Author name: oisinkelly

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

Thirteen separate objections have been lodged against the awarding of planning permission for a major wind farm development in Glenties. An Bord Pleanála must now decide if it will uphold a  Council decision to allow the development of 25 wind turbines, 4 burrow pits, a substation, peat disposal units and the clearcutting of conifer plantation.

A rally is to be held in Derry tomorrow in protest at the murder of Andrew Allen. The father of two from Derry died after a number of shots were fired through the window of his Buncrana home a week ago. Dissident republicans have been blamed for his death. One of the organisers, civil rights

Three men are due in court this morning following a dramatic cross border chase on Wednesday which saw a van colliding with police vehicles in Derry and Garda cars in Donegal. The incident began in the Carranbane Walk area of Shantallow after it was reported that a number of men had tried to gain access

Donegal could attract thousands of visitors and bring millions of euro to the county every year through its golf courses. Failte Ireland estimates that an overseas golf tourist is worth almost three times the value of the average tourist to Ireland. It found the average spend by a golfing visitor was about €1,300. With about

Derry’s Peace Bridge has won a top planning award, from the Irish Planning Institute. The Bridge, designed to link both banks of the River Foyle, took the Overall Award along with the former British Army Ebrington Barracks in a project submitted by the Ilex Regeneration Company. The biennial Awards were presented at a ceremony in

The Transport Minister says work on upgrading the A5 road from the North West to Monaghan is only possible because we DON’T have a United Ireland. Last November the Irish Government cancelled the planned investment in the cross-border motorway. Now the Northern Ireland Executive is going ahead with upgrading two sections of the road to

Details of donations made by Donegal builder Pat Doherty to Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats during their reign in government between 2001 and 2010 have emerged today. The well-known builder and developer’s Harcourt Developments built the Park West business campus in Dublin and is behind the Titanic Quarter project in Belfast.  The firm also

The Environmental Protection Agency says inadequate waste water treatment facilities in Moville and Raphoe are causing serious river pollution. The information is contained in a report published today which finds that two towns in Donegal, Moville and Killybegs, are among a total of eleven large urban areas which do not meet the Urban Waste Water

The EPA has identified Moville and Killybegs in a list of towns where waste water treatment work is overdue. They are among a total of eleven large urban areas which do not meet the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive requirement to have secondary treatment in place. They are Moville and Killybegs, where the EPA expects

The partner of murdered Derry man Andrew Allen has said she believes the gunmen meant to kill him. The father of two from the Top of the Hill area of Derry died after a number of shots were fired through the window of his Buncrana home a week ago. Dissident republicans have been blamed for

Shots have been fired at a house in Sion Mills. No-one was injured but a window was damaged in the incident which happened at around 10.45 on the Garvan Road. One man was inside the house at the time, Police want to hear from anyone who was in the area between 10.30pm and 11.00pm or

Six people, including a young boy, were removed to Letterkenny General last night Wednesday following a two car head on collision near Bunbeg. The two cars, a silver Mercedes and a red Volkswagen Bora collided at middle Dore after 9pm. Both were extensively damaged. The road was closed for a period while two ambulance crews,

Donegal South-West Deputy Thomas Pringle is backing moves to allow An Post offer basic bank accounts at all its branches. Deputy Pringle, a member of the Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture, says that the Post Office is an ideal location for a basic bank account as there is one in every community.