Author name: oisinkelly

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

The Deputy President of the Ulster Farmers Union says there’s anger among farmers at the uncertainty over the future of the A5, and it will take at least a year for the future of the project to become clear.

Three men charged in connection with a dissident republican march in Derry last year feel they should be allowed to attend protests which they consider are ‘valid. Gary Donnelly from Iniscarn Road, Ciaran Boyle from The Meadows and Anthony Lancaster from Circular Road all in Derry appeared charged with arranging a meeting in the City

The Government has stongly rejected accusation from a Donegal TD that it is not full committed to the A5 dual carraigeway upgrade. Charlie McConologue raised the issue in the Dail hitting out at Transport Minister Leo Varadkar for not being present to answer the question. The A5 has been stalled after a Judge in the

A 23-year-old man from Kerrykeel has been jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for life for endangering the life of a garda and dangerous driving. RTE reports that Cathal Dunleavy of Glenvar pleaded guilty to 16 charges at Letterkenny District Court. The charges arose out of an incident on 18 October last year,

Highland Radio has retained its status as Ireland’s most listened to radio station following the publication of the latest JNLR / MRBI figures. The survey shows that on weekdays, Highland Radio’s listenership figures increased 2 points to 67% while its  market share rose to 66.7%. The figures cover the 12-month period from April 2012 to

Derry’s District Judge Barney McElholm has revealed that he has received hate mail following his decision to grant anonymity to people charged with drug related offences. Judge McElholm began granting anonymity to people charged with drug offences after a number of people who had appeared in court were subsequently shot by the vigilante group RAAD.

  An inquest in to the death Noel McGlynn, who was missing for 30 years, has delivered a verdict of death due to drowning. In March, DNA established that the body of a man washed ashore in Dunfanaghy in 1983 is a direct relative of Letterkenny man James McGlynn. James McGlynn had always maintained that

The agriculture minister in Northern Ireland has said the relocation of her department’s headquarters will go ahead. In 2012, the Department of Agriculture announced it would move to Ballykelly. But it was revealed this week that a survey of DARD staff found 86% did not agree with the move. The 800 staff affected are based

Highland Radio News can reveal that plans for what was being describes as a new Casino for Letterkenny have been blocked by An Bord Pleanala. Letterkeny Town Council’s planning department had granted permission for the redevelopment of the ground floor of the Gleneany Hotel on the Pearse Road. The plans included the development of an

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the arrival of Seagate in Derry, with a number of senior executive from the company in the city for a series of celebrations. A number of business meetings are also taking place, with Seagate involved in supporting a number of initiatives in Derry at present, including Culturetech and the

A Sinn Fein Deputy has hit out at the Can’t Pay Won’t Pay campaign for falsely claiming he was going to pay the property tax by choice. Can’t Pay Won’t Pay released a statement this morning challenging the stance of Sinn Fein on the property tax  claiming that Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlain had announced he

The Western Health and Social Care Trust is investigating how the records of 17 patients at the Waterside Hospital came to be in a bin bag which was found in the garden of a house in Derry last weekend. The records contained highly sensitive information about patients aged from 76 to 93. The bin bag

  The family of a 41-year-old man shot dead by a soldier in Derry has received an official appology from the UK government. William McGreanery was walking past an Army observation post near the Bogside when he was shot in 1971. They had previously received an apology from the defence forces, but last evening, a

Two Donegal Development companies are to share in 90 million euro worth of funding being released by government under the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013. The Donegal Local Development Company and the Inishowen Development Partnership are responsible for distributing allocations to groups in Donegal. The Enviroment Minister has given development companies across the country two weeks to

The North’s Department of the Environment has ordered an internal investigation into why people were not informed of planning approval for a major waste processing plant near Derry. Approval for the 500,000 pounds development at Strathfoyle was granted in September, 2011. At that point, the decision should have been advertised in the local press, but

Donegal drivers who have failed to pay a parking ticket in Northern Ireland may now run the risk of having their vehicle clamped next time they return to the North. The new proposals from the Northern Ireland DRD are now with their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. A new information sharing arrangement between the

  A Donegal band has put out a public appeal after cables and other items were stolen from their van after a weekend gig in Lettekenny. The Heads of State say they opened their van after a gig on Saturday and were devastated to find that two bags of  leads had been stolen. The bags

The Social Protection Minister says she wants to save 1.5 million euro a year by abolishing the special welfare payment for religious ceremonies. Joan Burton’s told the Dáil the payment was meant to be for exceptional events and that welfare recipients should be able to plan ahead for communions and confirmations. And she says that

Failte Ireland have descovered a new most northerly point in Ireland  – Mizen Head. Yesterday, the tourism Minister Michael Ring unveiled the final ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ route to 300 top overseas tour operators attending Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair. However the official map released by Failte Ireland has replaced Malin Head with Mizen Head. ‘Wild

The border diocese of Clogher has been singled out for failing to prevent child abuse in the past. The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church criticised the former bishop. The Diocese consists of County Monaghan, much of County Fermanagh with parts of Counties Tyrone, and Donegal. The reviewers said it was clear

There are fresh concerns over the decentralisation of 800 civil service jobs to Ballykelly after the majority of workers said they were against the move. It was announced last September that 800 Department of Agriculture jobs would be moving from Belfast to Ballykelly at the site of the former Shackleton Army Barracks. But in October

The Dail has heard calls for a specific plan to be put in place to attract new employers to Donegal. The issue was raised by Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue who again was critical of the IDA pointing out that, last year, only 1 out of 88 national IDA site visits throughout the country came to

The Education Minister says the current criteria for school investment is such that there are no plans to replace Scoil Mhuire in Stranorlar with a new school building. The project was previously included in the government’s Capital Investment Programme but was removed by the current education minister’s 5 year programme. The issue was raised in the Seanad

Land at a sports centre in Derry could be used for camping space to cope with an influx of visitors expected in the city for the All Ireland Fleadh. Organisers of the Fleadh expect 400,000 visitors to converge on the city from August 12-18. The organisers of the all-Ireland fleadh have applied for permission to

The Minister for Public Expenditure and reform has re-stated the government’s commitment to making savings of 300 million euro in the public sector wage bill this year. Brendan Howlin made his comments in the Dail last night after asking the CEO of the Labour Relations Commission to make contact with unions to see if the

A man is continuing to be questioned this morning after he was arrested in relation to dissident republican activity in Derry. Detectives from the Serious Crime branch arrested the 44-year-old last night. He was taken to Antrim police station for questioning. Police said his arrest was in connection with dissident republican activity in Derry in

Belfast Crown Court has heard that the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams never confronted his brother Liam about child sex abuse allegations involving his daughter. During interviews given under caution to the PSNI in February 2007, Liam Adams rejected claims that the Sinn Fein president had quizzed him about the alleged abuse of his daughter