Author name: oisinkelly

  A Donegal councillor has hit out at the government over its commitment to the ongoing retrofitting programme for social housing. Speaking after a meeting of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee, Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle says he’s very disappointed with the latest grant received from Department of Housing. He says in recent years, the council […]

  The country’s 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 has gone below 200 for the first time since Christmas, while the number of people with the disease in hospital continues to fall. Donegal’s incidence rate is just slightly below the national average at 199.1. Latest figures show that there are 14 confirmed cases at Letterkenny University

  The Health Minister will be asked in the Dail today to fast track the vaccination of pharmacy staff before pharmacies become vaccination centres. The Irish Pharmacy Union says its members are ready to play their part in the programme, but can only do so when their staff are vaccinated themselves. Donegal Pharmacist Tom Murray

  Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe has pledged to examine a number of issues which have arisen in respect of the Mica Redress Scheme, but did not comment on a call for banks to make a contribution to the costs being incurred by householders. During last night’s banking debate in the Dail, Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn

The CEO of Spraoi Agus Sport in Carndonagh says she is very hopeful that an application for a development in the town centre will breathe new life into the area. The €8 million application has been made under the Rural Regeneration Fund in partnership with Donegal County Council. Helen Nolan was speaking on Highland Radio’s

The Taoiseach says arrangements are being made to ensure that people who can’t leave their homes are vaccinated. Michael Martin was responding to Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle, who told the Dail this afternoon that there are people not getting vaccinated because they cannot get to the centres. Deputy Pringle stressed this is an issue which

  A Donegal Deputy is urging the Housing Minister to ‘drop the arrogance’ and scrap the Government’s affordable housing strategy. The shared equity scheme would see the Government taking on a stake of up to 30% in a house where purchasers can’t afford the full mortgage. The issue is being debated in the Dail this

  The HSE says any instances where the rollout of the vaccination programme is not adhered to will be investigated. It’s follows claims that a relative of a HSE employee made a round trip of more than 100km to receive a Covid-19 vaccination in Letterkenny. It’s further alleged that the person was neither on the

  Anti-lockdown protests will be the focus of a meeting between Garda representatives and the force’s Commissioner later. Violent scenes in Dublin last weekend left three Gardaí injured and led to 24 arrests, with one man currently in custody in connection to a firework attack on officers. A second protest is planned for Cork City

  A Donegal based senator has challenged the education minister to do more to tackle the digital divide in education. Speaking during a meeting of the Oireachtas Education Committee, Independent Senator Eileen Flynn told Minister Norma Foley that many students don’t have access to the technology they need at home to keep up. Senator Flynn

  A public health Professor says Northern Ireland’s plan to re-open schools fully is ‘very peculiar.’ Gabriel Scally has blasted the roadmap to exiting lockdown for not containing target levels of infection to trigger each phase. The 5 step system was agreed by Stormont Executive members yesterday. However Dr Scally says the fact that restaurants

  Rural TDs are calling on the government to reopen places of worship in time for Easter. The Rural Independent Group will raise the issue in the Dáil later, claiming Ireland is an “outlier” when compared to other European countries. Under Level 5 restrictions, places of worship are only open for private prayer and services

  The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says Ireland’s continuing to make good progress in the fight against Covid-19. Yesterday the country recorded its lowest daily number of cases since mid-December, at 359 – 24 of them in Donegal. Dr. Ronan Glynn says the figure’s very welcome but the rise in global cases in the past

  Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe is being challenged to do more for Donegal homeowners affected by Mica. Donegal Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn says the evidence across Donegal in recent months is that this grant scheme falls far short of the real financial assistance that the affected families need to make their homes safe. He says

Over €1.75 million has been confirmed for Housing Adaptation Grants in Donegal. The fund, which supports home adaptations for older people, those with a disability, and people with mobility issues, will see just over €1.4 million from the government, with €350.000 being provided by Donegal County Council. Local Cllr Patrick Mc Gowan says it’s a

Northern Ireland’s restaurants and pubs will reopen fully by early summer under the region’s much anticipated local roadmap out of lockdown. A series of reviews will be held on 16th March, 15th April, 13ty May and 10th June, with decisions being made based on what progress has been achieved on those dates. The staggered approach

  Derry City and Strabane District Council is set to write to the Taoiseach, raising concern over travel fines in the Republic. People in the North who cross the border into the likes of Donegal could potentially be met with a 100 hundred euro fine if Gardai here deem their trip to be non-essential. However

  Gardai have issued a further warning over driving under the influence after 13 detections in Donegal over the past week alone. Seven people in the county have been arrested for drink driving related offences while there were six arrests for drug driving offences. Gardai say that the level of detections within the Division remains

  Hundreds of residents in Glenvar and the wider Fanad peninsula have been provided with improved connectivity. The construction of a new telecoms tower follows a petition from the local community with a review of appropriate locations for a telecoms site in November. Last year Cellnex completed the construction of the site in Glenvar following

  It’s been confirmed that the first group of residents will be housed in Letterkenny’s new Direct Provision Centre by the weekend. A group of asylum seekers who are currently residing in emergency accommodation in Portsalon since 2019 will be among the first residents to arrive in the coming days. The centre, located at former

  There have been no Covid-19 admissions to ICU in the past 24 hours, for the first time in 2021. There has been 687 new cases and 1 further death, 31 of the new cases were reported in Donegal As of last night there were 11 patients with Covid being treated at Letterkenny University Hospital,

Northern Ireland’s Agriculture Minister has defended his decision to halt work on new permanent Border Control Posts at Northern Ireland’s ports. DUP Minister Gordon Lyons also asked officials to stop recruiting BCP staff, saying there is no clarity on the future of the protocol, and it would be rash to continue such work when there

The EU will consider proposals for a digital vaccine passport later this month. A ‘Digital Green Pass’ would provide proof of Covid vaccination and test details for those who have not received a jab. The aim is to facilitate travel for work and tourism in the EU. EU Commission Vice President Margaritas Schinas (Pron: Sheenas)