Author name: oisinkelly

It’s emerged that an assessment of last year’s planning review had to skip the section relating to Donegal, because judicial review proceedings are underway in relation to it. The independent assessment of the Planning Review was commissioned by Junior Minister Jan O’Sullivan and carried out by Henk van der Kamp, the Head of Spatial Planning

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue says the government must lift the cap on the recruitment of resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants to cope with what will be an extra demand for their services. The Fianna Fáil Education Spokesperson issued his call in light of the increase in the school-going population expected in

Met Eireann has issued a weather warning for Munster, Leinster and parts of Ulster. Scattered snow showers will hit these areas this evening, overnight and on Monday and will result in between 3 and 8 centimetres of snow. Motorists are being advised to drive with extreme care as severe frost and icy conditions will effect

Homeowners curious about how much their home is valued at for the property tax can go online from today to get an estimate. The Revenue Commissioners have published an online guide on their website – Revenue.ie – indicating how much property tax householders will be liable to pay. The guide provides average values for different

A meeting which was to have briefed business people on the opportunities presented by Derry’s UK City of Culture designation has been postponed. The meeting tomorrow afternoon in the Plaza was organised by Sinn Fein councillors in Buncrana, with representitives from the Culture Company and Derry City Council due to attend. However, one of the

The ICSA is appealing to Donegal farmers to work hard to eliminate fatalities on the farm. Farmers are entering a busy period with slurry spreading, calving and lambing, all of which present an inherent danger. Last year, 21 people lost their lives on Irish farms. ICSA Ulster spokesperson John Flynn says the aim is to

Two men have been jailed by a Derry court for separate incidents that occurred in the Emergency Department of Altnagelvin Hospital. A man who subjected a nurse to abuse was sentenced to four months in jail while a second man,who exposed himself in the departmant, was sentences to three months. 41 year-old Sean Jarvis of

A Donegal woman has had a €190,500 damages award over a road traffic collision reduced as a judge said she should have known the driver of the car she was travelling in was impaired by drink. Mr Justice Sean Ryan said 31 year-old Erin Gallagher, from Falcarragh, should have known it was highly probable the

An the inquest into the death of missing Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson has been set for April of 2014. Arlene disappeared in August 1994 after a night out at a disco Bundoran. Her body has never been found. In 2005, Robert Howard was acquitted of Arlene’s murder but the jury had not been told he

A 30-year-old mystery was solved at a coroner’s inquest in Letterkenny yesterday when DNA established that the body of a man washed ashore in Dunfanaghy in 1983 is a direct relative of local man James McGlynn. Coroner John Cannon concluded yesterday that the DNA sample found that the deceased man was either a either a

The Letterkenny Mayor says all avenues are now being pursued with a view to funding the repair of An Grianan Theatre’s roof. Condensation is forming on the roof and its is expected that the roof will have to be removed to repair the problem at a cost of 80 thousand euro. The theatre is however

The owner of Tobins Petrol Station in Letterkenny says the decision to reward planning permission to Tesco Ireland for petrol pumps will result in job losses. As revealed on Highland Radio News yesterday An Bord Pleanala upheld a controversial decision by Letterkenny Town Council to award planning permission for the pumps. The plans include the

Letterkenny Town Council is seeking to have a footpath extended from Arena 7 to Thorn Road, with all members agreeing that with a marked increase in the number of people walking in the town, it’s important that a proper footpath is provided in this area.   The issue was raised this week by Cllr Jimmy

A Donegal Solicitor has raised concerns about the quality of the water supply in the county after he was approached by a client. The client has an Environmental Protection Agency report which raised issues with the water supply in the county. And Letterkenny solicitor Dessie Shiels claims that the Environmental Protection Agency has issued various

A man has appeared in Letterkenny Court this morning charged with nine counts of burglary and one count of theft. 19 year-old Thomas Ward, who lives in Buncrana, was remanded in custody to appear before Harrowstown Court tomorrow. Gardai says the man was arrested on Tuesday evening following an appeal on Highland Radio Radio, gardai

Officers from Revenue’s Customs Service seized 16,320 cigarettes and 2.8kgs of tobacco in Letterkenny on Wednesday with an estimated total retail value of €8,515 and potential loss to the Exchequer of €6,681. The tobacco and ‘E-mail Red’ and ‘E-mail Blue’ cigarettes were seized as part of a joint search of a private dwelling with An

The government is being accused of not doing enough to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis. The latest data released by the Central Bank today shows that 1 in 8 residential mortgage holders are now in arrears, while 1 in 5 of buy-to-let owners are in trouble. Opposition parties say the new figures point to a

A man charged with causing the death of Constable Phillipa Reynolds has “accepted his responsibility”, a court has heard. 25 year old Shane Frane has again been remanded in custody, to appear again via video link on April 4th. Shane Frane, whose address was given as Simon Community, Bonds Hill, is charged with causing the

Highland Radio News can confirm that Fianna Fail will not be sending a party representative with Donegal County Council, on its trip to America for St Patricks Day. It had been agreed that a member of the party would accompany the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and County Manager on the trip to New York. However the

A Derry man has said that if police had properly investigated a complaint he made then one man may still be alive and another could have avoided serious injury. In 2011 John McLaughlin was seriously assaulted by Paul Greenbanks in Derry who months later murdered Patrick Harkin and left his friend, Letterkenny man Paul Mythen

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness says he has been warned by police of a death threat from dissident republicans in Derry. In a statement released this morning he said he was visited at his home by a senior PSNI officer last night to inform him of what has been described as a “real and active”

An Bord Pleanala has upheld a controversial decision by Letterkenny Town Council to award planning permission to Tesco Ireland for petrol pumps. The Council granted planning to Tesco for a filling station in June of 2012. The plans include the demolition of  a shed, to be replaced by a 4-island petrol filling station and a

The price of agriculture land has decreased in Donegal, despite increasing across the rest of the country for the first time in six years. According to the Irish Farmers Journal Agricultural Land Price Report 2012, the average price per acre in Donegal dropped by 5.5%, yet the average price per acre across the rest of

Donegal North East Deputy Padraig MacLochalain says he agrees with the Ministers trips abroad on St Patrick’s Day. A number of Ministers will travel to America, Australia, Japan and the Middle East for St Patrick’s Day. However he says he doesn’t agree with local authority’s sending Councillors across the world on St Patrick’s Day. The Mayor of Donegal, his Deputy, a Councillor from

The people of the Northwest are being invited to take part in The Return of Colmcille to be held in Derry in June. Taking place over the weekend of the 7th – 9th June ‘The Return of Colmcille’ will celebrate both the iconic and fascinating figure of Saint Colmcille and also the City of Derry and its

The Dail has been told that structures should be put in place to allow for more cross border cooperation in community policing. Donegal North East Deputy Joe Mc Hugh said that while communication between the gardai and the PSNI has improved  more formal structures could be put in place. He says that could mean more local

Details have emerged about the ministerial trips abroad for St Patrick’s Day, with the first setting off today. Chief Whip Paul Kehoe will head for Australia later today. The Transport Minister Leo Varadkar will travel to Japan later in the month, the Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald is going to India, the Environment Minister Phil Hogan

Donegal Senator Jimmy Harte has again called out Sinn Fein on its stance on the Property Tax. He was speaking during a debate on the second stage of the bill to enact the property tax which is going through the Seanad. Revenue are expected to send letters out from next week with property valuations. Senator

Donegal Senator Brian O’Domhnaill has launched a scathing attack on the government for giving the Revenue the right to determine what a home is worth. Senator O’Domhnaill told a debate on the second stage of the bill to enact the property tax that the legislation is being rushed through so the Revenue can begin sending

There was a heavy police presence both inside and outside Derry Magistrates Court today as two men appeared charged over the discovery of four mortar bombs in a van in Derry on Sunday night. 35-year-old Seamus McLaughlin of 19C Eastway, Creggan and 37-year-old Gary McDaid of 121 Glenowen Park, Creggan both faced three charges. The

The North’s Environment Minister says he has been reassured that no decision has been taken to close the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency centre in Coleraine which would result in the loss of 300 jobs. The British government wants to move more services online  – this has lead to fears that the services provided in

Donegal Action Against Austerity have hit out at claims from the Mayor that this weeks protest outside LYIT was a ‘militant protest’. Up to 150 people took part in a protest as the Taoiseach addressed the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Letterkenny on Monday.   But, the Mayor, Frank McBrearty said such protests was bringing shame