Author name: oisinkelly

  Any industrial action by teachers over removing their vaccine priority won’t stop schools reopening immediately after the Easter break. A joint motion will be debated at the ASTI, TUI and INTO annual conferences, which start today. Teachers had expected to be among the first third of the population to get a dose until last

An infectious diseases specialist is hoping Covid-19 case numbers remain stable as some sectors reopen next week. The phased reopening of construction is set to begin on April 12th, while all remaining secondary students return to school on the same date. The five-day moving average of virus cases is 546. 260 patients are in hospital

Teacher unions say their members will consider strike action over the revised Covid-19 vaccine programme. The TUI and the ASTI are preparing emergency motions for discussion ahead of their annual conferences tomorrow. It’s believed the INTO is doing the same. It’s after the Government agreed last week to change the vaccination programme to an age-based

There’s been another night of unrest on the streets of Northern Ireland. Petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at police in loyalist areas in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. It comes after disorder in Newtownabbey on Saturday night, and rioting in the Sandy Row area of Belfast and Derry on Friday night. 27 officers were injured during

A lucky Highland Radio listener has won big this Easter weekend. Anna Carr from Carndonagh was the winner of a free entry into the Finn Harps Mega Easter Draw on Rory Farrell’s show on Saturday morning. And just last night Anna’s ticket was pulled out to win 1st prize, a Renault Clio in Finn Harps

Pope Francis has urged for the fair and speedy distribution of vaccines to developing nations in his Easter message. He delivered his Urbi et Orbi blessing to just 200 people at a socially-distanced ceremony in Rome. In a normal year a thousand would pack out St Peter’s Basilica for Easter Sunday mass — with over

There’s been another night of violence on the streets in Northern Ireland. Three cars were hijacked and set on fire in Newtonabbey, just outside Belfast. It comes after eight people were arrested and 27 police officers injured during riots in Belfast and Derry on Friday night. Police in Derry came under sustained attack on Friday

An intensive care consultant says the number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 won’t drop significantly until more people are vaccinated. There are 242 people in hospital with the virus, with 8 admissions in the last 24 hours. While there’s 58 patients in ICU. The rollout of the vaccination programme continues today, with people with

The Covid-19 variant found in the UK is impacting case numbers in EU member states, resulting in some countries implementing tighter restrictions. A curfew has been introduced in France, along with a ban on domestic travel as the country goes into another lockdown. Shona Murray, Europe Correspondent with Euronews, says the B117 variant is now

The RNLI and the Irish Coast Guard are appealing for swimmers to take extra care as the bright weather encourages people onto the beaches this weekend. They’re also asking people to take heed of the 5k rule and other Covid-19 restrictions. The RNLI’s Owen Medland says the water is cold, despite the recent warm weather,

Gardai are warning that frontline members could be ‘super-spreaders’ of Covid-19. The Garda Representative Association says it ‘beggars belief’ that NIAC believe they’re no more at risk than staff working from home. GRA President Frank Thornton says they’re meeting with NIAC on Tuesday in a bid to have the decision reversed.

A Donegal Deputy has hit out at the Government over delays in the implementation of the proposed senior accountability regime legislation. The Central Bank called for the legislation 3 years ago which if it comes to fruition would hold senior figures in financial entities to account. This week in the Dail Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe

There have been 8 additional Covid-19 deaths and 591 new confirmed cases. 4 of the deaths occurred in February and 4 in March. 25 of the cases are in Donegal. The county’s 14 day incidence rate stands at 286.4 cases per 100,000 people, the second highest figure in the country. There are 264 patients with

  Serious concern has been raised over alleged dog attacks in west Donegal. It’s claimed that there have been several incidents on beaches in the area where dogs who are not on a leash have snapped at other members of the public out walking. Local Cllr Michael Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig says the issue may result

  The Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland are issuing appeals for people to be safe if near water this Bank Holiday weekend. People are being asked to stay away from the edges of waterways within their 5k exercise boundaries over Easter. Water temperatures are around nine degrees, and drains body heat much faster

  There are calls for the Government to reevaluate the priority list for vaccines to include Special Needs Assistants. Once the most vulnerable get their injections it will move to based on age. Forsa says other workers in special schools including nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists have been vaccinated, but not SNAs. Meanwhile, a Stranorlar

  Finn Harps has been granted €4 million towards their long awaited new stadium. Work to secure funding for the project is complete with a provisional allocation of €3.991m to the FAI under the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund for the development of the stadium. While some initial work has been done, the project has

  The Dail has been told the recent EU / UK trade deal is an insult to the Irish fishing, which is already suffering from the impact of bad deals. Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn, the Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine, says the Irish fleet only has access to around a third of the

  Donegal Deputy Joe McHugh has incurred the wrath of Leas Ceann Comhairle Catherine Connelly after going a minute over time in a submission to Tanaiste Leo Varadkar on persuading workers with IT and HI-Tec firms to move to rural counties like Donegal. Some TDs compared contrasted the situation to yesterday’s Sinn Fein claim that

  Gardai are warning motorists of the dangers of drug driving this Easter Bank Holiday weekend. There’s been a 37 per cent rise in the number of blood and urine samples for drugs testing in 2020 compared to 2019. Of the specimens tested, almost three-quarters were found to be positive for at least one drug.