Author name: oisinkelly

All non-essential retail outlets in Northern Ireland will be able to open for click-and-collect services from April 12th. Small outdoor gatherings in gardens will also be allowed from April 1st, along with some outdoor sports activity. All children will return to school on a phased basis over the next month, under plans agreed at Stormont […]

A Donegal TD says it’s vital that the government respond immediately to Irish Postmasters Union demands for a Public Service Obligation to ensure the survival of the post office network, particularly in rural Ireland. Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn was speaking after the IPU’s General Secretary warned a Dail committee yesterday that if a PSO or some

There is no indication blood clot issues, which led to the suspension of the use of the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine in a number of countries, were caused by vaccinations. That’s according to the European Medicines Agency which is continuing to review data in relation to the vaccine. The EMA insists the benefits of the

  Victims and survivors of Mother and Baby Homes who are based in Donegal are being encouraged to come forward to establish terms of reference for a fully independent investigation in Northern Ireland. The report into homes published in the New Year found a large number of women were sent to Donegal to these institutions.

  Two teenagers are wanted in connection with vehicle damage in the Twin Towns. The incidents happened at a local yard on Thursday and Friday of last week. The yard in question is near the entrance to the Meenglass Road on the Donegal Road in Ballybofey and it is used to store 2nd hand vehicles.

  Serious concern has been raised over what’s been described as a surge in Covid-19 cases in south Inishowen. The spike is said to be affecting a younger cohort of people between the age of 18-25. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that people are not presenting for testing or isolating if they are close contacts. The

  There are renewed calls on both the Government and the HSE to address waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services. Latest figures show that more than 140 children in Donegal were waiting for first assessment earlier this year, some of them waiting more than year. Deputy Thomas Pringle believes resources must be

  Ireland’s agricultural and fishing communities are to receive some of the special one billion euro EU fund to be given to Ireland. The five billion euro fund has been established to assist countries adversely affected by the British exit from the European Union. Tim Hayes is from the European Commission office in Dublin. He

  Leaving Cert students have until this evening to register for the exam or calculated grades. The candidate portal is due to close at 6pm. All students must register online, enter their subjects and levels, and confirm how they wish to be assessed. Guidance counsellor, Roisin O’Donohoe, says students should consider choosing both options:

  The National Ambulance Service’s overtime bill increased by 16 per cent last year. It came to nearly 19 million euro in 2020 – which is 2.6 million more than in 2019. Ten paramedics got at least 42,000 euro each in overtime last year. David Hall, the chief executive of Lifeline Ambulance Service, says more

  A Fine Gael MEP is calling for urgent talks between the EU and Britain to solve the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol. The European Union began legal action against the UK yesterday, for delaying introducing some post-Brexit checks in the North. The inspections were due to start on April 1st, but Britain is

NPHET’s urging people not to have takeaway pints or buy ‘cans’ on St Patrick’s Day tomorrow. It has also raised concerns about Covid-19 hospital admissions. There were 360 people with the virus in hospital yesterday, after the number rose for two days in a row. 85 are in ICU, while 575 new cases were confirmed

  Post offices will today call for new government services to be urgently provided in their branches – to safeguard over 1,400 jobs. The Irish Postmasters Union will make the call at the Oireachtas communications committee. They will also say the network will be in jeopardy in June, if they don’t get a new 17

Donegal County Council has confirmed it plans to install traffic lights on four junctions within the 50km limit in Letterkenny. They include the soon to open junction of Joe Bonner Road and Neil T Blaney Road, and the Polestar Roundabout. Responding to questions from Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh this week, officials confirmed that the plan to

The Taoiseach’s described the deferral of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine here as an unwelcome pause but it’s important to take heed of advice and take a cautious approach. Meanwhile, Italy, Germany and France are the latest countries to temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It’s over concerns about a small number

  There are calls for summer schools to be established to make up for time lost this year. There’s concern over the impact the current lockdown is having on children and it’s thought a schooling over the summer months may be of benefit to students. Such schools would be subsided by the Government so as

  The Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council is calling on the EPA to restore the blue flag to Lisfannon beach in south Inishowen. The blue flag is awarded to a particular beach for high water quality and while the beach boasted the accolade in years previous, it lost the status in 2017 because it didn’t

  A local GP has expressed frustration and disappointment over a delay in vaccine supply to his practice. Ark Medical Centre was given less than 24 hours’ notice that the practice wasn’t getting as many of the Pfizer vaccine as they were hoping for. Doctors and staff had expected to be giving 75-80 year olds

  Donegal County Council is being urged to ensure the Greenway Projects that are shovel ready are progressed. At a recent meeting of the councils Economic Development Committee, Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher told the meeting that more needs to be done when progressing such projects. A new unit is being set up within the council

  A Donegal GP says a move to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was the right call. The doctors leading Ireland’s vaccine drive say the suspension is just “precautionary” as the European Medicines Agency investigates reports of blood clots. AstraZeneca says there’s no evidence its vaccine is the cause. 30,000 people won’t

    The Vice President of the Garda Representative Association says Gardai are growing increasingly concerned over some people potentially socialising on St. Patrick’s Day following weekend scenes in Milford. Two men have been charged and a teenager arrested after three Gardai were assaulted in a house in Milford on Saturday afternoon. Two Gardai were hospitalised

  A Donegal Minister has described a major jobs boost for Letterkenny as a vote of confidence in the town. IT firm SITA is recruiting 55 new software engineers in a bid to ramp up its highly successful airport portfolio. SITA established its office in Letterkenny in 2003, growing the team from 20 to more

  The wait to get back to school is over for thousands of students, as all primary school children and fifth year pupils are going back to class today. Fifth years are to receive accommodations in Leaving Cert 2022 due to the loss of in-person learning. Sinn Fein TD Donnchadh O’Laoghaire says they have lost

  Hundreds of post offices could go out of business this summer when a key state payment scheme is to be reduced. That’s according to the Irish Postmasters Union, which says the reduction will put banking services in jeopardy all over rural Ireland. The union wants the government to bring in a payment scheme of

  55 new jobs are on the way to Letterkenny. SITA, a specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions are significantly expanding their team in the town to develop the next generation of its highly successful SITA AT AIRPORTS portfolio. These new roles include software and test engineers, UX designers, scrum masters and product

  Hundreds of pubs across the country will be posting pre-pandemic photos on social media of the people who’ve been out of work since last March. It’s a year since publicans closed their doors due to the spread of Covid-19 with those without kitchens staying closed since. Vintners Federation of Ireland Chief Executive, Padraig Cribben

  The country’s incidence rate of Covid-19 has fallen to 150 for the first time since before Christmas. 384 new cases of the virus were identified yesterday, while no deaths were recorded for the first time in 2021. 11 of the new cases were in Donegal while there were three people with Covid-19 being treated

  30-thousand doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will remain in storage this week, while the European medicines regulator investigates a cluster of serious blood clot events in Norway. The pharma company says there’s no evidence its product is the cause — and that such conditions have actually occurred at a lower rate among some 17 million