Author name: oisinkelly

  The Government is being urged to use opportunities presented by the economic recovery to enhance the quality of life of the North West’s regional economy. There’s concern that while the pandemic has had an impact on the region, other issues such as Brexit, climate change and funding deficits in our higher education sector were

  There are calls on Donegal County Council to establish a water tanker in Gaoth Dobhair. West Donegal has been the scene of numerous gorse fires in the recent past and its thought that the area needs extra resources on standby should future similar events occur. There had been previous calls on the Council to

  The Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council is urging the Department of Education to be ‘generous’ with the landowners of the proposed new site for the three school campus in Buncrana. The public advertisement for the site was published this week and follows recent confirmation by the Education Minister that a compulsory purchase process has

    Sinn Féin has progressed legislation through the Dáil that will provide for a statutory entitlement to domestic violence paid leave. The legislation is set to be debated in the Dáil this week and is said to come at a time when services which provide support for victims of domestic violence in Donegal have

  A 90 year old Irish grandmother has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Bio-N-tech Covid-19 vaccine. Margaret Keenan, who’s from Enniskillen, had the injection at University Hospital Coventry at around 6.30 this morning. Afterwards she said she felt ‘good’ – and has this message for anyone with doubts about

  The Chief Medical Officer says it’s unlikely we’ll avoid a significant surge of Covid-19 in early January. Public health officials don’t believe daily case numbers will fall any further this side of Christmas. The 7 day incidence rate increased by 13 per cent over the course of the last week, with 242 new cases

  The wife and mother of three Bundoran RNLI crew members are asking Donegal people to support the charity’s annual Christmas Appeal after volunteers faced an unprecedented year due to the pandemic. The RNLI has seen a drop in income in 2020 as traditional fundraising activities had to be cancelled. This was despite the lifesaving

  Inishowen has welcomed a Local Area Gift Card with the VillagePod App for the Loving Local/Shop Local campaign. VillagePod, an online platform that helps local communities was recently launch with 25 local retailers on board. VillagePod has been introduced with the support of the Inishowen Partnership, in conjunction with the Lighthouse Project and their

  The British Prime Minister and European Commission President will meet in Brussels in the coming days to try and end the Brexit deadlock. Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen failed to reach an agreement on the phone yesterday. Significant differences remain on fisheries, competition and the policing of a deal. Dublin MEP, Frances

There have been a further 242 Covid-19 cases and no new deaths. 76 of the latest cases are in Dublin, 27 in Donegal, 22 in Kilkenny, 16 in Galway and 14 in Louth. The 14 day incidence rate per 100,000 people is now 80.4 – down from 89.2 this day last week. But Chief Medical

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have been speaking by phone this afternoon. It comes as Wednesday has been set as a deadline by the EU to reach a Brexit deal. Despite ongoing negotiations over the weekend the two main stumbling blocks remain the same. The EU

    Donegal County Council and Derry City & Strabane District Council are working in close partnership and have many joint projects and events planned to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of St Colmcille’s birth. The programme which is being officially launched today, has been developed based on extensive consultation undertaken with a number of relevant

  A Donegal Deputy is calling for survivors’ access to the remaining commission reports on Mother and Baby Homes. The Government is being urged to provide the details of the sixth interim report of the Commission of Investigation and the final report to the former residents and survivors of the homes. Deputy Pringle says supports

  A new study has revealed that Letterkenny Institute of Technology has the highest proportion of disadvantaged students nationwide. The study by the higher Education Authority shows that around 25% of the 5,000 at the LYIT are categorised as disadvantaged based on their home address; just 3 per cent are categorised as well-off. This compares

  Restaurants are struggling to get staff for Christmas, amid fears of a third lockdown in the New Year. Workers moving to jobs in supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as a reluctance to come off the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, are leading to staff shortages. It’s claimed employees may decide not to return to the workplace,

  Nursing home visits will be allowed from today, with one person per week allowed in the centre. Should the country’s level of Covid-19 restrictions rise it would change to one person every two weeks allowed to visit a resident. It comes as 301 new cases of the virus were detected yesterday, 32 of them

  The first doses a Covid-19 vaccine will begin to be delivered to people in Northern Ireland today. Around 12,500 people are expected to get the shot there this week. People aged 80 and over, care home workers and some healthcare staff are first in line to get immunised. Saffron Cordery from NHS Providers in

  Driving tests have been cancelled this morning in parts of the country due to icy temperatures overnight. The Road Safety Authority made the decision last night, and has been contacting those affected. It says it will rebook any cancelled tests for free — and is offering the option to people who believe the conditions

  Michel Barnier is updating EU Ambassadors this morning on the progress made over the weekend on Brexit trade talks. Reports from the EU suggested there was a breakthrough on fisheries – however Downing Street denied there was agreement. A number of stumbling blocks still remain, including fishing rights and the so-called ‘level playing field’.

A ‘vaccine buddy’ is being proposed for nursing home residents to ensure safe visiting continues in the new year. Nursing Homes Ireland has asked the Health Minister to allow a nominated visitor get the vaccine with a resident as part of the State’s new implementation plan. That’s currently being worked on, with the final details

The ASTI says teachers still have significant concerns about Covid-19 transmission in schools. It’s after the European Centre for Disease Control advised governments to consider extending school holidays after Christmas. It says national holidays in North America have already been linked to increases in transmission – and delaying going back to school could ease the