Author name: oisinkelly

  Health officials will meet today amid growing concerns over the rise in coronavirus cases in a number of counties. The National Public Health Emergency Team is particularly concerned about Donegal, Louth and Waterford – where a third of recent cases are among 15 to 24 year olds. 30 of yesterday’s 234 cases were in […]

  The Government is being urged to ensure Covid-19 restrictions on maternity wards are adjusted to allow partners to be present in delivery rooms and during scans. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle says not allowing partners into delivery rooms is nonsensical. He told the Dail that the WHO states that Covid-19 should not impact a woman’s

  €25,000 has been sanctioned for the Millhouse in Ramelton. The funding which will ensure the completion of heritage projects is part of a €1 million investment as part of the July Jobs Stimulus package. The Millhouse is one of 13 projects across the country identified as requiring urgent support. Donegal Green Party Chairman, Michael

The 14 day incidence rate of Covid-19 in Donegal is now 106.2 per 100,000 of the population, the second highest in the country after Dublin. It comes as a leading expert says Ireland is at the start of a second wave of Covid 19 – and has warned a rise in deaths is “inevitable” in

Almost €100,000 is to be invested in Arranmore Island. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, announced the funding today under capital grants totalling €370,000 for three islands. The funding will go towards the resurfacing of roads, repairs to sea walls and slipways and work on damaged coastal defences. Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla

  The Chair of the GP subcommittee on the Irish Medical Organisation has issued a stark warning that young people in Donegal are playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with Covid-19. While the virus may not necessarily impact young people themselves, local GP Denis McCauley says that their actions could potentially cause the death toll to rise among

  Serious concern has been raised again over what’s been described as big shortage in home help hours in Donegal. It’s claimed that the HSE simply don’t have the resources to send personnel out in some areas in the county. There are major fears locally that the service could be curtailed further as we face

  A document, outlining a number of concerns relating to Buncrana, has been published. The document, APE (Arts, Politics and the Environment) highlights what’s been described as a lack of work being done on a number of outstanding issues in the town. The lack of a leisure centre, the long awaited three school campus and

  Preparations for a Technological University for the North West and West are said to be being stepped up. The Presidents of Letterkenny Institute of Technology, IT Sligo and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology met a number of weeks back to discuss plans for the Technological University including plans to engage with external and internal stakeholders.

  Sinn Féin is to bring forward legislation to ban the practice of insurance dual pricing in Ireland. It follows a decision in the UK which will effectively ban the practice, which saw customers overcharged by as much as £1.2 billion in 2018 alone, from the British insurance market. In October last year, Donegal Deputy

  A Donegal Deputy believes Covid-19 can be tackled at a community level to prevent against moving to a higher level of restrictions. Deputy Joe McHugh says amidst uncertainty over the growing number of cases, the vast majority of people are adhering to all guidelines in a bid to fight the virus The Government has

  The First Minister of Northern Ireland says the introduction of new lockdown restrictions is a “wake up call”. In a televised address, Arlene Foster says the country is “not out of the woods” in its fight against coronavirus. Yesterday, measures were brought in that ban people mixing with other households indoors, due to a

    Almost 2,500 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in Donegal in the past week. At the recent sitting of the Regional Health Forum West, Councillor Gerry McMonagle raised concern that the health service in the county may not have the capacity to meet current demand and that there may be an issue with

  The acting Chief Medical Officer’s warning that Covid-19 is spreading ‘disproportionately’ among younger people. It’s after new figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show 40 percent of cases in the last two months have been in people between 15 and 34. Another 334 cases of the virus were reported across the country yesterday,

  The first meeting of the government’s Beef Taskforce in three months will take place today. It was set up last year after heated demonstrations over beef prices, which included blockades at meat plants and tractor protests. Farming organisations, department officials and Meat Industry Ireland will meet by video conference today. Agriculture Minister, Charlie McConalogue,

Dublin, Louth, Waterford and Donegal should move to level 4 restrictions, with the rest of the country moving to Level 3 according to a health expert. It comes as the 14-day incidence rate in those counties continues to rise, while nationally it stands at 70.4 percent. Louth is now over 100, with Donegal and Waterford

Garda Grainne Doherty and Garda Michelle Kelly joined Donal on this week’s Community Garda Slot:

It’s emerged that some people in Donegal are having to travel as far as Dublin for a Covid test and then back again for a hospital procedure a matter of days later. In recent weeks, a child and his mother had to travel from the North of the County to Sligo Hospital early in the

  The Director of Public Health with HSE North West is urging people in Donegal to double down on their efforts in a bid to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases.  The HSE says that they are very concerned at the rising cases in Donegal with a high number of household transmissions reported in Lifford,

  A number of Donegal community energy projects are to receive funding under the Community Energy Grant Scheme. The investment will deliver energy upgrades to nearly 1,500 homes and community and commercial buildings throughout the country. Donegal projects include grants for deep retrofits to residential homes delivered by 3 housing associations, plus heating and lighting

  An investigation has been launched after a vital piece of life saving equipment was stolen in Letterkenny at the weekend. A defibrillator, located outside the Snug 39 at Oldtown, was discovered missing from its case yesterday. The defibrillator had only been placed there a matter of weeks ago and follows a major fundraising campaign

  There are fears that a local road won’t be gritted on time for motorists this winter. The route between Kerrykeel and Glenvar is currently listed on option three, meaning the road won’t be treated until after 8am each morning. Donegal County Council say that its fleet is currently at capacity and the Winter Maintenance

  Serious concern has been raised once again over the extent of coastal erosion in North Inishowen. There are fears that the issue will severely affect a number of local amenities in the years ahead, with Ballyliffin Golf Club already being impacted. A report into erosion in the area was first commissioned back in 2016

  A leading immunology expert says several more counties, including Donegal, are on the brink of level 3 restrictions, like Dublin now has. Another 188 cases of Covid-19 were reported yesterday, including 25 in Cork, 21 in Donegal and 16 in Kildare. According to a new Department of Health survey, 52 per cent of the

  Visitors inside Northern Ireland households will be banned from this evening. New restrictions come into place at 6pm to tackle a recent rise in Covid-19 cases – more than 1,000 have been confirmed in the past week. Different households will not be allowed to mix with each other indoors and no more than six