Author name: oisinkelly

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

  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