Author name: oisinkelly

Letterkenny is cleaner than European norms, according to the latest Irish business against litter survey. The 2013 IBAL survey of 42 towns and cities around the country shows 83 per cent of places are clean. At the end of 2011, Letterkenny was deemed littered, and did not participate in the 2012 survey. IBAL Spokesperson Conor

The funeral of two sisters killed in a house fire in Letterkenny on Friday morning takes place in Drumoghill today. 28 year old Jolene Brogan and her 27 year old sister Anngeline died in the fire at their home in Ceannan View at around 11 o’clock. They will be buried after requiem mass in Drumoghill

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

St. Luke’s Hospital in Dublin has officially become a smoke-free campus. The Health Service Executive (HSE) says all 51 of its hospitals will be smoke-free by the end of the year with just four hospitals outstanding. Health experts say it is never too late to quit smoking. Radiation Oncologist at St Luke’s, Dr. Osama Salib

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

Directors of the Foyle Ferry Service have put on hold any decision about the future of the 12 year old service which has carried more than 2 million passengers between Greencastle and Magilligan since its inception. TDs and Councillors from all political parties in the Republic met the directors on Friday to hear at first

There is some positive news for the property market in Donegal. That’s according to the latest survey from property website MyHome.ie. According to the website, the last quarter of 2013 saw the first increase in house prices in the county for three years. The median price for a four-bed semi-detached home rose by 5.9% to

A 65 year old man has died following a 3 vehicle road traffic collision near Strabane yesterday afternoon. The incident took place on the main A5 Mulvin Road outside Newtownstewart shortly after 4.30pm. The man was the driving a red coloured Jaguar car which was involved in a collision with a black coloured Range Rover

An emergency public meeting takes place tonight to discuss the future of Ballybofey United Football Club. The future of the club is uncertain after the grounds it trained and played on were sold for the development of a supermarket. Gary Foye is the PRO for Ballybofey United, he is calling on anyone with an interest

A Derry man whose brother was shot dead in the city in October was warned today that if he did not cease offending he would go straight to jail. Daniel McCrory (26) of 19b Harvey Street in the city admitted his sixth offence of being disorderly in Altnagelvin Hospital. The court was told that on

The two woman who died in a house fire in Letterkenny on Friday morning have been named as 28-year-old Jody Brogan and her 27-year-old sister Angeline. Investigations are continuing this morning into the cause of the blaze at Ceanann View, Mountain Top. Gardai have sealed off the house for a technical examination, although the cause

Donegal’s Acting Chief Fire Officer Joe McTaggart has been outlining the details of a tragic house fire in Letterkenny which took the lives of two sisters. The fire broke out shortly before 11am on Friday morning at the two story house in the Ceannan View area of Letterkenny. A male staying in the rear of

Donegal Fianna Fáil Deputy Charlie McConalogue has accused the Government of discouraging participation in State apprenticeship schemes by hitting participants with €540 in student fees. He was speaking after the new student ‘contribution’ for FÁS apprentices, which was introduced in Budget 2014, kicked in this week. Deputy McConalogue has described it as “an extremely short-sighted

The IFA is calling on the Government to make a quick and positive decision on national co-financing for the Rural Development Programme over the next 7 years. The association says farmers in many parts of the country, and particularly in Donegal, are very dependent on CAP Pillar II Rural Development supports such as Environmental and

A Letterkenny Town Councillor wants the public to be consulted to find names for generically named areas around the town. Councillor Dessie Larkin says there are places referred locally as ‘The Green’ or ‘The Lane’ and that these places could be given a new name or have a name from the past restored. He believes

It’s claimed a meeting later today between directors of the Foyle Ferry Company and politicians is crucial to the future of the Magilligan to Greencastle ferry service. East Derry SDLP Assembly Member John Dallat along with politicians from both sides of the border will meet with the company’s directors to try and save the service

 Donegal County Council has been dealing with flooding and other issues lined with the stormy weather. The winds are expected to reduce this evening but there will be a return to more stormy conditions after the weekend. In the meantime, the council is urging care on the roads, and says it will continue to respond

Derry City Council will tomorrow hold an emergency meeting following revelations that radioactive waste was dumped in Culmore three decades ago without public knowledge. Recently release confidential government files revealed solid nuclear waste was buried in the area between 1977 and 1982. It is not yet clear if the waste remains, how much there is

Eircom has begun work on restoring landline phone services to people on Arranmore Island and some on the mainland. An estimated 650 customers have not has a phone service since lightening strikes almost two weeks ago. There has been strong criticism of Eircom for the delay in fixing the problems but Paul Bradley, the company’s

Gardai are appealing for information after a woman was struck by a car in Churchtown, Carndonagh. 70 year-old Mora Porter was struck by the vehicle on December the 3oth at 540pm. She was rushed to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry where she later died from her injuries The 41 year-old driver of the car involved was not

13 people were killed on Donegals roads in 2013. That’s six more lives lost than the previous year. Overall, One hundred and ninety people were killed on Irish roads in 2013. That’s 28 more lives lost than the previous year. Garda inspectpr Michael Harrison said that there was an increase in drink driving detections over

Those without an Eircom phone line service on Arranmore Island for the last 9 days have been expressing their frustration at the delay in getting the problem fixed. The service was lost to the island, and an area on the mainland following a lightening strike at start of last week. Some fear it could be

A woman has died after being struck by a car in Churchtown, Carndonagh. The woman, who was close to her home and in her 70’s, was struck by the vehicle at 5.40pm yesterday (Monday) evening. She was rushed to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry where she died from her injuries just before midnight. There was one

Police in Derry are appealing for information following reports of a serious assault at a house in Magherafelt yesterday. Shortly after 10pm, the PSNI says it was reported that four masked men entered a house in Castle Park, Tobermore area armed with baseball bats and sledgehammers. It is believed three men were assaulted during the

The INFOMAR marine research project is being extended and will include mapping of Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly. It’s part of a new Government commitment which will see €15m euro spent over the next 5 years. The INFOMAR project  is labelled as the most valuable resource for marine research and development in Ireland and beyond.

The public is being to urged to be vigilant of an email scam doing the rounds claiming to be from Revenue. The email suggests the recipient is entitled to a modest tax rebate in an effort to get personal and banking details. Councillor Patrick McGowan has raised the issue stating the scam could catch people

The Tánaiste and Northern Ireland Secretary have expressed their disappointment following the failure to reach agreement during talks in the North over night. It comes after all-night negotiations to resolve outstanding peace process issues in Northern Ireland failed to produce an agreement. The 5 main parties have been trying to reach a deal concerning the

Donegal Government Deputy Joe McHugh has insisted there are no plans to downgrade the Coast Guard Station at Malin Head. It was reported yesterday that the station would be reduced to a 12-hour watch rather than 24 hours. While it was also reported that radio station staff would be cut by 18.5 per cent. But

A fisherman has been rescued off rocks in Malin Head after he became stranded this afternoon. The man, originally from Latvia, got into trouble when the tide began to come in. Malin Head Coastguard were alerted and the Greencastle lifeboat and Sligo coastguard helicopter were deployed. The man is currently being checked out by medical

Fears again have been raised for the future of the Malin Head Coastguard with the station set to be cut to 12-hour watches from 24 as part of staff savings. Documents seen by The Irish Times include reducing Donegal’s Malin Head Coast Guard station to a 12-hour watch rather than 24 hours, and cutting coast

A thirty year old man has appeared before Sligo district court charged in connection with an armed barricaded incident over the weekend. Michael O’ Connor with an address at Scardenmore, Strandhill Road, Sligo was charged with possession of a single barrel shotgun with intent to endanger life. He’s been remanded in custody to appear before

A 30 year old man will appear in court in Sligo this morning charged in relation to the barricaded incident over the weekend. He was arrested at a house on the Strandhill Road on Saturday afternoon at around 1:30pm following an armed standoff. At around half past 12 on Friday night Gardai in Sligo were

A Letterkenny Town Councillor has called for efforts to be made to ease traffic congestion on the Pearse Road. Dessie Larkin has welcomed the amount of people that chose Letterkenny to shop for Chistmas but says the mumbers have exposed traffic issues on the Pearse Road. He says the situation needs to be looked at:

There are calls on the PSNI to put in addition resources to apprehend those behind a rising number of robberies of bookmaker’s shops in Derry city. Another bookmakers shop was robbed at the Lecky Road on Saturday night which brings to six the number of robberies of businesses in Derry in recent weeks. There has

Police in Derry are appealing for information following an armed robbery in the city last night. The incident took place in the Central Drive area at around 8.30 when two masked men entered a business premises, one of them armed with a handgun. A member of staff was threatened before the men made off with

Gardai in Buncrana are investigating an incident where a jeep crashed into the Department of Social Protection on Friday night. The incident took place at around 11pm. A 40 year-old man was arrested at the scene for road traffic offences, he was later released and re arrested for Criminal Damage, and is currently being detained

The head of road safety group PARC has welcomed the minister for transports decision to criticise judges over traffic offence cases. Minister Leo Varadkar made the comments in an interview with the Irish Times, voicing his frustration with the low conviction rates and imposition of penalty points. Speaking to Highland radio this morning, PARC CEO

Police in Derry are appealing for information following an armed robbery at a business premises in the city last evening. A masked man was reported to have entered the premises on Elmwood Street armed with a knife at around 5.10 last night. A member of staff was threatened during the incident, but was not injured.

Over five and a half thousand homes across Ireland won’t have their power restored tonight, but at present, Donegal households seem likely to escape that fate. An ‘Orange Status’ wind warning issued for 16 counties, including Donegal, expires at 6 o’clock, with winds abating. At present, the only cluster of outages in Donegal is a

The Mayor of Letterkenny is urging people in the town not to get complacent in the fight against crime. Cllr Pascal Blake says there’s been a lot of success in reducing burglaries this year, largely due to cooperation between the local Joint Policing Committee, gardai and the public, but he says a house break in

The head of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation says the industry needs to speak with a united voice on the issue of conservation and quotas determination. New protocols are in place under which scientific evidence put forward by the fisheries organisations is given more consideration by the EU commission, but Sean O’Donaghue says that will only

The Chairperson of DLDC, which administers Leader and other community development programmes across most of Donegal says 2014 will open with immediate challenges. However, in an End of Year Statement, Jim Slevin says the company will not be lacking in its dedication to local social and economic development in Donegal. In its End of Year

Police in Tyrone are appealing for information after an 81-year-old man died in a road collision yesterday. The man’s blue New Holland tractor was involved in a single vehicle incident on the Dunnyboe Road, Donemana, at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon. The Dunnyboe Road was closed for a time, but has since reopened to traffic.

The HSE has issued the following release regarding the out of hours GP service over Christmas –   Where possible, patients should contact their own GP who will be running surgeries over the Christmas period. Please see the NoWDOC service opening hours as set out below. NoWDOC Service Opening Hours Over Christmas/New Year Period 2013/14

A Letterkenny Town Councillor says the impact of the abolition of town councils will only become apparent when budgets for 2015 are being finalised in 12 months time. Cllr Dessie Larkin is urgining people to closely examine the 2014 budget which was passed by the Town Council last week, and then compare the service provision