Author name: oisinkelly

Latest figures show the continued pressures on the MABS service in Inishowen with people waiting six and half months for their first appointment. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service offers help for people in debt, or in danger of getting into debt. One hundred and twenty one people are awaiting their first appointment with MABS […]

The people of the Glenties Parish are to introduce a community text alert system after an elderly man was burgled in his home last week. In the wake of that incident a public meeting was held in the Highlands Hotel last night, and up to 400 people turned out. The community text alert system will

The family of a Strabane woman whose body was found in the River Mourne 36 years ago have said they have received an anonymous letter regarding her death. Denise O’Donnell was 19 when she died. She went missing after a night out at a dance in Letterkenny in November 1976. Her body was found two days later in

Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle is amongst a group of eight Independent TDs who say Alan Shatter’s position as Justice Minister is no longer tenable. The group also includes Shane Ross, Mattie McGrath, Catherine Murphy, John Halligan and Roisin Shortall. They say Minister Shatter’s political judgment has been called into question recently. Deputy Thomas Pringle is

The renewed PSNI investigation into the events of Bloody Sunday has run into difficulties, with what’s been described as a ‘disappointing’ response to an appeal for witnesses who gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry to come forward. More than 1,000 witnesses, consisting of local people and former soldiers, are being asked to make statements as

A serving member of the Defence Forces appeared before a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court last evening charged with possessing explosives. Mark Cassidy, with an address at Grianan Vale in Burnfoot was charged with two counts of possessing explosives at the same address on Monday. He was also charged with possessing 87 12-gauge shotgun

Details have been announced of the inaugural Donegal Cancer Survivorship Conference, which will be held in Letterkenny on the 5th of April. The event is being hosted by Relay for Life Donegal, which says it wants to augment its fundraising efforts by offering vital information and support networks. Chairperson Robert O’Connor says with 1,000 people

A new report commissioned by the Donegal County Childcare Committee is highlighting how the cost of childcare can stop parents returning to work. The report, which will be presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children later today, shows 26% of parents are prevented from returning to work as a result of expensive

Community relations and agreements between North and South are the focus of two days of meetings involving the Oireachtas Committee on the Good Friday Agreement.  The meetings are taking place in Derry and Letterkenny, with cross border health care is one of the topics on the agenda. Donegal North East Deputy Joe McHugh is Chair

It has been confirmed that Angela Kerins will appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) next week. The Chief Executive of Rehab will face questions about her salary, the group’s lottery and other expenditure. Rehab was forced to disclose earlier this week that Ms. Kerins has an annual salary of 240,000 euro plus perks. PAC

The Minister for Finance has denied trying to win voters by raising the prospect of tax cuts. Michael Noonan says the Budget next October will still need to implement 2 billion euro of tax increases and spending cuts. He says he remains open-minded on possible tax changes but only if the country can afford it.

A woman who was attacked by the man who went on to murder Sylvia Roche-Kelly in Limerick in December 2007 claims Sylvia is dead because her case was not handled properly by the Gardaí. Taxi driver Mary Lynch was assaulted by Jerry McGrath in Virginia in Co. Cavan in April 2007. Following the assault, McGrath

Majella O’Donnell says she is out the’ other side’ of cancer. In an update to her fans from hospital, Majella also confirmed she is on day five after surgery for a double mastectomy with reconstruction. Majella wrote that it has been a very difficult 7 months between being diagnosed with cancer and her father passing

A public meeting is to be held in Glenties tonight (Wednesday) after a pensioner was robbed in the town last week. The meeting will take place at 8pm in the Highlands Hotel. In Glenties last week, an elderly man was beaten and robbed in his home. Gardai are investigating. Brian Carr from the Glenties Action

A Donegal man has been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years after pleading guilty to seven counts of cruelty to the animals. George Cavanagh, of Carrowhugh, Greencastle, Co. Donegal was convicted at Donegal District Court. Eighteen dogs were found living in poor conditions at his property and ISPCA inspectors also found the decomposing and

One of Strabane’s longest serving businesses is to close its doors for the final time. Modern Man Menswear had been in business in the town centre for the past 44 years, and the shop survived the Troubles and the big flood of 1987 The clothes shop was one of the last remaining family run businesses

A Donegal North East Deputy is to raise the growing concerns of communities in the county regarding a recent spate of break-ins. Over 1,000 people attended a public meeting in Mannorcunningham last week to raise concerns about the burglaries. Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlain says the Justice Minister must be made aware of this meeting. And

The Justice Minister’s facing a grilling by Oireachtas colleagues today over the GSOC surveillance controversy. Alan Shatter’s going before the Public Service Oversight committee, a day after he announced an independent inquiry into allegations centring on the Ombudsman’s headquarters in Dublin city centre. In the Dail last night, he revealed a new report from an

There are calls for a full public enquiry into the illegal dump which was found last year on the Mobouy Road in Campsie on the outskirts of Derry. Over 500,000 tonnes of illegal waste was discovered at the site. Last June, the then Environment Minister Alex Attwood, revoked the license of the operator and commissioned

A Green Party candidate for the Midlands – North West in the European elections has criticised the remarks made by MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher in regard to the Government’s failure to apply for funding from the European Union Solidarity Fund for storm damage. Yesterday Pat the Cope Gallagher called the Governments decision not to

Donegal has the lowest level of compliance with payment of the local property tax. Just 87.1pc of property owners have paid up for 2013. Revenue Commissioners are giving homeowners a final six weeks to pay up their property tax and household charge – to avoid interest and penalties or prosecution the Sheriff being called About

A garda investigation is continuing after the death of a teenager in Stranorlar on Monday night. 18-year-old Dean Lafferty was found dead in his home at Admarin Park at around 8pm on Monday evening. It’s understood he was the victim of a serious assault after a night out in Letterkenny on Sunday night. Local  Cllr

The body recovered from the River Foyle in Derry earlier this week has been formally identified as that of missing teenager Andrew Quigley from Galliagh, who’s been missing since last month. Some of his personal items had been found on the Foyle Bridge on January 18th.

Two soldiers remain in Garda custody this morning in connection with the discovery of a pipe bomb in Co Donegal. The man and woman were arrested yesterday under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. It follows the discovery of a pipe bomb at a premises in Burnfoot. Gardai are investigating if the

North West MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher says the government’s decision not to apply for EU Solidarity Funding in the wake of the extreme weather is “ludicrous and rash”. Mr Gallagher has today called on the Government to re-think its decision and apply before the end of this week as the deadline set by the

It’s emerged that maternity services across the West and North West could be facing a major overhaul, with services being retained in Letterkenny and Galway, at the expense of Sligo, Roscommon and Mayo. It’s understood this is the recommendation contained in a draft consultants report which is yet to be published. Sligo based Senator Marc

A West Donegal Community Activist and independent local election candidate says billboards advertising his Dungloe office have been removed from the outskirts of the town for the second time in eight days. Michael Mac Giolla Easpaig says the removal of the boards is a politically motivated act by people who wish to silence him and

There’s been widespread condemnation of an incident in Strabane last night in which police were attacked in the Ballycoleman Estate when they went to the scene of a sudden death. What’s been described as a gang of youths threw stones and other missiles at police cars outside the house. Local Councillor Patsy Kelly says it

Gardai in Ballybofey are investigating the sudden death of an 18 year old man at his home in Admiran Park in Stranorlar yesterday evening at approx. 8 p.m. . The body remains at scene and the office of the State Pathologist has been notified. A post mortem will take place this morning.

A Burnfoot filling station has reopened following an overnight security operation which ended with army experts removing a suspicious object from the scene. The object was discovered in a flat over the filling station last evening, and gardai called in the army EOD. Gardai say an investigation is continuing, but the filling station has now

Gardai have arrested a man and seized a firearm during a raid on a house in Ballyshannon. During the search, as part of an ongoing investigation Gardai search, a rifle was recovered. A male aged in his 40s was arrested at the scene. He is currently detained under Section 30 of the Offences against the

Letterkenny General Hospital’s Chaplaincy Team has this evening released a joint statement in response to ongoing speculation as to whether or not a Catholic Chapel will be retained at the hospital. There was further speculation today with newspaper reports that campaigners who want the chapel retained are concerned over its future following a meeting at

  Army bomb disposal experts are en route to Inishowen to deal with a suspicious device . An area of the Burnfoot was sealed off early on Monday evening after the object was reported to Gardai. The army are due to determine if the object is a hoax or viable device. No-one has been injured and there

Efforts are underway to try and find out who was responsible for dumping large electrical items and other rubbish at Inishowen Head at the weekend. The items included a dishwasher and electric organ. Members of Greencastle Coastguard risked their safety to remove the items which will no be disposed of by Donegal County Council. It

Gardai say they believe they know the gang responsible for a series of attacks and robberies on older people in their homes and expect to make arrests soon. It is thought a gang of six people are responsible for the majority of the robberies in rural areas of Donegal in recent weeks. Superintendent Michael Finan

A body has been recovered from the River Foyle by the Foyle Search and Rescue team. The body was taken from the river at around 9 o’clock this morning next to the Sainsbury’s car park off Strand Road. The body has not yet been formally identified, but a search has been ongoing for teenager Andrew

The Golden Eagle Trust is expressing concern about the future of rural Donegal following the publication by Teagasc of a major analysis of census figures. The figures were published as a Department of Agriculture review of its Rural Development Programme copmes to a close, with tomorrow the closing date for submissions. The programme will dictate

Donegal County Council says early results of air pollution monitoring carried out by the HSE’s Environmental Health Service show a significant reduction in the air pollution levels in Letterkenny. This reduction, the council says, can be directly attributed to the introduction of the “Smoky Coal Ban” to Letterkenny in May 2013. The council has praised

A Donegal Councillor says it’s important that the courts send a clear message to criminals that terrorising local communities will not be tolerated. Cllr Paul Canning says a recent case in which a sentence was appealed actually saw the judge decide to increase it, and that was an important message to send out. Cllr Canning

The Donegal North East TD who chairs the Oireachtas Oversight Committee is being warned not to prejudge the outcome of any investigation into the GSOC allegations. Sinn Fein’s Padraig MacLochlainn is calling for an independent inquiry into the issue. Justice Minister Alan Shatter is due before the Oversight committee on Wednesday and committee member, Charlie

The centre of Ballyshannon is reopening to traffic this morning after being sealed off for four days becauase of concerns over a wind damaged clock. The 136 year old clock over a jewellers shop was damaged by strong gusts on Thursday, and left in a dangerous condition. Yesterday, workers mounted a 30-metre high crane to