Author name: oisinkelly

Letterkenny estate agent Paul Reynolds of Property Partners Reynolds & Co. has been appointed the new President of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers. Mr Reynolds has highlighted a number of issues which he hopes to tackle during his presidency. These include the doubling of the exemption limit of 125,000 euro, to 250,000 euro, […]

North West MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher has still yet to confirm if he is to give up his ministerial pension. The former Donegal South West Deputy is now being billed as the  ‘last man standing’ after Deputy James McDaid and Galway East TD Noel Tracey said they have or will be donating theirs to

Six Irish airports, including Donegal Aiport, have to re-opened earlier than expected this morning after flights were restricted because of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. The Irish Aviation Authority withdrew restrictions on flights in and out of the airports after reviewing the position of the cloud of volcanic ash. However, we are still being

Gaeltacht Minister Pat Carey says he will inspect the R259 Airport Road in West Donegal to see if his department can provide some funding to upgrade it. Mr Carey made the commitment in the Seanad after the need for improvements was raised on the adjournment last evening by Senator Brian O’Domhnaill. Speaking after their exchange,

Letterkenny Mayor Jim Lynch has launched the Letterkenny Gateway 2010 campaign, aimed at profiling the town as a gateway to the North West region, and a tourist destination in its own right. The campaign will focus on using all available media to market the area, the updating of the letterkenny.ie website, and the production of

In Foyle the SDLP’s Mark Durkan has held his seat with 16,922 votes. Sinn Fein’s Martina Anderson was second. Meanwhile Police say that a device left outside the Derry election count centre was a pipe bomb. Counting in Foyle and East Derry was suspended for an hour and a half after a car was abandoned

Polling in all 18 Northern constituencies began at 7 o clock this morning and continues until 10 o clock tonight. Almost 1.2 million electors are registered and entitled to vote at 624 polling stations across Northern Ireland. After polling, the 1,512 ballot boxes will be taken to eight count centres where, for the first time,

Donegal North-East TD, Dr Jim McDaid has been defending his decision not to give up his ministerial pension on todays Shaun Doherty Show. The controversial Donegal Deputy confirmed that he doesn’t gain from his pension, and he in fact has been giving it to charity for the past 4 or 5 years. Although he didn’t

Two Brazilian men have gone on trial in Portugal charged with the murder of a Derry businessman Paul Houstan on the Algarve last September. Mr Houston, a 51-year-old father-of-four, who owned Houston’s Shoes, was found dead at the resort of Alvor. 27 year-old Jones Dos Santos was remanded in custody, and 20-year-old Diago Dias was

A Senior Government Minister says last nights voting mistake in the Dail is simply ‘unacceptable’ The Government suffered a scare when a vote on holding an immediate byelection in Donegal South West ended in a tie after two Fianna Fail TD’s voted with the opposition Frank Fahey and Timmy Dooley claim they pushed the wrong

Donegal Councillor Jimmy Harte has confirmed he’s joining the Labour Party today. He is in Dublin for a meeting with party leader Eamon Gilmore this morning, at which he’ll sign the necessary documentation to join the party. He’ll then be unveiled by Mr Gilmore as the latest in a number of high profile figures to

A jury in the Central Criminal Court trial of a Donegal man accused of raping a woman who was too sick to resist after a party in the county is expected to retire to consider their verdict today. The man has pleaded not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting the woman in a house in

Deputy  James McDaid has taken 11 minutes in the Dail to lay the blame at the door of some sections of the media for fuelling public opinion and paranoia on the issue of the Ministerial Pension. Speaking last night Dr McDaid once again stated that he will only give up his ministerial pension, which he

As County Manager Michael Mc Loone nears the end of his tenure, he says he wants his successor to continue pursuing change in the council. He says one of his central aims has been to make services more streamlined, and ensure that efficiencies are implemented across the board. However, speaking to Highland Radio News at

A Sinn Fein motion seeking to have the writ moved for the Donegal South West by-election has been defeated on the casting vote of Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk. The vote, which was declared just after twenty past six this evening, was 76 for and 76 against, and as is traditional, the chair went with the

Pre-Christian skeletal remains which went missing after being found in Gweedore at the weekend have been recovered. It’s emerged an unidentified person removed them because he was concerned about people in the area. Other items, reportedly found in the same area, have also been returned. Caroline Carr, from the Donegal Museum, confirmed they recieved the

Plans for a supermarket, petrol station, a six screen cinema, a hotel, office blocks and a healthcare facility to be built in Derry have been lodged with the planning service. It’s claimed the development will create thousands of jobs. Applicant GSB Guernsey Trading Limited, which is part of the Orana Group, proposes to site the

A 20-year-old man described as “the mastermind” behind a two month-long series of burglaries was jailed today for six months. His 21-year-old driver was remanded for a Probation report and was told to pay almost €4,000 compensation before he is considered for a jail term or community service. Donegal District Court was told the burglar,

The owner of the so-called ‘Bog Hotel’ in Frosses has said he will run as an Independent in the Donegal South-West bye-election. Patsy Brogan, who recently overcame a court challenge by Donegal County Council to close the premises on planning grounds, says he believes he will win the seat vacated by Fianna Fails Pat ‘The

Donegal Airport and the City of Derry Airport are to remain closed today until at least midnight. Flights at Belfast International and City Airports are to be grounded from 1 o’clock today until further notice. Dublin airport will be restricted from 11 o’clock until at least midnight tonight, and no flights will travel through the

Sinn Féin will place a motion before the Dáil this afternoon instructing the Ceann Comhairle to call the by-election for Donegal South West, to fill the seat made vacant by Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher in June of last year. It’s expected both Fine Gael and Labour will support the move. It will be the second

FIne Gael’s introducing legislation in the Dáil later aimed at forcing the last two TD’s to hand back their Ministerial pensions. The main opposition party says it would remove the pension entitlement from all serving members of the Oireachtas. But the Government says Fine Gael’s proposed bill is unconstitutional. All of Fine Gael’s TD’s and

A cousin of a 30-year-old woman who alleges she was raped in a house in Donegal three years ago said she warned the accused not to go near their bedrooms. On day three of the trial, the 28-year-old woman gave evidence at the Central Criminal Court that she noticed a “man wearing a navy striped

Representatives of wind farm developments in Donegal are set to mount a legal challenge to what they say are outrageous charges by local authorities for establishing windfarms in the country. A team of experts is set to take a test case in the courts in Co Donegal later this month, arguing that rates on wind

Plans to build a state-of-the-art data centre at Bridgend – which could generate hundreds of new high-tech jobs – are at a very advanced stage. It’s understood that plans to build a ‘tier four’ data centre at Bridgend, will be revealed within weeks. It will link up with the Project Kelvin telehouse in Derry to

Management at the ‘Keith Prowse’ call centre in Lisfannon, Buncrana are expected to release a statement tomorrow on speculation that a number of job losses are imminent. According to today’s ‘Inish Times’ up to 20 jobs could be lost. Keith Prowse is a ticketing call centre based in Lisfannon, handling ticket sales for a number

Funding haas been secured for an additional classroom at the Little Angels Special School, Letterkenny. Donegal North East Deputy Niall Blaney says he’s received confirmation of the allocation from Tanaiste and Education Minister Mary Coughlan. He says Department officials will be in touch with the school shortly to discuss how the project can be advanced.

The Donegal Live event showcasing the best of what Donegal has to offer as a holiday destination was launched in Dublin today. It will take place in Dublin on the 16th of this month. Donegal Live aims to make the county the number one choice for people choosing a “staycation” this year. The exhibition will

Final figures for 2009 show that the property tax introduced on holiday homes last year earned 30million euro more than first expected. The 200 euro levied on people with more than one property yielded in excess of 68 million euro. Donegal County Council was one of the top earners taking in just over 3 million

It has been confirmed that Irish Airspace will reopen this afternoon from 1pm. The Irish Aviation Authority had imposed restrictions because a dense plume of Icelandic volcanic ash travelling across the island. A number of flights were cancelled including those scheduled in and out of Donegal and City of Derry airports. However in the last

An appeal has been launched following the disappearance of skeletal remains at a quarry in West Donegal over the weekend. The remains were discovered following a search that was prompted by the discovery of other remains in sand that had originated from the quarry in Gweedore. The remains, thought to date back thousands of years,

National news papers continue to draw a link between Donegal Deputy James McDaid’s lack of attendance in the Dail and his refusal so far to give up his ministerial pension. A study by the Irish Independent today shows that Deputy McDaid had by far the worst Dail attendance record for 2009 despite being paid a

It has been predicted that a new Inishowen initiative could potentially save business millions of euro and boost job creation. Inishowen INC has launched the new Initiative which is unique to Ireland, they are calling on all business, farming and community groups to sign up to boost the peninsula’s buying power. According to the group

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has informed Irish-based airlines that it will be imposing restriction on all flights in and out of Ireland from 0700hrs local until 1300hrs  Tuesday, 4th May 2010. This is due to risk of ash ingestion in aircraft engines. Ireland falls within the predicted area of ash concentrations that exceed acceptable

It has been revealed today that the Education Department has spent more than €500,000 renting a building from an uncle of the Tanaiste and Education Minister Mary Coughlan. The Donegal Education Centre in Donegal town, one of only three such centres in the country that is being leased, has cost taxpayers €90,000 every year for

An online campaign has been launched calling on Donegal Deputy Dr James McDaid to give up his ministerial pension. The facebook campaing already has the support of almost 600 people. So far, neither Deputy McDaid or MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher, have opted to give up the ministerial pension. Both are said to be mulling

A Catholic family has told the BBC they are being forced to abandon their Derry home after a series of sectarian attacks. They said their house  near Drumahoe had been targeted in attacks stretching back over 13 years. At the weekend, a group of up to 20 youths threw four petrol bombs at their home

The introduction of a “clocking in” system in Leinster House is not encouraging our TDs to turn up for work. The Sunday Times reports that in the two weeks immediately after it was brought in, just 17 of the 166 TDs reported for work every day. However, Monday and Friday are non-sitting days. Former Defence

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has accused the government of ignoring the jobs crisis and failing the 435,000 people out of work. In a May Day statement, Congress General Secretary David Begg says the entire apparatus of Government seems ‘transfixed’ by the banking crisis. The annual May Day rally saw protestors march from Parnell

Aer Arann have shelved plans to operate new routes from City of Derry Airport. Earlier this year the airline announced it would begin flights from Derry to Manchester and Edinburgh from the 20th of May. However Aer Arran announced that the services were being suspended because demand for the routes had been very poor with

Police in Derry says they are investigating two separate petrol bomb attacks in the city Two houses and a business premises have been attacked Police say a crowd of up to 20 youths were present when four petrol bombs were thrown at homes in Conway Park at 11 o’clock last night. Around the same time,

The HSE has acknowledged that Donegal could lose out in a re-organisation of out of hours GP services, but is stressing that no decisions have been taken. There are two centres fielding calls in the Western region, one in Galway, the other in Letterkenny. It’s understood the review recommends closing of one of them, and

The government is being urged to rethink its carbon taxes which come into effect tomorrow morning, the First of May. Donegal North East TD Joe McHugh is particularly anxious that the tax on farm diesel be dropped. He says the tax is being introduced at the beginning of the summer, when farm machinery is busiest,

Senator Cecilia Keavney is calling on the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and other agencies to come to Inishowen and meet with local represenitives and the business community. She says she wrote to the IDA asking for an update on what efforts are being made to promote Foreign Direct Investment in Inishowen, and was offered a briefing