Author name: oisinkelly

The Letterkenny Chamber has launched a new initiative to offer vacant premises on the town’s Main Street to interested parties to use them as temporary, low cost space for business The Pop-Up Shop initiative will offer temporary, low cost space for local business entrepreneurs, social enterprise or community benefit. The Chamber says the main aims […]

New figures show that absenteeism rates among local authority staff are twice that of workers in the private sector but of all local authorities, Donegal council workers seem that have the best health. According to the latest report from the Local Government Audit Service absenteeism rates attributed to illness in city and county councils have

The Chairperson of Strabane District Council wants to hold a council reception for local lottery winner Margaret Loughrey. The 48-year-old struck gold after hitting five numbers and two Lucky Stars in last weeks Euromillions draw. The unemployed woman, from Carlton Drive in the town, won 32 million euro. Strabane District Council Chairman, Ruiari McHugh says

A van-driver with excess alcohol was watching the Champions League final in a pub shortly before he died in a road crash, his inquest heard yesterday. 31-year-old Seamus McGroary was pronounced dead at two minutes past midnight after watching Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund. The inquest in Donegal was told his van was in a

The Minister for Justice has denied that the reputation of An Garda Siochana is on the line as a result of the findings of the Smithwick Tribunal. Alan Shatter has apologised for any shortcomings on behalf of the Irish state and says he will raise the findings of the report in the Dail. The report

Bank of Ireland has started the process of repaying the State bailout of the bank. The financial institution will return the final 1.8 billion euro of the 4.8 billion that the government invested in 2009 through the issuing of new shares and the raising of cash through investors. The deal means the taxpayer has made

A West Tyrone MLA has said that a new leisure centre should be built in Strabane town centre. In August consultants told Strabane District Council that the current facility, Riversdale Leisure Centre, was no longer fit for purpose. Consultants said that if moves were not made to replace Riversdale, then it would eventually close itself.

The Health Service has agreed to pay almost 800-thousand euro to the family of a 29-year-old woman who died eight days after giving birth to her first child. Dhara Kivlehan , who is a native of India, died in September of 2010 after developing pre-eclampsia and a related condition. The High Court heard she did

The new Interim Outpatient Department for Letterkenny General Hospital has been formally handed over to management, and will be fully operational by next Monday. The Outpatient Department was one of the areas damaged by flood waters earlier this year, and Outpatient clinics were relocated to a number of different temporary locations within the hospital and

Donegal County Council is inviting submissions for the preparation of the new strategic County Donegal Heritage Plan. The council says the focus of submissions should be on actions that can be taken over the next five years to interpret, conserve, manage, enhance or promote County Donegal’s heritage. People have until December 18th to outline what

The North’s Regional Development Minister is being urged to provide more support for rural transport services in West Tyrone and Derry. The call has come from West Tyrone MLA Joe Byrne, who says there have been very welcome advances made in recent years, but the sector must be properly funded. He says initiatives such as

Sinn Fein’s Pádraig MacLochlainn has criticised the TV3 Documentary ‘Sinn Fein, who are they?’ as a demonstration of poor journalism. The series ended last night with Deputy MacLochlainn describing it as a missed opportunity. He claims certain sections of the media are obsessed with questions on the IRA while the general public is not: Deputy

A cup of tea has inspired a French artist to win the Turner Prize. The prestigious award was presented to London-based Laure Prouvost  in Derry last night. Her video installation in a mocked up tea party was praised by judges for being “technologically current.” As she received the award on Channel 4 last night, she

Ulster Bank says all services should now be back up and running after technical problems yesterday. Account holders reported problems with online purchases and card transactions. The bank has apologised for the inconvenience and says no customers will be left out of pocket as a result of yesterdays problems. Business Journalist Ian Guider says anyone

Parents, teachers and community groups are being urged to attend a public meeting in Carndonagh next week to stand up for the future of local schools. Fianna Fail, which is organising the meetings, says schools with less than 85 pupils are facing severe cutbacks to resources while schools with 50 pupils or less are at

They are due to be signed into law by the Justice Minister Alan Shatter at around midday. Under the new regime the time taken to exit bankruptcy will fall from 12 years to three and the cost of declaring yourself bankrupt will be halved from around 1,400 euro to 750 euro. Public Expenditure Minister Brendan

The chairman designate of Eirgrid has pledged to work with communities over the issue of pylons. Major controversy has erupted over plans by the electricity network manager to put lines overground on huge pylons at various areas around the country. John O’Connor – who is formerly of An Bord Pleanala – is appearing before an

The number of people sleeping rough has jumped according to official figures from Dublin City Council. The latest headcount shows 139 people are on the streets of the capital on a given night. That is up from 94 people in April. It comes as councillors are asked to vote on a new three year plan

Former Labour party Chairman and Galway TD Colm Keaveney is waiting for Fianna Fáil to approve his application to join the party. A formal announcement is expected later today after a meeting of the parliamentary party. A Fianna Fáil statement confirmed the news earlier. Deputy Keaveney is now expected to ditch plans to run in 

A man charged with possessing drugs, guns and explosives in Derry last December is part of ‘an organised crime gang operating in Derry’ a police officer told the local Magistrate’s Court today. He was speaking during a bail application for 29 year old Gary McPhillips of 34 Hawkin Street in the city. He is charged

Dozens of people turned out in Sion Mills over the weekend in protest against proposals to bring a waste management plant to the village. Donegal based firm Connective Energy Holdings have submitted an application for an anaerobic digestor on the grounds of the old Herdmans Mill. Barry Whyte reports:

There are calls for an amnesty after it emerged that thousands of farmers are receiving letters from the EU seeking the return of money paid to them under the Single Farm Payment. North West MEP Jim Higgins says penalties are being imposed on farmers as a result of an audit which retrospectively changes the land

Donegal consumers are spending more than €108 million online ever year on purchases from companies outside Ireland. The figures were obtained by Emark. The group says the level of online shopping is hitting Irish retail business and job growth and will have a particularly negative impact on sales for retailers in Donegal in the run

Three people have been injured in a two car collision near Tullaghan in Co Leitrim last night. The incident happened between Tullaghan Filling Station and Duff Bridge on the Ballyshannon to Sligo Road at around 10.45pm. Two men and one woman were brought to Sligo Regional Hospital for treatment – one of them is said

Another body has been found in the debris of a Glasgow pub which was hit by a police helicopter on Friday. It takes the number of people who’ve died in the crash to nine. One of those who died, 59 year-old John McGarrigle has strong Donegal connections. His family is originally from Letterkenny. Meanwhile, Police

It’s reported that a Donegal priest has warned parishioners he may remove headstones, statues and trinkets from graves if they do not conform to strict new graveyard rules. According to the Irish Times, Fr John Walsh, parish priest in Buncrana, has also advised parishioners not to close any deal with monumental sculptors without first obtaining

The North’s Environment Minister has met with key representatives from Derry City Centre to identify measures to boost economic growth in the city. DOE Planning has established a Retail Stakeholder Group in tandem with City Centre Initiative to bring together key organisations to discuss ways to tackle trading issues affecting the City Centre The Retail

Tourism Ireland will today launch their plans to attract more visitors to Ireland over the next three years. The body is looking to bring up to 9 million people to Ireland by 2016. They are also hoping to attract more than 12.6 billion euro into the Irish economy through increased activity in the sector. Niall

The Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) is expected to make a statement in the coming days on the extent of salary top-ups taking place at the facility. Yesterday the Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said questions in relation to the use of charity money to supplement senior executives pay packets needed answering. “The board of the CRC have

110 jobs are to go at a pharmaceutical plant at Castlebar in Co. Mayo. Baxter Healthcare, an American company, is looking for voluntary redundancies with 110 positions to go by early next year. Nearly 1,000 people are employed by the company across its Swinford and Castlebar operations and it has been in Ireland for more

Bank of Ireland and AIB have said they will not need any additional capital after a review of their loan books by the Central Bank. For the last few weeks the Central Bank has been examining whether the banks have set aside enough money to deal with bad loans. AIB says the review found it

 A Strabane woman has woken up today 32 million euro richer after winning  a share of the EuroMillions jackpot. Margaret Loughrey collected the fortune after hitting five numbers and two lucky stars in last Tuesday night’s draw. The unemployed and single 48-year-old said that while she had no immediate plans for the money it, would

Marine emergency services have responded to a call of a boat adrift in waters between Dungloe and Burtonport. Concern was expressed when a member of the public spotted the small boat with nobody on board. The rescue 118 chopper was on route to a training exercise and was diverted to investigate – local coast guard

A number of Residents from a County Tyrone village are today (Saturday) holding a protest against proposals to build an anaerobic digester there. Donegal-based firm Connective Energy Holdings have submitted an application for the waste management plant on the grounds of the former Herdman’s Mill site in Sion Mills. The Sion Mills community group are

Detectives in Foyle are appealing for information following reports of an attempted hijacking. The incident occurred in the Bloomfield Park area of Derry on the evening of Friday 29 November. At approximately 10.15pm, police received a report from a man, aged in his 30s, that two masked men had asked him to get out of

The Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore was amongst those at the Labour Party Conference to wish Donegal Labour Senator Jimmy Harte well. In his opening remarks to the  conference in Killarney Mr Gilmore expressed his hope that Senator Harte would make a speedy recovery and passed on his best wished to Mr Harte’s family. It was revealed

One of Ulster’s great GAA players, Jim “The Natch” Gallagher, died at the age of 84 in Sligo General Hospital today(Sat). Mr Gallagher, who lived at Coolcholly, Ballyshannon, played for Ulster and Donegal. He played on the Donegal senior team in the 1940s and 50s, starting at the age of 16 and captaining the county

Eircom has announced an increase to its high speed broadbrand service in Donegal. It’s estimated that by 2016, 91% of residents in Co Donegal will have access to high speed broadband. Countrywide an additional 562 communities across Ireland will be able to avail of eircoms superfast eFibre service. Paul Bradley is Eircoms Spokesman:  

Families are being urged to check on their elderly relatives and neighbours in the run-up to planned power outages. Unions at ESB have served formal notice of strike action – and are set to strike on December 16th if no resolution is found. Age Action Ireland says the HSE should release details of its contingency

An extension to one school in Donegal is the only inclusion from the county in the Minister for Education’s announced 70 building projects for next year. The schedule includes 22 new schools and 12 extensions at primary level, 12 new schools and 20 extensions at second-level, along with three new special schools and one special

Two men have pleaded guilty to charges linked to the death of a police officer in a car crash in Derry. 27-year-old Constable Philippa Reynolds, died when a stolen car crashed into a police car in which she was a passenger. 26-year-old Stephen Christopher Frane, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, guilty to causing death while driving

A judge has ordered the arrest of screen actor Gerard McSorley after he failed to turn up to court yesterday to face a breach of the peace charge. The 63-year-old who is originally from Omagh, but has an address in Bunbeg, had been arrested earlier this month and was charged at a Dublin Garda station.

Over 100 jobs are to be relocated to Strabane with the creation of a new Government office offering benefits, skills and farming support services. The new offices will be built on the site of the current Social Security Office on Urney Road. Work is due to begin on the new build in autumn 2014, subject

Donegal Senator Jimmy Harte has begun physiotherapy after spending some time in an induced coma. He was found unconscious on a footpath in Dublin having apparently collapsed after attending an international football match two weeks ago tonight. Today on the Shaun Doherty Show, his wife Mary thanked the people of Donegal and all those who

Eircom is denying that there is any threat to customer services in Letterkenny resulting from a voluntary redundancy programme. A spokesperson has confirmed that the building at Kiltoy will close, as it is no longer required, but all services will be run from the telephone exchange behind the post office on Main Street. Office based

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue says the IDA needs to do more to attract new investment into Donegal. In a question to Jobs and Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton, Deputy Mc Conalogue asked about the possibility of new companies being brought into the county. Minister Bruton replied that a number of companies in the