Author name: oisinkelly

Independent Councillor claims Irish Water’s priority will be profit

The Tánaiste says no decision’s been made on setting water charges. It emerged Irish Water could be given permission to hike charges if demand and usage is lower than expected. The issue will be considered as part of a consultation being overseen by the Commission for Energy Regulation. The Commission says such a move might

Independent Councillor claims Irish Water’s priority will be profit Read More »

Passenger numbers at City of Derry airport expected to be down despite City of Culture year

It has been revealed that the City of Culture celebrations made “no significant impact” on passenger numbers. Airport director Damien Tierney told Derry City Council he expected passenger numbers for 2013 to be down on previous years. Official figures will be out in March. Airport officials gave a review of the year at a Regional

Passenger numbers at City of Derry airport expected to be down despite City of Culture year Read More »

Appeal for privacy as Senator Jimmy Harte is transferred to Letterkenny

Labour Senator Jimmy Harte has been transferred to Letterkenny General Hospital, almost eight weeks after he was found unconscious in a Dublin street with life-threatening head injuries. The 55-year-old underwent emergency surgery at Beaumont Hospital just hours after attending the Republic of Ireland versus Latvia international match at the Aviva Stadium, on Friday, November 15.

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Donegal man tells of shock at being ordered out of Glasgow taxi for speaking Irish

A Glasgow private hire driver is under investigation for allegedly refusing to allow Irish visitors to speak their language in his car. The man, who has not been named, has been accused of offloading the passengers at the side of the road at 2am on a Monday morning after they objected to his demand that

Donegal man tells of shock at being ordered out of Glasgow taxi for speaking Irish Read More »

Ambulance representative body says Donegal lacks staff and vehicles

A Union representing Ambulance staff says recent tragic cases in Donegal highlight the fact that there is neither adaquate staffing or vehicles to cover Donegal. The National Ambulance Service Representatice Association was responding the claims that it took 50 minutes for an Ambulance to arrive at the scene of an accident in Carndonagh which took

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62 year-old man dead and four injured in road crash on the A5 near Strabane

A 62 year old man has died following a two vehicle collision on the Melmount Road between Sion Mills and Victoria Bridge this morning. The collision involving a black coloured Suzuki Vitara jeep and a blue coloured Toyota Avensis occurred at approximately 10.50am. The deceased was a passenger in one of the vehicles. Two men,

62 year-old man dead and four injured in road crash on the A5 near Strabane Read More »

Letterkenny IT President to chair national representative body

Letterkenny IT President Paul Hannigan has been elected Chairperson of the national representative body for Institutes of Technology. Mr Hannigan, who has been at the helm of Letterkenny IT since 1998 says 2014 will be another year of significant challenge for Institutes of Technology Ireland. He says they are faced with a continuous increase in

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Donegal County Council, County House, Lifford

Back from the brink – Donegal County Councillors now given until January 13th to agree a Budget

Donegal County Councillors have been given until January 13th to agree a Budget – this after Councillors took part in a vote that they thought effectively dissolved the council. Despite three days and nights of deliberation, Councillors failed to reach an agreement on a Revenue budget for 2014. Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and Independent John Campbell voted against

Back from the brink – Donegal County Councillors now given until January 13th to agree a Budget Read More »

TG4 programme claims child abuser Michael Ferry may face further charges

Gardaí have confirmed to  TG4 that they have completed a high-level investigation into how former school caretaker Michael Ferry was able to continue to sexually abuse boys. The abuse took place on the premises of an Irish-Language summer college based at Ard Scoil Mhuire in Gaoth Dobhair in the Donegal Gaeltacht, despite a previous conviction

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Donegal County Council, County House, Lifford

Donegal County Council Budget meeting continues with still no agreement in sight

Donegal County Councillors are no further ahead this evening in reaching an agreement to pass the budget for this year. After fifteen adjournments over the course of three days, the Council is heading for another marathon budget meeting. The 2013 budget meeting wasn’t passed until 5am in the morning after 34 adjournments and today’s meeting

Donegal County Council Budget meeting continues with still no agreement in sight Read More »

Cross border investigation launched following attempted robbery in Castlederg

A cross border investigation is underway after a staff member was injured during an attempted robbery at a mortgage broker’s premises in Castlederg. Police say one man, armed with a knife, entered the premises at around 2:15 yesterday afternoon. After a struggle with a staff member, the assailtant left empty handed, and was driven away

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Fianna Fail calls for gardai to attend Budget meeting amid claims of intimidation

A Fianna Fail Councillor has claimed that the Gardai should be brought into the Council Chamber because his fellow party members are facing intimidation and abuse. Today’s meeting, to agree a spending Budget for this year began at lunchtime but was adjourned for the first time today at 1.45pm amid rowdy scenes. Cllr Ciaran Brogan

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Donegal’s NRA funding for 2014 is halved despite campaign for more funds

Donegal County Council will only receive an initial 9.5 million euro allocation from the National Roads Authority in 2014. That’s almost 10m euro less from last year. In 2013 the Council received 19m euro, while in 2012 they received 22m euro. Cllr Terence Slowey said this years allocation is very disappointing and this should made

Donegal’s NRA funding for 2014 is halved despite campaign for more funds Read More »

Calls for strorm repairs on Arranmore and at Burtonport to be prioritised

Donegal County Council is being urged to ensure lighting is returned to Burtonport and damage repaired on Arranmore Island caused by recent storms. Local Councillor David Alcorn says the lack of public lightening close to the dock in Burtonport presents a serious hazard to the public. He says he has no indication as to when

Calls for strorm repairs on Arranmore and at Burtonport to be prioritised Read More »

Councilors continue discussion in Lifford in an effort to pass Budget 2014

Councillors continue to meet in Lifford this evening in an effort to agree a revenue budget for 2014. Councillors are being asked to approve a budget that would see revised county council revenue expenditure increasing from €133 million in 2013 to €138 million in the coming year. Last years budget meeting wasn’t passed until 5am

Councilors continue discussion in Lifford in an effort to pass Budget 2014 Read More »

Two women remanded in custody for invading Altnagelvin Emergency Dept

Two women have been remanded in custody after what a judge described as ‘an invasion’ of the Intensive Care Unit at Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital. Bridget Mongan (23) of 46a, Stanley’s Walk in Derry and Eileen Stokes (29) of Mourne Park in Newtownstewart both face a total of five charges. They were charged with attempted grievous

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Cope says government should seek EU funding to tackle storm damage

Donegal County Council engineers are assessing the extent of storm damage in Donegal after strong gusts on Friday, with damage reported in a number of areas including Donegal Town and Killybegs. In Dunfanaghy, the local GAA pitch has been badly flooded, with damage estimated at thousands of euro, while in Moville, the shore walk between

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Minister calls on all parties in Limerick City of Culture to work together to make project a success

The Chairman of Limerick City of Culture says he never asked for the appointment of Patricia Ryan as CEO. Ms. Ryan stood down yesterday amid controversy over why she was brought in to lead the project. In total four people have stood down in Limerick’s first week as Ireland’s City of Culture for 2014. Discussions

Minister calls on all parties in Limerick City of Culture to work together to make project a success Read More »

Northwest may escape the worst of the stormy weather due Sunday/Monday

The Northwest is expected to avoid the worst of the stormy weather due later Sunday. Met Eireann has upgraded its weather warning from yellow to orange in a number of counties predicting gusts of up to 90km/h this afternoon. The weather warning covers counties of Wexford, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford. For the

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MacLochlainn: HSE must explain why Maura Porter lay for 50 minutes after crash before Ambulance arrived

It is being claimed that it took 50 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the scene of collision last week in Churchtown which resulted in the death of local woman Maura Porter.  Ms Porter was struck by a car at 5.40pm on Monday the 30th of December suffering serious head injuries. She was transferred

MacLochlainn: HSE must explain why Maura Porter lay for 50 minutes after crash before Ambulance arrived Read More »