Author name: oisinkelly

  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

    A study, examining the unique challenges that Donegal faces as a result of Brexit is said to be nearing completion. Economic consultants Grant Thornton have undertaken the study which will reflect in some detail the effect it will have on particular sectors in the county and make recommendations to mitigate the worst impact

  The Tánaiste says international travel at significant rates might not return by Christmas. It comes as the government has extended level five restrictions until March 5th – with no guarantee they’ll end then. New laws are on the way to enforce mandatory quarantine for a limited number of people arriving into Ireland. But opposition

A number of initiatives are in the pipeline for the 2021 tourism season in Donegal. Donegal County Council plans to deliver a range of activities in the months ahead including a new 500,000 innovative tourism related minor works scheme while funding has been secured for a number of other projects geared towards enhancing the over

  €1bn will be delivered to border counties including Donegal between 2021-2027 under the PEACE PLUS North South cooperation programme. The programme will combine the existing PEACE and INTERREG EU funding into one cohesive cross-border programme to support peace and prosperity with a particular focus on Northern Ireland and border counties. The scheme will be

Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle is to bring forward a bill to the Dail tomorrow morning that if passed, would lead to a referendum on constitutional protections for Economic, Social and Cultural rights. Deputy Pringle says the bill would be an anchor for the rights to housing, health and education to be provided for on the

Cabinet Ministers have approved an extension of the lockdown until the 5th of March. The majority of construction sites are expected to stay closed until March with some hope special needs education can resume next month. New travel restrictions have also been confirmed with mandatory quarantine required for anyone arriving into Ireland without a negative

An independent investigation will be held into historical mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland. First Minister Arlene Foster says the voices of survivors will be heard “loudly and clearly” in the inquiry, which will conclude within 6 months. The full details of a research report into the institutions, which looked at the day-to-day running’s