Author name: oisinkelly

  Sinn Fein trail Fine Gael by just one per cent in the latest opinion poll – with backing for Fianna Fail continuing to decline. Fine Gael has the top spot on 30 percent, with Sinn Fein in second on 29 percent. But the Taoiseach’s party Fianna Fail has slumped to just 11 percent in […]

  An infectious diseases expert says pressing ahead with the reopening of schools is likely to create “exponential growth” of Covid-19. 624 more people have tested positive for the virus, and two further deaths have been confirmed – 38 of the new cases were in Donegal. All primary and secondary students will return to class

  The UK Government is planning to offer 3.7 million vaccine doses to Ireland, in order to lift lockdown in the North sooner. Reports in the Sunday Times suggest it’s also ‘a poke in the eye’ for EU leaders, as the vaccination rollout in the bloc is significantly behind the UK. Earlier this week European

Lynas Foods is to open an outlet in Strabane in May with the creation of 10 jobs. West Tyrone MLA Maolíosa McHugh is welcoming the news, saying he’s had confirmation from the wholesale company that they are to open an outlet at the retail park on the Dublin Road. Mr Mc Hugh says the facility

  There are calls for hair salons to be allowed re-open for fully vaccinated people. The Irish Hairdressers Federation says it would provide a big boost for elderly people and healthcare workers who’ve received both jabs. Vice President Lisa Eccles doesn’t think it’ll happen from April 5th – but wants the government to consider it

  The average number of new cases of Covid-19 has increased by nearly 11 per cent over the past 10 days. The five-day average now stands at 552 – compared to 499 at the beginning of last week. But the number of Covid patients in ICU fell to 66 last night – the lowest since

    The ASTI says there’s concern among teachers over the return of students in large numbers to schools. It’s calling for adequate measures to be put in place when all pupils go back to school on April 12th. It includes first to fourth years in secondary schools, who’ll be back for in-class learning after

The North’s Infrastructure Minister has announced a number of measures to improve pedestrian access in Derry City Centre. They include the introduction of a one way system from Carlisle Road, through Ferryquay Gate into The Diamond; removal of the existing parking area outside the former Austin’s department store, a new foo0tway at Shipquay Gate and

A Dublin GP says there is no evidence the reopening of schools has caused a rise of Covid cases. NPHET yesterday reported Covid cases among children have increased by as much as 60 per cent since February. But Dr Ray Walley says the rise is because far more testing is being carried out……..  

  Road users are being urged to slow down as gardaí crackdown on speed for 24 hours. National Slow Down Day began at 7am this morning and will run until the same time tomorrow. Two detections in Donegal are being highlighted this afternoon ;  a motorist was been clocked driving at 90km/h in a 60km/h

  The Health Minister hasn’t ruled out regional restrictions going forward. Stephen Donnelly also says a more targeted approach is being considered to tackle the Covid surge in South Inishowen. This could mean introducing walk-in PCR testing and providing more information on the ground to the local community. South Inishowen now has the second highest

  A Glenties Councillor says there are fears over a repeat of high Covid cases and deaths like the aftermath of Christmas, if restrictions are eased in the coming weeks. The Glenties Local Electoral Area has for the most part, bucked the county trend of rising Covid case numbers and currently has one of the

The majority of services at Letterkenny University Hospital have now resumed. Over the last three weeks, services at the hospital resumed on a staggered basis, while inpatient surgery resumed with normal schedule on Monday of last week. All Outpatients clinics have resumed but at a reduced level and will return to full capacity over the

  The deputy Chief Medical Officer says it will be a ‘challenge’ to get below 500 Covid cases per day. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said yesterday it will be very hard to see numbers going below this level because of the more transmissible UK variant. It comes as 606 new cases have been confirmed, with 3

The Dail has been told there were more council homes delivered in Donegal in 2002 than in all of the last 11 years. Speaking during a debate on the Residential Tenancies Bill, Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn said 560 council homes were built or acquired across Donegal in 2002, while from the start of 2010 to the

  A Senior Dietician is to be appointed in Donegal to support children and adults with Eating Disorders. At a Regional Health Forum Meeting this week, Cllr Gerry Crawford was told each county in the region would get one senior dietician, with specialist therapists being appointed to the Mental Health Services in Sligo/Leitrim and Cavan/Monaghan.

  A Donegal teachers’ representative says teachers and students would like to see more information made available about Covid outbreaks in schools. The TUI had issued a scathing reaction earlier this week to indications that the wearing of masks would not be mandatory at Leaving Cert oral exams. That has now been reversed, but Brendan

The Hot School Meals programme is set to be significantly expanded this year. Some 35,000 students across 189 schools will benefit from hot meals – an almost 5 fold increase on the number last year. Research from the Department of Social Protection suggests the scheme has impacted positively on school attendance and the mental well-being

The HSE says the country remains on course to receive around a million doses of Covid-19 vaccines between now and the end of April. It’s planning to administer between 95 and 105 thousand doses next week – mostly to people over the age of 70. The HSE is also hoping to begin the rollout to

  A Donegal Deputy is calling for an independent review into revelations that the Department of Health has been building secret dossiers on children with autism. It’s emerged that the Department has been using information from private doctor consultations to build and maintain dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against

  Plans to construct one thousand houses in Letterkenny area are a step closer after Irish Water granted approval for water and sewerage facilities to service the project in the Leck area. The initial phase will be to seek planning for 300 new dwellings with permission to be sought for further houses and other amenities