Author name: oisinkelly

  People are being urged to reconsider their Christmas plan if they have been socialising in the past few weeks after 764 more cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the Republic – 52 in Donegal. The five day average number of cases has now risen to 557, while the estimated 14-day incidence rate is now

  Flights from Britain have been banned until midnight tomorrow. Only ferry crossings for freight will be allowed after a new strain of Covid-19 in England has shown to 70 times more transmissible. The EU member states will meet today to discuss its response to the variant. Minister Eamon Ryan says the Government can’t rule

  A local councillor is calling on Donegal County Council to build houses rather than buy them from developers. It comes as a sale has been completed and Donegal County Council have taken possession of 6, 3 bed properties in Falcarragh on Friday. Four houses will be allocated with the remaining two houses to be

    The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation is urging the Government to honour the commitment made to the fishing sector in the mandate given to EU Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier. The Irish seafood sector directly supports more than 16,000 jobs and is worth more than €1.2billion annually to the Irish economy. As trade talks continued over

Inter-county travel will be allowed until January 6th as part of new government restrictions aimed at reducing Covid-19 infections. The plan will see home visits limited to one other household from December 30th. NPHET’s advice to close the hospitality sector after Christmas is also likely to be accepted. Restaurants and pubs that serve food are

A Sligo, Leitrim, and South Donegal TD has told the Dail that people should not be cajoled or coerced into accepting Covid 19 vaccines. Speaking on the work of the National Vaccination Taskforce, Deputy Marian Harkin repeated her call for a specific minister to be appointed to oversee the process. She said the rollout of

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in schools has increased. The Government says three and a half per cent of people tested in schools this week were confirmed to have the virus. The average positive rate within schools since they reopened has been 2.4 per cent. Senior Government Official Liz Canavan says there

The Irish Hotels Federation says hotels and guesthouses in Donegal are facing their harshest ever start to a new year due to a collapse in bookings. Figures published today show that in the Border region, booking levels for hotel rooms are at 7% for January and 6% for February. This follows already historically low occupancy

  The Tanaiste has pledged to raise funding concerns over Sligo Airport with the Transport Minister. The airport houses The Coast Guard Service, which covers the west coast, Donegal and the Ulster coastline but there are fears over the future of the facility as there are no plans by Government to provide funding to it

  The details of Northern Ireland’s six week lockdown have been revealed – with stricter limits on retail than it’s seen before. It’s coming into effect on St Stephen’s Day Homeware won’t be considered essential, click and collect won’t be allowed and pubs and restaurants can only operate as takeaways. Health minister Robin Swann says

  The Good Friday agreement will be protected and a hard border on the island of Ireland will be avoided regardless of whether a Brexit trade deal is secured. That’s the message this morning from the European Commissioner during an address to the European Parliament. Mr Sefcovic is the co chair of the EU-UK Joint

  The Irish Hotels Federation says there will be significant job losses if the new restrictions get the go-ahead. Only 25 per cent of hotel rooms have been occupied this month, and the sector was hoping for a much-needed boost over the ‘Christmas window’. IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald-Kane says if that’s shortened, hotels will face

  NPHET has recommended the closure of restaurants and gastropubs before the New Year as part of efforts to deal with rising rates of Covid-19. From today, people can travel outside their county and three different households can meet indoors. The measures were due to stay in place until January 6th – but NPHET wants

  It’s emerged that it will be some time before the National Broadband Plan will be fully rolled out in Donegal. Figures received by Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty show that over 32,000 premises in Donegal are currently awaiting high speed broadband and it will be 4 years at least, before the service is delivered to

  Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says he believes there will be a post-Brexit trade deal by the end of the weekend. British and EU negotiators will resume talks this morning, after the British Prime Minister and the European Commission president spoke by phone last night. Ursula Von Der Leyen says “big differences remain” and that

  Northern Ireland’s entering a six-week lockdown from St Stephen’s Day. The Stormont Executive has decided to close non-essential shops, and restrict the hospitality sector to takeaway only. In the first week of the lockdown, households won’t be allowed mix and people won’t be able to leave their homes after 8pm. The North’s deputy first

  The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is being urged to sanction funding for the completion of the new Finn Harps stadium in the Appropriation Bill 2020. €1.2 million has already been spent on the now shovel-ready project but it has been laying idle since 2014. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty called on Minister Michael