgow City Council accepted he had breached several conditions of

A Donegal woman has welcomed a Dublin solicitor who represented her being struck off the roll of solicitors by the High Court. Greg O’Neill, formerly practising at the Chapel Building, Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, was struck off the roll of solicitors by the court on a number of admitted counts of misconduct. One of the complainants was Susan Grey

A Councillor has expressed his concern that Donegal County Council will take part in the controversial Gateway local authority work placement scheme despite councillor’s opposition to it. The scheme, is intended to offer work experience to 3,000 jobseekers but Councillors in Donegal past a motion last month calling on the council not to cooperate with

Amnesty Ireland will present a detailed report on how to deal with past injustices in the North to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement later. The report, ‘Northern Ireland; Time to Deal With The Past’, calls on the committee to initiate independent inquiries into some of the atrocities that

Former US President Bill Clinton has said Northern Ireland must finish the job and resolve the outstanding issues in its peace process. He made the comments during a speech at the Guildhall Square in Derry –  he said countries around the world involved in conflict “looked to Northern Ireland for inspiration”: He also thanked former

The Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has announced it will conduct an inquiry into so-called “on the run” letters, given to more than 180 paramilitary suspects. The committee says it ‘feels it has a duty’ to investigate. The issue came to the fore when the trial of Donegal man John Downey for the Hyde Park

Gardai are investigating after a car involved in a crash on the De Valera Road in Letterkenny fled the scene. The collision occurred after 4 o’clock on Wednesday evening. Traffic was severely disrupted for a time as emergency services dealt with the incident. The road closure had a knock on effect to traffic around the

A Sinn Fein election candidate has expressed disappointment that it appears the government will not assist in funding a long term solution to to the problem of accumulating sands at Magheroarty Pier. Regular dredging has to take place to shifts sands to allow access for local fishing boats and the Tory Island Ferry. There have

Gardai are seeking the public’s assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 51 year-old Siobhan McGread from Bundoran. Siobhan was last seen at approximately 6.30 pm on the 19th February 2014 on Rougey Walk, Bundoran. Ms McGread went missing from the same area and on the same day as a coastal search was lunched following fears

The Schoolboy Football Association of Ireland is investigating claims that a 14-year-old African-born player was racially abused during an underage game in Donegal at the weekend. The incident which happened during the U15s cup match on Saturday has been reported to the FAI and the SFAI. The alleged incident is being investigated following claims that a referee stopped

A Ballyshannon town councillor has warned that heroin has become a “major problem in south Donegal”. Fianna Fail councillor Pat O’Malley said that he understood as many as 18 people died in Donegal as a result of drugs last year. Speaking on todays Shaun Doherty Show he said he was very disappointed that the Ballyshannon

Following a lengthy legal battle when four trawler skippers sought to have charges against them dismissed because of a long delay, Donegal District Court ruled today that the cases will go ahead. Judge Kevin Kilrane ruled that depositions will be taken in the court on March 11. Taking of the depositions could last several days.

1 in 4 Irish women have experienced physical or sexual violence, according to Europe s largest ever survey on violence against women. But 70 per cent of Irish women said they don’t report a serious case of violence against them – the highest of the 28 EU countries surveyed. The report by the European Union

Ash Wednesday is National ‘No Smoking Day’ and the Irish Heart Foundation is encouraging people – including those who smoke only occasionally – to stop. It’s estimated that around one million people smoke in Ireland, and a quarter are regarded as occasional or social smokers. The group says people who smoke 20 cigarettes a day

A 50-year-old man has died after the 4×4 he was driving went off the road and crashed into an embankment in Sligo. The crash happened in the early hours of this morning at approximately 1am at Corballa, off the main Sligo to Ballina road. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and his body

Former US President Bill Clinton is in Derry today where he will pay tribute to John Hume. Mr Clinton will honour the former SDLP leader’s contribution to peace in Northern Ireland in a speech at the city’s Guildhall Square. During his visit to the city, Mr Clinton will also visit the University of Ulster’s Magee

A seven-year-old Donegal girl left with cerebral palsy is to receive an interim €1.45m after her mother sued the HSE, on her child’s behalf, for the care she received during her pregnancy. The High Court heard how Ruby Leanne McCandless has diskinetic cerebral palsy and will need care for the rest of her life. The

Strabane District Councillors say they are upbeat about the A5 upgrade going ahead following a meeting this week with the North’s Roads Minister. At the meeting in Stormont the delegation was told by Danny Kennedy that he is fully committed to the project. Speaking following the meeting Chairman of Strabane District Council, Councillor Ruairí McHugh

The manager at Letterkenny General Hospital says the re-opening of the new Emergency Department next week will reduce those on trolleys at the facility, Yesterday, as the Health Minister visited the hospital, there were 29 people either being treated on trolleys or in the wards. During the Minister’s visit the Head Consultant in Emergency Medicine,

Údarás na Gaeltachta has confirmed funding of 392 thousand for a number of organisations in the Donegal Gaeltacht. An administation grant was awarded to seven Co-ops and community companies to continue their work in community development and language planning measures. Siubhán Nic Grianna, Communications and Marketing Manager with Udarus says funding was also confirmed that

A Donegal County Councillor has accused the HSE of waffling on the issue of the service provision for children with diabetes in Donegal. Yesterday up to 100 members of the Donegal Diabetes Parent Support Group held a picket at the hospital angry at a cut in the services provided for children with diabetes in Donegal