Author name: oisinkelly

An Inishowen councillor is to raise the issue of restricting the use of jet-skis on all Donegal beaches after a girl was injured in an accident involving one of the vehicles on Sunday. The girl, thought to be in her early teens, was injured when she was thrown from a jet ski on to rocks […]

Fine Gael has claimed that government is running scared of holding the Uduras Na Gaeltachta elections for fear that they will lose their representation on the board. The elections were due to take place in April but the government says they will not take place this year because it wanted to finalise a new 20-year

The impact of border service on soldiers, gardai and other frontline services is being explored by a new group which will have its inaugural meeting tonight. The Ex-Border Personnel Association was formed on foot of a research project  looking at the experiences of Irish soldiers who served during the Northern conflict. Areas of concern that

Thousands  of people took part in a protest march in Lifford yesterday against the closure of the local Community Hospital. Organisers of the protest said the huge turnout reflected the sense of anger and opposition to any plans there may be to close the hospital. Our reporter Barry Whyte, was at yesterdays protest and you

Figures published today show that Donegal had one of the biggest wage bills in the country for Councillors. The Figures in the Irish Times show that Donegal County Councillors received a total of 910 thousand euro. Of that the Mayor recieved 43,600 euro while the total amount of gratuities paid was 139,600 euro. Payments recieved

More than 450 people will hear today if they’re facing blood tests as part of a Hepatitis C scare at a number of hospitals in the Northwest and West, including Letterkenny General. A review of patients was undertaken when it was discovered a surgeon who worked at three facilities between 2004 and 2008 had contracted

The family of a woman who was found dead more than two years after she disappeared from a Bray nursing home is being pursued by the Department of Social Protection for €80,000 amid claims she received too much in pension payments. 78 year old Maura Reynolds, originally from Donegal, disappeared from the Tara Care Centre

Police are investigating a suspected pipe bomb attack in Strabane. The device was thrown into a car at O’Nolan Park at around 1 o’clock in the early hours of Sunday. People living close to the scene of the attack were evacuated from their homes while the device was examined, they have since been allowed return

A 25-year-old man has been shot and beaten in an over night attack in Strabane. The man was in bed with his partner when the front door of their Glebe Gardens home was forced and two masked men entered their bedroom. The man was beaten with a bat as he lay in bed. One of

Hundreds of people are expected to converge in Lifford on Sunday afternoon to take part in a protest march against the closure of Lifford Community Hospital. There is great concern that the HSE intends to close the hospital, with the IMPACT trade union going as far as to say that the decision has been made.

A 65-year-old man who was extradited from  Donegal will be sentenced on Monday after he admitted indecent assaults and committing gross indecency on his daughter and his niece. The man who cannot be named for legal reasons appeared at Dery Crown Court where he admitted 19 charges of indecent assault and six charges of gross

A man who is paraplegic has been jailed for three years by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin for INLA membership linked to a kidnap plot in Cork. 44-year-old Edward McGarrigle from Strabane was convicted last July of INLA membership in February 2008. His sentencing was adjourned after McGarrigle, who has been confined to a

A 32-year-old man has been ordered, as a condition of bail, to see his doctor to get help for mental health issues. David Howard Mallon, of Mosley Park, appeared at Derry Magistrates Court charged with making threats to kill and assaulting his partner. Derry Magistrates Court was told that 32-year-old David Howard Mallon also faced

The HSE is recalling hundreds of patients in the West and North West for Hepatitis C screening. It follows confirmation that a staff member at three of the regions hospitals was infected with the disease. The healthcare employee worked in Letterkenny General Hospital, University Hospital in Galway and Mayon General between 2004 and 2008. The

The Mayor of Buncrana says he believes a skate park would attract hundreds of people to Buncrana. Cllr Lee Tedstone says he has spoken to a number of young people in the area who say there are not enough facilities available for them in the town. He’s also spoken to a skating group in the

Proposals for a passport office in the Northwest have been welcomed by Donegal North East Deputy JoeMcHugh. There’s a current backlog of 62-thousand passports waiting to be processed in the passport offices in Dublin and Cork. It now takes up to 8 weeks to get a passport by ordinary post, or more than a month

Councillors in Buncrana are divided on whether or not a set of traffic lights should be installed at the Causeway Road / Cockhill Road junction. Cllr Joe Doherty wants lights to be installed on safety grounds, but other councillors disagree, saying if there were traffic lights at the Causeway Road, then a nearby local business

The trial of two men accused of murdering Inishowen based businessman Paul Houston in Portugal last September has been dramatically adjourned, after a witness admitted lying in his original testiomony. Mr Houston, owner of Houston’s Shoes on Strand Road in Derry was on holiday in Alvor, Portugal, when he was found beaten to death. Two

A father and son from Armagh who were jailed for10 and six years for possessing cannabis for sale and supply in Donegal in August 2007 have had their convictions overturned, and a retrial ordered. The two were arrested after they accepted five parcels containing herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of half a million

A senior customs officer has said that those enforcing VRT laws have been the subjected of unacceptable abuse, including being spat at, by some members of the public. Insisting that enforcement staff are respectful and courteous while doing their job,  Sean Kelleher says hostility towards them is more prevalent in Donegal than anywhere else. Mr

The Taoiseach has thrown his support behind Derry’s bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2013. Brian Cowen made his comments as final preparations are put to the bid which will face competition from Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield who are also vying for the title. in supporting the bid The Taoiseach said Derry

Fine Gael Deputy Dinny McGinley has said the role of broadband in Donegal is not happening fast enough with many areas still without the service. He was speaking in the wake of new OECD figures which indicated that Ireland is 29th out of the 30 countries which are covered by the economic and development group.

Senator Brian O’Domhnaill is calling on the HSE to update the local community on how the proposed new Primary Health Care Centre in Glenties is progressing. Raising the issue in the Seanad last night for the second time in three months, Senator O’Domhnaill said that at a recent meeting in the area the local parish

A spokesperson for the IMPACT union says they are in no doubt that the HSE plans to shut Lifford Community Hospital with serious question marks over the The Rock Hospital in Ballyshannon. Richie Curruthers was speaking ahead of a public protest march scheduled to take place in Lifford from 3 o’clock this coming Sunday. The

The NRA has confirmed an additional 3.5 million euro in funding for Donegal roads. The funding is in addition to money allocated earlier in the year by the National Roads Authority. 900 thousand euro will be spent resurfacing a stretch of the N56 between Mountcharles and Killybegs, which has been the scene of a number

Figures released by the EU commission this week show that youth unemployment in Ireland stood at almost 28% at the end of March, over 7% above the EU average. Commenting on the figures, North West MEP Marian Harkin says the Irish Government must take decisive action immediately to introduce a coherent and brave employment strategy

Customs officials have this afternoon seized the vehicle of a woman who was the subject of a six hour stand-off in Buncrana yesterday . Friends of Ms Margaret Davin says16 customs officers arrived at her house this afternoon to seize her northern registered car despite claims that she had been given a caution yesterday. This

Buncrana is to recieve a major tourism boost this summer with news that the town is stage the headline act of the Topaz Donegal International Rally. 20,000 extra thousand visitors are expected to descend on Buncrana for two back to back stages which are the first hosted by the town in almost 30 years. In

A soldier who was the victim of a prank in which a pizza he ate was “spiked” with cannabis has now been refused an extension of his Army contract, the High Court heard. Two years ago, 32-year-old Private John White of Belldoo, Strabane, Co Tyrone, brought a successful High Court challenge to his discharge after

Less than 1 in 10 drivers involved in serious car crashes were tested for alcohol between 2003 and 2005 The PARC road safety group is appearing before an Oireachtas Committee on transport this afternoon to discuss the Road Traffic Bill 2009. Chairwoman and founder of Parc Susan Grey says that drivers involved in serious crashes

A 27-year-old man who was arrested by police in Derry on Tuesday has been charged with a firearms related offence. He is due to appear at Derry Magistrates Court on June 10. The man was detained in a PSNI operation investigating terrorist related activity in the Derry area. The police said a 26-year-old man arrested

A court has heard that a  group of protestors went beyond peaceful protest when they broke into the offices of a weapons software company in Derry. Nine women and five men aged between 25 and 66 face charges over the incident at the Raytheon plant on the Branch Road in January 2009. Two of the

A stand off between a woman and customs officials, who attempted to seize her car in Buncrana has ended. According to local council Padraig McLoughlain the woman was in the town to fulfill a court appearance to give evidence on behalf of gardai this morning. However the stand-off was sparked when customs officials attempted to

Councillor Barry O’Neill has been called on to resign his position as chair of the Donegal VEC if he doesn’t issue an apology for comments he made following his election yesterday. Councillor Dessie Larkin has claimed Councillor O’Neil has cast a dark shadow over the VEC and how it is run by suggesting that there

A claim for damages against the chief constable and the NI Secretary brought by the husband of one of the victims of the Omagh bomb has been struck out. Laurence Rush brought the case over “the failures in the apprehension, detection and pre-emptive arrest of the Real IRA members who planted the bomb”. A high

The former detective whose book “Breaking the Silence” has been instrumental in securing an audit of child protection in the Raphoe diocese says he feels he had to write the book to give the victims of abuse a voice. Confirming that Raphoe would be among the first audits to be finished, Ian Elliot of the

The new chair of the Donegal VEC says the priority for the committee during his term will be to ensure further funding for the county’s schools and teachers. FG Cllr Barry O’Neill was elected to the chair at yesterday’s AGM, he beat Bundoran FF Cllr Philip McGlynn to the position. His deputy is Labour Cllr

A Donegal man has been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of sexually assaulting three young girls in his daughter’s bed while they were on sleepovers at his house. The 44-year-old man, who can not be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting three then 13-year-old girls on separate

The head of Failte Ireland North West is predicting a tourism increase in Donegal this summer as a result of the Donegal Live event which took place in Dublin’s Temple Bar yesterday. Paul Mc Loone says the event is set to pay dividends, with industry representitives on the ground reporting a large number of positive

The head of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church says an audit of child protection in the Raphoe Diocese will be completed by the end of this year. Ian Elliot said he had discussed claims of cover-ups by the diocese with former detective Martin Ridge, who claimed in a book that

The HSE is being urged to bring jobs to Letterkenny rather than take them away. Deputy Niall Blaney has met the Health Minister Mary Harney to discuss the National Review of GP Out of Hours Service, which recommends that one call centre replace three currently in operation in the West. It’s widely believed Galway will

Ballyshannon Councillor Barry O’Neill is the new Chair of Donegal VEC following a sometimes acrimonious meeting, at which Fianna Fail members accused representitives of other parties of excluding them. The non-Fianna Fail councillors met at the weekend, leading to accusations of a secret pact to exclude Fianna Fail. However, Cllr O’Neill denies this. He’s pledging

A major exercise to test Donegal Airport’s Emergency Plan takes place tomorrow morning from half past seven. Exercise Eagle will involve simulating a collision between an aircraft and a helicopter on the approach to the runway at the airport. Eilis Barrett is Operations Manager at the airport, she says people shouldn’t be alarmed if they

The Donegal VEC holds what it describes as its quinquennial meeting today, at which the way the political element of how the committee operates for the next number years will be determined. Under new regulations, the committee chairperson is elected for three years, but in 2006, it was decided to implement a power sharing arrangement