Author name: oisinkelly

Unions will attempt to minimise health service job losses at key talks today after management outlined plans for 300 full-time job cuts. Today is the deadline for negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission that continued at local level up to yesterday, as the Health Service Executive West tries to avoid a €90m budget overrun. The […]

The retired leader of the Catholic Church in Derry has said he still does not know if Fr James Chesney was a member of the IRA or if the cleric took part in the Claudy bombing 38 years ago. Bishop Edward Daly cast doubt on last week’s report of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, which,

Donegal’s Deputy Mayor has described as embarrassing concerns expressed by An Taisce over the council’s handling of the Moville/ Greencastle Sewage scheme. The National Trust for Ireland raised serious concerns with the environmental protection agency on how the council assessed how Lough Foyle and local beaches would be impacted by the scheme. Councillor Padraig MacLoughlainn

Senator Cecilia Keaveney has raised the issue of poor television reception in the Inishowen area, with the responsible bodies on both sides of the border, calling for better communication and cooperation. The Senator says that many people on the peninsula have always had a problem receiving Irish channels and says more recently those wishing to

A 32-year-old man has appeared at Derry Magistrate’s Court charged in connection with a break in at the home of the Bishop of Derry Dr. Seamus Hegarty. Declan Devine of Bloomfield Park in Derry was charged with breaking into the Bishop’s house in the Buncrana Road in Derry on August 27. The court was told

Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright has announced she will not be contesting the next general election. The Laois Offaly deputy – who was first elected to the Dail in 2002 – says she has taken the decision because her personal circumstances have changed. The 36 year old was one of the Fine Gael frontbenchers behind

This week will see new measures announced to clamp down on risky behaviour on the country’s roads. The Road Safety Authority is preparing to unveil a reform of driver training and licensing. It will see misbehaving learner drivers face new sanctions in court, including the imposition of a monitored ‘speed limiter’, which are already used

In excess of 30 thousand people attended the Taste of Donegal food festival at the weekend with organisers claiming that such events are an ideal way of promoting the county. The festival featured stalls and stands from the county’s most popular eateries but also gave small independent providers an oppurtunity to showcase their products. Donegal

Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright has announced she will not be contesting the next general election. The Laois Offaly deputy – who was first elected to the Dail in 2002 – says she has taken the decision because her personal circumstances have changed. The 36 year old was one of the Fine Gael frontbenchers behind

A Decision by Bus Eireann to withdraw it service the Killybegs and Kilcar areas has been described as a devastating blow. The company confirmed that the 5 day service would be cut and now operate on Thursdays, Fridays and Sunday’s at 21.20. Bus Eireann says there is now a daily service from Donegal town to

A 32-year-old man has been charged with breaking into the home of the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty. He is due to appear before a magistrates’ court today. The charge is subject to review by the Public Prosecution Service. The burglary took place early on Friday morning at the property on the Buncrana Road

Aer Arann would have gone to the wall last week with the almost immediate loss of over 300 jobs had it not been thrown a €1m lifeline by its biggest creditor. The Sunday Independent reports that Allied Irish Banks — which is owed €3.9m by the troubled regional carrier — extended the €1m in fresh

Donegal Deputy Joe McHugh has secured a meeting with HSE management during which he will ask them to outline clearly what cutbacks are to be expected to services in Donegal. The meeting comes after users of the HSE day care service at Ramelton Community Hospital were told on Tuesday that they were not to attend

A man who appeared in court in relation to injuries sustained to Senator Brian O’Domhnaill in a weekend incident in west Donegal says he is to make a counter complaint to gardai against the Senator. In a statement released through his solicitor Jim Sharkey, a resident of New York, dismissed accusations that he was responsible

Derry’s first ever gay pride parade is to take place on Saturday. The parade will follow the route of the 1968 civil rights march from Duke Street Railway station to Guildhall Square. SDLP MP for Foyle Mark Durkan urged people to attend today’s march and confront homophobia in the city. He says the community can

Counselling services in Donegal, which where set up after the Inishowen tragedy, are to contact youth groups to offer services to those bereaved in the Kerry car crashes this week. They are to to contact their counterparts in Kerry to use their experiences in coping with the horrific Inishowen crash, which claimed eight lives. Breda

Donegal Deputy Dinny McGinley has called on the Government to recognise reality and scrap the proposed changes to commerical vehicle tax. The Fine Gael Deputy claims that Donegal would be severly hit as almost 1400 vehicles have been registered in the county for the first 7 months of this year. He says plumbers, electricians, tradesmen,

Northwest MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher has said he has been assured that the appointment of interim examiner’s to Aer Arann will not affect Donegal airport. The Irish based flight operator provides services at Carrickfinn airport. The company is insisting that customers will not be affected by the fact that an interim examiner’s been appointed

A 15-year-old youth and a 20-year-old man are currently being detained at Letterkenny Garda Station. The two are being questioned in relation to the robbery of Anna McDaid at McClure Terrace in Letterkenny last week. The retired nurse Anna McDaid in her late 60s, received several fractures, bruised ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a head

It has emerged that users of the HSE day care service at Ramelton Community Hospital were told on Tuesday that they were not to attend the remainder of the week. They say they were told there was a shortage of staff and because of HSE embargos staff allocated to the Day Centre are being transferred

Two brothers being held in connection with the alleged theft of imitation fire arms in Newtoncunningham last Monday, appeared in Letterkenny District Court yesterday. Robert Orr with an address at Gealtex Road was charged with trespass with intent to commit theft at Donegal Airsoft Rifle and Archery range in Newtoncunningham last Monday. 18-Year-old Christopher Orr

A Donegal Senator received eight stitches to a head wound after an incident involving two other men as he made his way home from a disco. Fianna Fail Senator Brian O Domhnaill was travelling in a taxi minibus to his Gortahork home just before 3am on Sunday after attending the Seaview Hotel in Gweedore with

Gardai and the family of murdered Republican double agent Denis Donaldson today clashed in front of a coroner over when the inquest will take place more than four years after his death. Solicitor Ciaran Shields, for the Donaldson family, accused the gardai of hiding behind the cover of the Coroner’s Act when, despite their claim

Bail has been refused in the case of a Strabane charged with having documents likely to be of use to terrorists. Amid a heavy police presence, 38-year-old Michael Edwards of Park Road appeared before Strabane Magistrates Court this morning. Wearing a black tracksuit top and jeans, Edwards spoke only to confirm he understood the charge.

The Impact trade union says progress in talks at Letterkenny General Hospital has been scuppered after management changed the goalposts. The union says management has consistently sought pay savings of €390,000 to year end, and on that basis, the unions were close to a deal which ultimately would have led to the protection of jobs

The Donegal Peace Partnership Committee is putting the final touches to its Peace 3 spending plan, which will be submitted to the Special European Union Programmes Body next month. The draft has already been given to Pobail which acts as a go-between between the councils and the EU, and it has made a number of

A man is due in court in Strabane today charged in connection with terrorist activity. The 38-year-old was arrested in the town on Tuesday. He’s been charged with possession of documents likely to be of use to terrorists. He’s due before Strabane Magistrates later today.

Donegal’s Deputy Mayor has described suggestions that the planneds A5 upgrade should not go ahead as “ridiculous and mind boggling”. Fermanagh South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliot, a member of the Ulster Unionist Party yesterday questioned whether traffic levels justified a dual carriageway, and also expressed doubts that the Irish government can meet its commitments to

Donegal North East TD Joe Mc Hugh says he and his party colleagues will be urging Donegal County Council to prepare promotional material to be circulated to every IDA office across the globe. They’ll also be urging the council to attend IDA meetings and seminars to ensure that Donegal’s potential is known by all development

Figures from the HSE show that applications for the back to school allowance in Donegal are up to date. To date the executive has recieved 11,200 applications in the Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim – of those 10,600 have been processed with 500 forms currently outstanding. The amount allocate to these three counties so far is

An Ulster Unionist Assembly Member has expressed his doubts that the Irish Government will be able to come up with its funding for the upgrade of the A5 Derry to Aughnacloy road. Tom Elliott has also expressed the view that the traffic levels on the road do not justify it being upgraded to dual carraigeway

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers association in Donegal has described changes to the motor tax system on commercial vehicles as a D4 tax. Spokesperson Malcolm Thompson says the new measure aimed at the enforcement of the law prohibiting owners of commercial vehicles using them for social and private purposes, it out of touch with

A Fine Gael delegation lead by Deputy Joe McHugh will meet with the IDA today to demand an update as to what the association is actually doing to attract jobs and investment to Donegal North East. The party is calling on the IDA to do more to attract foreign direct investment to the area and

A Derry Councillor is calling on tourism authorities on both sides of the border to consider setting up a satellite Tourist Information Office in the Bogside. Sinn Fein Tourism Spokesperson Maeve Mc Laughlin says the unique history of the Bogside offers a potential that isn’t uitilised at the moment. She says a dedicated office staffed

It’s been claimed that new public contract guidelines issued by the Government will allow more small to medium sized enterprises compete for government contracts. Donegal North East TD Niall Blaney says the new guidelines should ensure that SMEs are not unfairly hindered in competing for public contracts. Deputy Blaney says until now, small firms have

A young couple from West Donegal visited National Lottery Headquarters today and collected almost €692,000 from last Friday’s EuroMillions draw. At first, Alan and Anne Louise Cowley thought they had won €5,000. Then, when they checked the website and saw there were two winners with a prize of €691,609, they assumed it would be shared.

The HSE is denying that an arguement over which company is responsible for repairs has prevented a faulty telephone line being repaired at the Primary Health Care Centre in Letterkenny. A spokesperson is also plasying down the impact on members of the public, saying that in the vast majority of cases, appointments are made, not

The Catholic Church has denied it engaged in a cover-up to protect a priest suspected of involvement in the 1972 Claudy bombing, in which 9 people were killed. The North’s police ombudsman’s report into the atrocity – says the RUC conspired with the British government and the Catholic church – to transfer Fr James Chesney.

There was some good news for the former workers at Keith Prowse call centre in Buncrana today when it was confirmed that social welfare payments for those effected are being processed. One hundred jobs were lost earlier this month with the announcement that the centre was to close after its parent company went into liquidation.

A report into the handling of the Claudy bombing in the north has found the police investigation into a Catholic priest suspected over the attack was stopped after senior officers conspired with the British Government and Church to protect him. Father James Chesney was transferred to a parish in Co Donegal following secret talks between

A charity, which provides support for sex workers, has said it has received an increase in calls from prostitutes in Donegal seeking help. ‘Ruhama’ says that while the perception may be that prostitution is an urban problem in recent years they are receiving calls from sex workers in more rural areas seeking support. Nationally the

There has been a significant increase in the amount of court judgements against companies in Donegal. The figures relate to court actions taken against companies for the recovery of unpaid debt and cover the second quarter of 2010. The value of court judgments in Donegal  for unpaid debt in the second quater of this year

The NowDoc service in Mountcharles is moving into a new premises today with the area served by the office set to expand next month. The service is moving out of the current treatment centre on Main Street, and into the old Seamount Hotel site which has been specially adapted. Service Manager Angela Tysall says the