Author name: oisinkelly

  Books of condolence are open at Letterkenny, Buncrana, Milford and Ballyshannon Garda Stations for people to pay their respects to Detective Garda Colm Horkan. The 49 year old was shot dead with his own gun in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon late on Wednesday night. A man in his 40s was arrested and remains in Garda […]

  The Health Minister is to contact the HSE directly to ensure that there is no interruption to the supply of PPE and other equipment to Donegal following Monday’s fire in Letterkenny. A large number of supplies were destroyed in a HSE storage building close to Watson Hire. The HSE has stated this that contingency

  A man in his 40s and his teenage son have died in a drowning incident near Kilmacrenan. They were holidaying in the area and went fishing in Lough Keel yesterday. But they got into difficulty and their bodies were recovered from the lake last night. Another teenage boy – from the same family –

  The number of people on the waiting list for driving tests is said to have skyrocketed with over 1,500 waiting in Donegal. Nationally, the figures show that there are over 55,000 people waiting for a driving test across the 49 testing centres in the country. It has led to calls for more clarity as

  The government will consider new advice today on whether hairdressers and barbers should be allowed to re-open sooner than planned. They’re not due to open until July 20th, but that could be brought forward to June 29th as the lifting of lockdown measures is sped up. A further 4 people with Covid 19 have

  Principals in Northern Ireland are expected to get guidance today on how schools will operate when they fully reopen in August. Yesterday it was announced that social distancing rules will be relaxed from two metres to one for pupils. Graham Gault is a principal of a primary school in Co. Antrim and says he

  The Courts Service while acknowledging that a refurbishment is vital, has yet to make a decision on restoring services to Carndonagh courthouse. In a response received by Councillor Albert Doherty, following receipt of a recent survey, the Courts Service has said overall expenditure is required in both the short term to remedy immediate defects

Main Evening News, Sport, Farming News and Obituaries Thursday June 18th:

    Serious concern has been raised over potential extra payments facing mortgage holders who have taken a payment break because of Covid-19. By 28th May, close to 80,000 mortgage holders have applied for a payment break however, the move could mean higher debt and interest charges in the long run. Sinn Féin spokesperson on

  Letterkenny businessman John Watson has said while coming to terms with losing his business has been difficult, the potential loss of life would have been so much worse. An investigation is continuing to determine the cause of the devastating fire at Watson Hire on Monday evening. The blaze broke out just as John and

  Fianna Fail members in Donegal are receiving their ballot papers this morning to cast their postal vote on the Programme for Government. There are just under 1,000 Fianna Fail members in the county eligible to cast their vote however there’s said to be a major split within the party locally over plans to enter

    It’s been confirmed that both the Swilly and Foyle ferry services will resume next month. Both ferries are to set sail for the summer season on July 20th and will run until the end of September however there are hopes locally that the date could be brought forward pending how the lifting of

  An infectious diseases expert says hairdressers and barbers should be allowed to reopen at the end of this month. It’s ahead of a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team this morning. They’ll discuss the accelerated roadmap for reopening the country, which was reduced to just four phases recently. Hairdressers and barbers are

  There are calls for urgent clarity over the future of the medical rehabilitation unit in St. Conal’s Campus in Letterkenny. A number of families locally are said to be concerned over proposals to relocate to Letterkenny University Hospital and how this will impact on the care of their loved ones who are scheduled for

  A major social housing development in Strabane has been given the green light. A £20 million investment will see 158 new social houses and a play area constructed on the old Adria site in the town. It’s estimated that 160 construction jobs will also be created over the course of the project. West Tyrone

  Work has started on the Greenway link between Muff in Donegal and Culmore in Derry. There are three main Derry routes which will transcend the border between the Buncrana Road and Bridgend, between the Letterkenny Road and Killea, and between the Culmore Road and Muff, beginning at the Pennyburn Roundabout right through Muff and

  The Green Party will discuss whether or not to go into government at a special conference this afternoon. More than 2,600 party members registered to vote on whether or not to approve the programme for government. Members will have the chance to debate the issue over 9 hours today before voting next week. Green

  It would be a miracle if the EU managed to broker a full trade agreement with the UK within the next few months. That’s according to a Midlands North West MEP. The European Parliament will vote today on a resolution that calls on the UK to abide by the Brexit Withdrawal agreement. The President

Cllr Rena Donaghey has been officially installed as the new Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council. Cllr Donaghey replaces fellow Inishowen Cllr Nicholas Crossan in the role and is the first female Fianna Fáil member to do so. The Buncrana based Cllr was proposed by Cllr Ciaran Brogan and seconded by Cllr Paul Canning. Speaking at

A Donegal County Councillor has hit out over an increase in fly tipping across the county in recent weeks. Today a significant number of bags containing household rubbish was found dumped at Magheraroarty Pier in West Donegal. Councillor Michael McClafferty is appealing to people to ensure they dump their rubbish responsibly:

There are calls for a £500 bonus to be given to care workers in the North, in recognition of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic. A scheme has been introduced in Wales whereby care workers at all levels, despite how many hours they have worked will receive a payment of £500. West Tyrone MLA Daniel

  There are further calls on businesses in Donegal to apply for the Restart Grant for Small Businesses scheme. The Grant is available to businesses with a turnover of less than €5m and employing 50 people or less, which were closed or impacted by at least a 25% reduction in turnover out to 30th June

  There’s been a significant increase in the level of homelessness in the north west. Figures show that there was a 19% increase in those using emergency accommodation in the region over the last year while data since 2017 reflects a 30% increase. The General Manager of North West Simon Community Noel Daly while the

  A local businessman and Cllr says there are a lot of unanswered questions over new measures which will allow restaurants and pubs that serve food reopen at the end of the month. People may only be able to spend 90 minutes in a restaurant or pub to allow the two metre social distancing rule