Author name: oisinkelly

There are calls for Inishowen to be prioritised in a new national coastal management strategy. Serious concerns have been raised over projections for the peninsula as it relates to coastal erosion which shows areas such as Lagg and part of Ballyliffin Golf Club could be severely impacted into the future. The Government has announced the

  The Housing Minister has accused Sinn Fein of trying to shout Ministers down and then effectively storming out of the Dail. Darragh O’Brien made the comments after Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty was raising issues surrounding the Shared Equity Scheme. The Minister was then allocated less a minute to answer the five questions from Deputy

  A Donegal Deputy has told the Dail that the Government’s stance that all employers have been putting the health of employees front and centre during the pandemic is not true. Deputy Thomas Pringle also spoke of how a recent study by the Donegal Women’s Network reinforces concerns he raised over deprivation and the impacts

  Ireland cannot pursue a ‘zero Covid’ strategy, according to the chief medical officer. The strategy advocates driving down the number of community transmission cases to zero – allowing the country to return to relative normality. It has been adopted by countries such as New Zealand. However, Dr Tony Holohan says it would not be

  The Tanaiste says he shares the aspiration of a United Ireland. He was responding in the Dail to calls from Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn for a referendum on Irish Unity to be held. It comes after a Sunday Times opinion poll revealed that almost half of people in Northern Ireland are in favour of

  More talks are taking place today to discuss alternative plans for this year’s Junior and Leaving Certs. The Department of Education is meeting a range of stakeholders, including principals, teachers and students. The Irish Second-Level Students Union wants clarity by February 10th on whether the exams will go ahead as planned. President Reuban Murray

The HSE has confirmed testing of close contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 case will resume tomorrow. The practice has been on hold since the end of last year due to pressure on the system. Since then, close contacts have received a text alerting them of their status – with advice to stay at home. HSE

  The General Manager of Letterkenny University Hospital says while the number of Covid patients are dropping slightly he’s warning against complacency. 83 people with the virus are currently being treated on site at the hospital – 7 in ICU. Meanwhile significant staff shortages are still affecting the facility due to the impact of Covid-19.

  An Inishowen Cllr has backed calls for an overhaul to the Governments Stay and Spend Scheme in time for summer. The Irish Tourism Confederation is already claiming that the scheme is too narrow, cumbersome and off-putting for many. It’s thought that a simpler voucher scheme to stimulate domestic tourism could save many businesses. Cllr

  A Spokesperson for Donegal Mountain Rescue is urging people to check the weather forecast before thinking on heading out for a hike. It’s after three walkers were rescued after becoming disorientated on Muckish Mountain yesterday evening. Weather conditions were said to be poor with visibility down to 5m. Donegal Mountain Rescue were tasked to

  A South Donegal Deputy has raised concern over the impact the restructuring of An Garda Siochana is having on the North West. A shake up of the force took place in 2019, with Divisional Headquarters in the region moving to Letterkenny while the Regional Headquarters went to Galway. Meanwhile, progress on a new Garda

  23 people faced prosecution for paying for sex last year. The DPP directed that 15 people in Dublin go to court for the offence, with the others being in Donegal, Cork, Kerry and Waterford. According to freedom of information files, 59 people have faced prosecution since the law was introduced in 2017. Kate McGrew,

  Donegal County Council has so far received 163 applications for the Mica Redress Scheme to date. The majority of application have been from the Inishowen MD with 131 applications while there have been 22 form the Letterkenny/Milford area and 10 from Lifford Stranorlar. 67 of these applications have been approved, 76 are under assessment

  The Taoiseach has heard concerns over families in Donegal struggling to get on the social housing waiting list. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle told the Dail that as it stands a married couple with two children earning more than €28,000 a year cannot applying for social housing due to maximum net income limits set out

  There are calls for Donegal County Council to deploy additional resources to ‘ramp up’ the fight against illegal dumping and littering across the county. Last year, 128 litter fines were issued by Donegal County Council, 60% of which have yet to be paid. Meanwhile, 1 person was prosecuted and fined €250 and costs of

Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has tabled an amendment that calls on the Government to change the qualifying criteria of the Covid Restriction Support Scheme to ensure affected businesses such as suppliers are no longer excluded from the scheme. The Sinn Fein Finance Spokesperson brought the amendment before the Dail during discussions on the proposed approval

Donegal County Council has agreed to explore the idea of the county twinning with a rural area of Palestine. Councillor Gerry McMonagle brought a motion before Council calling for the local authority to enter into a twinning arrangement with Bani Ziad after receiving correspondence from the region’s mayor. The arrangement would involve the sharing of

  The Dublin Government does not run the Northern Executive. The words of the Taoiseach as the Dail heard further claims From Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle this afternoon that there’s been no communication from the Irish Government with their Northern Ireland and UK counterparts over a Zero Covid strategy. The Taoiseach has defended the Governments

  The Donegal Enterprise Board has been praised for its work in helping local businesses succeed. As part of the Business Matters Podcast this week, Journalist Ciaran O’Donnell has been speaking to Denis Sheridan, Director of DS Environmental Services based in Kilmacrennan. Mr. Sheridan worked in various countries before settling back in Donegal where he

  A former Education Minister says it’s imperative that a call is made on the Leaving Cert within the week. The Government is remaining hopeful that the exams can go ahead this year. Second-level teachers’ union and student representatives are due to resume talks on alternative options to the Leaving Cert today. Donegal Deputy Joe

  Mid-ranking Gardaí have serious concerns on the force’s requirements to follow up on mandatory quarantining of international travellers into the country. The AGSI is worried about the health implications of members going into homes or hotels to ensure people are self-isolating. The group say it has got no communication or consultation from Government on

  There is public support on both sides of the border for increasing measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to a public health expert. As part of new laws here, a mandatory two week quarantine will apply to anyone arriving into Ireland without a negative PCR test it won’t apply to those may