Author name: oisinkelly

Detailed plans have been published in Derry today for the development of a new shared education campus on former military lands at Clooney. At a function in the city this morning, Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie and Education Minister Caitríona Ruane today confimed the lands will house new, purpose built facilities for Foyle and Londonderry […]

The Donegal Meats Plant in Carrigans is to relocate its boning hall to one of the company’s plants in Northern Ireland, with the loss of up to 75 jobs. It’s anticipated the move will be complete within eight weeks. Siptu’s Donegal Secretary Martin O’Rourke says this is a regretable move, as the skills of the

Donegal’s Public Arts Office has announced a unique six month programme to promote traditional music among young people in West Donegal. Altan, who are celebrating their 25th Anniversary, have been appointed “musicians in residence” at second level schools in the Glenties Electoral Area from now until July. Altan will perform and talk to students at

The north west of northern Ireland still has the highest percentage rate of unemployment According to the latest government figures, almost 7,000 people are out of work in the two council areas of Derry and Strabane. Derry MLA Pat Ramsey has been responding to the figures. He says while much talk from politicians in the

The Seanad has heard calls for Cancer services to be returned to Sligo General Hospital with claims that the move to Galway last year has been detrimental to patients. The issue was raised by Senator Pearse Doherty, who claimed that since Cancer services were transferred from Sligo to Galway, people from South Donegal and Sligo

The HSE’s Local Health Manager in Donegal says he believes mental health services in the county are set to significantly improve. John Hayes was speaking at the signing of a contract for a new acute psychiatric unit at Letterkenny General Hospital, almost six years after the facility was first announced. Mr Hayes says the new

Sinn Fein has been accused of jumping on the band wagon and playing populist politics, in raising questions over the cost to the county council of sending a delegation overseas this St Patrick’s day. Councillor Padraig MacLoughlainn says his party will not support the council’s St Patrick’s Day trip unless it can be proven to

The fire service has tackled an overnight fire in Killygordon. A spokesperson says the brigade was called at ten past one this morning, to find an outhouse at the rear of a dwelling ablaze. The fire spread to part of the main house, causing some fire and smoke damage. There was no-one in the building

The HSE will this afternoon sign the Contract for the long awaited new Psychiatric Admission Unit at Letterkenny General Hospital. The development will incorporate intensive care beds, observation beds and day facilities. The contract signing comes several years after the new unit was first announced, with the service housed in a temporary unit in the

The three year old boy who died after he was struck by a bin lorry at Ballymacool Woods in Letterkenny yesterday has been named locally as Patrick Mc Donagh. It’s understood he had been playing with his twin sister outside his home when the tragedy occurred shortly before noon. A nurse who was at the

Donegal County Council will next week hear calls for a full review of the council’s annual expenditure on overseas trips to see if it represent value for money for the county. On Monday councillors will be asked to sign off on St Patrick’s day trips which Sinn Fein claims normally cost in the region of

The Mayor of Letterkenny says more needs to be done to highlight the twinning arrangement between Letterkenny and Elizabethtown in the US. Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania was home to the Klein Chocolate company, now owned by Mars, and is regarded as the birthplace of M&Ms. According to CDllr Jim Lynch, the links between the two towns reflect

A 3 year old boy has been killed in a road traffic incident in Letterkenny. The child was killed in a collision involving a truck in a cul-de-sac in the Ballymcool area at 11.40am this morning. The toddler was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Gardai are appealing for anyone who

Long awaited building works at Bunbeg National Schools are to begin this year. The school is the only one ion the county cleared to go to construction in the 2010 school building programme announced this afternoon by Education Minister Batt O’Keefe. Concerns had been expressed about the safety of the school – currenty there is

Gardaí say they have completed their inquiry into the death of a Strabane man who was found dead outside his apartment in Mullingar yesterday morning. They say they are not seeking to question anyone in relation to the death following a post mortem this morning. The body of Anthony Kelly was found in the hallway

A 20-year-old Derryman has appeared at the local Magistrate’s Court charged with throwing petrol bombs during disturbances following the annual Apprentice Boys parade in the city on August. Stephen Aaron McFadden of Foyle Park was charged with possessing petrol bombs, throwing them and riotous behaviour on August 8 2009. A solicitor told the court he

A 3 year old boy has been killed in a road traffic incident in Letterkenny. It is understood the child was killed in an incident involving a truck in a cul-de- sac in the Ballymcool area at 11.40am this morning. The toddler was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Gardai are

Buncrana Town Council is to throw its weight behind Derry City Council’s bid to have the city declared European City of Culture in 2013. The issue was raised by Cllr Peter Mc Laughlin, who says given the ties between the two ties, Buncrana is well placed to benefit directly by hosting events, and also indirectly,

Letterkenny Town Council is seeking an urgent meeting with Bennett Construction to ask why the long promised Joe Bonner link road has not been completed. The new link will connect Pearse Road and Neil T Blaney Road, opening some land up for development. It was to have been constructed by Bennett as part of the

Councillor Barry O’Neill has been selected to contest the Donegal South West bye-election for Fine Gael. He defeated fellow Councillor Martin Harley to secure the nomination. A packed Highland’s Hotel last night heard a rallying call from party leader Enda Kenny who expressed his confidence that the party will be successful in the bye-election for

Donegal South West Fine Gael Selection convention Before local issues were allowed dominate proceedings this evening in Glenties the Fine Gael leader faced questions on a number of issues. Not least on his own leadership role within the party given recent events and a poor poll showing , but also on the ongoing public row between

The man – thought to be in his late 20’s or early 30’s, and originally from Strabane, was discovered in an apartment in Mullingar this morning. Gardai found the man’s body when they were called to an apartment on Grove Street in Mullingar at around 7.30 this morning. Originally from Strabane the man had been

A US-based Irish priest, who is accused of raping a 15-year-old boy in Donegal, has just 48 hours left to fight his extradition to Ireland to face abuse charges. For the past 18 months 82 year-old Fr Francis Markey  has been fighting the attempts by the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring him back to

Community allotments could soon be a reality in Letterkenny after the local town council decided this afternoon to progress the issue at its next meeting. A group has been established locally to progress the issue, and it has identified lands opposite the council offices on Neil T Blaney Road as the best possible site. A

Gardai are investigating a robbery of a so called head shop in Donegal Town. The front door of the shop were smashed in an attack in the early of Sunday morning. Those responsible stole ‘legal highs’ with an estimated value of 7,000 euro. It is the second head shop in the country targetted over the

Buncrana Town Council has been told that the development of a Centre of Excellence for the arts in the town could be a major boost for the town, and would contribute significantly to the economy, as well as bringing tourists and enhancing Buncrana’s reputation nationally and internationally. Artlink has received 570,000 euro from government, and

Minister Mary Hanafin has signalled that By-Elections in Donegal and Dublin are unlikely to take place before the end of the year Meanwhile, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny will be in Glenties this evening for the party’s Donegal South West selection convention. Two candidates are seeking the nomination, County Councillors Martin Harley from Stranorlar and

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has said the bye-elections for  Donegal South West and Dublin South will not be held until at least the ‘back end’ of the year. The bye-elections are required following the resignation of former Fine Gael TD George Lee and the election of Donegal South West TD Pat The

Counsel for Colm Murphy, who is accused of conspiracy in relation to the 1998 Omagh bomb which killed 29 people and injured more than 300 has applied for a direction that his client should be acquitted. Michael O’Higgins SC, submitted to the Special Criminal Court in Dublin that his client should be acquitted because of

SDLP Northlands councillor Mark H Durkan has said a third incident in as many days in the city shows the complete disregard dissidents have for the people of Derry. Mr Durkan labelled the latest -a controlled explosion on a suspicious van parked outside the courthouse at Bishop Street- as ‘sinister’. Mr Durkan said a number of homes

Interent search giant Google has added new high resolution satellite images covering parts of Ireland. Areas now covered include parts of east Cork, Kerry, Westmeath, Offaly, Longford, Meath, Monaghan, Donegal, Roscommon and Mayo. Many provincial towns are now visible in high resolution for the first time, it is understood were taken recently.

Derry’s city centre manager has described a dissedent republican threat to picket shops and schools which work with the police as un-welcome, and not reflective of what the people of the city want. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement said yesterday it would write to those with dealings with the PSNI warning that if they did

Army bomb disposal experts have carried out a controlled explosion on a van in Derry, with nothing found. The van was parked outside the courthouse at Bishop Street in the city, the alert began at 4.30 this morning, with a number of people evacuated from their homes. They have since returned. The road between Bishop

Letterkenny Councillor Gerry Mc Monagle has repeated calls for extra road safety measures on the road from Blacks Bridge to Killylastin. Cllr Mc Monagle was speaking after being contacted by residents in the Chestnut Grove area after a car went off the road last night at around 8 o’clock. There were no injuries. The car

A Donegal woman has called for so called ‘headshops’ to be banned claiming that products sold legally in such shops contributed to her brother’s death. Kathleen today described how her brother changed into an angry, selfish and self absorbed person after he gave up drink and started buying legal high’s from a head shop. A

Hardline republicans in Derry are planning to send letters to shops and businesses in the city urging them not to serve members of the PSNI. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has told the ‘Derry Journal’ it has drawn up a list of businesses and a number of schools in the city who deal with the

Buncrana District Council has pledged to support a new organisation aimed at preventing suicide in any way it can. BCCS, Buncrana Community Combatting Suicide made a presentation to members at their meeting this week. At the core of the presentation was an emotional talk from Janice Doherty, whose daughter Rachel took her own life 15

Donegal South West Deputy Dinny Mc Ginley has been told that money is to be invested in improving walkways and the restaurant at Glenveagh National Park this year. He was also told by Environment Minister John Gormley that Future investment will be considered in the context of a Management Plan for the park, with a

Buncrana Town Council has been told that legal action will be taken against people who have failed to pay parking fines in the town. There were 713 outstanding parking fines in Buncrana at the end of 2008, 500 of them relating to cars from Northern Ireland. The council was told that shortly, it will be

A judge who wanted to “send out a strong message” jailed a young man for one year yesterday for dangerous driving causing the deaths of a mother and daughter in Donegal in 2008. 21 year old Sean Goldrick of Dunlewey pleaded guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Court to causing the deaths of 45 year old Martina

Buncrana Town Council has been told that a solution is available to ease the problems that have plagued the Lough Swilly Lifeboat in recent years. A deputation from the RNLI told members this week that with an investment of up to 70,000 euro a year, shared by the town and county councils, and the RNLI,

The latest TNS/MRBI radio listnership figures have shown that Highland Radio continues to be the most listened to local radio station in the country. The figures, which cover the whole of 2009, show that Highland Radio’s listnership increased on weekdays and at weekends. During the week, of those that listen to radio, 68% tune into

A 43-year-old Nigerian man has been returned for trial to Derry Crown Court on child abduction charges. Victor Ibeyo with an address at Riverview, Letterkenny appeared at a Preliminary Enquiry at Derry Magistrate’s Court today . He was charged with on a date unknown between May 14 2009 and May 17 2009 abducting a female

Buncrana Town Council has been told that crucial repairs to Cockhill Bridge have been delayed for up to two months. Repairs were to have started last month but had to be postponed because the of severe weather over the new year has badly damaged the selected diversion route. More details in this report sent from

A Donegal property developer has pleaded guilty to a charge in connection with the death of a woman in an accident at a Letterkenny hotel in 2006. Hughie McGee of Dunree Construction pleaded guilty at letterkenny Circuit Court yesterday of failing to ensure that Mona Duffy was safe from risk at or around Gallagher’s Hotel,

The campaign group Alternative to Pylons is claiming that the government is planning to make Donegal a net exporter of electricity. The group believes that a 110 kilovolt line planned for the county is intended to take power out ather than stimulate investment by bringing it in. This week the Council was told that wind