Author name: oisinkelly

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

There are further calls for pharmacists to be allowed assist in the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle along with other Donegal Oireachtas members, has written to the Health Minister urging him to permit pharmacists facilitate the administration of Covid vaccines and to ensure all pharmacy staff are vaccinated. It comes

  Engineers at Donegal County Council are being urged to look at improves safety measures at two junctions on one of the main arteries into Letterkenny. Residents living at Loughnagin and the Golf Course road areas of the town are said to be finding it increasingly difficult trying to access the main Ramelton road due

  There are calls on the Northern Ireland Assembly to consider issuing similar €100 fines to anyone from the South who travels North on a non-essential journey. The new laws here came into effect yesterday with Gardai now having the power to potentially fine people travelling in from the north for non-essential purposes with an

  The Taoiseach says the Government will clarify soon whether the country can begin reopening next month. But Micheál Martin is warning it will be a cautious approach as the Covid 19 figures are still too high. As it stands, the current Level 5 restrictions are set to continue until March 5th. Speaking on his

  There are calls for a joint meeting over future plans and infrastructural deficits of Letterkenny. Irish Water, The Housing Minister, the TII and other relevant bodies are to be invited to the meeting. There call comes against the backdrop of yesterday’s announcement of the Letterkenny 2040 plan, regeneration strategy for the town in the

  A Donegal County Councillor says there wasn’t a word nationally about the massive backlog in driving tests waiting times when it was confined to Donegal. It comes as new figures show that the waiting time to get a driving test is now 25 weeks compared to six weeks this time last year, with 64,000

  There was a 21 per cent increase in penalty point notices issued for speeding last year. According to freedom of information figures, there were nearly 144,000 in 2020 – which is almost 25,000 more than the previous year. The sharp rise was recorded despite Covid-19 travel restrictions being in place for much of last

  The HSE is “encouraged” by the number of nursing home staff getting vaccinated, according to a senior official. Up to 15 per cent of staff in some nursing homes may have refused a Covid-19 vaccine. Yesterday, HSE CEO Paul Reid said staff in the facilities refusing the vaccine is “inexcusable”. But Dr Lucy Jessop,

  A Donegal Senator has called on Government to urgently close the digital divide. Senator Eileen Flynn says every child has a right to education, but thousands of children across Ireland don’t have equal access to it, due to unreliable or in some instances the absence of broadband, particularly in rural areas. She believes it

  Ireland has passed the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic this year, according to the Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Dr Ronan Glynn says he’s hopeful people won’t have to go through what happened in January, again. NPHET’s reporting “steady progress” against all indicators of the disease, with the latest figures showing 829 new cases and