Author name: oisinkelly

A woman attacked in St Aengus parochial house in Burt feared she was going to be raped and murdered by three armed robbers, according to the local priest. The robbery happened on Ash Wednesday evening after Burt Parish Priest Fr Gerry Sweeney had left at 645pm to celebrate Mass in a nearby church. Three men […]

The Secretary of State in the North has been asked to help solve the mystery of noisy night-time air operations in the skies over Derry. There have been dozens of reports of families being wakened from their sleep by aircraft noise over the past few weeks. Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey has now written to Owen

Teachers, parents and others will march from the Gweedore Industrial Estate to Minister of State Dinny Mc Ginley’s office at noon tomorrow in protest at education cuts in the budget and the impact they will have on small schools. The event is being organised by the Craobh an Errigal branch of the INTO. Chairperson  Sean

A Derry man has been returned for trial on 20 sex offences following a preliminary hearing at Derry Magistrates Court. Meanwhile, a court has ordered that a man accused of raping a 15 year old girl in the grounds of a Derry school must stay out of Northern Ireland and remains at an address in

Gardai in Bundoran are investigating after reports of a recent stir of prostitution in the town. A number of complaints have been made about three alleged prostitutes handing out hand-written calling cards. The three women, believed to be Eastern European, have been handing out leaflets offering body massages. Journalist, Paddy Clancy has been following the

Funders have withdrawn more than half a million pounds for a new footbridge in Strabane. The charity, Sustrans, said it was because Strabane District Council could not spend the money in time. Last year, the council failed to find a contractor to complete the £3 million project within budget. The Council’s acting chief executive Danny

Donegal South-West Deputy Dinny McGinely has said that a report in a national paper today that 26 jobs are to go at Largo foods does not paint the full picture. The Junior Gaeltact Minister says 52 part-time jobs are being replaced with 26 full-time positions. He added that with Tuesdays annoucement of almost €600,000 in

Vacant property owners in Letterkenny are being urged to be mindful of the security of their apartments and houses in the town. The warning comes after a lorry and a number of men were spotted at an apartment in Letterkenny last night. It’s understood the men were after the copper water tanks in the property.

The Derry branch of the Peacocks clothing chain is to close with the loss of ten jobs. The closure comes as KPMG, joint administrators of Peacocks, yesterday announced the sale of the business to the Scottish retailer, Edinburgh Woolen Mill. The deal will see the closure of 19 shops in Northern Ireland with the loss

The IFA is calling for Local Improvement Scheme grants to be reinstated. The association is writing to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar telling him the scheme provides important support for rural roads that are now falling into disrepair. One suggestion, the IFA says, is to use money allocated for gritting and salting of rural roads, which

Environment Minister Phil Hogan has cleared the Dungloe and Glenties Sewerage Schemes to go to tender. In a statement, Donegal South West Deputy and Junior Gaeltacht Minister Dinny Mc Ginley says he hopes Donegal County Council now moves swiftly to progress the work. According to a statement issued through Dinny Mc Ginley’s office last night,

Donegal North East Deputy Joe Mc Hugh has told the Dail that the HSE has become a monster which must be tamed, and it will take the government some time to do that. Speaking on a Fianna Fail motion in the Dail last night, Deputy Mc Hugh said the structures as they now stand mean

A Donegal woman has won 50-thousand euro on the National Lottery’s TellyBingo. Karen Doherty, who is originally from Dublin, collected her winnings today. The lucky ticket was bought in Buncrana on Tuesday. Karen’s put her win down to her lucky number – number 68, and a recent prediction from a fortune teller that she would

The cost of prosecutions by the State-run Inland Fisheries was queried today by a solicitor who said legal aid only allowed a defendant less than half of that to present his case. Defence solicitor Paudge Dorrian criticised  a demand by Inland Fisheries for prosecution costs of €750 when Michael Furey pleaded guilty to two fishing

Republican Action Against Drugs have today claimed responsibility for killing Derry man Andrew Allen in Buncrana two weeks ago. The 24 year-old was shot dead at his home in Link’s View, Buncrana on Thursday February 9. In a statement released to the ‘Derry Journal’ this morning using a recognised codeword, RAAD said its “Donegal unit”

The Ulster Unionist Victims spokesman is calling on Martin McGuinness to tell a Derry couple why an IRA bomb killed their nine-year-old son. Gordon Gallagher died when he was caught up in the explosion outside his home in 1973. The North’s deputy First Minister has told the boy’s parents that he doesn’t know – because

Buncrana Music and Arts Festival which attracted up to 20,000 people to the town last summer, will not go ahead this year. The emigration of a number of the voluntary organising committee is said to be the main factor for this years event being cancelled. The news comes as a blow to both the town

A Donegal priest has said that yesterdays Government announcement to retain 235 teaching posts which were due to be axed from schools in disadvantaged areas around the country don’t go far enough. While Fr John Joe Duffy has welcomed yesterdays announcement, he says Education Minister Ruari Quinn could have gone further to rectify the mistakes

A coroner has called for boarding ladders to be used to access trawlers following the death of a fisherman. 43-year-old Oliver Cunningham, from Killybegs drowned as he returned to his trawler in County Cork. Coroner Frank O’Connell said he would welcome tighter regulations on use of boarding ladders on trawlers after it emerged other seamen

Junior Gaeltacht Minister Dinny Mc Ginley has confirmed Udaras grant assistance of almost €580,000 for Largo Foods in Gweedore. The money will be used to update equipment and in funding a research and development programme for new high-value products to be produced in the Gaeltacht for the Irish and British markets. Making the announcement, Minister

A Letterkenny Councillor says the refusal of the National Roads Authority to engage with town councils is hurting Letterkenny badly. Cllr Dessie Larkin says having invested considerably in traffic studies, all of which point to the need for a second relief road and Swilly crossing, the council has had to look on from the outside

Donegal North East Deputy Joe Mc Hugh has told the Dail that the Irish government should do everything it can to facilitate inter-country adoption. Speaking last evening, Deputy Mc Hugh said discussions are continuing on a possible arrangement between Ireland and the State of Florida, and he urged Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald to ask the

Mackerel fishermen in the EU and Norway are demanding full quota after talks with Iceland and the Faroe Islands broke down again. The EU and Norway have been attempting to address what they claim is an unacceptable increase in mackerel fishing by Iceland and the Faroes, and after discussions broke down again this morning, fishermen

235 teaching posts which were due to be axed from schools in disadvantaged areas are to be retained. A number of those posts are in Donegal. It follows intense pressure on the government from teaching unions and parents and a promise from the Minister for Education to review the cuts. The decision was signed off

A shop worker has been threatened by a man armed with a hammer during a robbery in Derry. It happened on Carlisle Road at about 20.30 last night. The woman was left badly shaken after she was confronted by two men. They escaped with a sum of money.

A major overhaul of catholic education in Derry city is being proposed, with a discussion document published and a consultation process launched today. Under the proposal, the city’s three Grammer Schools will begin phasing out academic selection, and become co-educational. The process is being overseen by Monsignor Eamon Martin, who is currently administering the diocese

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has warned it is continuing to encounter widespread equine welfare issues despite the winter weather being mild. Last week the society rescued five donkeys in three separate counties including one described by an inspector as being “by far the worst case of donkey neglect”

A Donegal North East Deputy says the Health Minister and the HSE are making a grave mistake by not carrying out a study of the impact budget cuts are having on hospital services. Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue says while there’s rightly been lots of talk about the future of Lifford Hospital since the HSE West

A man has been arrested in connection with the rape of a woman in Derry last weekend. The 21-year-old was detained on Monday following reports of a serious sexual assault in the Shipquay Street area on Saturday. The attack is understood to have happened at some time between 12.30am and 1.15am. Officers from the PSNI

Contractors appointed to start work later this year on part of the A5 upgrade in Tyrone have pledged to use local workers and materials where possible, and ensure that a significant proportion of the money spent will go back into the local economy. Local MP Pat Doherty is welcoming the commitment, and hopes to receive

35 new retail jobs are on the cards for Donegal this year as a Letterkenny based discount retailer announces plans to expand into other areas of the county. Happy Days already operate two stores, and want to increase that to eight, with a projected workforce of over 50 by the end of the year. The

Police in Derry are investigating the attempted robbery of a delivery van outside a licenced premises in the Racecourse Road area of the city this morning. Local SDLP Cllr Sean Gallagher says it must have been an extremely traumatic experience for the driver of the van. He’s urged anyone with information to come forward……….

In the North – the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr has been linked to 9 other incidents. They include an arms find, attempted murders, armed robberies and other terrorist attacks. Constable Kerr, who was 25, was killed when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car in Omagh in April last year. Today, PSNI Detective

Two men have appeared in court in relation to an incident in Letterkenny during which a man was set upon and his skull was fractured. 31-year-old Gerard Ward and 37-year-old Thomas McDonagh appeared in Letterkenny District Court this morning amidst a very strong Garda presence. Donegal Democrat reporter, Declan Magee was in court this morning…………….

Donegal County Cllr Frank McBrearty has said that he will quit the Labour Party if Lifford Community Hospital closes. In a statement released by the HSE on Friday, it’s stated that the closure of the residential care aspect of the hospital is proposed as part of the consultation process, while it is understood that counter

The HSE is defending the proposal to close Lifford Community Hospital, saying the level of staff cuts being imposed on the service in Donegal locally means the hospital is no longer sustainable. Staff and patients are expressing dismay at the proposal. Dr Martin Coyne is a GP and medical officer at Lifford Hospital, he says

A taxi has been set alight in County Derry after it was stolen earlier in Tyrone. The driver picked up two men in the Castlebrae area of Newtownstewart at about half past ten last night, and asked to go towards Draperstown. When they got to the Owenreagh Road, Draperstown fifty minutes later, one of the

Gardai in South Donegal are hunting a gang which stole nearly €1,000 from a Tyrone couple as they walked near Rossnowlagh last night. Three men in their 20s with hoodies confronted the couple, who are from Dungannon, and in their 40s. It happened on a road just yards from the beach as the couple were

A major police investigation is underway after a young woman was raped in Derry. The attack took place in the Shipquay Street area of the city at half past midnight yesterday morning. The attacker had a local accent and was around 20 years old. He was wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans and a black

A 31 year old man is in a critical but stable condition at Letterkenny General Hospital following an incident on Friday night in the Long Lane area of Letterkenny. Gardai say they were called to a melee shortly after 11 o’clock in the Glenard Park area, and found the injured man on the ground. He

A rally will take place at the Top of the Hill in Derry this afternoon in protest at the murder of Andrew Allen. The 24-year-old, father of two, originally from the Top of the Hill  was fatally wounded when shots were fired through the bedroom window of his home at Lisfannon outside in Buncrana on

Donegal South-West Deputy, Pearse Doherty has called on the people of Donegal to come together in one voice against the latest health cuts in the county. In a statement released by the HSE yesterday, it’s stated that the closure of the residential care aspect of Lifford Hospital is proposed as part of the consultation process,

The brother of one of the so-called ‘Disappeared’ says he hopes fresh information from the IRA  will finally locate his brother’s remains. Columba McVeigh from Donaghmore in Tyrone went missing in 1975. His brother, Oliver, says he’s been told that a new search will begin by the Commission for the Disappeared in April. While he’s

Three men have appeared at Derry Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged in connection with an incident involving a cross border chase. 32-year-old David Kelly of no fixed abode faced two charges of assaulting police and two of resisting police on Wednesday There was no application for bail and defence solicitor Mr. Paddy MacDermott said that his

A Lifford doctor has said that the local community are devastated that the hospital may be facing closure. In a statement released by the HSE today, it’s proposed residential care aspect of the hospital is closed. A public consultation on the future of the Hospital will now begin on March the 1st. Dr Paul Armstrong

A major protest planned for Dublin on the 22nd of February has been delayed until the following week, the 29th February, organisers have said. According to Donegal Action Against Austerity (DAAA), the protest which was originally organised to coincide with a blockade of the capital by the Road Haulage Association, has gained so much support

One week on from the brutal murder of Andrew Allen in Buncrana, gardai have renewed an appeal for information from the public. The father of two from Derry died after a number of shots were fired through the window of his Buncrana last Thursday night. Dissident republicans have been blamed for his death – they

A public consultation on the future of Lifford Hospital will begin on March the 1st. While the closure of the residential care aspect of the hospital is proposed by the HSE as part of the consultation process, it is understood that counter proposals to keep the facility open and improve its viability will be considered.

The Derry Journal reports that Mr Allen’s family are not happy with how police on both sides of the border have handled the murder investigation. His girlfriend Arlene says she cannot understand why no description of the gunman has been released. She said that since the gardai or police have not given out her description