Author name: oisinkelly

There is a crisis of conscience and conduct in the Church. That’s the view of Poet Seamus Heaney. The Derry born Nobel Laureate says the lay church will have to come more to the fore in the future, but significant change, particularly in areas such as education, will be slower than is hoped for. Dr. […]

The first crucial votes to pass Budget Twenty-Ten passed in the Dáil last night. These reduced the price of drink and hiked up petrol and diesel. Tanaiste Mary Coughlan says the reversing of last year’s half a percent VAT increase and the reduction in excise duties on alcohol will prove very important in Donegal and

Figures obtained by Sinn Fein show that outside of the main populated areas Donegal has by far the largest amount of VEC grant application outstanding. As of the end of last month 1,360 new applications had yet to be processed by Donegal VEC just behind Cork and Dublin. The figures were release in the same

There will be no council backed free parking in Buncrana as was suggested to encourage people to do their Christmas shopping in the town. Councillor Michael Grant had made the suggestion but withdrew his motion at last nights town council meeting following advice from council officials.

Public Service Pay Cuts of more than €1bn in the public service pay bill. There will be pay cuts across the public sector from January 1, starting at 5% for those earning below €30,000 a year. There will be cuts of 7.5% on the next €40,000 and 10% on the next €55,000 after that. Public

The Western Development Commission says with less than 1,000 days to go to the start of the 2012 olympics in London, there are major opportunities for North West businesses to tender for contracts. Seven of the major construction contracts went to Irish firms, while at the other end of the scale, almost three-quarters of the

Omagh Councillor and local GP Dr Josephine Deehan has said society failed the McElhill family who died in a fire in Omagh two years ago. The SDLP representitive says while no-one wanted to believe the reports that circulated in the aftermath of the blaze in November 2007, the inquest has shown them to be true.

A senior garda in Donegal says an ongoing probe into stolen tractors and other machinery has the potential to become a much bigger investigation. Inspector Pat O’Donnell was speaking after another tractor was recovered in Donegal yesterday. The vehicle had been stolen in the North some weeks ago. Inspector O’Donnell says yesterday’s recovery was made

€51,000,000 has been raised from the Government’s 200 euro tax on second homes, just over €2,020,000 of it in Donegal. The Irish Times says more than 14 hundred people with more than 10 houses each have paid the levy. Around 98,500 people have paid for just one house each.

The Court of Criminal Appeal is expected to rule next week if a Co Donegal priest can have his appeal against his conviction for raping a teenage parishioner in a church sacristy more than 20 years ago determined by the Supreme Court. In the appeal, 49 year old Fr Daniel Doherty of Carrigart argued that

Buncrana Town Council is being asked to waive parking charges in the run up to Christmas, in an effort to boost trade in the town. Prize draw initiatives are already in place for Ballyshannon, Bundoran and the Twin Towns, with Councillor Michael Grant saying while any initiative would be welcome, Buncrana should go one step

Public sector pay cuts, slashing social wefare and a new carbon tax will feature in budget 2010 later. The Finance Minister is set to deliver one of the toughest budgets in decades in the Dáil this afternoon. Four billion euro in savings is Brian Lenihan’s target for this budget. A third of that from public

The girlfriend of a Derry man who was shot dead in front of her at their Waterside home has said that whoever did it ‘should not be walking the streets.’ Jennifer Cowley was speaking after the inquest into the fatal shooting of 28-year-old doorman Bryan McGlynn on June 3 2007. The inquest heard that Mr.

Convicted sex offender Arthur McElhill killed himself and his family in a house fire in Omagh, Co Tyrone, because his partner threatened to leave him, Northern Ireland coroner Suzanne Anderson ruled today. Arthur McElhill, Lorraine McGovern and their five children died in the blaze at Lammy Crescent in 2007. He had been having sex with

As final preparations are put in place for tomorrow’s budget, speculation is focussing on how independent and non-aligned TDs will vote, with aignificant attention being paid to what Donegal North East TD Dr James Mc Daid will do. Taoiseach Brian Cowen is today meeting with former Progressive Democrat TD Noel Grealish to secure his support

Two Letterkenny men have expanded their business into Northern Ireland, with the launch of self retail website flogitni.com in Derry. Paddy Farren and John Mc Namara say the flogitdonegal.com website has been a huge success since it was launched just uinder ten months ago. Since it opened in March, the Donegal website has had 1

The North’s Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy has announced that three contracts have been awarded for three different sections of the A5 Dual Carriageway Route. It’s intended that work will start after a public enquiry in 2011, but Mr Murphy says he wantas to ensure that the contractors are ready as soon as the final

A man suspected of killing himself and his family in a house fire in Omagh was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl, an inquest has heard today. Arthur McElhill, his partner Lorraine McGovern and their five children all died after he doused their terraced home in Lammy Crescent, Omagh, with petrol and white

Donegal Gardai and the PSNI have launched their joint Anti Drink Driving Campaign, which will continue until the end of the christmas period. The launch took place at Lifford Bridge, with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group saying it demonstrates the continued collaboration between the two forces, particularly in the enforcement of Drink Driving legislation.

PSNI officers were attacked while dealing with two security alerts in the Creggan area of Derry last night. Between 40 and 50 people threw petrol bombs and other missiles after police and army bomb officers were called after a pipe bomb was thrown through the window of a car on Circular Road at around 8.30.

Tourism Ireland will today brief industry representitives from Donegal on its plans to restore overseas tourism to growth next year. However, the event at the Mill Park Hotel could prove confrontational, with the head of North West Tourism claiming last week that previous initiatives have not worked for Donegal, and the industry here is losing

The Union of Students in Ireland has condemned a letter sent to students at Letterkenny Institute of Technology threatening sanctions if a portion of their registration fees is not paid this week. The letter demands that €500 of the outstanding fees be paid by the end of this week. Many students are still awaiting the

Gardai will attend a public meeting in the Carrigans and St Johnston Resource Centre this evening to discuss crime in the area and what measures can be adopted to prevent it. Previous meetings were not attended by gardai, and their decision to attend tonight has been welcomed by local councillor Frank Mc Brearty, who will

A woman in her twenties has died following a two car collision on the Glenshane Road near Maghera in County Derry. The car she was driving collided with another car near a petrol stationshprtly after 7 o’clock last night. A woman who was driving the other car was taken to hospital, but her injuries are

Stranorlar area Councillor Cora Harvey has described the housing crisis in the Stranorlar Electoral Area as totally unacceptable, and says that urgent action needs to be taken. Cllr Harvey has requested a meeting with the County Manager in a bid to address some of the problems being faced by the Housing Section team in the

The annual Apprentice Boys Lundy’s Day commemeration is underway with an estimatyed two and a half thousand marchers and 30 bands making their way through the city centre. The celebrations will culminate in the burning of an effigy of the traitor Lundy later today. Police are maintaining a presence along the route, and have erected

Donegal Senator Brian O’Domhnaill has called on the heads of Irish Universities and third level colleges to come before the Oireachtas Education Committee to explain reported discrepancies in the use of the student registration fee by colleges. Senator O’Domhnaill, the Government Spokesperson for Life Long Learning in the Seanad, says it’s emerged that colleges are

A group has succeeded in breaking the World Record for the most trees planted on one site, in one hour. The bid took place at Western Health Trust land at Gransha Park this morning. The target was to plant 23,000 trees, the actual number planted was 26,400.

The number of redundancies in Donegal has doubled this year. There were 1,275 redundancies in Donegal between January and November, compared to 634 over the same period last year, a rise of 101%. That’s slightly above the national average.

The Solis Lough Eske Hotel has been named the World’s top luxury Country hotel. It was also shortlisted for the The Luxury Spa Hotel and Luxury Hotel awards, which were won by hotels in Thailand and the Maldives. The hotel near Donegal Town was restored from a ruined castle just two years ago.

Despite a nationwide increase of 30% in those waiting over three months for a test that will tell them if they have bowel cancer, the number at Letterkenny General has actually fallen. The Irish Cancer Society says November figures show that over 800 people are waiting over three months for a colonoscopy which is the

The PSNI has warned troublemakers to stay away from the annual Lundy’s Day parade in Derry tomorrow or they will face “robust action”. Up to three thousand people are expected in the city for the Apprentice Boys of Derrys’ parade which commemorates the Siege of Derry. The parade is one of the main events in

With just a few weeks to go before Christmas a Glenties area councillor has urged those facing financial difficulty to not fall prey to moneylenders or loan sharks. Marie Therese Gallagher says loan shark’s interest rates are extortionate and they can often be violent. Even legal moneylenders can offer loans based on APRs of as

Donegal Deputy Dr James McDaid has indicated that he will follow through with a threat to vote against the government as early as in next weeks budget. Dr McDaid, who feels he is superfluous to Fianna Fail following an acrimonious local meeting, says he will not back the budget if it includes 12 days unpaid

EirGrid, the operator of the national grid, will brief major stakeholders in Letterkenny today on their planned €750 million investment in electricity infrastructure in the North West region. The 750 million euro investment is part of the Grid25 strategy. Earlier this year permission was granted for a controversial overhead network of cable to support a

SDLP leader Mark Durkan is to contest the Foyle seat in the next general election. Mr Durkan, the sitting MP in the constituency, was selected as the party’s Westminster candidate at a convention in Derry yesterday. He will stay on as leader until the party’s annual conference in February. Mr Durkan, who is 49, replaced

The head of North West Tourism has claimed that Donegal has been failed by Tourism Ireland as anything they have tried to do to attract visitors here hasn’t worked. Paul McLoone was speaking after Tourism Ireland confirmed plans to spend around a million euro each month next year to woo British holidaymakers to Ireland. Mr

Following a meeting with the Finance Minister Donegal North East Deputy Niall Blaney says he has received no guarantees from him that VAT will be reduced in next weeks budget. Deputy Blaney met with businesses representatives last month during which he heard calls for government action on VAT rates and the general cost of doing

Simply Red musicians Mick Hucknall and Christ De Margary have clashed with a neighbour in Ballybofey over fishing and shooting rights on adjoining estates. Lead singer Hucknall and saxplayer De Margary claimed in Letterkenny Circuit Court that their neighbour John Wilde interfered with their rights and those of their guests on the Glenmore Estate at

Gardaí in Milford are seeking the public’s assistance in relation to a two vehicle road traffic collision which occurred at Dunlewey, Co. Donegal on 13th September 2009 at approximately 3.10pm. The collision involved two vehicles a red Toyota Carina and a black Toyota Celica. A 66 year old man died in Letterkenny General Hospital on

It’s emerged that an Inishowen couple endured a nightmare minibus journey to Dublin with the body of their dead infant last month, because there are no qualified paediatric pathologists in Donegal. The two week baby died in his sleep on the 25th of November, but because neither of the two pathologists in Donegal are qualified

A group set up in the North West to help homeowners at risk of losing their home says it shouldn’t be left up to the mortgage lender alone to decide on the future of a family’s house. Thousands of people across the country are now in mortgage arrears with many facing the prospect of home

An Oireachtas Committee has been told that proposals to amalgamate Community Development Programmes and the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme into a single partnership board would have a massive impact on community initiatives. Senator Pearse Doherty told the combined Arts, Sports, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs committee that there are nine CDPs in Donegal,

The impact of the recession on people with disability is being discussed at a workshop in the Ramada Encore hotel in Letterkenny this afternoon. Today is International Day of People with a Disability, and the campaign group People with Disabilities in Ireland is hosting the event, which all disabled people and their families are being

The expenses of Government Ministers are back in the spotlight this morning, with the focus on Tanaiste and Enterprise Minister Mary Coughlan. It’s emerged that the Tanáiste clocked up a 9-thousand euro bill to keep a chauffeur on standby at the World Trade Organisation talks in Switzerland. According to this morning’s Irish Independent, Minister Coughlan’s

Donegal has the state’s third highest level of car imports from the North and Great Britain at almost 4,400, with only Dublin and Cork importing more. Figures released by motorcheck.ie show that new car sales in Donegal have fallen by 57% since the beginning of the year, while imports have fallen by only 7%. This

Sentencing has been deferred in the case of a Donegal Town based Libyan teenager who threatened to follow an employee of the Refugee Reception and Integration Office home and burn down her house after his request for accommodation was refused. Hisham Ali Saad became frustrated and overwhelmed at the asylum system following his arrival in

A family group of five from Co Donegal has collected a EuroMillions PLUS win of €500,000 from last Friday’s draw. The group wishes to keep their win private, and are not revealing where they are from. However, the National Lottery is confirming the winning €12 Quick Pick ticket was bought at the Esso Service Station,

A woman who runs The Happy Matchmaker dating agency refused to give a dissatisfied client files for court proceedings, it was claimed today. Happy Matchmaker boss Mary Mitchell of Ballintra, Co. Donegal, has been accused of failing to check out men introduced to Annemarie McBrearty.. Ms McBrearty is suing Ms Mitchell for €6,348.99 for negligence,