Author name: oisinkelly

A 22 years old University graduate from Edinburgh has been crowned the 43rd Mary from Dungloe. Jemma Ferry took the title at the festival’s crowning cabaret in Co Donegal on Sunday night where i102-104 DJ Dave O’Connor, 26, was on stage to interview the girls. Wearing a beautiful long nave blue sequence dress, Jemma told […]

A new group has been created to campaign against cuts at Letterkenny General Hospital with plans already being made for a public protest in Letterkenny in August. The group comprises the three main health unions as well as DACC, Co-operating for care north west, voice of the older people Donegal and the Irish Kidney Association.

A mother of two young children was left in ‘an extremely emotional state’ after an alleged assault by her partner Derry Magistrate’s Court was told. Diarmaid Nicell (23) of High Street in Derry was charged with damaging property belonging to the woman, assaulting her, threatening to damage property and possessing cannabis on July 29. The

Northwest MEP Jim Higgins says he cannot understand why gardai are not using powers available to them to get so called boy racers off the country’s roads. Mr Higgin’s says recent  changes in the law mean that a number of modification associated with the cars driven by boy racers, not least noisy exhausts are illegal.

Just two Dail or Seanad members attended a meeting with trade unions and health groups this afternoon to discuss what impact an 8 million euro overspend at the hospital will have on services and staff. Despite all of the county’s Dail and Seanad representatives being invited only Deputy Dinny McGinley and Senator Pearce Doherty attended

The Irish Post Masters union has joined calls for An Post to reverse its decision to terminate the contract of Bernie Moore as postmistress of Carrigan’s post office. Ms Moore was sacked from her position with An Post claiming this was for not following security procedures during an armed robbery in February of last year.

The western trusts has apologised to families of patients on the same hospital ward as two paedophiles blaming a “lack of communication” James and Owen-Roe McDermott abused children in Donagh in Co Fermanagh for 30 years but were declared unfit for trial. They are being treated on a psychiatric ward alongside young vulnerable adults at

Donegal gardai have launched their biggest road safety blitz of the year this weekend and they’re urging motorists to make safety their priority this Bank Holiday Weekend. The campaign will continue today right through until Tuesday. Inspector Pat O Donnell says in the wake of the recent tragedy in Inishowen, there is a heightened necessity

The long awaited new school premises for Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny has been included in the third bundle of Public Private Partnership schools. The new building, close to the Donegal Hospice in Carnamuggagh, will cater for 350 mixed pupils. At present, the school is based in rented accomodation on High Road. Announcing the development, Tanaiste

One of Northern Ireland’s most expensive developments planned for Omagh will harm town centre traders, its been claimed. The warning came from the independent retail lobby group Northern Ireland Independent Retail and Trade Association, as it emerged that a £350 million scheme including a hotel, out-of-town shopping centre, and health and leisure facilities has been

Failte Ireland has today announced the development of a forum which will focus specifically on spearheading and overseeing a 3-year development plan for tourism in the northwest region. Failtre Ireland northwest is made up of business and political representatives along with tourism service providers. The announcement comes as new figures show the number of trips

A High Court case which aims to force the government to hold the Donegal South West By Election will open today. Sinn Fein Senator Pearse Doherty is taking the action. A vacancy arose in the constituency after FF’s Pat The Cope Gallagher was elected a MEP in June of last year The Government is expected

A Joint Oireachtas Committee has recommended that Udaras na Gaeltachta retain responsibility for employment and development of gaeltacht areas, as well as taking on new responsibilities in the area of planning and housing. The recommendation comes amid speculation that the agency might lose some of its development role to Enterprise Ireland as part of a

Battle lines are being drawn ahead of this morning’s crunch meeting between health unions and management at Letterkenny General Hospital. The hospital is running €8 million over budget, and senior HSE management say measures must be taken to claw that money back. That will inevitably mean curtailing services, closing wards and reducing the hours of

Three children had to be taken to safety off the main beach in Bundoran, Co Donegal yesterday after getting into difficulty while swimming close to the waters edge. Two of the children were taken to the shore by local beach lifeguards.. The RNLI lifeboat brought the third child to safety where all three received first

The Postmistress of Carrigans Post Office has finally spoken out about her ordeal, and the strain she is under because An Post are terminating her contract. Bernie Moore, has run the post office in the border village for 30 years. In February 2009, three armed raiders put a gun to her head and got away

The people of Donegal need to hold a mass rally aimed at resisting cuts at Letterkenny General Hospital. Senator Pearse Doherty says that a large attendance would send a clear message to the government that the people of Donegal will not accept these cuts without a fight. Yesterday, a number of staff members on temporary

A number of Donegal County Councillors have stated that they are against the governments proposed long term leasing scheme. Under the rent to buy scheme, councils will lease houses for five years from developers. However, Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher, who raised the issue this week, says she believes this scheme is the government bailing out

Buncrana Town Council is calling on local businesses to cooperate with the setting up of a website to promote the town by providing up to date information about the services they provide. A website to promote the town was established last year, but after a poor response to a questionnaire that was sent around businesses

The HSE is denying that any staff at Letterkenny General Hospital have been told their jobs are to go. Earier today, a number of staff members on temporary contracts contacted Highland Radio to say they had been told their jobs would go at the end of this month. However, in a statement this afternoon, the

At Monday nights County Committee Meeting in Ballybofey Jim Mc Guinness was ratified as the new Donegal Senior Team Manager on a four year term. Guinness who was the only nomination for the job will also be staying in his role as Under21 Manager. The Glenties man has named his backroom team with Peter Mc

A number of temporary staff at Letterkenny General Hospital have been told this morning that they are to lose their jobs. Staff where told that they would be let go at the end of August. Yesterday evening reports were circulating among staff that two wards would close from September 1st and that up to 100

There are fears that Donegal Airport could face closure under Government plans to stop funding it in its capital spending programme for the next five years. It along with airports at Galway, Kerry and knock are subsidised by the government as they are not profit making. Under the revised 39 billion plans for the country’s

The HSE says there will be no delays for people who feel they need help or counselling in the wake of the tragic road traffic collision near Clonmany in which 8 men died and one was seriously injured. Agencies involved in responding to the Inishowen Road tragedy earlier this month met in Buncrana yesterday to

Unions are being called to a briefing at Letterkenny General Hospital on Thursday morning amidst concern that two wards may be closed in the coming weeks. Last evening, reports started circulating among staff that two wards would close from September 1st, elective surgery would be cancelled for the remainder of the year, and up to

Donegal County Councillor Frank McBrearty has called on the Minister for Justice to hold a public enquiry into the Garda Investigation of the Carrigans Post Office robbery. The Labour Councillor brought a motion on the matter before Donegal County Council yesterday afternoon. Cllr McBrearty claims access to CCTV footage of the robbery which shows three

Senator Pearse Doherty says he’s been told by Health Minister Mary Harney that the outcome of a review into community hospitals should now be known by September. Once that has been completed, the future of Lifford Community Hospital  and The Rock in Ballyshannon should become clear, and an announcement  about their future will be made.

Donegal County Council is to hold a special workshop to discuss the extension of bye laws regarding the use of jet skis. Cllr Martin Farren raised the issue, calling for specific measures to ensure that jet skis can only be launched from designated sites. Earlier this year, a 13-year-old girl was rushed to Derry’s Altnagelvin

Agencies involved in responding to the Inishowen Road tragedy earlier this month met in Buncrana today to review their strategy, with another meeting planned for September The HSE, Gardai and Buncrana Town Council were among the attendees at the meeting, which also looked at how to advance the road safety message in the longer term.

A Donegal County Councillor says come the end of the year, the council could be facing a financial crisis. Council Management stated today, that the majority of businesses in the County have been up to date with their commercial and water rates payments. Adraft audit report was presnted to council members today, but Cllr Barry

A Donegal County Council is calling for a debate on the local authority’s policy of charging people for using the emergency services. Councillor Thomas Pringle fears that people may try to tackle emergency’s themselves rather than calling 999 and subsequently receiving a significant bill. Councillor Pringle, who is against the charge, says that many people

SIPTU says there are increasing fears that 100 jobs could be lost at Letterkenny General Hospital as the HSE takes action to slash costs in the Western area. The country’s largest union is to ballot for strike action over a HSE plan to cut hundreds of temporary contract jobs this after the HSE’s outgoing CEO

The funeral took place this morning of the toddler who died in a tragic accident at her Letterkenny home. 13 month old Lisa Gallagher died last Friday evening after being accidentally struck by a car driven by her father. It is understood her father had been outside mowing the lawn when he decided to move

A Letterkenny Councillor says that a fire started deliberately to the rear of Glencar Shopping Centre in the town could have spread to the shopping centre if it was for the action of the fire service. Councillor Gerry McMonagle has blamed youths for setting fire to bushes describing their behaviour as irresponsible. He is calling

The public is being urged to have their say at two open Consultation meetings to be held by Donegal County Council regarding the N56 Dungloe to Glenties (Kilraine) Road Scheme. The first takes place in  the Council Chamber, Dungloe Public Service Centre on Tuesday, the second at the Highlands Hotel, Glenties on Wednesday. Senator Brian

Latest figures show that 4.9 million euro has been collected so far through the second property tax in Donegal. This is the 7th highest collection rate in the country. In total 120 million euro has been raised across the country, the largest amount, 22.5 million euro in Dublin. There is speculation that the government will

A 13 month old toddler has died after being struck by a car in Letterkenny. 13 month old baby Lisa Gallagher was fatally injured when she was struck by a reversing car in the driveway of the family home at Drumardagh in Letterkenny. It’s understood the car was being driven by a family member. Gardai

The ten day Dungloe festival gets underway today, culminating in the Mary from Dungloe pageant. Thousands of people are expected to visit the area for the duration of the festival. Spokesperson for Failte Ireland Sheena Doyle says visitors can expect a lot of fun..

The mayor of Donegal says some of the proposals in a new document recommending reform of county and city councils fly in the face of what Donegal County Counil is trying to achieve. The Local Government Efficiency Review Group’s report is seeking savings of half a billion euro. One recommendation suggests that the number of

An extra €50,000 is being provided by the National Roads Authority for works on the proposed Bonagee link section of the Letterkenny Relief Road. It’s now hoped that a specialist ground investigation project can begin next month. Welcoming the allocation, Cllr Ciaran Brogan said it’s an important statement of commitment to the relief road at