Author name: oisinkelly

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

  There are calls on Donegal County Council to liaise with all agencies to develop the full potential of The Pier at Rathmullan. A report was submitted at the end of 2020 to the Minister for Agriculture requesting that funding opportunities be provided for piers and harbours in Donegal. A dive survey has also been

An Inishowen councillor is claiming planners are being too restrictive in an area around the coastline in the environs of Buncrana. Cllr Jack Murray told an Inishowen Municipal District meeting that in the areas of Porthaw, Blackfarm and Carolina, applications for new houses are being routinely denied, even in cases where the land is family

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee says temporarily suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a difficult decision, but it was the safest thing to do. It follows reports in Norway of 4 serious blood clotting incidents after vaccination. NIAC says there has so far been no reports of similar cases here in Ireland, despite

The Tánaiste is being urged to do what’s in his gift to prevent a Donegal company from renewing its exploration licence to continuing working in the year ahead. It’s been claimed that the company, based in Inishowen, continued to explore for led deposits throughout lockdown, with the issue raised in the Dail this week by

Concern has been raised over the erosion of copper pipes in households in West Donegal. The issue is said to be confined to the Cloughaneely area which one local councillor says is a result of a chemical contained in the water in the local treatment plant. It’s believed there is no threat to health. Councillor

This week, the HSE has commenced the roll out of covid-19 vaccination to people under 65 yrs of age with a disability in the CHO 1 area, which encompasses Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan Monaghan and Sligo Vaccinations took place in Sligo, Inishowen, and Castleblayney. Statement in full – Vaccination Roll out to under 65 year olds

A Lifford Stranorlar area councillor wants representatives from Broadband Infrastructure Ireland to come to a Municipal District meeting and outline when broadband will be rolled out throughout the Finn Valley. Cllr Patrick McGowan says there is a growing demand for better services with home schooling and the high volume of people working from home, and

A GP practice in County Donegal is encouraging people to go across the border to get a Covid vaccine if they can. The Millbrae surgery in Carndonagh had been due to receive a batch of vaccines this week, but the HSE now says there will not be a further delivery until the end of the

The Finance Minister is expected to bring forward legislation which would give the Central Bank additional powers to bring about more accountability for the likes of insurers finance. In the Dail, Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty made the comparison of a Donegal woman who was sent to prison for not paying her TV license while in

There are renewed calls for a bigger focus on east Donegal tourism. It’s thought that the Lifford/Stranorlar Municipal District is at a big disadvantage as it’s the only electoral area with no coastline and therefore, doesn’t have the same tourism opportunities as other areas. A tourism fund set up by Donegal County Council in November

An €18.1 million Urban Regeneration Project has been confirmed for Letterkenny. The project is set to include a revamp of the Market Square and Cathedral Quarter area to include a new tourism centre as well as renewal works on Lower Main Street and the revival of the Old Courthouse into an enterprise centre and a

The Government has been criticised once again for the slow rollout of the National Broadband Plan in Donegal. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle told Minister Eamon Ryan this week that the county cannot remain ‘the forgotten county’ in broadband rollout. Latest figures reveal that just 4,042 of 178,000 premises in Donegal have been surveyed as part

Today marks one years since Covid-19 restrictions were imposed. Today marks one years since Covid-19 restrictions were imposed. At the time of the announcement the country had recorded 70 cases of Covid-19, while one death had been reported to the Department of Health. The then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made the announcement from Washington DC:

Checks on agricultural products headed from Ireland to Britain won’t kick in until Autumn. Goods of animal and plant origin were supposed to be inspected on their way into port as part of the post-Brexit trade deal. UK Minister Michael Gove says firms need more time to prepare for the changes. Lisa Chambers, Fianna Fáil’s

There are renewed calls on the Government to prioritise the North West in terms of counteracting the effects of Covid and Brexit. It’s widely thought that the region is particularly exposed to the impacts of both with Ibec advising that investment in the tourism and hospitality sector is imperative in the years ahead. The groups

The commitment of the Office of Public Works to Letterkenny is being questioned, with the local Municipal District hearing a call this week for an urgent meeting with OPW officials to discuss their plans for the town. The issue was raised by Councillor Ciaran Brogan, who says members were given commitments over a year ago

Ireland is expected to get 600,000 doses of the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine between April and June. The one-shot dose can be stored in regular fridges, which is expected to make its roll-out easier. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency yesterday. Public health expert Professor Gabriel Scally describes how effective he thinks