Author name: oisinkelly

A young shop-assistant has been left badly shaken after she was threatened at gunpoint and had her car stolen during an armed robbery in Lifford on Wednesday night. The young woman, who was alone in the shop,  had a handgun pointed at her when two men raided a shop in Porthall  at around 7.15pm. They […]

A Derry woman with almost 40 convictions in the last two years has been jailed for two months for throwing a tin of hairspray at a police officer. 31-year-old Edel McLaughlin, of Bishop Street, admitted disorderly behaviour. The court heard a police patrol in the Diamond area of Derry city centre on Christmas Eve was

A number of campaign groups are to come together later this month to hold a mass protest against Budget 2012. A number of representatives from different groups met in Buncrana on Tuesday night, and they are to meet up again to organise a mass protest in Donegal in the near future. The protest will include

New figures from the IDA show that 13 thousand jobs were created last year by companies they support. Nearly 500 new jobs were created in the North West in 2011, with the agency pledging to continue seeking 50% of all investment in the regions. The figures released today show that in the North West, there

One of Donegal’s best known businessmen has said he believes a motorway network and sustainable energy project should be considered as part of a programme to boost Ireland’s infrastructure and grow the economy. Willie Mc Carter, a former Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland and Managing Director of Fruit of the Loom hit the

A Strabane woman who is locked in a international custody battle says feels lost and without help. On Christmas Eve a Belfast Court ordered Tracey McCay to hand her six-year-old son Sean over to her husband – he has since returned to their adopted home of Singapore with Sean. The 37-year-old has told Highland Radio

The head of Oideas Gael in Gleann Cholm Cille has hit out at the Chairman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation questioning his logic as it relates to tourism in Donegal. John Healy, in reference to the lack of growth in tourism in Donegal, stated that unless visitors are staying in the country for at

There are further reports of spot flooding and fallen trees across Donegal this morning following over night winds which gusted over 100km/h in places accompanied by heavy rain. Gardai are advising motorists to exercise caution on the roads. The ESB’s continuing its efforts to reconnect customers electricity supply today. 250 households or businesses are without

It is hoped that a cut in the cost of using Donegal’s recycling centres from the start of the year, will help address the problem of illegal dumping. A number of the county’s recycling centres are being run by a private company leading to the price cut, the remaining centres still under the council’s control

A garda investigating rape suffered a cruciate ligament injury when the suspect resisted arrest, a court heard yesterday. The rapist, Martin O’Hara, 25, is already serving six years for his crime, but he appeared at Donegal District Court on other offences linked to the investigation. The court was told that a number of squad cars

The Police Ombudsman is to examine the PSNI’s investigation into a fire at the Sean Dolan’s GAA clubhouse in Derry last week. Police were forced into a u-turn after initially stating that the blaze at Sean Dolan’s in Creggan during the early hours of last Wednesday was not suspicious. The reversal of the decision came

More protests are taking place around the county this weekend against Budget 2012. At 3 o clock on Sunday demonstrations will take place in Castlefin, Convoy, Raphoe, Ramelton, Rossnakil, Buncrana and Letterkenny. Joe Murphy, who took part in a drive-slow from Buncrana to Dublin last month, and who is organising Sundays protests, says he hopes

Torrential rain and gale force winds are set to lash Donegal tonight. But forecasters say that tomorrow will be a much drier day with winds easing. Met Eireann says there will be more high winds tonight with gusts of between 100 and 120 kilometres per hour in exposed parts of Connacht and west Ulster. Forecaster,

Over 2,000 people have already registered to pay the controversial household charge. The 100 euro fee was introduced in December – and a campaign has been launched, urging people not to pay. However, figures released today show that around 2,400 people have already logged onto the website householdcharge-dot-ie, with an intention to pay. Donegal South-West

Met Eireann is warning of further gale force winds in parts of the country tonight. Gusts of between 100 and 120 kilometres per hour are forecast in exposed areas of Connacht and west Ulster. Meanwhile Eircom says its currently dealing with over 5,000 faults – with Mayo, Galway, Sligo and Donegal the worst affected areas.

A County Donegal priest has been granted a two week adjournment of a hearing at which he is to face a number of Indecent assault charges. Fr Eugene Boland, whose address is listed as the Parochial House, Killyclogher county Tyrone faces four charges of indecent assault on a female. Fr Boland,  originally from Moville, has

Police in Derry are appealing for witnesses after a woman in her 20s reported being indecently assaulted in the Asylum Road area of the city around 2.50am on January 1st. The culprit, who is described as being Asian with short facial hair, is believed to have been dropped off in the area by a taxi

55 people died at the workplace last year – an increase of 15 percent on 2010’s figures. During 2011 – 22 people working in Agriculture were killed – down from 25 the previous year. There were two recorded work place deaths in Donegal in 2011 – a 37 year-old fisherman died after falling over board

Gardai have welcomed the drop in road fatalities in Donegal in 2011. While tragically six people lost their lives on the counties roads last year, Donegal is set to drop down the league of most dangerous counties to drive in. In 2010, nineteen people died on the counties roads, making Donegal the third most dangerous

The Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay campaign has organised a series of Public Meetings across the Donegal this month. With the introduction of the Household Charge on January 1st the group says it  intends to make January a month of protest. Meetings will be held in a number of towns across Donegal including Arranmore, Inver,Fintown, Buncrana,

Donegal County Council has released details of how you can dispose of and recycle your Christmas tree for free. Trees can be dropped off at 6 recycling centres at Carndonagh, Laghey, Dungloe, Letterkenny, Milford and Stranorlar during opening hours between now and the 31st of January. Trees can also be left at a number of

The clean-up from Monday night’s severe weather is continuing – with repair crews working to restore phone and power lines to people around the country. Eircom says 5-thousand-300 of its customers are still cut off. 120 ESB customers are still without electricity supply this morning – with parts of Donegal, Clare and Kilkenny the worst

A brother and sister have been remanded in custody after they appeared at Derry Magistrate’s Court charged with assaulting the woman’s son. 22-year-old Steven Smith, from Bradley’s Park, Derry is charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his 18-year-old nephew on New Year’s Day during the incident in St. Eithne’s Park in the city. The

A major fundraiser, which was launched in a bid to save the life of a 31-year-old Strabane man, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, has raised almost £60,000 in it’s first month. Joe McGarrigle was diagnosed with lung cancer in November and has been given nine months to live with treatment. However, his family

Met Eireann is warning that there will be extremely windy conditions again tonight. The West and North of the country will be among the areas worst affected by the adverse weather – which has caused some travel disruption today. Siobhan Ryan of Met Eireann says conditions will remain extremely windy this evening and tonight. But

The strong winds and heavy rain are also causing disruption to some Eircom phone services. The company says it has received reports of almost 5,000 faults on its system. The areas worst affected include counties Donegal and Sligo. Eircom says it has deployed additional crews to repair the faults as quickly as possible.

The ESB is still working to restore power to around 6,000 homes this evening. Severe winds and stormy conditions have resulted in fallen power lines – with counties Donegal, Sligo and Mayo the worst affected. A number of roads remain blocked with fallen trees and debris – and motorists are advised to take to the

The Department of the Environment has said there are “no plans” for any further inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of 3,000 votes in the 2009 European elections in the Ireland North West constituency. The department was commenting on last week’s confirmation that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has closed its file on the investigations. However,

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says 16 people were on trolleys at Letterkenny General Hospital this morning. A very busy weekend with a lot of admissions last night has left the hospital with a beds crisis. Such was the level of activity that there was a patient over spill in to the outpatients ward

A County Donegal priest is to appear before Derry Magistrates Court tomorrow on a number of indecent assault charges. Fr Eugene Boland, whose address is listed as the Parochial House, Killyclogher County Tyrone faces four charges of indecent assault on a female. On WednesdayFr Boland, originally Moville, appears in Court on what is called a

Power is starting to return to homes after storms battered the country overnight. 15-thousand ESB customers were in darkness this morning, after power lines were damaged – but this number has been reduced to 10-thousand homes within the last hour. Donegal and Sligo in the North West were the worst hit areas with thousands also

The Manager of the Donegal Donkey Sanctuary has described the condition of a Donkey discovered in Fanad as one of the worst cases of cruelty he has ever seen. Following a tip-off, the weakened animal was found barely conscious and lying in 18 inches of slurry in a derelict building in the townland of Arraheera.

High winds and heavy rain have left many roads across Donegal in a treacherous condition this moring. Debry and fallen trees have blocked or partially blocked a number of roads. The Harry Blaney and the Foyle Bridges are expected to remains closed through out the morning. The high winds, which are expected to persist through

Letterkenny General Hospital is experiencing, what has been described as, a beds crisis this morning. The emergency department was very busy over the holiday weekend and most notably last night which has lead to an over spill of patients in to the outpatient department. Twp outpatient clinics for today have been cancelled – they are

Strabane Sinn Féin Councillor Jay Mc Cauley has described a major incident of Fly tipping at Strabane Cemetery over Christmas as a totally insensitive act which distressed and angered people visiting the graves of loved ones. The Technical Services Department of Strabane District Council has since cleared the rubbish. Councillor Mc Cauley says given that

Donegal house prices continue to tumbled according to the latest statistics from property website daft.ie. Asking prices fell by an average of 8.1% in the final three months of 2011, compared to static prices between June and September. The average asking price in Donegal in late 2011 was €155,000, a fall of €116,000 from the

Due to  forecast  high winds Donegal County Council  will be closing Harry Blaney Bridge  from 7pm this (Monday) evening. The bridge is likely to remain closed tomorrow morning. Diversions are available via Milford on the the R245 and R246. The weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow: Scattered showers at first this evening, some wintry, but

A man armed with a gun has assaulted a man in Derry. The masked man, who police believe was carrying a firearm, entered a house in St Eithnes Park at 11 o’clock last night. He attacked a man in the house before making off in a silver coloured car. The victims’s lip was cut in

Donegal County Council is owed in excess of 8 million euro in unpaid water charged with reports that a significant percentage of that is due from Schools and state agencies. The figures published in today’s Irish independent show that outside of the main urban areas, Donegal has one of the largest amounts of un paid

A Mother who gave birth on the roadside was back home with her baby son in time to ring in the new year. Anita Guidera writes in the Irish Independent that Gary McBride delivered his son Harry on the roadside near Kilmacrennan after mum Claire went into unexpected labour on their way to Letterkenny General

Two claims have been made to who caught the first salmon of 2012. A man Dublin man claimed to have caught the first salmon in the River Liffey yesterday morning, while a Tyrone man claims to have made the first catch at the Drowse Salmon Fishery between Kinlough and Bundoran. Declan Briggs claims to have

Gardaí at Falcarragh and Milford are investigating an incident on the back of Errigal road between Dunlewey and Glenveagh on Friday afternoon where a van was set on fire. Gardaí and a fire crew from Gweedore attended the scene where a Volkswagen Caddy van was alight. The road was closed for approximately 30 minutes due

Motorists in Donegal are being warned not to get behind the wheel on New Years morning if they are going out drinking tonight. Gardai will be operating a number of checkpoints around the county tonight and tomorrow morning, and will be carrying out random breath tests. New lower drink-driving limits are now in force –

Fianna Fail County Cllr Liam Blaney has said it’s not as simple as just putting the budget through. He says the 29 elected councillors do have a duty to pass the budget, but the people deserve to get the best value for money, and the current budget proposed doesn’t represent value for money. Cllr Blaney

The Mayor of Donegal says Councillors have a responsibility to the people of the county to pass the council’s budget for next year. The 29 elected representatives could not agree on how the council’s income would be spent next year when they met before Christmas. Councillors meet again in early January and must agree the

The Mayor of Donegal has said that with another challenging year ahead, people must try and remains positive. Councillor Noel McBride says Donegal faces serious challenges in the year ahead, but if people stick together we can get through them. In wishing the people of Donegal a Happy New Year, the mayor said the people

Republican Action Against Drugs has rejected Sinn Fein claims that it was behind a fire at a GAA club in Derry on Wednesday. The police yesterday ruled the fire as not suspicious but today changed their stance to suspected arson  – an internal investigation has been launched to look at the police handling of the

Plans for the development of St Eunan’s college in Letterkenny are in jeopardy following an objection lodged by a local residents association. The plans include the demolishing  the 1979 annexe to the rear of the school and to demolish the existing gymnasium and to construct a new 900 pupil school building on three floors alongside

The police are now treating a fire which caused extensive damage to a GAA club in Derry as suspected arson just a day after saying it was not being treated as suspicious. The blaze broke out at Sean Dolan’s in Creggan in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police initially said they believe it started

Despite final figures for the end of this year expected to show a significant increase in visitor numbers to Ireland, Donegal business are reporting no positive bounce. There was a 10% increase in visitors from continental Europe, an 8% rise in numbers coming from North America, and a 5% rise in British tourists. The number