Author name: oisinkelly

Northern Ireland’s five-stage plans to gradually emerge from lockdown will be published today. First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill will outline the ‘roadmap’ to the Stormont assembly. According to The Irish News, small outdoor gatherings will be allowed in the first phase, but cafes, restaurants and pubs will have to wait […]

The National Public Health Emergency Team meets this morning to discuss if now is the time to recommend wearing masks in public. It’s expected they’ll issue formal guidance shortly on when people should start wearing facial coverings, and how they should find, make and use them. The death toll from the virus stands at 1,467,

There’s been another gorse fire in West Donegal, close to the scene of last week’s blaze which came close to damaging homes. That blaze was accidental, but local Councillor Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig believes on this occasion, the fire was started deliberately. Gardai are at the scene, and are investigating what happened. Cllr Mac

Former Minister Éamon Ó Cuív claims many Fianna Fáil members would have ‘huge issues’ with forming a government with Fine Gael and the Greens. The three parties are holding talks today to see whether they can put together a coalition. The discussions are likely to continue for the rest of the month, with carbon emissions

83 per-cent of people want to continue to work remotely after the Covid-19 Crisis. A new survey by researchers at NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission of over 7-thousand-people online across a range of industries shows shows over half of those surveyed had never worked remotely before the pandemic. It found the top three

The Chair of the Joint Policing Committee in Donegal is backing calls for more CCTV in the vicinity of the park at Ballyboe between Meadowbank and Dr McGinley Road. There have been a number of incidents in recent weeks, including the Easter Sunday arson attack on a communications mast, and the setting fire to a

Irish people travelling by plane to the UK won’t have to go into a 14-day quarantine when they arrive. The British Prime Minister has given people from the Republic and France an exemption to the self-isolating rules. But according to the Irish Independent, the Irish government won’t make a return gesture for people arriving by

Mart Managers Ireland are seeking a meeting with Minister Michael Creed to discuss what they say is an urgent need for financial support. They say Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on mart operations over what a normally the busiest two months of the mart calendar. Procedures for limited opening were agreed in the past

Twelve more Covid-19 patients have died, while 236 more people have tested positive. The total number of confirmed cases in Donegal remains at 469, with no new cases confirmed over the weekend. There are 10 Covid-19 patient at Letterkenny University Hospital, none of them in ICU. That’s down from a high of 38. The HSE

Siptu says between 15-hundred and two thousand health workers who signed up to be “On Call for Ireland” were handed agency contracts with inferior terms and conditions. The trade union says it’s been contacted by a number of workers hired under the scheme. It says the contracts don’t include death-in-service benefits which could amount to

Boris Johnson’s proposed partially reopening primary schools in the UK as early as the first of June. It would mean schools in Northern Ireland could be back open three months sooner than those south of the border. The British prime minister also said anyone who can’t work from home, like those in construction and manufacturing,

Gardai are investigating after a fire broke out last night at the Bernard McGlinchey Town Park in Letterkenny. The fire has raised some anger among locals as it destroyed a slide in the park. It is believed the fire started after 9pm, when black smoke could be seen last night. The fire service responded to

The HSE says it’s still on target to deliver 100,000 tests per week from May 18th. It says the average wait time for a result is now 2.4 days and that plans are being put in place to ramp up testing and contact tracing. All staff and residents in the country’s 577 nursing homes have

As Boris Johnson gets set to announce measures to end Britain’s lockdown, a roadmap for recovery in Northern Ireland isn’t expected until next week. Both the first and deputy first minister’s recently said the current restrictions will also remain in place for a further three weeks. First Minister Arlene Foster says the decisions are based

The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland says it has huge concerns about a Leaving Cert with predictive grades but it is supporting the plan. The union’s recommending its members engage with calculated grades for students but it still has concerns about possible legal issues. The Teachers Union of Ireland have also stated their initial

There were no new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Donegal yesterday, the first time since testing began. The number of people who have tested positive for the virus in the county still stand at 469. Meanwhile, GPs have seen a doubling of people they’re sending for Covid-19 testing in the past week. It’s after the

Irish Rural Link has welcomed the COVID-19 support package of €40 million for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises. Many of organisations and charities in Donegal have seen a drop in any earned income they generate as a result of having to close certain parts of their services such as charity shops, rental

A Donegal TD is urging the Government to provide protection to workers providing childcare to frontline healthcare staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. This comes as Allianz, an insurance provider in the childcare sector, has said this week it will not provide cover for Covid-19 related claims for workers who take part in the State-sponsored scheme

  27 more people have lost their lives in the Republic after getting Covid-19. It brings the death toll to 1,429. 156 new cases have been detected in the past 24 hours, with the total standing at 22,541 confirmed cases in this country. Dr Tony Holohan has details on those who have died:

  It’s been claimed that Letterkenny University Hospital testing capacity is not being utilised. It’s understood that the hospital had been processing approximately 300-400 samples per day at the beginning of April, with a 12-hour to 24-hour turnaround. Now, the laboratory in Letterkenny University Hospital is reportedly only processing samples from patients and staff from

  The Licensed Vintners Association says it is alarming and concerning to hear that there is very little prospect of pubs reopening in June. They are now calling for an urgent meeting with the government to discuss the future of the industry following the comments by the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan. Earlier this

  It’s emerged that the Donegal fire service attended ten separate wild or gorse fires across the county on Wednesday alone. Some of the fires required a large amount of personnel in order to bring them under control, putting extra pressure on the fire service locally. With the dry spell set to continue for the

  Low-income farmers received nearly 69 million euro under the social-welfare scheme ‘Farm Assist’ last year. Nearly 6,000 people received the payment, which is capped at 203 euro a week. More than 1,000 were in Donegal, and there were also high numbers in Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork and Monaghan. Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice says farmers

  The planned medical school at Magee campus in Derry has moved a step closer with the project to be taken forward by the Executive Office. The latest move means that the project now needs final sign off by Michelle O’Neill and First Minister Arlene Foster who have both publicly committed to delivering it. The

  A Donegal TD is calling for immediate action to prevent a surge in cancer fatalities in Donegal in the coming months and years. It’s after figures released to Fianna Fail show that the number of people being referred by GPs to Rapid Access Clinics has fallen by more than 50%. Due to the pandemic,

Cabinet ministers are set to approve an alternative plan for the Leaving Cert exams this morning. It’s understood the examinations will be cancelled and replaced with a system of predictive grades. It’s expected an official announcement will be made this afternoon. Labour’s education spokesman, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, is raising concerns about the legality of predictive