Author name: oisinkelly

  900 additional acute beds are to be provided across the hospital system to help deal with demand over the winter. A 600 million euro plan launched today aims to support the country through what will be one of the most challenging flu seasons on record. The main focus of the plan is to build

  There are major fears over the future of the mental health day centre in Letterkenny after the HSE failed to give a date for its reopening. The centre closed in mid-March due to Covid-19 with the HSE saying that it’s to remain closed as the safety and welfare of all users is a priority.

    A defibrillator which was stolen from Oldtown in Letterkenny has been recovered. A number of residents carried out a search of the area yesterday with the lifesaving equipment found some time later discarded in a field. It’s not yet known if the defibrillator will work properly as it’s currently being dried out before

  Gardai in Donegal are anxious that people don’t lose sight in the fight against Covid-19. Gardai in the county have received a number of calls in relation to house parties or large social gatherings over the past number of weeks but say that the majority of people are compliant. At the beginning of lockdown,

  The National Public Health Emergency Team is meeting this morning to discuss the rising number of Covid cases across the country. Dublin has been on Level 3 plus for almost a week, while Donegal and Louth now has a 14-day incidence rate of more than 100, according to the latest report from the Health

  The North’s Deputy First Minister’s calling on Simon Coveney to ‘stand up’ for the Good Friday Agreement in the Brexit controversy. Michelle O’Neill and the other three pro-remain parties from the North will have a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Minister in Dublin this morning. It follows his meeting with EU leaders in Brussels

  The HSE will launch a 600 million euro Winter Plan for the health service today. It will aim to boost capacity in hospitals and the community, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. The plan will also include an expanded flu vaccination programme. Dr Denis McCauley is the chair of the Irish Medical Organisation’s

  Saolta has confirmed that an ongoing recruitment drive is focusing particularly on Letterkenny University Hospital. It follows confirmation that there are currently 67 vacant posts at the hospital with an additional 54 positions being filled by agency staff. There are significant vacancies in the likes of nursing and midwifery, Health and Social Care and

  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