Author name: oisinkelly

Sinn Fein’s Private Members Motion – calling on the Government to scrap the household charge – was last night defeated in the Dáil. The Bill was rejected by 76 votes to 48. 42 per cent of homeowners have yet to pay the 100 euro charge, which was introduced at the start of this year, to […]

The Deputy Mayor of Derry says she was shocked and disturbed to find this week that her family grave in Donegal has been vandalised. Cllr Mary Hamilton is a native of Lifford, and this week she discovered that her family grave at Clonleigh Parish Church had been attacked. The church has been in the news

IFA President John Bryan has met with Minister Simon Coveney, a day after meeting with farmers in Donegal. Mr Bryan says one of the key issues that came up in his discussions with farmers in the county was the need for a new environmental scheme to replace REPS 3, following the suspension this year of

Buncrana has been chosen as one of 44 pilot areas in which the process of divesting patronage of schools in 44 areas of the country is to get underway. The Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has announced that ads will be placed by the end of June in these areas – inviting submissions of interest for

Gardai in Donegal have launched a murder inquiry following the death of a 67 year old man at Churchill on Sunday night. Emergency services and Gardai were called to a house at Drumacnoo, Churchill at around 1.50 am where the body of Seamus Doherty was discovered. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  A post

Donegal Sinn Fein Deputy Pearse Doherty says that he’ll pay back any money he owes if he has broken Oireachtas rules on expenses. It follows claims in today’s Irish Independent, that Pearse Doherty diverted unspent expenses towards hiring part-time workers for the party. But rules introduced 2 years ago state that any such money must

It is being claimed today the Sinn Fein TDs are breaking Oireachtas rules by paying activists out of cash claimed for travel expenses. Prominent frontbenchers have revealed that part of their expenses claims were diverted to pay additional staff. According today’s Irish Independent, unspent travel expenses are supposed to be returned to the Oireachtas under

Highland Radio understands that further investigations are being carried out by gardai to determine the exact cause of the death of a man from Churchill who died at the weekend. Seamus Doherty of the Rock, Curchill was found dead on Sunday. It had been initially suspected that the man had died of natural causes –

Donegal South West TD Pearse Doherty has described the increased waiting times for Social Welfare payments as disgraceful. Deputy Doherty says that since the FG Lab government came into office waiting times have rocketed. The waiting time for the majority of claims has increased while the waiting time for just four payments has decreased. Figures

The IFA is calling on the government to speed up the issuing of aquaculture licences, saying there are job and investment opportunities being lost. Speaking during a visit to Donegal this week, IFA President John Bryan said there are almost 600 licence applications to be processed. During a visit to fish and shellfish farming facilities

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie McConalogue will address a major Fianna Fail national conference on education policy this weekend. Fianna Fáil members, TDs, Senators, Councillors and education experts from across the country will attend the event at in Salthill on Saturday. The conference, entitled Developing a Policy Agenda, will focus on tackling mental health issues

An appeal has been launched following the vicious killing of a dog in St Johston at the weekend. Two and a half year-old German Shepherd ‘Rex’  was found dead last Saturday morning – the dog had been stabbed five times and had its throat cut. A reward in excess of 500 euro is being offered

A function is taking place in London this evening to reach out to business people in the UK with links to the West and North West. Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte will be the guest speaker at the networking event, the second under the Re:Connect programme launched by the Taoiseach at the Irish Embassy in London

Donegal County Council says that it will, in the coming weeks, progress a number of options to ensure that all those who should have paid the second home charge, have paid the charge. Anyone who has yet to pay the charge since its introduction in 2009  currently owes €2,160. This amounts to €800 in charges

Daniel O’Donnell is going to be awarded the freedom of County Donegal at a reception this friday. It’s in recognition of his contribution to music at local, national and international level and his role promoting his native county. The singer will become the fifth recipient of a badge and pin set that’s been specially commissioned

A community meeting is being held in Lifford this Thursday evening in response to the third time attack in recent weeks on Clonleigh Parish Church. Thousands of euro worth of damage was caused in the attack on the Parish Church last Friday. Those responsible kicked in the front door of the church, smashed pictures of

The coastguard is undertaking a major training exercise this evening in the sea off Buncrana. The exercise will involve a mock fire on the Lough Swilly Ferry and a likely mass rescue that would result. The coast guard helicopter, the Greencastle Coastguard Team and the Lough Swilly Lifeboat will all be involved in the exercise

A man has been arrested in Derry by police following yesterday’s robbery of the post office in Bridgend. A cross border manhunt was launched after the post office was the target of robbers for a second time in a year. Staff where threatened and a small sum of cash was taken in the incident which

The body of a man has been recovered from the sea close to Derrybeg. The discovery was made last night off Magheragallon pier. The dead man is thought to be in his late 50s or early 60s. There are no further details at present.

The jury in the trial of two men accused of the murder of Michaela McAreavey will today visit the hotel in Mauritius where she was killed. The nine jurors will be accompanied by the judge and the defence and prosecution lawyers. The six men and three women jury will be shown the room at the

There has been another raid at a post office in Inishowen. Gardai says a number of men entered the Post Office at Bridgend shortly after 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon – they threatened staff and made off with an undisclosed sum of cash. The robbery comes as Sinn Fein claims that cutbacks to Garda resources are

A small element of young people in Strabane have been blamed for setting fire to a disused factory premises in the Ballycolman Industrial Estate. The fire was reported to the emergency services shortly after 4.30pm last evening. 8 fire-fighting appliances tackled the blaze for a number of hours last evening- no-one was injured when the

A legal action challenging the constitutionality of the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism is due to start in the High Court today. It’s being brought by Independent Donegal South West TD Thomas Pringle. The hearing is expected to last between 5 and 7 days and may involve points of law being referred to the

A man seriously injured in a crash in Stranorlar at the weekend has died. The single vehicle collision occurred at around twenty to ten on Saturday night on the Drumkeen to Stranorlar road. 34 year-old Stephen McElwaine from Convoy was seriously injured when the van he was a passenger in,  overturned. He died today at

The trial has begun in Derry of a parish priest charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. Fr Eugene Boland, 66, and originally from Moville, denies five charges of indecently assaulting the girl from June 1990 to June 1992. He is alleged to have committed the offences in a parochial house in Derry’s Galliagh area

Defence lawyers in the trial of two men accused of murdering Michaela McAreavey won’t press the issue of CCTV footage of a couple arguing. Prosecution and police disputed that the footage was of the McAreaveys, saying it was a German couple also staying at the Legends Hotel. The German couple came forward in recent days

Ardara has been named the best village in Ireland in which to live by the Irish Times. The paper is sponsoring the Best Place to Live in Ireland awards, and this morning named five category winners. The overall winner will be announced next Monday. Ardara was named best village because, the judges noted, Ardara makes

Sinn Fein in Donegal say government figures on emigration are incomplete, and need to be improved. Donegal North East Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn has tabled a number of Dail questions on the issue, to be told that estimated figures are published once a year by the CSO, and there is no way of providing a

Relatives of victims of the 1998 Omagh bombing are to meet the Northern Ireland secretary later to continue their campaign for a public inquiry. Twenty-nine people and unborn twins died in the Real IRA atrocity. The families say they will give Owen Paterson new evidence that authorities on both sides of the border could have

Gardai are appealing for witnesses following a serious car crash in Co. Donegal. The single vehicle collision occurred at around twenty to ten last night on the Drumkeen to Stranorlar road. A 34-year-old man was seriously injured when the van he was a passenger in, overturned. Two other men, who were in the van, were

It’s thought the murder trial of Micheala McAreavey in Mauritius could last another several weeks. Last Friday the jury was shown CCTV footage of a couple arguing at the Legends Hotel – which the defence maintains was John and Michaela McAreavey – suggesting John McAreavey had given a contradictory account of his movements to the

Gardai are appealing for information after a car was stolen from the Station House Hotel car park in the early hours of this morning. Mickey McGookin from Ballymeana was down for the Donegal rally and was staying in the hotel. He believes is car was stolen at around 1230 last night. The car is a

The Bloody Sunday Trust is launching a fresh attempt to clear the name of a teenager shot dead in January 1972. A report by Lord Saville found that Gerald Donaghey, 17, was “probably armed with nail bombs but was not a threat at the time that he was shot”. He was a member of the

A Stranorlar Councillor has called for work to be carried out on a dangerous footpath for over concerns that someone could be seriously injured or killed. Cora Harvey has already raised her concerns with Council engineers for safety improvement works on the Trusk Road Footpath in Ballybofey. Cllr Cora Harvey says the stretch of road

A total of three men have now been arrested by gardai investigating the theft of two buses in Inishowen this week. Two men in their early 20’s and from the Carndonagh area were arrested yesterday afternoon – a third man, also in his early 20’s and from Carndonagh was arrested last evening. All three have

It is claimed that at least 30 people have been defrauded of thousand of pounds by so called skimming devices attached to ATM’s in the town. Local Councillor Patsy Kelly says numerous people have contacted him after realising their bank accounts had been emptied. He is urging the public to be cautious and report any

A North West MEP is expressing concern that unnecessarily strict regulations may cause some producers to pull out of country markets. Marian Harkin says the Food Safety Authority of Ireland now wants to require every stallholder participating in country markets to register with them, a call she believes is not justified and not required elsewhere.

The Donegal International Rally takes place this weekend. To facilitate the competition, Donegal County Council has announced a number of road closures for weekend as indicated below. Friday 15th June Stages 1 & 4 (Gortree) 10.50hrs – 17.25hrs Errity, Grawky, Tullybogley, Grawkey Glebe, Sallybrook, Monclink, Ryelands, Gortree, Monfad (to junction at Monfad), Gortree, Tullyannan Glebe

The jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering Michaela McAreavey has been shown CCTV images from the Legends Hotel Reception area in Mauritius, from the day the 27 year old Co. Tyrone woman was killed. The court saw a images of a couple arriving at the desk and becoming involved in discussions

It’s one of the busiest and noisiest weekends of the year in Donegal, with thousands of people here for the Donegal International Rally which gets underway later this morning and finishes on Sunday evening. At this morning’s drivers briefing, the traditional welcome is being delivered by the Mayor of Donegal, a man several of the

The outgoing Mayor of Buncrana has said it was difficult to watch so many young people leave Inishowen during his term. In the past year hundreds of young people have left the penninsula because of the current economic climate to move further afield to Australia, Canada and the UK. Independent Cllr Nicolas Crossan was suceeded

A number of businesses in Letterkenny have launched a drive to capitalise on the strength of the Euro versus Sterling. As part of the promotion, in association with Letterkenny Town Council, a rate of one euro twenty five cent is being offered to customers from Northern Ireland. Businesses will have signs up indicating if they

The HSE is considering proposals from GP’s to reduce the overnight NowDoc service in Carndonagh and Derrybeg. Under the propsals the so called Red Eye service, between 11pm and 8am, would be withdrawn from Carndonagh and Derrybeg and provided centrally from Letterkenny. The HSE is considering the proposals with a decision to be made by

The Irish Wind Energy Association says more investment is needed to harness Ireland’s potential in the sector. It believes it would create jobs, attract investment and help Ireland’s economy get back on its feet. The benefits of using wind energy will be highlighted during events to mark Global Wind Day today. Caitriona Diviney, Chief Executive

Donegal County Council will have the power to bring legal proceedings against households who haven’t paid the household charge. That’s according to the Household Charge Management Authority – the body responsible for collecting the 100 euro charge. Over 670-thousand households have yet to pay – while a further 40-thousand have paid fines of between 11

Gardai have arrested two men as part of their investigation into the theft of two buses in the early hours of yesterday morning. The buses were stolen from Carndonagh and Moville before being driven to Malin – significant damage was then caused to Malin Town’s Green. The two men, thought to be in the early

Gardai are appealing for information after two buses were stolen in the early hours of yesterday morning, one from Carndonagh, the other from Moville. Both buses were brought to Malin, driven on to the green at a time when the Tidy Towns adjuducation is taking place. Superintentant Kevin English says considering the incidence happened at