Author name: oisinkelly

John Downey has said he remains committed to the peace process and wants to see the establishment of an international truth commission. The 62 year old, who is based in Creeslough, had ben charged in connection with the 1982 Hyde Park bombings in which 4 soldiers died, but the case against him collapsed when a […]

A drink-driver who killed a pregnant Co Donegal woman in a car crash has been sent back to jail after a judge ruled an original sentence was unduly lenient. 31-year-old Kevin McArdle of Longfield, Carrickmacross, was given four years in prison, with the final year suspended, at Monaghan Circuit Court in October 2011 for dangerous

Over half of burglars gain entry through unlocked front or back doors. That’s according to the latest figures compiled by the Gardai as they aim to help people make their homes more secure. Today is National Crime Prevention Day of Action and to mark the event, Gardai raising awareness about home security. In Donegal, local

Banba’s Crown on Malin Head is going to be turned green for two days this weekend to mark St Patrick’s Day. It’ll join iconic attractions such as Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. Over 100 thousand people visit Malin Head per year and it is hoped those figures will be

A Letterkenny Town Councillor says incentives need to be introduced in an effort to revitalise the town’s Main Street. Jim Lynch says that area has become a ghost town and something needs to be done to bring it back to life. He has welcomed news that Letterkenny Chamber wants to employ a Town Centre Manager,

The Chairperson of Omagh District Council is calling for a review of car parking charges in the town, saying that the high number of parking tickets issued over the past year is a turn off to shoppers. Councillor Martin McColgan says drivers in Omagh received the most parking tickets in County Tyrone, with 3,979 issued

The sustainability of the Post Office network is to be examined this morning. The joint Oireachtas committee on transport and communications, will discuss how expanding the products and services An Post currently provides can secure it’s future. The number of post offices has reduced by almost 50 per cent over the past 13 years, and

The Emergency Department at Letterkenny General Hospital reopened to patients from 8 O’ Clock this morning. Flood damage last July affected 70 per cent of services, and ruined almost 40 per cent of the hospital’s capacity building. Extensive refurbishments have been carried out over the past couple of months. General Manager, Sean Murphy has praised

North West MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher has told the European Parliament that proposed changes to the Leader programme here are unnecessary, and will hamper rather than stimulate local development. Minister Phil Hogan is seeking to align the Leader companies more closely with county councils as part of a streamlining of local development structures. However,

A Donegal Councillor has called on the Justice Minister to encourage increasing sentences for serious crime. Alan Shatter has criticised the judiciary for not giving enough consideration to imposing community service over a prison sentence. But Councillor Paul Canning says the minister should be encouraging more lenghty custodial sentences – he has given the example

Justice Carol Hallett has been appointed to conduct an independent review of the administrative scheme for dealing with On the Runs. The review was commissioned in the wake of the collapse of Donegal man John Downey’s trial in London last month. John Downey had been suspected of the 1982 IRA murder of four soldiers in

Donegal County Council is to build four single rural houses in various parts of the county under the latest scheme announced by Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan. The minister today launched a 68 million house building initiative as part of a stimulus package for local authorities. 560,000 euro of the total is to be invested in

Moville born priest Father Eugene Boland is to resume his ministry in the Diocese of Derry, almost two years after being cleared on indecent assault charges at Derry Crown Court. Fr Boland, the Parish Priest in Killyclogher, stepped aside in August 2010 on foot of allegations made against him. He was cleared in the civil

Two men, both aged 20, have been charged with 18 offences each including hijacking, arson, robbery and GBH with intent. Both men are due to appear at Derry Magistrates Court later today. The charges are believed to be in connection with a hijacking in the De Burgh Terrace area on Sunday morning last.

Calls have been made on Letterkenny Town Council to find funding to improve the road infrastructure in and around the town. Cllr Ciaran Brogan raised the issue in a motion yesterday evening. He says that the road in Glencar is especially in need of repair after it was badly damaged in flooding last July. And

A Donegal County Cllr has called on the local authority to look at the options regarding the newly launched Gateway Initiative Scheme by the Government. The scheme will pay long-term unemployed people €20 extra a week in benefits for working for their local authority. In all, 3,000 long-term unemployed people will be selected to work

Two men aged 40 and 32, arrested in relation to pipe bomb attacks in the Waterside area of Derry in the early hours of Saturday morning have been released unconditionally. The men were arrested yesterday morning, and their release has been confirmed this morning by the PSNI. Two Romanian families were targetted in two houses

A man’s been has been shot in both legs in a paramilitary attack in the Brandywell area of Derry. At around 10 o’clock last night, two men entered a house in Kerrigan Close and shot the man who is in his 20s. He is being treated at Altnagelvin Hospital, where his injuries are not believed

A meeting takes place in Letterkenny this evening to discuss what’s described as the exploitation of residential care staff by health employers. The unions IMPACT and SIPTU have called the meeting claiming that residential care staff are routinely expected to work 63 hour weeks, well above the legal maximum of 48 hours. The unions also

Two men have been arrested by police investigating pipe bomb attacks in the Waterside area of Derry in the early hours of Saturday. The men, one aged 40 and the other 32, were arrested in the city this morning. The PSNI are treating the bomb attacks as hate crimes. Two Romanian families were targetted in

The government has made 15 million euro in funding available to renovate vacant council houses. Local authorities are being asked to submit their proposals for funding under the scheme by 28th March. Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O’Sullivan says the money will bring up to 500 vacant local authority units back into use this

A cross-border manhunt has been launched after an armed gang attempted to rob a petrol station in Bridgend. Three men – armed with a suspected gun and a sledge hammer – attempted to rob the Texaco Filling Station in the cross-border village at around 640am yesterday morning. It’s understood they fled in a white ford

None of the Garda stations which closed in Donegal more than a year ago have been sold off yet. Culdaff and Brockagh Garda stations closed at the beginning of 2012 and were officially listed as for sale afterwards. But none of them, or any other Garda station in the country which shut and was put

Letterkenny Chamber is seeking a meeting with local councillors and other bodies to discuss plans to employ a Town Centre Manager to identify gaps in the retail make up of the town centre. It’s part of an initiative to employ a ‘Town Team’ which will look at how to revitalise the revive the Main Street

Two men are being questioned after a 63-year-old man had his van hijacked in Derry yesterday morning. Tom Agnew told the BBC he suffered a broken cheekbone after he was punched in the face by thieves who forced him out of his van in De Burgh Terrace at 10 o’clock yesterday morning. The vehicle was

The family of a 51 year old woman whose body was found at Creevy, near Ballyshannon at the weekend has paid tribute to the Bundoran RNLI and the people of the town. Siobhan McGread had been missing for 17 days since she was last seen at the cliff-top Roguey Walk in Bundoran last month. A

The body of a woman has been recovered at Creevy, near Ballyshannon, It’s believed to be the remains of Siobhan McGread, 51, missing for over two weeks since she was last seen at the cliff-top Roguey Walk, Bundoran. A number of air-sea searches were held in the past two weeks in an attempt to find Ms McGread who was

Two pipe bombs have partially exploded outside two houses in Derry overnight. Shortly after 1.35am it was reported that a pipe bomb had exploded outside a house in the Lapwing Way area. Four adults and one child who were in the house at the time were not injured. At approximately the same time another pipe

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.