Author name: oisinkelly

  A Donegal Deputy is being urged to do what’s in his gift to advise the Northern Ireland Assembly to mirror rules in the Republic around negative PCR testing. The call came from the Tánaiste after accusations by Deputy Pearse Doherty that the Government was slow in the roll out of mandatory negative PCR testing […]

The Mica Redress Scheme is said to be becoming challenging for some homeowners. It’s claimed some people are struggling to meet the cost of the required 10% contribution while for homeowners who have to demolish and rebuild their homes, some estimated costs are coming in above the maximum grant available in the scheme. Councillor Martin

  The Minister for Higher Education is being urged to address what’s been described as shortcomings with the SUSI grant. The grant scheme is to open for applications to students next week but there’s said to be a cohort of that fall between two stools and don’t qualify for top up. It’s because some don’t

      People working in the entertainment sector say more needs to be done to protect the industry. A new funding scheme has been announced to encourage local authorities to upgrade their outdoor public spaces. It’s in a bid to allow small concerts and gigs take place safely outdoors in the months ahead. But

  The Taoiseach says he will go to the White House on St Patrick’s Day if he’s invited. It’s unclear if Micheál Martin will get an invitation to meet the US President on the 17th of March, due to Covid 19. Bu he says he will go if asked:

The Tánaiste has warned there’s no COVID strategy that can avoid rolling or snap lockdowns. It comes as Level 5 restrictions are set to be extended until at least Easter. The full construction sector and schools are expected to open after March 5th with most of the rest of the country staying closed. Tánaiste Leo

  Rural GPs expect the decision not to give the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine to over 70s to be reversed shortly. It’s after the World Health Organization backed its use for all adults yesterday. The Irish Daily Mail is reporting that a number of rural GPs expect ‘harder to reach’ housebound patients to be vaccinated with

The Tanaiste has been accused of trying to wriggle out of intervening in the ongoing business insurance controversy. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has called for the Central Bank to carry out a Business Interruption Insurance Examination following the recent High Court ruling against FBD insurance. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty hit out at Leo Varadkar and

There are calls for a first response unit to be set up to tackle gorse fires in Donegal. Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig says a community-led response unit would be central to tackling gorse fires particularly in the county. A number of years back, fires ravaged through the Annagry area with a report later revealing

There are further calls for Donegal County Council’s Winter Gritting Programme to be revised. It’s claimed the Magheroarty to Gweedore road in West Donegal is treacherous during cold weather conditions due to being omitted from the gritting programme. Councillor Michael McClafferty says there have been a number of near misses with home helps also travelling

The Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council is calling for a complete overhaul of Buncrana Pier. Councillor Rena Donaghey says the pier is the main entrance point of the town for many travelling on the ferry from Rathmullan and has so much potential which should be built upon. Another area, Councillor Donaghey believes work should be

Letterkenny Chamber has agreed to partner with Derry Chamber of Commerce. As part of a Memorandum of Understanding, both Chambers have agreed to collaborate on issues affecting both sides of the border, represent the interests of businesses across the North West City Region and better cross-border collaboration. Letterkenny Chamber President, Michael Margey says it is

Irish Water is being urged to address what’s been described as serious ongoing issues with the supply in the Rossbracken area of Manorcunningham. The area has been hit with numerous pipe bursts in the recent past with residents going without water for long periods of time. Donegal County Council has written to Irish Water on

The Taoiseach has suggested Ireland will remain in a prolonged period of Covid-19 restrictions. Speaking at a meeting of his parliamentary party last night, Micheal Martin said the priority is to get the virus numbers down to a very low level. He said almost 1 in 4 close contacts are now testing positive since testing

More than 100 private water supplies failed to meet the bacterial standard for drinking water in 2019. The Environmental Protection Agency says it’s a serious issue that’s putting people’s health at risk. In Donegal, two private group schemes were found to be non-compliant they were Townawilly and Ballymagroarty. Meanwhile, the small private water supply at

Sinn Fein’s Chief Whip has claimed the Government is taking advantage of reduced speaking time in the Dail. Speaking time in the Dail has been reduced in adherence to public health guidelines. Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn says when presented with the draft Dail schedule at the Business Committee, requests from opposition are turned down resulting

The EU has ruled out making significant changes to the Northern Ireland protocol, ahead of a meeting with UK negotiators today. European Commission vice-president, Maros Sefcovic, is travelling to London for talks with his opposite number, Michael Gove. The EU last night said the protocol must be fully implemented and accused the UK of not

Thousands of children with special needs are returning to the classroom today, with the reopening of special schools. Classes will initially be limited to 50 per cent capacity, with kids going to school every second day. It comes as special classes in secondary schools look set to resume on February 22nd, after teachers and SNAs

A number of Irish MEPs have expressed their criticism of the European Commission’s recent proposed triggering of Article sixteen of the Northern Irish protocol. The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has said that mistakes were made in triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol. It was enacted to stop the UK using

  The Dail has heard calls for “a new approach” to tackling Covid-19, with opposition parties calling for the “maximum suppression” of the virus. The debate comes as part of a Private Members’ Motion being tabled by the Labour party which calls for a “national aggressive Covid-19 suppression strategy”. The motion says that the government’s

  Residents and staff at St Columbcille village in Clonmany have begun receiving their vaccinations against Covid-19 this morning. It brings to an end weeks of worry for all concerned. Initially, the facility was not top of the vaccine roll out list because it’s not a nurse -led centre, which had sparked major public outcry

  Donegal’s healthcare workers are overworked, exhausted, and burnout. That’s according to Sinn Fein, who’s calling on the Government to implement Sláintecare in a bid to transform the health service going forward. Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn says that we cannot return to the same health service before the current crisis. He also says that staff affected

  Schools are likely to reopen over a phased basis in March. Students will return to classrooms over a three week period next month according to the Irish Times. Special education will start reopening this week. Aine Lynch from the National Parents Council says March is a long time away for many parents and students.

  The number of domestic violence cases sent forward for trial nearly doubled last year. According to freedom of information figures, the DPP referred 495 files for prosecution in 2020 – compared to 249 the year before. Of the 495 cases sent forward for trial last year, 29 were in Donegal. And the number of

  The WHO say Ireland’s recovery from the third wave of Covid-19 has been ‘strong and dramatic’ – but is warning of the danger of a fourth wave. 556 new cases were confirmed here yesterday, along with 68 additional deaths. – 20 of the new cases were in Donegal. It was the lowest number of

  Serious concerns have been raised over the deteriorating conditions of some Council housing in Letterkenny which appear to be affected by Mica. Councillor Gerry McMonagle brought an emergency motion before the latest sitting of the Letterkenny/ Milford Municipal District calling on the council to take immediate action to identify, test and repair a significant

  An Inishowen Councillor says the OPW can no longer wash their hands of coastal erosion on the peninsula. A report has estimated that over the next decade or so, erosion could result in the water from Lagg beach moving inland as far as Lagg Chapel. Councillor Martin McDermott says something needs to be done

  The Minister for Local Government is being urged to remove obstacles for people seeking planning permission for homes in rural Ireland. Trying to obtain planning permission to live in rural areas even for those families born and bred there, is said to be becoming increasingly difficult with many constraints in the way. Donegal native