Author name: oisinkelly

Plans for the new Radiotherapy Unit at Altnagelvin Hospital have taken a positive step forward with confirmation from the North’s Environment Minister Alex Attwood of planning approval for the development. It is hoped the Minister’s announcement now means the dates and budgetary timelines for the building of the new Radiotherapy Unit can proceed according to […]

Donegal Pet Rescue has launched a fundraising drive to try and raise money for a new van. The van that the group used for lifting stray dogs has been off the road since just after Christmas forcing group members to use their own vehicle. They need 3,000 euro for a replacement vehicle. People can donate

There are fears that up to 40 jobs could be under threat in the village of Creeselough. Three business premises this week went into examinership and a community meeting has been called for Monday night to address the crisis. Three separate premises owned by the Lafferty family; Lafferty’s Supermarket, the Corncutter’s Rest and the Vivo

A Donegal County Cllr has expressed his concern that the septic tank registration charge is not a one off fee. Cllr Terence Slowey who registered his tank when the fee was 5 euro, says he received his certificate, which expires on the 28th August 2017, this morning. He says this has created confusion, as he believed that

Sinn Féin’s demanding an independent agency be established to decide on home repossessions. It follows reports that the coalition is going to close a legal loophole that prevents banks foreclosing on homes. The move will form part of plans to deal with mounting mortgage distress. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty says banks should not be allowed

There are fears that hundreds of jobs could be lost at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Coleraine. There are plans to transfer the jobs to Swansea in Wales as part of centralisation moves. The British government wants to move more services online and it would mean jobs being lost in Coleraine as

Lawyers for the State have told the Supreme Court that opposing a challenge to Ireland’s ban on assisted suicide was not meant to convey a lack of sympathy. Seven Judges are hearing a case taken by Multipple Sclerosis sufferer and right-to-die campaigner, Marie Fleming. Barrister Michael Cush began by explaining the State’s position didn’t mean

A Donegal South West Deputy has said that we shouldn’t take it at face value that the Government will devise a replacement to the mobility allowance grant. The Department of Health confirmed yesterday that it was axing the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant with immediate effect. But the Taoiseach Enda Kenny said work is underway to devise a

Bluebird Care are hosting a public meeting in Letterkenny tonight on crime and security in homes. The security seminar will take place in the Station House Hotel at 7pm. There will be tips and advice on how to stay secure and safe in your home from a number of guest speakers. The Director of Bluebird

The IMPACT Trade Union will be in the Dáil today to brief Donegal and Sligo TD’s and Senators about concerns on the future funding and management of the two North West General Hospitals.   The union has expressed its concerns ahead the much awaited “Higgins Report”, which is due to be released in the coming

It’s been revealed that the HSE are planning to reduce the number of beds in St Joseph’s Community Hospital in Stranorlar. The HSE proposal will reduce the current number of beds in the hospital from 75 to 60, and they have cited the moratorium on staff recruitment as the main factor for the decision. This

The Irish Human Rights Commission is backing Marie Fleming’s claim that she has a right to assisted suicide. The Commission is making submissions as a neutral third party in the 59 year old’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to relax the blanket ban on assisted suicide. Former university lecturer Marie Fleming is in the

54% of all Udaras na Gaeltachta units in Donegal are vacant. 67 out of the 125 units in the county are lying empty, with the highest number of vacant units in the parish of Gweedore with 26. Cloughaneely is the next highest with 15, while Kilcar/Carrick has 10 empty units. Donegal South-West Deputy, Pearse Doherty

Fianna Fáil is hosting a public meeting in Letterkenny tonight on crime, garda station closures and cuts to community garda resources in Donegal The party’s spokesperson on Justice Niall Collins will be in attendance along with Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue. Deputy McConalogue says comments by the Justice Minister Alan Shatter on Highland Radio, that Donegal

In February 2012 approximately 60 men who formerly worked in the construction sector got together with Inishowen Development Partnership in Carndonagh to discuss how they could make things better for themselves and other men in the area.  Since then and over the past year the Men’s Shed Carn project has gone from strength to strength. Philip

The Fianna Fail MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher says fishermen will have to be compensated to deal with new policies surrounding fish discards. Mr Gallagher was reacting to the agreement brokered – this morning – by EU Fisheries Ministers on banning the dis-garding of unwanted fish caught at sea. The ban is to be introduced

Donegal Manager Jim McGuinness has taken part in a special video encouraging people to speak to someone of they have a problem. He joins a host of other Irish celebrities who say who they would speak to if they had a problem. The video was made by Stephen Doak, Stephen Sullivan and David Mackin who

The Donegal woman who had her jeep hijacked while her nine-year-old child was in the back seat says she doesn’t have any bad feeling towards the man who was found responsible. Bernadette Moran, the wife of the Donegal football team doctor, managed to pull her daughter from the vehicle before 21-year-old Christopher Coakley accelerated away.

A man who hijacked a woman’s jeep as her nine-year-old child was in the back seat has avoided having his time in jail extended. The victim, 37-year-old Bernadette Moran, is the wife of the Donegal football team doctor. She was in Dublin with her three children for an All-Ireland quarter-final match in Croke Park when

The Irish Youth Music Awards Donegal Heat for 2013 took place this year in the Green Room in Letterkenny. Young bands and artists from across the county competed to have the chance to represent the county at the Irish Youth Music Awards National Final in Liberty Hall in Dublin on April 27th. The Irish Youth

Last week was a  busy one for Donegal MRT as for the second Sunday in a row, a member of a walking group made a call to the emergency services requesting assistance. The call was made after one of their party had become very weak after a slip that had left her in a very

EU fishery ministers have agreed to implement a ban on discards – the wasteful practice of dumping unwanted fish overboard so fishermen do not exceed their quotas. Talks ran overnight, but ministers reached a “general approach” on the discard ban adopted in June last year as part of an overhaul of fisheries policy. The key

The State is expected to open its case this afternoon in Marie Fleming’s right to die appeal. The three-day hearing began yesterday before seven judges of the Supreme Court. The 59-year-old Donegal native is in the terminal stages of multiple sclerosis. Marie Fleming is looking for a relaxation on the outright ban on assisted suicide.

A large amount of flammible material was burnt near a NI Water pump house in Strabane on Sunday night. Two blue wheelie bins filled with recycled material were burnt, and youths who were drinking in the area at the time are being blamed. The incident comes prior to a PSNI meeting which is to focus

The Supreme Court has been told terminally ill woman Marie Fleming is facing a painful, humiliating and distressing death. The 59 year old Donegal native is not in court for her appeal challenging the outright ban on assisted suicide which has begun before 7 judges and will last 3 days. The court’s been told the

A BBC “Spotlight” programme will highlight how a number of Donegal businesses have been found to be stealing electricity The programme has pulled together figures which show that 10 million euro worth of power is being stolen in the republic every year. 1700 people in the republic where found to be stealing electricity last year,

A man, who has been picketing outside Lettekenny General Hospital, has said his one man protest will continue until the government burns the bond holders. Barney Duffy is in the third day of his protest against cuts to workers pay and other austerity measures he believes the general public should not have to bare. Mr

EU Fisheries Ministers are meeting in Brussels today to try and agree on a plan to eliminate the controversial discard practice. Fish are returned to  the sea because the catch either exceeds the quota or the species are not part of a trawler’s allowable take. The European Commission estimates that almost a quarter of all

A 19-year-old inexperienced driver was found by a court to have caused a bus with 49 elderly passengers aboard to topple over a ditch into a field off a narrow country road. But Donegal District Court accepted a plea from Kevin Meehan, who was charged with dangerous driving, that he was guilty of driving carelessly.

The future of one of the State’s most lucrative assets will be debated in the Dáil this evening. Under the bailout programme, the government is planning to sell Coillte’s harvesting rights for an estimated 600-million-euro. A recent report found that under new owners, timber that’s currently processed here could be exported for finishing abroad and

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims are launching legal action in a bid to force the Irish and British governments into granting a full scale cross-border inquiry. They are planning High Court applications in Belfast and Dublin seeking leave to apply for a judicial review. The announcement followed a meeting yesterday with the Northern Ireland

Custom officials must warn vehicle owners who haven’t paid VRT before seizing their vehicle, a landmark ruling says. A report from the Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, following the seizure of a vehicle by Customs in Dublin has been welcomed by Donegal’s ‘Abolish VRT’ campaigners. Anti VRT campaigners believe that the findings in the report will have

A trawler skipper has been accused of catching skate in breach of EU regulations. Shane Curran, Master of the Velvet Chord 11, was accused of retaining common skate which State Solicitor Ciaran Liddy said was valued at €1,000 at Killybegs, on August 19, 2011. Curran, of Waterfront, Killybegs, was remanded on bail to April 22

A man has been appeared in court  charged with burglary at the home of a 96-year-old woman in Buncrana in January. 48 year-old Thomas Alcock was charged at Cloverhill Court on Monday with burglary and threatening to kill Margaret Lilly on 5 January. Mr Alcock, of no fixed abode, had recently returned from the UK.

The owner of a hotel in Gortahork says he believes there are less people coming to the Gaeltach because of the controversy surrounding Michael Ferry. In July 2011 he was jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to 38 sample charges of rape and molestation between 1990 and 2005. During his trial the Court was