Author name: oisinkelly

  The security alert in Castlederg has ended and a suspicious object which was examined at the scene, declared a hoax. The alert began at Millbrook Gardens after a number of men forced entry to a house in the area at around 7.30pm yesterday evening. The intruders held the male occupant to the ground before

  Proposals are now being sought to deliver turnkey social housing in Letterkenny. Donegal County Council has stated that one of their key objectives is to provide high quality and sustainable social housing in areas of need throughout Donegal and are now inviting developers to make submissions in this regard. Donegal County Council is currently

  A number of homes have been evacuated during a security alert in County Tyrone. Police have placed cordons in Millbrook Gardens in Castlederg following a report of a suspicious object. The operation started yesterday evening. There are no further details at this time.

  A motorist has been caught drug driving in Ballyshannon. Gardai received a dangerous driving report earlier today and the driver of the car subsequently tested positive for cocaine and cannabis. Court proceedings are to follow.

24 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today. The total number of confirmed cases in the Republic stands at 25,538. One further death brings the death toll here to 1,742. There are no new confirmed cases in Donegal today with the number remaining at 466.

Ramelton is to receive a share from a €1m funding pot under the Historic Towns Initiative 2020. Six historic towns in total are to share the funding which was announced today by the heritage Council and the Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan. Ramelton is to receive €200,000 for a project that will work

  No deaths due to Covid-19 have been reported in Northern Ireland today. Five new cases have been confirmed in the region. There have been 26 positive tests over the past week. The death toll remains at 554 and there are 5,761 cases.

Gardai have confirmed that a man has been arrested and questioned about attacks on cars in the Ballybofey area in the early hours of Sunday morning. The man has been released pending further investigation, and gardai have renewed an appeal for information. Between midnight and 2am on Sunday morning July 5th, 26 cars were damaged

Child poverty will increase sharply unless there’s an economic recovery this year. New ESRI research has looked at trends from the 2008 crash and the effect of the recent Covid-19 job losses and financial supports. It’s predicting child poverty will rise from 16.6 percent at the beginning of this year to 21.1 percent by December

The number of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Donegal has fallen by 35% over the past two months, according to figures published by the government. 14,700 people receive the payment in Donegal today, 1,200 fewer than received it last week, and 8,000 down on the 22,700 people who received the payment on May

There was a 30 per cent increase in the amount of fines paid for learner or novice driver offences last year. In Donegal, the increase was 50%. According to freedom of information files, 1.1 million euro worth of penalties were settled in 2018 and 2019, with 5,600 offences in 2018 and 7,300 in 2019 In

Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen is expected to make a Dáil statement on his drink-driving disqualification. The Minister will request Dáil time to make a statement on the matter. However, the mechanism does not allow opposition TDs to put questions to the Minister on the issue. Minister Cowen was put off the road for three months

  Dealz is opening a store in Buncrana later this month as part of an expansion which will see three new premises in Ireland, creating a total of 75 new jobs. The other new outlets are in Dublin and Cork. They’ll be opening on July 16th.

    A new all-weather RNLI lifeboat, which will be permanently based at Clifden in Connemara, will proudly carry the names of up to 10,000 people, placed on it by their loved ones. The honour of the first name on the new lifeboat will go to a young lifeboat volunteer, Lee Early (26), from Donegal,

  This week see’s City of Derry Airport’s flight schedule increase with Loganair’s London Stansted service increasing in frequency, Loganair’s Glasgow service returning and the recommencement of Ryanair’s Edinburgh and Liverpool services. The resumption of more regular flight services from City of Derry Airport has been described as a positive step in the recovery phase

An overnight search for a missing person in the Inishowen area has been stood down. The alarm was raised to Gardai who subsequently tasked Donegal Mountain Rescue and the Greencastle Coastguard to carry out a search last night. Teams were stood down in the early hours of this morning after the missing person was located

  The Government will meet today to discuss the restrictions on international travel. Anyone arriving into the country is expected to quarantine for 14 days. Restrictions on international travel as a result of the coronavirus could be left in place until at least July 20th. Cabinet will meet today to discuss travel restrictions. The Government

  Teachers unions and school managers say extra staff will be needed if schools are to be able reopen in September. According to the Irish Times, teachers unions have expressed concerns following suggestions a one-metre distance will be acceptable for older children. It comes as discussions on a planned re-start are set to continue this

Gardai are investigating a weekend assault in Letterkenny.  The incident is believed to have happened at around 3.15am yesterday at a house in Brookefield Heights. A woman in her 30s was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.

  People who have been “shielding” during the coronavirus pandemic in Northern Ireland can meet up to six people from outside their homes today. Those who live alone will also be able to form a “support bubble” to pair up permanently with one other household. From the 1st of August, the most vulnerable people won’t

Many of Donegal’s main beaches are now wheelchair accessible. 13 beaches are included, while a number of beach wheelchairs are available at various locations. They include Bundoran, Culdaff, Downings, Fintra, Lady’s Bay, Lisfannon, Murvagh, Naran Portnoo, Port Arthur, Portnablagh, Rathmullan, Rossnowlagh and Stroove. While Donegal County Council has beach wheelchairs available for use at six

There have been no new deaths of people with Covid 19 reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today. There have been 18 new confirmed cases in the Republic. The death toll is at 1,741 and the total number of people infected with the virus since the outbreak began has reached 25, 527.