Author name: oisinkelly

It has been confirmed that a new 200 square metre building is to be provided for Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada on Arranmore island. The new building will house three new class rooms and will replace the current prefabs at the school which are said to be falling into a state of disrepair. School principal Mary Doherty […]

The NUJ is calling for the return of a mobile phone seized from a Derry journalist yesterday. Eamon Mc Dermott is a freelance journalist who regularly covers court sittings in Derry for several media outlets, including Highland Radio News. He also writes about dissident republicans, and occasionally receives claims of responsibility for actions they have

Gardai in Letterkenny have renewed an appeal for information after a vicious daylight mugging in the town left a woman in Letterkenny General Hospital with broken bones and severe bruising. Anna Mc Daid, a retired nurse, was violently knocked to the ground and had her handbag stolen in the attack at Mc Clures Terrace just

New figures show that rents for students attending the Letterkenny Institute of Technology are the cheapest in the country. According to the latest figures from property website Daft. ie – Students renting a single room in Letterkenny will pay approximately €173 per-month. This compares to a monthly rent of 500 in Dublin City Centre, 339

Thousands of students in the North have received the equivalent of their Leaving Cert results. It’s a poignant day for the family of the one of the teenagers who died in the County Derry gas poisoning tragedy earlier this month. 18-year-old Aaron Davidson achieved top marks in four subjects. His mother Katrina says they’re sad

It’s emerged that over 100 pubs in Donegal have chosen to cease trading over the past 12 months following the publication of new figures from the Revenue Commissioners. 106 pubs in the county did not renew their licences over the past year, the third highest figure in the country after Dublin and Cork. Publicans say

More than 12,000 pupils across Northern Ireland have been receiving their A level results today, with competition for university places expected to be tougher than ever this year. All universities and colleges are reporting increassed applications, with the University of Ulster’s Magee College in Derry reporting over 6,100 applications for just 951 available places, representing

Just over 250 thousand euro has been allocated by the Office of Public works to address some of the damage caused by last years flooding in Gweedore. The money, allocated to the Gweedore Flooding Project, will be used for a number of repair projects,  most notably to bridges damaged in the area. Councillor Terence Slowey

Job creation agencies, local political representatives and management of the Keith Prowse call Centre will meet today to discuss how best to attract a new company to the premises. The Centre in Buncrana closed last weekend with the loss of 100 jobs. Some staff have still to receive their outstanding wages while FAS being accused

15 Australian students have travelled half way across the world to study Irish in Donegal. Classes and summer schools are held regularly in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra but this year, for the first time, 15 enthusiasts are spending a fortnight in Glencolmcille attending classes with Oideas Gael. One of them is Barney Devlin, originally from

As analysis and assessment of Leaving Cert results continues today, one Donegal student is celebrating the maximum 600 points this afternoon. Sinead Brennan, a student at Loreto Convent in Letterkenny received six A1s and a B in maths. She intends to study medicine, probably in the UK……..

A Donegal councillor says the HSE must change the way many of its bureaucrats think if real savings are to be achieved. Cllr Jimmy Harte, a member of the HSE West Regional Forum says millions of euro are wasted each year because the HSE won’t take crutches and other mobility aids back, even when they’ve

The Presbyterian Church is stressing it is not abandoning two congregations in Donegal which have been without ministers for some time, in the former case, over a year. The congregations in Dunfanaghy – Carrigart and Carndonagh – Malin are both seeking new ministers, but as of yet, no appointments have been made. The church’s Board

Staff at the Seatam Keith Prowse call centre in Buncrana have been meeting this afternoon to seek clarity on their immediate future. The plant stopped operating at the weekend, but there’s a question mark over wages, with staff saying some are still owed money. There’s also an issue with the staff receiving P45s, because the

Small businesses in Donegal are being invited to attend a major seminar in Larne next month. The one-day seminar is being hosted by TradeLinks, the cross-border business development programme coordinated by Donegal County Enterprise Board. They say local businesses will have a chance to pitch their products and services to private and public sector buyers

2,072 students who sat the Leaving Cert exam qnd 139 who sat the Leaving Cert Applied in Donegal have begun collecting their results this morning. Schools opened at 9 o’clock, results can be picked up online or by phone from midday. The Education Minister is urging people receiving their Leaving Cert results today – not

It’s been confirmed that Derry is to be one of the venues for the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race in two years time. In July 2012, Derry will welcoming the ten-strong fleet at the end of the final transatlantic stage of the 40,000-mile race en route to the race finish. The city will also

A Derry MLA says the law should be changed to state that anyone riding a bicycle must wear a helmet. So far this year there have been 42 cases in Northern Ireland, including one on Strabane, of children being rushed to Royal Victoria Hospital with head injuries sustained from a bicycle fall. Pat Ramsey says

The “Begin Again” work placement programme which is operated by the Dept. Education & Skills receives it’s Donegal launch at the Enterprise Fund Business Centre in Letterkenny this evening. Under the scheme, unemployed professionals are offered a 12-week placement in a position matching their expertise, in the hope that a job may follow. All benefits

The Donegal developer of a  new saver card says it will enable Irish consumers to save hundreds of euro each year, while also supporting clubs, schools and charities. Emmett Gallagher, a native of Gweedore is Director of gosave.ie, the company behind the new gosave cards. Charities, schools and other non-profit groups, sell gosave cards as

A man arrested during the investigation into the dissident bomb attack on Strand Road Police Station earlier this month has appeared at Derry Magistrates Court.. 53 year old Thomas Christopher Nash from Ivy Park in the Prehen area of the Waterside faced five charges of possesion of arms and ammunition. He was remanded in custody

A man is critically ill in a Dublin hospital following an explosion at a house in the Cloonbara area of Falcarragh. Emergency services received a call around 10pm last night. Two units of the fire brigade attended. The house has been extensively damaged. Gardai are to carry out a forensic examination of the house this

Health unions and management at Letterkenny General Hospital begin local discussions on cost cutting today after talks under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission adjourned at the weekend until the end of the month. In a joint statement issued after the HSE West talks ended in Galway, all sides agreed to explore all options

Summer can’t last forever ….but soon summer TIME might, if the government follows the lead of the British Parliament, which is considering plans to permanently move clocks forward by an hour If the UK proposal is adopted this Autumn, it could mean Strabane and Lifford spend have the year in different time zones. Senator Fergal

The funeral is taking place today of 51 year old teacher Marie O’Donnell of Knockbrack, Portsalon who died in a two car collision just outside Milford on the Kilmacrennan Road last week. Gardai are still investigating the crash, which left three people, including her husband ill in hospital. The two vehicle collision between Mrs O’Donnell’s

A second man has been charged in connection with a bomb attack on Strand Road police station in Derry at the beginning of August.. The 53-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences including possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possession of a prohibited weapon. He is due

The August Apprentice Boys demonstration is taking place in Derry, with 15,000 people expected in the city. There is a large-scale security operation in place, with part of Spencer Road closed off because of an alert. Petrol bombs were thrown at police at the scene in the early hours of this morning. Feeder parades have

The Mayor of Buncrana is to convene a meeting of local political representititves and development agencies in a bid to have the Keith Prowse premises in Buncrana taken over as a going concern. Cllr Padraig Mac Lochlainn had seperate discussions with the company and IDA Ireland today, and says they are now meeting to discuss

A man has appeared at Derry Magistrates Court today on charges connected to the car bomb left outside Strand Road policer station in Derry in the early hours of Tuesday August 3rd. 42 year old Philip O’Donnell of Baldrick Crescent in Derry faced a total of 12 charges, including ausing an explosion, possession of explosives,

A protest that was to be held by dissident republicans in Derry City Centre tomorrow has been cancelled after the resolution of a row between republican inmates and prison authorities at Maghaberry. The dispute was resolved last evening, and that has led to the cancellation of the protest, which would have coincided with the main

A 42-year-old man is due to appear at Derry Magistrates Court this morning charged with placing a bomb outside Strand Road Police Station in the early hours of Tuesday August 3rd. The man is facing a total of 12 charges, including causing an explosion, possession of explosives, hijacking and false imprisonment. He is also charged

Unions are back in talks later today with HSE management at the Labour Relations Commission over the ongoing row regarding threats to over 1000 jobs of fixed term workers in the West of Ireland. It is feared up to one hundred jobs could go at Letterkenny General. Following an adjournment of the talks last week

Up to one hundred jobs are to be lost at  the ‘Keith Prowse’call centre in Lisfannon which is to cease operating there on Sunday. Concerns were expressed initially in May of this year that jobs at the centre in Buncrana, which handles ticket sales for major events, were set go. Management say that some of

Health and safety officials in the North say they’ve now launched a criminal investigation after the death of two teenagers from carbon monoxide poisoning. The officials this afternoon spoke for the first time about last week’s double tragedy in Castlerock. Teenagers Neil McFerran and Aaron Davidson died in a holiday apartment last week from suspected

Gardai have seized thousand of euro worth of drugs during an operation in Bundoran. Cannabis and Cocaine with an estimated street value of 2,000 euro were seized at a house in the town at around ten o’clock on Wednesday night. No arrests have been made, Gardai are continuing with their investigations which are being led

Police in the Strabane and Derry areas have called for public vigilance following a telephoned bomb warning. At around 10.30am this morning a call was made warning “there’s a bomb at the Brae”. Police have checked locations known to them that match the name given, but nothing has been found. They says due to the

The North’s deputy first Minister Martin McGuinness has condemned an overnight arson attack on an Orange Order hall in Tyrone. He said it was clearly aimed at raising tensions before this weekends Apprentice Boys parades. And he accused those responsible of being motivated solely by sectarian bigotry. The Orange Hall in Pomeroy was destroyed by

Campaigners opposed to the building of the new A5 dual carriageway begun a five day camp outside Strabane. They’re using the Climate Camp 2010 event at Victoria Bridge to protest at the proposed new 86 kilometre stretch of road, which will run from Derry to Aughnacloy. The road, which is also the main route between

Senator Cecilia Keaveney has renewed her calls for a Youth Diversion Programme in Inishowen. Such programmes are coordinated by gardai and targetted at youngsters who have a brush with the law, many of them for the first time. Senator Keavney says like many other initiatives, money has not been forthcoming to extend the scheme. However,

25 dentists, two of them from Donegal are due to find out later if the High Court will stop the HSE from limiting free services for medical card holders. The dentists claim they are in danger of going out of busines and want the court to grant a temporary injunction on the HSE pending a

The Environmental Protection Agency is urging anyone who witnesses illegal dumping or other environmental abuse in Donegal to report it on a line which is being piloted in Donegal. The EPA says during 2010, approximately 26 illegal dumping complaints were received by Donegal County Council. Since the launch of the expanded complaints line at ther

Work on the restoration of the Guildhall is set to commence this month, with Mayor Cllr Colum Eastwood saying the £3 million project will help to sustain the building for future generations. The Guildhall will, he says, be the focus of the city’s celebrations in 2013 when it assumes the mantle of UK City of

The 51 year old woman killed in a crash on the Milford to Kilmacrennan Road early this morning has been named locally as Marie O’Donnell from Knockbrack, Portsalon The two-vehicle collision between a silver Nissan Micra and a Blue Honda Civic happened at about quarter past two this morning. A 50 year old man travelling

Kerry is the most popular place to have a ‘stay-cation’ in Ireland. A new survey puts Galway in close second for top Irish destinations, with Donegal also in the top 10 Angela Keegan is managing director of the myhome.ie website which carried out the research. She believes there’s one simple explanation for the trends…………….

A delegation from Fine Gael met with management at Letterkenny General Hospital yesterday in relation to the ongoing situation there. Donegal North East Deputy Joe McHugh says Letterkenny General has become a victim of its own sucess. He says the hospital has gained a number of new services over the years, and if staff are

A Sinn Féin councillor has rejected comments made on Highland Radio made by Letterkenny General Hospital’s Assistant Manager this week suggesting that an IMPACT work to rule earlier in the year had prevented management from realising the extent of their budgetary problems. Cllr Mick Quinn says he believes management locally has been handed a poisoned

A spate of dolphin strandings along the west coast over the past week has been described as unusual by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. Six separate incidents from Kerry to south Donegal involved strandings by three separate species of dolphin. Some of the animals survived after refloating, but some perished. The first report involved

A 51 year old woman has been killed in a crash on the Milford to Kilmacrennan Road. The two-vehicle collision happened at about quarter past two this morning. A 50 year old man travelling with her was taken to Letterkenny General hospital and is said to be in a serious condition. A man and woman