Author name: oisinkelly

  A former Education Minister says it’s clear that the Leaving Cert in its traditional format cannot go ahead this year. Talks on holding the leaving cert will continue today between the Department of Education and teacher unions. The ASTI pulled out of discussions last week over the calculated grades system but it has since

  The Donegal Chair of the Irish Hotel’s Federation believes there’s every reason to be optimistic that Donegal will have a good tourism season in the latter half of the summer. Last summer saw a big draw towards staycations with the county reaping the benefits of people holidaying at home. Donegal Chair of IHF Paul

  Donegal is to receive 34.5 million euro for road improvements and maintenance in the year ahead. It’s the third highest allocation nationwide. The money will see improvements to a large number of local and regional roads throughout the county after a comprehensive application was put forward by Donegal County Council. Minister Charlie McConalogue says

  There are fears that a new conservation management plan for Grianan of Aileach may impact the overall visitor experience. Under the plans being put forward, the car park will not be extended and there will be restrictions on the number of visitor numbers at any given time. Local Cllr Paul Canning says while he

    It’s hoped that an existing car park at a popular walking trail on the outskirts of Letterkenny can be extended. Serious concern has been expressed over the high volume of cars parked along the narrow route leading to Corravaddy Woods with some residents in the area said to be finding it difficult to

  The number of Covid patients at Letterkenny University Hospital has dropped significantly. The latest data shows 23 people with the virus are being treated on site with 4 ICU. There’s currently 899 people in hospital nationally with Covid-19 while 160 patients are in ICU. Infectious disease expert, Professor McConkey, believes Level 5 restrictions need

A Donegal Deputy will bring his insurance Bill to second stage in the Dáil this Wednesday. The Bill aims to reduce insurance prices by banning the practice of ‘dual pricing’, used by some insurance companies to identify loyal customers and charge them high premiums. The practice is said to affect millions of policyholders, costing customers

    Restaurant owners are launching a series of test cases in the High Court demanding insurers pay out on business interruption cover. The main trade group for the sector says its legal team has found 450 businesses which have insurance policies “identical” to those covered by the judgment against FBD earlier this month. It

  A major rollout of the covid vaccination programme is to get underway from today. Up to 80 thousand people aged over 85 will start getting the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines over the next 3 weeks. It comes as 788 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed and 17 more patients with the virus have died

The re-opening of schools on a phased basis is set to begin later this month under new government plans. The Sunday Independent reports primary schools will re-open gradually from March 1st – followed by secondary pupils later next month. Leaving Cert pupils will be brought back from February 22nd. The cabinet is also expected to

Around 3 thousand GPs and practice nurses will get their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine today. The Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs are being given at hubs in Dublin, Galway, Portlaoise and Sligo. The latest figures show over 261 thousand Covid vaccines have been administered across the country – with 171 thousand people receiving their first dose.

It’ll be at least September before indoor gatherings with more than 50 people are allowed take place, according to the Tanaiste. In a letter to a member of the events industry, Leo Varadkar says they won’t happen until the “majority” of people are vaccinated. In the document, seen by the Business Post, he says this

A Midlands North West MEP has warned the EU needs to better protect people from abuse on social media platforms. MEPs this week called for democratic oversight of tech giants to safeguard freedom of expression. The European Parliament is demanding better regulation of Social Media platforms to defend democracy. MEP Maria Walsh says educating people

A contractor has been appointed to carry out repairs to a damaged crash barrier on the Letterkenny to Ramelton Road. The barrier just past the Silver Tassie Hotel had been damaged in recent times and there had been safety concerns locally if another crash were to happen. Donegal County Council has confirmed that the repair

The country’s waking up to three weather warnings as wintry conditions hit the country. Many areas are under snow this morning, with a status yellow snow and ice warning in place for Connacht, Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal until midday. A status yellow wind warning for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and

The Taoiseach will not be travelling to Washington for St Patrick’s Day, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials are now looking to organise a virtual meeting between Micheál Martin and US president Joe Biden that day. A government spokesman says a programme of online events are expected to replace the traditional visit to the US.

A junior minister has appealed to the ASTI teachers’ union to go back into talks on the Leaving Cert for the sake of students. The ASTI yesterday pulled out of talks after a row on calculated grades. But it said it is working to ‘break the impasse’ after meeting the government today. Minister of state

Further concern has been raised over the closure of Carndonagh Courthouse. A survey detailed the need for major refurbishment and maintenance works to be carried out on the building which has been lying empty now for almost two years. It’s now been confirmed that to reopen the courthouse would require hundreds of thousands of euros,

    A popular Donegal drink may become that little bit more ‘special’ for UK customers now as a result of Brexit. The cost of shipping cases of the renowned Football Special drink to Glasgow has doubled and it’s now cheaper to send the product to the likes of Athens and other EU countries. Managing

  The Transport Minister is being urged to take decisive action to tackle the massive driving test backlog. Latest figures show that 2,613 learner drivers are waiting for a test in Donegal with over 92,000 nationwide. In Letterkenny, 1,452 have applied for a date for a test, with 1,024 applicants deemed eligible having completed all

  A Fianna Fail Councillor believes we need to think about the long term benefits a trip by the Taoiseach to the US for St. Patrick’s Day would bring to the local economy. Michael martin said yesterday that he will go to the White House on St Patrick’s Day if he’s invited but it’s unclear

  The Teachers Union of Ireland says they are committed to the talks on this year’s Leaving Cert exams. It comes as the ASTI says it’s going to meet with the minister for education today to discuss issues with the leaving cert, but they’re not back in talks. The teachers union withdrew from discussion about

  A member of NPHET has warned it’ll take a long time for hospitals to recover from the “shock” of the third wave of Covid-19. As of last night, 62 people with Covid-19 were being treated on site at Letterkenny University Hospital – 4 in ICU. The number of people with the virus being treated

  The National Immunisation Advisory Committee has no plans to revise its advice regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. The World Health Organisation has recommended that it be given to all adults, including those over the age of 70. Ireland is one of a number of countries which has chosen to give over 70s the Pfizer or

  A fresh round of talks will take place today between the ASTI and Department of Education aimed at resolving a row over plans for the Leaving Cert. The main secondary teachers union pulled out of discussions last night, describing a proposal to rely heavily on calculated grades as “not viable”. The Department says it

  There are calls on the Government to look at the stability of chemical arms dumped off the coast of Donegal. It’s understood that there’s a substantial amount of barrels labelled with toxic warning signs lying on the seabed off Tory Island for the best part of 100 years. Decades on, concern is said to