Author name: oisinkelly

Nursing home visits will resume from March 22nd. Under new guidelines they’ll be allowed receive two visits every week, under compassionate grounds. The new advice will apply to nursing homes where there’s high vaccine coverage. HSE clinical lead for infection control, Professor Martin Cormican describes how “compassionate grounds” visits will work:

  It’s been confirmed that scheduling for pharmacy staff in Donegal to get their Covid-19 vaccines will begin tomorrow. The news from the HSE puts an end to big concern locally among pharmacists and their staff locally that while their counterparts in other counties got the jab, there was no timeline for Donegal. Staff will

  The European Commission has authorised the use of Johnson and Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine across the EU. It’s after the European Medicines Agency approved its use for people from 18 years of age. The one shot vaccine will become the fourth to be approved in Ireland, and there is an advance purchase agreement for 2.2

    A Midlands North West MEP has criticised what he sees as a lack of investment by the government in rural Ireland. The European Parliament is discussing a long term vision for rural areas in a debate this afternoon. The EU has now allocated more than €1 billion in regional funding to Ireland for

SIPTU says their members working in councils across the country are open to negotiations after it was announced they are prepared to strike if they are forcibly transferred to Irish Water. Crucial talks with the government, Irish Water and Trade Unions will take place in the coming weeks. SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser,

A Donegal Deputy has called on the Taoiseach to expand the remit and autonomy of credit unions. It comes following the decision by Ulster Bank to close 5 of its branches in Donegal and Bank of Ireland withdrawing from 5 towns in the county. Deputy Thomas Pringle believes this is an opportunity for Credit Unions

A reported rise in racist incidents in Derry and Strabane has been described as ‘deeply disturbing’. The district recorded the biggest increase in racist incidents in the North last year, as well as the second-largest increase in racist crimes. Of the 47 racist hate crimes recorded in the Derry and Strabane policing area last year,

An Inishowen councillor says it’s time the RNLI Lifeboat Station was moved to Buncrana Pier. Cllr Rena Donaghey told a meeting of the Inishowen Municipal District this week that its vital funding is secured for a proposed refurbishment of the pier. As part of the proposals previously put forward by herself, she says it would

Donegal County Council has pledged to examine two roads in the vicinity of Kilmacrennan to determine if they can be added to future improvement and maintenance programmes. Cllr Michael McBride told the Letterkenny and Milford Municipal District this week that the Legnahorey Road should be included on the next roads programme. He’s also seeking a

An ambitious EU plan to engage citizens around the bloc to shape its future is underway. The presidents of the European Commission, Parliament and Council signed a joint declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe. Its aim is to enable citizens to participate in reshaping EU policies and institutions. Those behind the initiative

A South Donegal TD has called for a banking inquiry-style investigation into what happened at Davy Stockbrokers. Marc MacSharry made the call for a full investigation at his parliamentary party meeting last night and was supported by the chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee John McGuinness. Davy was fined over 4 million euro last week

The European Medicines Agency will meet later to consider approving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for use in the EU. The injection has a success rate of 66%, and is 100% effective at preventing hospitalisations and death. If approved, Ireland would receive 2.2 million doses this year, but supply issues at the company could complicate

A Donegal Aontú representative has hit out at the Taoiseach’s statement that he was ‘surprised’ church leaders were requesting an easing of restrictions for church services. A number of bishops met with Micheal Martin this week, where they called for the return to normal services including the reopening of mass. Mary T Sweeney says the

Funding has been announced for an extension of Finn Valley College. Under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2021, 8 additional classrooms, including two SET rooms are to be developed at the site. Councillor Patrick McGowan has welcomed the news. He says it’s testament to the work of the staff at the college:

NPHET will meet later to discuss nursing home visits and if there can be a ‘vaccine bonus’ for residents in the coming weeks. Any measures will likely form part of new recommendations to government ahead of the expected easing of restrictions in April. It comes as a further 631 new Covid-19 cases have been reported,

A Donegal Deputy says there’s huge anger in Donegal over the way the survivors of Mother and Baby homes have been treated. A Sinn Fein proposal which would allow adopted people to access their birth certificates was debated in the Dail today. The Government supported the Bill going to the next stage but it is

There are urgent calls on the Government to prioritise the Donegal fishing sector in Brexit funding. There are genuine fears that the county is set to take the biggest hit from the Brexit fallout with fishing fleets to lose around 81% of tonnes of its normal quota. It’s thought that a greater proportion of the

The Cathaoirleah of the Inishowen Municipal District has described the Covid-19 vaccine rollout north of the peninsula as ‘dire’. North Inishowen is facing yet another setback due to supply problems with surgeries in Carndonagh told yesterday that they won’t be getting any more vaccines until the end of March. It has led to fears locally

A plan to build a tunnel linking Northern Ireland and Scotland is a “fantasy” that will never happen. That is according to the region’s infrastructure minister, who says the plan makes no sense. The UK government announced today it will carry out an official feasibility study into the proposal. But Nichola Mallon is against the

    The Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce has launched a survey for local businesses. The main objective of the survey is to gather information on the challenges facing businesses over the past year. The data will then be collated and will in turn influence themes that will be focused on the Chamber throughout 2021. The

The Bishop of Raphoe is calling for normal church services to resume when the current lockdown eases. Easter celebrations are set to be missed now a second year while only 10 people are currently permitted to attend a funeral. The Taoiseach has stated that he is unable to make any guarantees about when Masses can