Author name: oisinkelly

A Councillor has said he is disappointed at the lack of public support for the retention of town Councils. The issue was discussed during this weeks monthly meeting of the council with members again stressing their opposition to plans to scrap town councils. During a debate on the subject, the Association of Municipal Authorities was […]

It’s emerged that there is only one registered Personal Insolvency Practitioner to serve the whole of Donegal, a fact which local Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn is describing as “a nonsense”. Anyone in mortgage distress or other financial difficulties who wishes to apply for debt reduction through insolvency will need to use a practitioner, but it

  Moynalty in Co Meath has been named as Ireland’s tidiest town. Letterkenny has again been awarded a Gold Medal, securing 313 points this year, two behind category winners Killarney and three behind Moynalty in County Meath, the overal winner this year. Letterkenny was also named as the North West regional winner and the recipient

The retired British army colonel who commanded the unit involved in ther Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry has been shot dead in Kenya. Edward Loden, who commanded the unit involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland, was on holiday when he was shot and killed during a robbery at his son’s home in

The Irish Cancer Society says its long awaited Donegal Daffodil Centre will be open at Letterkenny Shopping Centre by Wednesday at the latest. The centre was to have opened today, but the society says there have been a number of unavoidable delays. The initial centre was under construction at Letterkenny General Hospital, but those plans

The Department of Education has announced extra special needs classes for primary and post-primary schools in Donegal. The announcement is part of a national scheme, which plans to role out a total of 118 new classes throughout the country over the coming month. There will be new Autistic Spectrum Disorder classes in Carrick Vocational School

An 18 year old West Donegal man remains critically ill in hospital in Cambridge after he was seriously injured in a car crash last Friday Conor Boyle from Loughanure had been working in London since finishing his Leaving Cert in June. He was en route from London to his father’s home in Doncaster when the

An SDLP councillor has condemned the latest incidents that took place in Strabane over the weekend. Yesterday a gun was found in a hedge in the Ballycolman housing estate, leading to a number of houses being evacuated. Then this morning police were called to Cemetery road, where suspected explosives and bomb making material were found.

  Detectives from Serious Crime Branch have recovered a quantity of suspected explosives in Strabane. The discover was made during a search at Cemetery Road on Sunday morning. It is understood the search was carried out as part of investigations into the activities of dissident republicans. Its the second major find in the town at

Letterkenny Town Council is being asked to look at locating a CCTV camera system at the Bernard Mc Glinchey Town Park. The matter has been raised by Cllr Dessie Larkin, who wants a report on the cost and possible specifications of such a system by the November meeting of council. He says while incidents of

There were 21,422 people on the Live Register in Donegal at the end of last month, down 297 on the July figure and down 807 on August 2012. The numbers signing on in the county saw a 3.6% fall year on year, with the numbers signing on  falling in all of Donegal’s Social Welfare Offices.

 A historical, environmental and cultural atlas of county Donegal is being launched today. The Atlas brings together the diversity of material written about Donegal’s history, landscape and people. It’s being launched by Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, who has a long association with county Donegal – his mother was from near Buncrana. The North’s Deputy First

A number of homes have been evacuated in the Ballycolman area of Strabane. It’s after a suspicious object was found in the garden of a house. An area in the Ballycolman has cordoned off as police investigated the discovery. Army experts are on scene using robots to examine the object. It is not know if

A court today ordered the detention of a trawler with €98,200 fish aboard because some of the catch was over the legal allowed weight. The Irish-registered Dunboy, which has a Spanish crew and mainly lands its catches in Spain, was detained in Killybegs this morning. Eleven of its crew of 13, including its skipper later

Foyle MP Mark Durkan has welcomed a fresh inquest into the death Kathleen Thompson, who was shot by the British army in Derry in 1971. Mr Durkan said the new inquest will allow this terrible death to be properly addressed in legal terms that were previously denied. Ms Thompson, a 47 year old mother of

January 14th next has been fixed as the date for the trial of Donegal man John Downey, who is charged in connection with the 1982 Hyde Park bombing in London. The 61 year old of Ards, Creeslough appeared at the Old Bailey today, where administrative details in the case were dealt with. Mr Downey, who

Plans for a major upgrade of the Derry to Coleraine railway line have been delayed for a further year. The second stage of a 22 million pound upgrade was due to be completed by 2015, however this has now suffered a setback, due to problems with procurement of equipment. The overall upgrade to the line

 Sinn Féin’s holding its annual think-in today. The party’s TDs and Senators are meeting at Carlingford in Co Louth to plan their strategies for the year ahead. Members are likely to focus on the party’s plans for the forthcoming Seanad referendum, in which it’s recommending a Yes vote. They’re also likely to consider the party’s

A group representing Irish businesses says water and waste water charges continue to rise despite the recession. That’s according to a new report from IBEC this morning, ‘Addressing the challenge of local authority costs’. It finds that many business are continuing to pay boom times rates despite the financial pressures which they are facing. Donegal

Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch has said she has no idea who decided to use the air ambulance to transfer her from Letterkenny General Hospital to Cork last month after she was suddenly taken ill. Ms Lynch was on an official visit to Letterkenny Hospital on July 31st to view first hand the damaged caused

ESB wind development Limited is appealing a decision by Donegal County Council to refuse it permission to construct a major wind farm in South Donegal. ESB wind development Limited sought a ten year planning permission for the development consisting seven wind turbines, access tracks, transformer station and all associated site works. Each wind turbine would

Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has expressed shock at the revelation that some 14,721 repossession letters have been sent by the four banks that appeared before the Oireachtas Finance Committee this week.   Deputy Doherty said an additional 2,439 requests for voluntary surrender were sent out. Speaking after the final committee meeting of

An Bord Pleanala has given the Butt Hall Committee green light for the construction of a major new discount food store in Ballybofey. The bord backed a Donegal County Council decision to allow the development go ahead on the Chestnut Road beside Finn Park despite objections. Butt Hall Committee was granted permission by the council

A convicted rapist from Northern Ireland who went on the run in Donegal  has admitted breaching the terms of the police sex offenders register. 29 year-old Joseph McCabe  pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to failing to notify police of his intention to travel outside the UK. Released from jail last April, McCabe and another

A man and a woman have pleaded guilty at Derry Crown Court to charges in relation to a robbery on Derry’s Peace Bridge in February. 20 year-old Louise Swords of the Strand Foyer and Robert Gannon who is 26 and from Dunvale Close both in Derry were charged with a number of offences in relation

 The Chairperson of Strabane District Council is set face a motion of ‘no confidence’ next week. Ulster Unionist Derek Hussey says he will table the motion against Sinn Féin’s Ruairi McHugh at Monday’s monthly meeting – its only the third time in history such move has taken place. The move is off the back a

According to new reports published today, Donegal is one of the three counties with the lowest recorded rate of Suicide in Ireland. Across the country, the rate of suicidal behaviour has stabilised but we still have the fourth highest rate of death by suicide among young people in the EU. Three reports on suicide and

A former mayor of Derry is calling for the demolition on the old St Peter’s School in the Creggan after the roof of the school was badly damaged in an arson attack last night, the second at the school in less than ten weeks. The blaze was reported at around 8.30 and brought under control

Donegal County Council has served an enforcement order on the directors of Loughderryduff windfarm. The order was attached to the entrance gate of the windfarm between Ardara and Glenties yesterday. The enforcement order relates to the alleged erection of a wind turbine without planning permission, apparently to replace a turbine which collapsed at the site

An innovative tourism initiative is being launched in Ramelton this afternoon which will allow visitors explore the village’s cultural heritage at their own pace. The Ramelton Audio Heritage Tour is a free audio guide to the built and cultural heritage of the village, which can be downloaded from Donegal County Council’s website. The script is

The Health Ministers in Stormont and Dublin are being urged to examine the possibility of creating a North West Connected Health Innovation Corridor to promote digital medicine in the region and maximise the potential of electronics and information technology. Foyle MLA Maeve Mc Laughlin says a conference in Derry in May heard that such a

Police and the fire service in Derry believe an overnight fire at a former school in the Creggan area was started deliberately. The roof of St Peter’s High School has been seriously damaged in the blaze, which at its height was fought by nine fire appliances and 50 firefighters. At one point, local residents were

It seems increasingly likely that the old Waterside Station in Derry could be restored to give the city a new railway base The Into the West rail campaign group is welcoming indications that Translink’s preferred option is the restoration of the Old Waterside Station. As well as campaigning for this outcome, Into the West spokesperson

The government has announced 2.5 million euro in EU funding to renovate Irish lighthouses to boost tourism in Ulster. The project will see operational lighthouses – which are now unmanned – transformed into tourist accommodation. The Fanad Head Lighthouse in Fanad and St John’s Point Lighthouse Killybegs are included in the trail. It’s expected the

The Vice-Chairperson of the Agriculture Committee at Stormont says the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is in need of urgent reform. West Tyrone MLA Joe Byrne, who is also the SDLP Agriculture Spokesperson says the farming and food processing sectors in the North will only progress if DARD reconnects with the people it should

Donegal people who oppose the Government’s policy on addressing the financial crisis are being encouraged to attend a mass ”Peoples Assembly” in Dublin later this month. Members of the protests groups in Donegal including Donegal Action Against Austerity and CAHWT are expected to be well represented at the protest at the gates of the Dail

Community groups and Local Authorities across Northern Ireland and the border areas of the Republic of Ireland that want to tackle signs of sectarianism and racism in their communities now have the opportunity to benefit from an investment of £3.125 million. The ‘Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities’ funding programme will support arts

 The head of Bank of Ireland will appear before the Oireachtas Finance Committee this morning. Richie Boucher will face questions from TDs and Senators about the banks performance when it comes to meeting Central Bank targets on dealing with people in mortgage arrears. Yesterday, the head of AIB, David Duffy told the Committee that his

A Letterkenny Councillor is pressing for funding to replace storm pipes in the Glencar area of Letterkenny, and alleviate flooding problems in the Glenwood Park and Beechwood areas. Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh says the natural watercourse from Glencar runs through Glenwood and Beechwood via undersized storm pipes, which are not capable of  moving the volumes of

New figures show that Primary schools in Donegal are among the most overcrowded in the country. Over 20 percent of school children in are being taught in classes with over 30 pupils, 65 percent of children in the county are in classes with 20 to 29 pupils while 14% are in classes of 20 or

Donegal County Council is to serve an enforcement order on a wind energy company instructing them to cease preparatory work to erect a wind turbine in West Donegal. The turbine became trapped today while being transported on the Maas to Ardara road ; it is understood that the turbine, which is worth over 1 million euro,

Northwest MEP Jim Higgins says he believes new cross-border efforts could eliminate illegal fuel laundering. He says authorities are working together on a cross-border basis in order to effectively wipe out fuel laundering by implementing a new fuel marker system. Fuel laundering is a particular problem in border areas with customs raiding a number of

There’s been condemnation of a threat to six young people who were ordered to leave Derry at the weekend. Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey says self appointed vigilantes cannot be allowed act in this manner, and these type of threats have to be dealt with by the PSNI. Mr Ramsey says if these young people have