Author name: oisinkelly

It seems inevitable that Donegal County Council will collapse at some point this evening. Cllrs have been meeting for a third day and a third night now, and an agreement has still not been reached. The Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein parties have confirmed to Highland Radio News  that they will vote against the budget, which would […]

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

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

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

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

Police in Tyrone have confirmed one person has been arrested following a drugs find in Strabane. Quantities of suspected cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and a variety of legal highs were found during a house search in the town yesterday. About £53,000 in cash was also seized during the search. In a statement, police said the find

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

A 40 year old man arrested in Donegal following a weekend hit and run in County Fermanagh has been released without charge pending a file to the DPP. The 40-year-old who is from south county Donegal, was released shortly after 10 pm last night following questioning about the hit-and-run death of a man in his mid-50s

Donegal County Council could cease to exist if the budget for next year is not passed by midnight tonight. The budget meeting for 2014 was adjourned last night and will reconvene this afternoon. Cllrs failed to come to an agreement last last night after eight adjournments. The meeting ended at 11pm. Fianna Fail say they

A niece of fashion designer Ralph Lauren has told a court in Clare that she intends to plead guilty to charges following an alleged air rage incident on board a flight bound for JFK New York yesterday. 41-year-old Jenny Lauren was travelling from Barcelona when the Delta Airlines flight had to be diverted to Shannon.

States in the centre and Midwest of America are experiencing the coldest and most dangerous temperatures in decades. In one part of Minnesota it fell to minus 40 degrees Celsius which is the same in Fahrenheit. The east coast and deep south are now being warned to brace themselves, with overnight temperatures falling 50 degrees

20,000 new gadgets are being shown off at a huge technology fair in Las Vegas. Curved TVs and phones have been making a big impression – along with a set of smart glasses from Epson. There is also a string of internet-connected device like a washing machine you can text to find out how it

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

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

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

A man in his 40s remains in Garda custody in Co Donegal this morning following a suspected hit and run in Co Fermanagh. A man in his 50s died when he was struck by a car at Leggs, near Belleek at around 3 o’clock yesterday morning. The man was detained in Pettigo yesterday afternoon and

Hundreds of mourners have attended the funerals today of the Brogan sisters who died in a Letterkenny House fire last week. 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 on Friday morining. They were be buried after

The campaign to retain an Art Gallery at the site of the Turner Prize Exhibition at Ebrington in Derry has intensified, with up to 400 people attending a demonstration outside the venue yesterday as the Turner Prize Exhibition closed. The demonstration was chaired by local activist and Void Gallery Director Eamon Mc Cann, who says

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

Todays reconvened Donegal County Council Budget meeting for 2014 has been adjourned as a mark of respect to former Cllr John Kelly who passed away this morning. John Kelly, was elected as Fianna Fail’s first councillor from Falcarragh in 1953, serving twice as chairperson. The meeting today will now begin at 2pm. Cllrs today also

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