Author name: oisinkelly

The North’s bus and rail company Translink has acknowledged that efficiencies have been implemented at Waterside Railway Station in Derry. The statement comes after the rail lobby group “Into The West” expressed alarm at cuts in staffing and opening hours at Waterside station. Responding, Translink say they are continually reviewing service provision in all areas, […]

Environment Minister Phil Hogan is being urged to clarify his plans for town councils. The Mayor of Letterkenny says he intends meeting with Environment Minister Phil Hogan at the AMAI conference at the end of this week to discuss the issue. Yesterday, the Mail on Sunday quoted Minister Hogan as signalling he would be bringing

The North’s bus and rail company Translink has acknowledged that efficiencies have been implemented at Waterside Railway Station in Derry. The statement comes after the rail lobby group “Into The West” expressed alarm at cuts in staffing and opening hours at Waterside station. Responding, Translink say they are continually reviewing service provision in all areas,

A representative from the IMPACT trade union says front line services should not be affected by the public sector retirement scheme. Around 8,000 civil and public servants have opted to retire under the plan – prompting fears that front line services will suffer. Locally, IMPACT are set to hold a series of meetings with senior

Donegal South West Deputy Pearse Doherty says while the government talks a lot about job creation, there’s no evidence that it is doing anything to address the issue. Commenting on Live Register figures which show a fall in the number signing on in Donegal at the end of last month, Deputy Doherty said were it

The rail lobby group “Into The West” has expressed alarm at cuts in staffing and opening hours at Waterside station. The group says that jobs have been cut in the past week and others are under threat, with some workers with 30 years plus service let go. The group says at a time when the

Members of the Donegal Mountain Rescue have taken part in an emergency exercise with colleagues from Sligo, Leitrim and Mayo. Two Army Aer Corps helicopters and 10 personnel came to Finner Camp for the weekend event, which saw mountain rescue responders dropped off and picked up and dropping off both in daylight and in the

Hundreds of people today attended the funeral of Malin head Willie McKeeney. The 57 year old died in hospital after he was attacked in Glasgow in the middle of January. Two people have been charged with his murder. He had been living and working in Scotland for a number of years. St Mary’s Church, Lagg,

There were 21,567 people siging on the live register in Donegal at the end of last month, down 268 on January 2011, and practically unchanged since December. The numbers signing on rose in two of the county’s social welfare officers in the year since January 2011, while the biggest year on year decrease was in

The funeral is taking place this morning of Willie McKeeney, Drimdoo, Malin Head. The 57 year old died in hospital after he was attacked in Glasgow in the middle of January. Two people have been charged with his murder. He’ll be buried after 11 o’clock requiem mass in St Mary’s Church, Lagg, Malin. Mr McKeeney 

The first all-Ireland meeting of anti-fracking campaigners takes place in Enniskillen at one o’clock this afternoon. Activists will demonstrate against plans by Australian firms Tamboran Resources to start drilling for gas in the north-west by the year 2014. The company has claimed that with an investment of six billion euro, it could harvest 40 years’

Police still haven’t named the man who shot himself in a hairdressers in Dungannon yesterday afternoon. It’s understood the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene,  was in his 20s and from the Brantry area. He shot himself in the premises on Carland Road shortly after 4.15pm yesterday. Police are investigating, but have stressed

Families of some of those killed in the Omagh bombing say new evidence on the atrocity has emerged, which strengthens calls for a cross border inquiry into the attack. 29 people and unborn twins died in the bombing in 1998. Tony Rice reports………..

Junior Finance Minister Brian Hayes has defended the expense claims of TD’s – saying politics is not a cheap business. Six million euro in expenses has been claimed by all TD’s since the 31st Dail first sat last March. The lowest amount claimed by a Donegal TD is €18,063 claimed by Deputy Dinny Mc Ginley

Controversial septic tank legislation has now passed through the Dail and Seanad, with Donegal Senator Brian O’Domhnaill saying the Government has escaped answering the most fundamental questions about how the charges will affect people. MInister Phil Hogan says the only charges are a €50 registration fee, and inspections are free. However, Senator O’Domhnaill, Fianna Fail’s

Ballyshannon’s Rory Gallagher Festival has been named among the Best Festivals in Ireland. The tribute event picked up the award for best National Medium Festival for attendances between 10,000 and 30,000 The festival claimed the award holding off competition from the Cork’s Live at the Marquee, Galway Arts Festival and Kilkenny Arts Festival. The Electric

A courthouse earmarked for closure by the Court Service had a £120,000 refurbishment less than a year ago. A councillor said the money spent on Strabane Court to upgrade security, refurbish holding cells and redecorate “defies logic”, given that it is one of the five courts whose economic viability is currently under consideration. Security upgrades

A 31-year-old Derry man who admitted a charge of sexual grooming of a 14-year-old girl was subjected to attack while in prison, Derry Crown Court has been told. Jonathan Dowds of 56, Abercorn Road in Derry pleaded guilty to the one charge which occurred on January 7th last year. He was given three years probation

MPs and relatives of those killed in the Omagh bomb will lay a wreath at a memorial garden in the town today. Members of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group will then meet with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to ask for a full cross-border public inquiry into the atrocity. The government has previously

Deputy Joe Mc Hugh has responded to claims by Newtowncunningham based Fiana Fail Councillor Paul Canning that political influence led to an unequal distribution of Local and Regional Road Funding in Donegal. According to Cllr Paul Canning, councillors and officials had spent hours finalising a priority list, but it was ignored and the bulk of

Donegal Labour Senator Jimmy Harte has apologised for remarks he made on Twitter responding to criticism for his comments the ‘Magda’ controversy. According to the Journal.ie Senator Harte was heavily criticised on Twitter for his comments on an Irish Independent Independent story which mistranslated a Polish woman’s account of life on the dole in Donegal.

A Donegal priests says families should not put themselves under financial pressure when it comes to children’s Communions and Confirmations. Fr James Sweeney was commenting as the government’s decided cut to exceptional needs payments for Communions and Confirmations. The Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said the decision was made to slash the payment – in order to

A Caravan Park in Portnablagh will be allowed to stay and be expanded after an appeal to An Bord Pleanala failed on a technicality. Donegal County Council awarded the Derry based owners of Rockhill Caravan Park permission to retain the caravan site and to add additional homes, that decision was unsuccessfully appealed to the planning

The woman who was misquoted as slating Donegal in an Irish Independent article has come forward to clarify her comments. An initial translation of an article which appeared in a Polish newspaper accused ‘Magda’ of claiming she was living the high life on the dole. The Independent’ article also claimed that Magda described Donegal in

There are calls for Labour Donegal Senator Jimmy Harte to apologise for comments he made yesterday regarding an article which appeared in the Irish Independent. They reported yesterday that a Polish woman claimed she was living the good life in Donegal on social welfare payments. Senator Harte responded to the story by saying that he

The Polish Ambassador to Ireland says the Polish community here can be more optimistic about the country’s prospects than Irish people. Marcin Nawrot yesterday hit out at a newspaper article which suggested a Polish woman was living ‘the good life’ on the dole in Co. Donegal, saying the original article had been translated incorrectly. Up

A Donegal Councillor says the allocation of money for Regional and Local Roads by the Department of Transport this week is a joke, and claims political influence undermined Donegal County Council’s input in the process. Minister Leo Varadker is being urged to investigate and comment. According to Cllr Paul Canning, councillors and officials had spent

A Letterkenny man who worked until eight pm on Christmas Eve admitted stealing a €15,900 flatpack shed because he was “frustrated” when part of his pay was with-held. Donegal District Court was told most of the flatpack property was returned but some contents worth €4,000 to €5,000 were with-held from the victim, Noreen Conaghan. 28

A series of public meetings to discuss the potential closure of rural police stations in the North will begin in Beragh, County Tyrone, today. Last December, it was revealed 40% of police stations in the North could shut in a PSNI cost-cutting plan. That meant closing 34 out of 83 stations. One of the stations

The Independent MEP Marian Harkin is demanding a referendum be held on the new fiscal treaty brokered in Brussels last Monday. The issue will be discussed by the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs today, after a group of TDs yesterday announced plans to petition President Higgins to intervene. Marian Harkin says linking the treatys ratification

The Polish Ambassador to Ireland has written to the Irish Independent, concerning an article it published today. The article, quoting from a report in a Polish newspaper,  claimed that a Polish woman – using the pseudonym Magda –  has been boasting about living the good life, on the dole,  in Donegal. However, the Polish Ambassador

A man injured when he fell from the back of a moving police van in County Derry last week has has died. 21 year old Paul Somerville had been in a critical condition in hospital since the incident on Church Road, Maghera last Friday. Mr Somerville, who was from the Maghera area, was in police

A Donegal priest is asking people from the county based in Dublin to join teachers, parents and others from rural communities in Ireland, served by smaller schools who will be holding a demonstration outside the Oireachtas this evening. The demonstration, from 6.30, coincides with a vote on a FF motion.pm this Wednesday evening. Arranmore based

An article in today’s Irish Independent has caused quite a stir – claiming that a Polish woman is living the good life on the dole in Donegal. But members of the Polish Community have moved to clarify the matter – saying ‘Magda’ – the woman named in the article – has been misquoted. The Polish

A group of TDs from the Dáil technical group is planning to petition the President for a referendum on the new EU fiscal compact treaty. The group of Independent and United Left Alliance TDs says that if the agreement is passed by the Oireachtas without being put to the people, it will ask President Michael

A preliminary investigation is to take place to determine if there is sufficient police evidence to prosecute a priest who is charged with a number of child sex abuse offences. 65-year-old Father Eugene Boland faces four charges of indecently assaulting a young girl. He is alleged to have committed the four offences between June 1990

A Polish waitress living in Donegal has claimed she is living the good life on Irish welfare benefits. Speaking to a Polish newspaper the woman describes her life in Donegal as a ‘Hawaiian massage”. She says welfare payments here are €182 more every week than back in her native Poland, and she states that she

A woman has given evidence that a man on trial for murdering her brother on Arranmore Island was his former employer and that her sibling said the accused “owed him money”. 41-year-old Stephen Boyle is accused of murdering 19-year-old Paul Boyle at Early’s Bar, on the island on October 3, 2009. Mr Boyle of Austen

Donegal County Council says it is not in a position to fund the maintenance of nonpublic roads. In the past 15 years the Government’s LIS grants provided almost €20 million for the upgrade and maintenance of nonpublic roads – that funding is no longer available. Councillor David Allcorn says these roads, like accommodation, foreshore and

Concern has been expressed about the lack of detail in Government plans to introduce a central water authority with fears that they could seriously diminish the quality of water supply in Donegal. A National Water Company is to be established to take over the water responsibilities of the country’s 34 County and City councils –

With hundreds of people expected to leave public service jobs at the end of this month, the Impact trade union is urging management in the various sectors to consult with the unions now in order to facilitate as smooth a transition as possible. New pension arrangements come into force after the end of February, and

A Donegal GAA footballer, who was dropped from the Counties panel late last year, has appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court charged with affray. 30-year-old Kevin Cassidy, of Derrybeg, Gweedore, appeared in court yesterday to face the charge. The player and former captain of the Donegal senior team pleaded guilty to threatening unlawful violence during the

The Ulster Vocational Schools Final between Donegal and Cavan has now been postponed. Initially, the venue was switched to Kildress in County Tyrone with the match scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) night. However, it has now been called off.

Just over €22 million has been allocated for National Roads in Donegal by the NRA, with the largest single allocation going on the N56 between Dungloe and Leitermacaward. Other allocations include €1.2 Million for the N56 Coolboy to Bluebanks, €1,000,000 for the N15 Blackburn Bridge Realignment Scheme, €850,000 for the N15 Killygordon -Liscooley road and

The Mayor of Donegal has rejected out of hand allagations that he and the Fine Gael party tried to sanction a St Patrick’s Day trip for the Mayor behind Councillor’s backs. Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein have accused Fine Gael of attempted to sanction the ocerseas trip for the Mayor Noel McBride, his Deputy, Barry

An unnamed man, believed to be from Derry, has picked up a cheque for over €5 million from National Lottery Headquarters. The man, whose address is just being given as “Northern Ireland” bouoght atwo draw quick pick ticket at the Top Filling Station in Killea on Friday 20 January 2012. This is the third jackpot