Author name: oisinkelly

Donegal Sinn Fein Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn is one of a delegation on the Dail’s Foreign Affairs Committee which has travelled to Ethiopia on what is billed as a fact finding mission. It is reported that the five members of the committee will stay in the five star Hilton Hotel at the expense of the tax

A Donegal haulier says as long as the A5 remains as it is, it will be impossible to attract manufacturing investment into the county. Culdaff based George Mills, who attended an all island freight forum last week, says with motorways now available from most other Irish cities, persuading major companies to come to Donegal will

A Cycling and Walking Strategy could be in place in Buncrana by the end of February after the Inishowen Development Partnership agreed to pay the bulk of the cost involved in drawing up the document. The remainder will be paid by Buncrana Town Council, which approved the project in principle last year. The Buncrana Cycling

Tyrone GAA chiefs will launch an investigation after yesterdays county football league final was marred by violence on and off the field. A mass brawl broke out on the field in the closing minutes of the game and violence then erupted in the stands with several people involved. The match between Dromore and Carrickmore was

Almost two-thirds of Irish companies have not tendered for public contracts in the last three years, according to research by the Small Firms Association. The survey found that most companies think the emphasis on price rather than value makes it not worth their while to apply for contracts. The Small Firm’s Association wants an immediate

A Donegal Councillor is expressing concern at the wording of new legislation concerning septic tanks. Fianna Fail Cllr Paul Canning says Environment Minister Phil Hogan has inserted a clause into the Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011, which will allow him introduce more regulations in the future without having to go through the Dail. He says

President Michael D. Higgins has attended his first official engagement as Uachtaráin na hÉireann in Northern Ireland this evening. He  attending an All Ireland School Choir Competition in Derry. The event, in the Millennium Forum, involves choirs from Belfast, Navan, Dublin and Waterford. Co-operation Ireland CEO Peter Sheridan says it’s an honour that his first

More than 900 homes were blacked out when they lost their electricity in south Donegal this evening(Sunday). The ESB said it could take two to four hours to establish the cause and fix it in homes between Ballyshannon and Rossnowlagh after the blockage shortly after 4 p.m. The weather was relatively mild but a spokesman

Two enterprising schoolboy brothers Ronan, 14, and Conor Mc Garvey, 11, of Loughanure have been invited to speak at this year’s ECO-UNESCO’s National Youth ECO-Forum in Dublin this coming Thursday. The brothers set up their wooden pen making enterprise Donegal Pens just over two years ago after taking an interest in woodturning and have reported

A new Parish Council for the Glen area of Glencolmcille parish had its first meeting this week. The ection was held the same day as the Presidential and everyone on the electoral register was invited to cast their vote. The committee is in situ for a three year period and works in tandem with other

The Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil , Eamon Ó Cuív,  will be the special guest at a commemoration in memory of  Pat O’Donnell in Derrybeg, Gaoth Dobhair on Sunday. Mr O’Donnell was born in Gaoth Dobhair, and was executed in Newgate prison in London for the murder of James Carey, on 17th December, 1883, aged

A suspicious package has been discovered in Co. Derry. It was found this morning in Victoria Car Park. The area has now been cordoned off and Police are investig

The widow of a man found buried under 110lb of sand inside a van in Berkshire has told a jury his accused killers treated him like family and even called him a son or brother. Shaleem Amar, 33, died from massive head injuries allegedly suffered in a brutal hammer attack on November 17 last year

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue is accusing the government of making promises it can’t keep in respect of the A5. Deputy Mc Conalogue was speaking after Taoiseach Enda Kenny offered £50 million over the next four years, with the possibility of providing the balance of the £400 million after 2016. However, Deputy Mc

A Donegal Coroner has described spontaneous human combustion as “probably an urban myth”. Dr John Madden made the comment at the inquest into the death of 50 year old Elizabeth McLaughlin, of 42 Close Padraig, Carndonagh, on New Years Eve last year. The inquest heard from Harry Masterson, partner of Ms McLaughlin for the previous

A mother and her young daughter and baby had a lucky escape after their car got trapped in a river swollen by heavy rain in County Derry. They were rescued from the River Moyola near Draperstown yesterday evening. The mother had managed to get out of the car and reached a metal footbridge with her

An Australian company is looking for over 100 Irish construction foremen and site managers to work on the largest natural gas project down under. JobContax will be carrying out interviews in Dublin, London and Manchester over the next few weeks. The positions on offer with JobContax in Australia come with salaries of over 140 thousand

The Irish Government is offering to put forward £50million over a four year period towards the A5 upgrade to keep the project alive. A meeting took place within the past hour between Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the North’s First and Deputy First Ministers Peter Robinson and Martin Mc Guinness. It has been estimated that the

A Donegal man is close to winning a case in Europe that could eventually see Vehicle Registration Tax on vehicles scrapped. Inishowen man, Ryan Stewart will fly to Brussels on November 21st for a hearing in the European Court of Justice. The European Commission this week warned the Irish Government that it cannot put VRT

Donegal South West Deputy Thomas Pringle says it’s wrong that the government is to clear the debts of Tallaght Hospital after sacking its entire board, but refuse to clear the deficit at Letterkenny General Hospital, one of the most efficient in the country. Deputy Pringle says the problems in Tallaght are linked to governance issues,

A Marketing strategy to attract new business to land and buildings in Buncrana, acquired by the Council from the IDA, is being finalised. However concern is being expressed locally that the deal between Donegal County Council and IDA still favours Letterkenny. Last year the IDA handed over a number of sections of land and buildings

Junior Arts and Heritage Minister Dinny Mc Ginley is hosting a British Irish Council meeting in Gweedore today. Youth and fostering minority and indigenous languages in the community is the specific theme of the gathering, together with the Council’s programme of work for the next few years. The meeting preceded by a conference on linguistic

The North’s First and Deputy First Ministers will speak to Taoiseach Enda Kenny today about the decision of the Irish Government to withdraw funding from the A5 road scheme for the next budget period. In a statement after an Executive Meeting last night, the two ministers said the Executive remains committed to the project and

The Taoiseach has confirmed that the government’s commitment to co-funding the upgrade of the A5 between Derry and Aughnacloy is being deferred. The A5 is one of a list of capital projects that the government says cannot proceed over the next five years, and will be considered again by 2016. Earlier in the Dail, Tanaiste

A man has appeared at Buncrana Court this morning charged with dangerous driving causing the death of eight people. 22 year-old Shaun Kelly of Hill Road, Buncrana was arrested this morning as part of the garda investigation in the Inishowen tragedy. It was the single biggest loss of life in a road traffic collision in

Two former Government Ministers from Donegal are in receipt of pensions in excess of 70,000 euro. Former Donegal North-East Deputy Jim McDaid and Northwest MEP and former Donegal South-West Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher are both receiving Ministerial and TD pensions. Despite uproar last year over serving politicians drawing pensions, sitting Northwest MEP Pat the

The government willl confirm today that it will not be in a position to honour its commitment to the A5 dual carraigeway project linking Aughnacloy and Derry in the lifetime of the current capital programme. Transport MInister Leo Varadker told the Dail last evening that the government remains commited to the project, and this is

The Transport Minister has said that he wants to phase out subsidies for regional airports. Leo Varadkar said it was “political cowardice that it was ever allowed to happen” that there is an airport for every county down the west and south coasts. Along the West coast there are airports in Carrickfinn in Donegal, Sligo,

A junior doctor who could not take a patient’s pulse, has been struck off the medical register. 31-year-old Asia Ndaga, who was passed as fit to work as a senior house officer in Letterkenny Hospital last year, has been removed from the register by High Court on the orders of the Medical Council. The Irish

The newly elected Chairperson of the Buncrana Tidy Towns committee has called on the gardai to better enforce anti-litter laws in the town. The committee, having this year secured Buncrana its highest ever score in the Tidy Towns competition, collect their Bronze Medal it won this year in Letterkenny this evening. This week they gave

The CEO of Cooperation Ireland says it’s a statement of intent from President Elect Michael D Higgins that his first official engagement will to attend an All Ireland School Choir Competition in Derry on Sunday. The event, in the Millennium Forum, involves choirs from Belfast, Navan, Dublin and Waterford. Tomorrow will see the official inauguration

A security alert is underway in the Foyle Road area of Derry, with the bottom deck of the Craigavon Bridge closed for a time after a suspicious object was found this afternoon. A number of businesses and homes were evacuated as a result. Diversions were in place due to road closures, some of those have

Questions are being raised by opposition deputies after indications that the Government is rowing back on its commitment to fund the upgrading of the A5. There’s been no formal government statement, with the initial news broken by the North’s Finance Minister Sammy Wilson. In the Dail this afternoon, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar admitted the time

Town Councils are set to continue,  with sources close to Enviroment Minister Phil Hogan indicating that they could be given extra powers in the upcoming revamp of local government. Fears had been expressed locally that town Councils could be scrapped as part of any reform. However, it now seems that Letterkenny and Buncrana Town Councils

There has been an angry response to the Government’s decision to postpone its commitment to fund the upgrading of the A5 The proposed A5 dual-carriageway was to run from the border near Aughnacloy through Omagh and Strabane to Derry. Ireland’s commitment was 400 hundred million pounds to be match by the executive in the north.

The Government is to postpone its commitment to fund the upgrading of the A5 The proposed A5 dual-carriageway was to run from the border near Aughnacloy through Omagh and Strabane to Derry. The work was to be funded by the Government and Northern Ireland’s powersharing executive and was part of the St Andrew’s Agreement in

Today marks the 76th anniversary of the Aranmore Disaster in which 19 people lost their lives. Eighteen of the 19 victims of the tragedy came from the same part of Aranmore, and seven were from the same family. Today’s commemorations begin with the laying of a wreath at sea at the spot where the boat

Town Councils could be set for a reprieve with sources close to the environment minister indicating that Ireland’s Town Councils could be given extra powers in the upcoming revamp of local government. Fears have been expressed locally that Letterkenny, Buncrana, Bundoran and Ballyshannon town Councils could be scrapped as part of any reform. However sources

The Northwest Alcohol Forum has described fgures, which show the number of teens abusing alcohol is higher here than the rest of the country, as shocking. Across the country, the number of teenagers being treated for alcohol abuse has surged by more than 145% in the last five years. The problem is worse still in

City of Derry Airport has backed down after telling an employee it was unacceptable to wear a poppy at work, according to an Ulster Unionist councillor. Mary Hamilton said when she queried the case with airport management, she was told they were enforcing council policy by banning the poppy. But Derry City Council has said

North West MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher says he’ll again be pushing for separate regional deals to improve the circumstances of domestic Fishermen working off Irish coasts. A new deal will be negotiated in the coming months and already Irish fishermen are pushing for greater access to white fish. They also want less access by

Donegal Creameries has increased its interest in the potato sector with the purchase yesterday evening of Scottish-based seed potato grower AJ Allan. The price paid hasn’t been disclosed. he deal to buy AJ Allan was completed through Donegal Creameries’ Dublin based subsidiary Irish Potato Marketing. AJ Allan is based in Brechin and grows around 12,000

A Sinn Fein Councillor in Strabane says there’s growing concern about weekend drinking sessions in the vicinity of the approach lane from O’ Nolan Park to the Sewage Pumping Station in the town. Cllr Jay Mc Auley says the amount of broken glass, burned tyres and other debris is preventing NI water workers from carrying

Kevin Cassidy has been dropped from the Donegal County Panel after a meeting between himself and manager Jim Mc Guinness. It follows his comments in a book about the Ulster Championship which was published last weekend. Highland Radio’s Managing Director and Head of Sport Charlie Collins has more…..  

National Irish Bank is defending its decision to hike variable mortgage interest rates by almost one per cent. NIB says it has not increased variable charges since 2008 – and says it is not obliged to pass on European Central Bank rate cuts – as it does not rely on ECB funding. The move is

Parents of a four-year-old boy fought back tears as a coroner heard today how he died tragically when a thick steel door fell on him. Seconds earlier the boy, Daniel Cleary, had been helping hand-signal a Manitou telescopic loader driven by his uncle, Raymond Cleary, into position last June 2 Daniel’s heartbroken mother, Patricia Cleary,

Three people were taken to hospital today following a collision at Ballyholey Crossroads on the Lifford to Letterkenny road. There were traffic disruption for a time in the area, but gardai say the road is now clear. The three people taken to hospital are said to be suffering from minor injuries.