Author name: oisinkelly

A documentary which tells the tale of the biggest disaster to strike the island of Arranmore off the coast of Donegal, will premiere on TG4 at 9.30pm tonight(Wednesday). The documentary recounts the story of when 19 people lost their lives off the coast of Arranmore just a few hundred feet from shore after returning from […]

Letterkenny Councillor Dessie Larkin says he’s disappointed that Eircom haven’t responded to a council request for a briefing on their future plans. Earlier this year, Eircom announced they would be investing further in the telecommunications infrastructure of Letterkenny. However, so far, they haven’t briefed councillors on their plans. Cllr Larkin had a motion before council

The Government will not be reversing it’s decision to remove 428 posts allocated to disadvantaged schools around the country. The rules on class sizes under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools programme  are to be changed and will see disadvantaged schools class sizes increase to 22 pupils. In the Dail last night Donegal North-East

The highest wave ever recorded in Irish waters was recorded off the coast of Donegal yesterday afternoon, according to Met Eireann. The M4 weather buoy, positioned approximately 16km west of Rossan Point, recorded a maximum wave height of 20.4 metres or 67 feet. The maximum wave height, recorded just after 2 o clock yesterday afternoon,

The Irish Coast Guard is warning people to be extra cautious during the stormy conditions over the coming days. It’s advising people not to go out on exposed coasts, cliffs, piers, harbour walls, beaches, promenades or any other coastal areas during the adverse weather.

ESB has reported that almost 3,000 people are without electricity this afternoon as stormy conditions batter the country. The power outages are confined to the West coast – from Cork to Donegal and crews are now out trying to restore electricity to householders.

Winds in Donegal are set to reach gusts of 140 km per hour this afternoon and more sleet and snow have been forecast for the county. Forecasters are saying that today we will see the worst of the weather, and although winds are expected to calm, the wintry showers will remain over the coming days.

There was a large turnout at protest meeting in Jacksons Hotel, Ballybofey this morning. The protest, organised by SIPTU, was held in response against the proposed budget cuts to Community Employment Schemes. The meeting was supported by a range of organisations including INOU, ICTU Community Committee, Congress Centre Network and Mental Health Ireland. SIPTU spokesperson

A judge today advised families who fear that they will lose their homes in current economic crisis to come before him and he would try to help. However, Judge John O’Hagan said if people bury their heads in the sand and fail to attend court when financial institutions bring actions against them, there is little

A coroner in Donegal has asked for a review of the availability of patient records to out of hours medical services. Dr John Cannon made the call at Buncrana Coroner’s Court at the inquest into the death of a 21 year ol;d man from Glengad who died in February 2009 after visiting the NoWDOC service.

Fianna Fail’s Children’s Spokesperson is urging schools in disadvantaged areas to check their teacher allocations for the next academic year which kicks in next September. Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue says while staffing details have been released by the Department of Education, they are difficult to understand, and a closer examination is showing

Letterkenny Town Council has backed a draft Winter Maintainence Plan, with a number of priority routes identified for treatment and commitments to keep town centre footpaths as clear as possible. In a report to the council, members were told that Met Eireann is not 100% accurate in its forecasting, and ice free roads cannot be

Letterkenny Town Council has observed a minutes silence in memory of those who have taken their own lives after Mayor Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle made an impassioned plea to those contemplating suicide to seek help. The Mayor said the Christmas season often sees an increase in the numbers of people contemplating suicide, and urged anyone

Despite speculation in recent days that Letterkenny Town Council’s monthly meeting would adjourn for Christmas drinks last night, the agenda was finished. Mayor Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle made no mention of the issue, but when he went to the first motion on the agenda, he was asked by Cllr Victor Fisher to clarify if the

Ambulance staff at Lifford Hospital have recieved a letter from HSE management stating that facilities are not adequate. It’s believed that ambulance staff at Lifford Hospital will be relocated to different accomodation in Stranorlar as part of an amalgamation. Former paramedic and County Cllr Gerry Crawford has asked why staff in Lifford are going to

SIPTU is holding a protest meeting in Jackson’s Hotel, Ballybofey tomorrow morning against proposed Budget cuts to Community Employment Schemes. The protest meeting is being supported by a range of organisations including INOU, ICTU Community Committee, Congress Centre Network and Mental Health Ireland. They say the future viability of hundreds of Community Employment schemes across

Donegal North East Deputy Joe Mc Hugh has renewed his campaign to increase awareness of the Credit Review Office. It comes after ISME issued a report today saying more than half of Irish small and medium businesses have been denied a bank loan in the past three months, and called on the Government to ensure

Gardai and the PSNI today launched their annual Joint Christmas Road Safety Campaign in Bridgend. Both forces say that any drink drivers who believe they can escape garda or police detection by crossing the border should think again, with communication and cooperation between the two forces stronger than ever. Donegal Traffic Branch Inspector Michael Harrison

Car parking , signage, lighting and drainage are all issues which were due to be discussed at this evening’s Letterkenny Town Council meeting which looks set to be put on the back burner for Christmas drinks. A number of motions and questions are down for discussion for the December meeting of the council. However tradition

Two men in their 20s are still being questioned over the death of a woman in a single vehicle collision in County Derry yesterday morning. The North’s Police Ombudsman is investigating, after the 20-year-old woman was killed when the Renault Clio she was travelling in left the road and hit a concrete pillar, in the

Detectives in Derry are appealing for information following a stabbing incident at a house in the Barnewall Place area of the city on Saturday. Police were called to the scene shortly before midnight to find a 25 year old woman with multiple stab injuries. She is currently in hospital being treated for her injuries which

Fianna Fail spokesman on children Charlie McConalogue has called on the Government to apologise on behalf of the State to the victims of an abusive father sentenced to life in the Central Criminal Court last week. Mr McConalogue has also pressed for the recruitment of an additional 60 social workers. The Donegal North East TD

It has emerged that Culdaff and Dunkineely garda stations in Donegal could be sold off. The two stations were of 39 across the country which will close as part of a cost cutting exercise. Now Minister of State Brian O’Shea has proposed a new scheme that could see the stations sold to individual gardaí or

Gardai have appealed for witnesses after a man was hurt in a hit-and-run outside Convoy. The 22-year-old man suffered shoulder and neck injuries in the collision with a jeep half a mile outside Convoy on the Old Letterkenny Road. The driver of the jeep failed to stop and drove off in the Letterkenny direction. The

Gardai have not ruled arson in a fire which rage through an old school building in Ballyshannon. Four fire units from the town, Bundoran, Donegal town and Letterkenny, fought the blaze for four hours last night. The street around the area was closed while fire personnel were battling the blaze in the Old Sacred Heart

A 20 year-old woman has died following a road crash near Claudy in County Derry. The woman was a passenger in a car which crashed shortly before 2am this morning. No other vehicles were involved in the incident.  

Gardai in Buncrana have appealed today for information on a car crash which left a Quigleys Point man dead. Danny Doherty, a welder who was in his 60s, died in the crash around 4.30pm close to the Bayview Bar on the Redcastle to Moville Road.. His car was in collision with a 4×4 landrover. There

Roads in the Finn Valley area were treacherous this morning after freezing conditions mixed with rain left black ice lying on many roads. The Lifford to Letterkenny Road wass paticularly treacherous, and drivers are asked to take extreme care at Whitecross were one car has already crashed this morning. The Killygordon, Castlefin, Convoy and Raphoe

A Letterkenny Town Councillor is calling on the council to forgo the tradition of adjourning its monthly meeting to facilitate Christmas drinks. Traditionall, Letterkenny Town Council begins and then immedietly adjourns its December meeting with councillors, council staff and journalists invited for a Christmas drink. However Fianna Fail Councillor Dessie Larkin wants to the council

Almost 5,000 people have now joined the ‘Save Lifford Hospital’ Facebook page. The page was set up on the social networking site in protest against the threatened closure of the hospital. A public meeting in Lifford last night was told that some 8,000 people had also signed a petition against the closure. Paul McClay, who

Up to a thousand people attended a public meeting last night as protests continue over the threatened closure of Lifford Hospital. Hospital staff, local politicians and hundreds of members of the community packed out the local Community Centre on a bitterly cold night. Last month an internal HSE document was leaked which listed Lifford as

A man in his 50’s has been killed in a road traffic collision on the Moville to Rescastle Road. He died when his car was in collision with a 4×4 vehicle just outside Moville at 4.35pm on Friday evening. The dead man was the sole occupant of the car. There were five people in the

Warning for Friday Night / Saturday morning Gardai are advising motorists to exercise extreme caution on Donegal roads. There are numerous reports of black ice right across the the county, most notably in the Inishowen area. Gardai are impressing on drivers the need to slow down and to treat all roads as if they have

The jury in the inquest into the deaths of two elderly Donegal women has returned a verdict of death by misadventure. It found that 84-year-old Annie Gallagher and 79-year-old Sarah McDyer died from asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning produced by a domestic cooker at Ms Gallagher’s home in Glenties, on September 24th, 2009. The

The Principal of Meenamara School near Dungloe has described as dreadful the news that the Department of Education is to withdraw funding forcing its closure. The school celebrated its 100th anniversary last month and in recent years hundreds of thousand of euro has been spent in upgrading the school and its facilities. While the school

The organisers of tonight’s Save Lifford Hosptial meeting say they are optimistic of a strong turnout. Lifford Community Hospital was one of a number of hospital’s included in a leaked HSE document which earmarked facilities for closure. The meeting tonight is at 8 o clock in the Lifford Community Centre with all six Donegal TD’s,

An inquest continues today into the deaths of two friends who died from carbon monoxide in Glenties two years ago. 84 year old Annie Gallagher and 79 year old Sarah McDyer  were found dead at Ms Gallagher’s home in Glenties, on September 24th, 2009. Pathologist Dr Gerry O’Dowd, who carried out both autopsies, said the

It has been claimed that if the BBC and UTV are compelled to hand over footage taken during disturbances in Derry this year, there is a danger that the media will be seen as evidence gatherers The statement was made in Derry Magistrates Court by barrister Fiona Lynch representing both media organisations. They are opposing

Donegal County Council has launched its ‘Gift a Lift’ campaign for the festive season, with the aim of encouraging people not to drink and drive. Backing the campaing, Mayor of Donegal Noel McBride says people can give the gift of a lift to friends or family out socialising over Christmas. The cards can be printed

The first all-Ireland cancer atlas will be published today. It shows major unexplained variations across the island in the risk of most common cancers. Findings include one that shows that the risk of lung cancer is higher in urban areas, with Derry one of a number singled out. Bowel cancer is more common around Cork

A missing acetylene cylinder has been recovered in Gweedore after a fire at a small garage in the Glassagh area yesterday morning. While the cylinder was not damaged, the fire service feared it was unstable. Up to 10 houses were evacuated, a 200 metre cordon was put in place around the garage, and a system

The European Central Bank has cut it’s key interest rate by point-two-five per cent. It’s the second cut in as many months – with the rate now standing at one per cent. Meanwhile – the Tánaiste’s promised to again haul in banks to force them to cut interest rates if necessary. Last month the Government

The 23 year-old man charged with dangerous driving causing the death of eight people has appeared in Buncrana court again today. 23 year-old Shaun Kelly of Hillhead Road, Buncrana was arrested in November as part of the garda investigation in the Inishowen tragedy. Mr Kelly was the driver of one of the vehicles involved in

A Letterkenny School Principal has described how she reads the annual School League Tables with dread stating the results are skewed and reflect unfairly on her school. Anne McHugh, the principal of the Errigal College in Letterkenny, says that with four second level schools in Letterkenny, enrollment of students is very competitive and the league

Winds of up to 100 mph have been lashing Donegal since early morning, with gardai and the Road Safety Authority urging caution on the roads. Trees and telegraph poles are down in a number of areas, and there are reports of trampolines and other items being blown from gardens onto roads. Offshore islands have been

Police in Strabane are today preparing to question a 46-year-old man in connection with a quadruple stabbing in the town on St Patrick’s Day. The man was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London on Tuesday night. Members of the PSNI travelled to England yesterday to take the suspect into Northern Ireland custody. The man

It’s emerged that a shop targeted by armed robbers in Derry on Tuesday night is owned by a businessman whose Donegal home was targeted last month. Police in the city say their investigations are continuing, and are appealing for information. Three masked men entered the premises in Great James Street on Tuesday evening at a

Plans for a controversial end of life vehicle and scrap metal recycling facility at Bonagee in Letterkenny are back before An Bord Pleanala. Kelvin McElhinney has been granted condition permission by Letterkenny Town Council to create the facility. There was a similar type application from Kelvin McElhinney last year. On that occasion, permission was granted

A vigilant Dublin airport policeman this week spotted and arrested a bank thief who struck twice in Donegal in a fortnight. Rindas Horobas’ picture was taken by CCTV cameras when he conned money out of cashiers at the AIB branches in Donegal town and Bundoran in June. He disappeared but when he returned Tuesday after

A potential 1.6 million euro shortfall in Donegal County Council’s housing budget has been averted after the council was allocated 1.9 million euro from money which wasn’t drawn down by other councils. The allocation was confirmed at a Housing SPC meeting in Lifford yesterday. The council had signed a number of contracts earlier this year