Author name: oisinkelly

 Letterkenny General Hospital has become one of the first in the country to provide a routine hearing test for new born babies. The National Newborn Hearing Screening Programme was rolled out yesterday in Letterkenny and Sligo, and will be rolled out across the rest of the country by the end of the year. Assistant Letterkenny

Three young secondary school pupils from Co Donegal will feature in the Junior Dragons’ Den show that screens on Sunday night, May 5th at 9.30pm on RTE1. Brothers Rónán, 16, and Conor Mc Garvey, 13, from Loughanure will showcase their Donegal Pens www.donegalpens.com business, while Letterkenny lad Niall Mc Closkey, 16, will present his ‘Easygrower’

It is claimed that there is still no clarification over the future of creche provision in Gweedore, although it’s reported a third party has expressed an interest in taking it over. At least 30 children are cared for at the Gweedore Community Creche, which will close on Friday fortnight if no resolution is found. Udarus,

A  motorist, already banned from driving for 99 years, was banned for another 20 and sentenced to 18 months jail for offences when he was the target of a high-speed garda chase. Donegal District Court was told that Derek Robinson was seen driving erratically in Donegal town just over three weeks ago on April 7.

  The Justice Minister has hailed Operation Liath as a success, claiming that the number of burglaries in Donegal has decreased since January. Operation Liath was introduced within the Donegal division in January this year aimed towards disrupting criminality against older people. At the beginning of the year there was an upsurge of burglaries on

The Chief Executive of the company established to deliver Derry’s UK City of Culture programme is denying suggestions that some elements of their plans may have to be cut back because of a shortfall in funding. The BBC is reporting today that to date, the income from sponsorship and ticket sales is much less than

A village postmaster was fined €10,000 today(Wed) for stealing his customers’ savings. Donegal District Court heard that Rory Brodbin stole a total of  €12,200 from two customers at Laghey Post Office. He pleaded guilty to the thefts. Garda Paddy Battle, who arrested 44-year-old Brodbin, of Main St, Laghey, said he was unable to tell the

Most of the security gates in Derry’s walls are to be removed, Justice Minister David Ford has announced. Eleven of the 16 gates will be taken down over the next few weeks with an additional £28,000 in CCTV coverage to be installed. However the gates where Bishop Street passes under the walls at the Fountain

A Donegal councillor says he fears the county will suffer badly when Irish Water takes over control of the supply infrastructure. Cllr Patrick Mc Gowan says the network in the county is failing daily, but all the indications are that Irisj Water will focus its investment in larger cities where it can attract funding through

A Donegal County Councillor has said the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners must give clear direction as to how customs officers should respond to those in violation of current VRT laws. In February, a landmark Ombusdman’s report ruled that customs officers must issue a warning when they first detect a car which hasn’t had VRT

A ban on the sale and use of smoky coal has been implemented in Letterkenny from today, with a map showing the specific area affected available on the council’s website www.donegalcoco.ie Meanwhile, Age Action says today’s introduction of a carbon tax on solid fuels will add even more hardship to the lives of older people.

The Western Health Trust is proposing to close all its residential care homes. The homes under threat are Rectory Field and Willow Street, both in Derry, Thackeray Place in Limavady and Greenfield Home in Strabane. There are 130 places overall but only 73 men and women live in the homes. The health minister, Edwin Poots,

The body of an Ardara man who went missing in Dublin at the weekend has been recovered from the River Liffey. 24 year old Conal Gildea from Carn, Ardara, a plumber, had last been seen by friends on Friday night. His body was recovered from the water on Monday evening, and formally identified yesterday. In

Donegal County Council have confirmed they have been and will be continuing to disconnect non-domestic water supplies to customers in arrears and who have not engaged with them. 20 disconnections have taken place on non domestic water supplies in recent weeks, and Donegal County Council says at least 60 more will follow. The most recent

There is shock in the town of Ballyshannon with the closure of the Mace Shop with the loss of 30 jobs. Ormston’s supermarket in the centre of Ballyshannon closed for business this morning. Staff were briefed by management at the supermarket last night and were told that the business would close with immediate effect. Mayor

15 new jobs are to created by the opening of the new Finn Valley Leisure Centre. Finn Valley Athletics Club currently employs 15 staff, but 15 new full-time and part-time jobs will be created when the new facility opens. It’s hoped the the swimming pool and gym facilities will be officially opened within the next

  Gardaí investigasting a shooting incident at Legnatraw, St. Johnston, a year ago today have confirmed that possible cross border links are a major element of their investigation. A 30 year old man was shot in both legs and both arms, a 34 year old woman who was in the house at the time of

A Buncrana councillor says a joint effort to upgrade the Aghilly Road in the town could be the key to securing a site for a new education campus for Crana College. The Donegal VEC had looked at a site in the vicinity of the road, but serious concerns were expressed about the standard of the

We’ve heard of the Lough Ness monster in Scotland, but now the Northwest may have it’s very own sea monster. A group of students were out shooting a short-film for a school project in Lough Foyle, when they came across a strange “sea creature”. A Youtube video has now gone viral with over 80,000 people

The Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan says he has no information or evidence of claims by the President of the GRA that new guidelines on crime categorisation have led to the “massaging” of statistics. John Parker was speaking at the Garda Representative Association’s annual conference in Co Mayo, where 170 rank and file members have gathered

A teenage boy has been injured in an attack on a school bus on the Northland Road in Derry. As students from Oakgrove College were travelling home after school yesterday, a stone was thrown through a window when the bus stopped to drop some students off. The youth, who was sitting close to the window,

Gweedore has made it on to the longlist in the Irish Times competion ‘The Best Place to Holiday in Ireland’. It will join 24 other holiday hotspots from around the country; the results will be announced on the 27th May. Other notable nominees include Derry City, Strandhill in Sligo and the Lakelands in County Fermanagh.

A 31 year old man from the Derry area has jailed on explosives charges at Derry Crown Court. Anthony Thomas Friel was sentenced to 4 and a half years in jail and 4 and a half years on licence following the discovery of a number of viable devices in a flat in the Maureen Avenue

The Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has extended his deepest sympathies to the family of former Donegal TD Harry Blaney, who has died at the age of 85. “It is with great sadness that I learned today of the death of Harry Blaney, a stalwart of Donegal politics,” Deputy Martin said. “I had the pleasure

The Director of Nursing at Letterkenny General Hospital says measures are being put in place to address hygiene issues identified in a HIQA report published last week. The inspectors did not identify any immediate serious risks to the health and welfare of patients receiving care at Letterkenny General Hospital, but added that while there was

There’s mounting unease in Fine Gael over the Government’s abortion legislation plans, after former Taoiseach John Bruton intervened in the debate. In an article in today’s Irish Independent, Mr. Bruton argues that suicide should not be a basis for an abortion – saying he knows of no other area of law where a threat of

The death has been confirmed this morning of former TD Harry Blaney. The former Donegal North–East representative passed away at Letterkenny General Hospital. Harry Blaney was born in February 1928, and was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the 1997 General Election to a seat formerly held by his brother Neil. He had previously served

Marie Fleming has lost her Supreme Court challenge to the ban on assisted suicide. The 59 year old – who is terminally ill with multiple sclerosis – was not in court to hear the result of her appeal. In an unanimous ruling 7 judges of the Supreme Court have found there is no Constitutional right

The proposed sale of state harvesting rights may now not go ahead, according to Donegal Senator Jimmy Harte. Speaking to Highland Radio News, Senator Harte stated there was a general consensus among parliamentary colleagues that this this should not and would not happen. The Labour senator stated that any short-term economic benefits would be heavily

Almost 2.7 million euro recovered by the Criminal Assets Bureau from the proceeds of a Ponzi investment scheme has been paid out as part-compensation to the victims of the fraud. The bureau used its legislation to secure a court warrant, allowing its officers to hand over €2.68 million euro to a liquidator to be distributed

The Leviathan Political Roadshow’s event in Letterkenny tonight has been postponed. The Leviathan Political Cabaret is designed to inform, entertain and engage the public on political issues, with 40 years of EU membership the current topic. Tonight’s  panel was to have included Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton The Leviathan Roadshow will take

A 71-year-old man has died in a weekend farming accident in Derry. The victim, who has been named locally as Benny Foster, was attacked by a bull. The incident happened on a farm near Killea, close to the border with Donegal. Authorities are investigating the incident.

A Letterkenny Town Cllr has called on management at Letterkenny General Hospital to address the cleanliness issues immediately. A report by HIQA which was released yesterday, criticised hygiene at the hospital, describing three clinical areas inspected in February as unclean. The areas were Surgical 1, Maternity and the Emergency Department. Local Cllr Gerry McMonagle said

Donegal North East Deputy, Joe McHugh, has welcomed the confirmation of a single all-island paediatric cardiac surgical service which will be provided from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin. The move follows a report that said that, while safe, the service at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children was no longer sustainable. It caused

Country legend George Jones has passed away at the age of 81 in Nashville. He died this morning at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after being hospitalized with high fever and irregular blood pressure. George Jones influenced generations of country singers and was considered by many to be the greatest of them all. He played a

The President of the Irish Planning Institute has called for new all island planning strategies which involve real cross border collaboration. Speaking at the institute’s annual conference which is on in Belfast at the moment, Joanna Kelly said an all-island spatial strategy is needed to drive development, while an all-island Landscape Strategy is needed to deal

The Taiwanese Representative in Ireland has said he wants to see closer relations between Ireland and Taiwan, and that may begin with the introduction of Donegal seafood into the Taiwanese market. Harry Tseng is in Donegal for meetings with education and business leaders to explore how better linkages can be developed in tourism and education.

A report by HIQA has criticised hygiene at Letterkenny General Hospital, describing three clinical areas inspected in February as unclean. On the 27th of February last, HIQA carried out an unannounced inspection at Letterkenny General Hospital to assess the hygiene as experienced by patients at any given time. The report published today says inspectors did