Author name: oisinkelly

Former chief constable Hugh Orde and former Policing Board chairman Desmond Rea head the list of distinguished figures to be honoured by the University of Ulster today The two will receive honorary degrees at the university’s Magee Campus in Derry. Both men will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws while Degrees will be […]

Newly published figures show that almost half of children born in Donegal in the first half of last year were to unmarried parents. The figures from the Central Statistics Office cover Janaury to June of 2009, in that period 1,156 children were born –  there were 10% more male babies born than female. The statistics

A Donegal man has been convicted of anally raping a 15-year-old girl and having sex with the same teenager two years ago. The 23-year-old accused, who can not be identified for legal reasons, had pleaded not (NOT) guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, anal rape and defilement of the girl on a date

A Derry man who admitted burgling a house in the city on Wednesday appeared in court today with visible injuries to his face which he alleged were caused by the householder who detained him. Ciaran Carr (24) of Cornshell Fields in the city appeared at the local Magistrate’s Court with a black eye and other

Councillor Terence Slowey has called on Donegal County Council to do more of its project consultancy in house after he was furnished with figures outlining the millions the council has paid out recently. Between 2005 and 2009 the council has spent 42 million euro on consultancy fees for water, roads and other infrastructural projects. Councillor

The Dail has been told there are currently 468 gardai deployed in Donegal, with 181 of these assigned to the Letterkenny Garda District. The figures are contained in the answer to a question posed by Deputy Dinny Mc Ginley, who has also met recently with the garda commissioner. He’s calling for extra Gardai to be

Almost 100 new jobs are being created by Seagate in the North, 85 of them at the company’s Springtown base in Derry. During a visit to the plant today, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster announced two Research and Development investments, totalling almost £60 million. Invest Northern Ireland has offered £12.7million towards the total cost of these

A Donegal man has been convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old girl two years ago. The 23-year-old accused, who can not be identified for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to two counts of rape, and defilement of the girl on a date in February 2008. Last evening, the

Tomorrow is the last day for nominations for this year’s Enterprising Donegal Business Awards, with businesses in the county being urged to submit entries. The award ceremony on March 12th will mark the culmination of the County Enterprise Boards Enterprising Donegal Week, with spiokesperson Ursula Donnelly saying that a lot of Donegal businesses are punching

After six months of discussions, the EU and Norway have reached agreement on mackerel fishing arrangements which are being welcomed by the Donegal fleet. Speaking after the conclusion of the talks, Fisheries Minister Tony Killeen expressed relief that a ten year deal has been reached which will put the mackerel fishey on a more stable

There’s been condemnation of the shooting of a Derry businessman at his city centre shop. 52 year old Raymond Coyle was shot in Red Star in Waterloo Street, which sells substances referred to as “legal highs”. His family believe that is the reason he was targetted, but deny that he had been warned against selling

New rules which give cross border recognition to driving disqualifications come into force today, on foot of an agreement between ministers in the Republic, the North and Britian. Under the new rules, Northern or British drivers disqualified for serious motoring offences in the Republic will no longer escape punishment when they cross the border, and

Two minor earthquakes have been measured in Donegal, one just before 9 o’clock last night, and the other just before 8 o’clock this morning. The slight tremors, which measured 1.5 and 1.7 on the richter scale were felt in Fanad and Inishowen. They follow another minor quake in the county on January 7th, which measured

A meeting will take place at Donegal County Council’s headquarters next week between council officials and engineers from the OPW to identify how best to prevent future flooding in Raphoe. The issue was raised in the Seanad last night by Senator Brian O’Domhnaill, who called for commitments to be given on funding a flood prevention

Despite a date having yet been set for a by-election in Donegal South West to replace MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher the list of candidates continues to grow. Senator Pearse Doherty is expected to contest for Sinn Fein, Frank McBrearty for Labour, Fine Gael select their candidate next month while Fianna Fail have yet to

There are calls for Donegal County Council to get its fair share of the 300 million euro announced this week by the environment minister for replacing water mains around the country. Water issues were high on the agenda at this week’s meeting of Donegal County Council. Councillor Core Harvey highlighted the plight of 25 homes

The campaign group University for Derry is welcoming what is says is a positive offer by the University of Ulster to enter into a partnership approach to the development and expansion of the Magee campus. According to U4D, recent statements from the University of Ulster demonstrate a realisation of the need for co-operation with all

Over a year after the disappearance of Dr Deidre Donnelly O’Flaherty gardai have made a national appeal for information. The Strabane women’s abandoned car was found close to the holiday home she owned in Culdaff. Dr O’Flaherty, married woman with three children, went missing on the morning of Sunday January 11th 2009. The married mother

There has been strong condemnation of what is being described as a surge in graffiti in the Castlederg area. The graffiti is said to range from the vulgar to the sectarian with a number of public and private properties being targeted. Ulster Unionist Derg Councillor Derek Hussey says the graffiti serves no purpose other than

Gardai are warning of severe traffic delays on the road between Castlefinn and Crossroads following a collision shortly before 5 o’clock. The road is being used as a diversion because of road works on the main road, and gardai say as a result, delays of up to half an hour are being experienced. So far,

A new report’s recommending a shake-up of garda rosters that would see more officers on the beat. The Head of the Garda Inspectorate Kathleen O’Toole says rosters were last negotiated in the 1970s and will have to change. However, the Garda Representitive Association says it will not cooperate with any attempt to being in new

The HSE has confirmed that Letterkenny General Hospital is now free from the winter vomitting bug, and all visiting restrictions have been lifted. We would like to emphasise that members of the public should confine visiting to the official visiting times which are 2.30pm to 4pm and 6.30pm to 8pm. Children under 14 years of

The full extent of the job losses incurred at Donegal County Council has been revealed with a considerable amount of jobs to be lost this year. The problems facing the council and the restructing of its services have also been highlighted given the current strike action being undertaken by staff. In a report to council

Five million euro of tax payers money is set to literally wash away following the government’s indication that it is withdrawing its support for the Greencastle Harbour Project. That is according to Labour Councillor Martin Farren who says the decision is a major blow for Greencastle and could leave its harbour in a very dangerous

A Donegal member of the board of Udaras na Gaeltachta says there is no question of the future of the authority being under threat. Senator Brian O’Domhnaill was speaking after the publication of Udaras’s annual report for 2009, which showed 204 jobs were created in Donegal  but 225 jobs lost, a net loss of just

A young Donegal man has claimed at the Central Criminal Court that he had sex with a teenage girl who is accusing his friend of rape weeks before the alleged incident. Under cross-examination from prosecuting counsel, the man denied that he had been called in “like the cavalry” to rescue his friend in a “cynical

Sinn Fein is refuting in the strongest terms claims that the Republican Movement used Donegal as a “dumping ground” for sex offenders within its ranks. The claim was made by a spokesperson for the Belfast Rape Crisis centre in yesterday’s ‘Donegal on Sunday’ newspaper. Senator Pearse Doherty says these claims are part of a wider

It’s emerged that Udaras na Gaeltachta sustained a net loss of 21 jobs in Donegal last year. The figure is contained in the authority’s annual report, which has just been published. A total of 204 new jobs were created in the Donegal Gaeltacht in 2009. When job losses are taken into account, overall employment declined

It seems the governments involvement in the Greencastle Harbour Project is coming to an end.Concerns were raised earlier this month when the government said only 104,000 euro would be made available for the 35,000,000 euro project this year.  It was confirmed at today’s council meeting that to date 8,000,000 euro has been spent on constructing

There were heated exchanges in the council chamber this afternoon when the issue of the Stranorlar Leisure Centre was raised. Councillor Martin Harley raised the subject calling on the local authority to increase efforts to progress the project – however the ensuing debate soon turned to farce when a round of name calling erupted. Commenting

The Labour Relations Commission has been asked to intervene in major industrial action due to get underway across the public sector today. More than 300 thousand teachers, nurses and members of IMPACT and the Craft group of unions are staging a work-to-rule in protest at Government pay cuts in December’s Budget. Meanwhile the IMPACT union

The SDLP are moving a motion in the assembly today calling the Executive to implement the Bain report recommendations of decentralising government jobs as a matter of urgency. The motion will be moved by Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tommy Gallagher and Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey. Mr Gallagher, the SDLP’s Western Development spokesperson,  says as

Critical talks are being held in Belfast and London today to determine the future of the Northern Assembly. At Stormont, the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will hold an urgent meeting with DUP leader Peter Robinson. While the British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach meet at Downing Street to try and break the deadlock over

The RNLI has released figures for 2009 which show there were 78 call outs in Donegal last year, with 69 people rescued. The organisation is preparing for a major fundraising drive, and is emphasising the fact that it’s totally funded by members of the public. On Saturday morning, Arranmore Lifeboat had its first call out

The government is to unveil plans to upgrade Ireland’s water system. 300 million euro is being slated for the project, but that’s all expected to be allocated from within existing budgets. Some homes in Donegal, Dublin and Clare are still suffering the after effects of the bad weather which saw frozen and burst pipes play

The Rape Crisis Centre in Belfast is accusing the Republican Movement of using Donegal as a “dumping ground” for sex offenders within its ranks. The claim is made by a spokesperson for the centre in today’s Donegal on Sunday. Spokesperson Eileen Calder says one high profile republican, who allegedly raped a young child, subsequently became

A teenager who alleges she was raped by a Donegal man when she was 15-years-old has denied that she had sex with one of the man’s friends a week before the alleged attack. The 23-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, and defilement of the girl on a date

The Bishop of Raphoe Dr Philip Boyce has denied there is any cover up of abuse in the diocese. In an RTE interview, Sean O’Conaill of Voice of the Faithful Ireland discussed the Irish Bishops’ acknowledgement of a “a widespread culture of covering abuse”, and in the course of that discussion, he expressed ongoing concerns

It’s emerged that that two cross-border bodies could be targetted for cuts totalling over £2 million as part of a rationalisation being discussed by the Stormont executive. SDLP leader and Foyle MP says Tourism Ireland may have its budget cut by £1 million, and Inter-Trade Ireland by £1.6 million. He says this flies in the

The Arranmore Lifeboat has carried out its first rescue of 2010. At 6 o’clock this morning, the lifeboat was called out to a French trawler 18 miles west of Arranmore after a crew member on the trawler was injured in an accident. The crew reached the trawler at 7.20am, and brought the casualty to Burtonport,

The County Manager Micheal McLoone is to meet local union representatives to discuss how their planned strike action will effect council services. Trade unions have informed served notice on public Sector employers across Donegal that from Monday its members will be engaging in a campaign of severe and wide ranging industrial action activity. As part

A 20-year-old Derry man who admitted shining a laser pen at a police helicopter was told today that he faced the possibility of a ‘lengthy custodial sentence.’ Patrick White of Old School Lane in Derry pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft on April 24 last year. According to reports prepared on White he had told

The former head of Donegal VEC, Sean O’Longan,  has been reacting to his appointment to the  new board of FAS saying his is looking forward to the challenge. Tánaiste Mary Coughlan yesterday unveiled a new 11-member board which also includes Margaret Sweeney, an accountant originally from Kilcar. Ms. Coughlan said along with new legislation it

A new guide has been launched for front line staff at Letterkenny General Hospital to help them better deal with people from backgrounds to different their own. The “Health Services Intercultural Guide” was developed by the HSE in response to the needs of the diverse religious communities and cultures now present in Donegal. The guide

IMPACT has served notice on Public Sector employers    across Donegal that from Monday its members will be engaging in a campaign of severeand wide ranging industrial action activity. As part of a nationwide programme of action against cuts in pay introduced by the government,  union members will refuse to work outside their contractual employment. One