Author name: oisinkelly

  A Donegal Senator claims Community Employment Supervisors are being treated like second class citizens by Government. Senator Padraig MacLochlainn has also hit out at the Government over their decision to walk away from trade union talks on pensions for CE Supervisors, branding is ‘unacceptable’. In 2008 the Labour Court recommended that an agreed pension scheme […]

  Concerns over the progress of returning court services to Carndonagh have been relayed to the Justice Minister. Carndonagh Courthouse closed in March on the grounds of health and safety and a structural report carried out by the Courts Service was completed last week. Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue pressed Minister Charlie Flanagan for an update

  Donegal County Council has moved to confirm that all the Local Improvement Scheme funding for the Letterkenny MD for 2019 has been spent. However there’s concern that this year’s tranche of funding falls far short of what’s required and is in sharp contrast to last year’s allocation. This year’s allocation of 661,000 equates to

Irish Water has contacted gardai following an incident on Lough Foyle this morning. In a statement to Highland Radio News this afternoon, Irish Water say a company working on their behalf carrying out non-invasive survey works in Lough Foyle were unable to complete their work this morning, after an interaction with two local boats. The

It’s anticipated that a new building for a number of services in Letterkenny will meet the needs of all to be housed there. There had been concerns that the proposed building may not be fully adequate for the range of services to be situated there , including Cara House which currently operates out of a

Three new PEACE IV projects have been launched in Donegal this week. The first project, Living in Donegal will examine what being born in Donegal means and Northwest Border Stories will feature 40 primary school aged children and their grandparents from both sides of the border while Echoes from the Decades Commemoration Programme will see

Fishermen on Lough Foyle have hit out at Irish Water and the Loughs Agency after a vessel arrived on the lough this morning to do survey work in the area where Irish Water plan to locate a discharge pipe from the proposed treatment plant at Carnagarve. Fishermen claim they were effectively being obstructed, and when

The Seanad has been told that all processes laid down in relation to aquaculture licences have been adhered to in the application for a major project aquaculture project on Ballyness Bay. Representatives of the Save Ballyness Bay campaign argue that the Department of Agriculture and the Marine has not followed its own guidelines in seeking

  A Donegal County Councillor is confident that the majority of works relating to the Four Lanes Scheme in Letterkenny will take place at night time. The work is to take place between the Polestar and Dry Arch roundabouts, the main thoroughfare into the town and the only gateway to the entire west of the

  There are urgent calls for round table discussions to take place on improving and extending the Letterkenny Town Bus service. With the ever growing population of the town combined with on-going major traffic congestion, it’s thought that now is the time to talk about the possible challenges facing the service. There’s also concern that

  Sewage from the equivalent of 77,000 people in 36 towns and villages is released into the environment every day without treatment. Areas in Donegal discharging untreated wastewater include Kerrykeel, Rathmullan, Ramelton, Moville, Falcarragh, Burtonport, Kilcar and the Coolatee Housing Scheme. There are also 21 large towns and cities, including Moville, where waste water treatment

  The Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District says important local development projects are being jeopardized by red tape. Each year, Donegal County Council invites applications Under the Development Fund Initiative, which supports small economic, social, cultural and heritage projects from local community groups and committees. The money is provided by members through their development

Serious concerns have been raised over the culling of seals in Donegal. The Irish Seal Sanctuary has received what they have described as a very ‘disturbing’ report of the shooting of seals in the waters between Greencastle and Culdaff. Brendan Price, Biologist at the Irish Seal Sanctuary says, at the moment the motive behind the

  There are calls on the Health Minister and the HSE to immediately appoint an Autism Therapist for Inishowen. The post has been vacant now for 17 months after the previous therapist left the job. Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue says he was informed during the summer that recruitment was underway but to date no appointment

The Education Minister says significant progress on the remediation programme for 40 schools constructed by Western Building Systems has been made. Work has been completed on 14 schools so far – and will start on the rest next year, including Letterkenny Educate Together National School after it was assessed as having similar safety issues to

The Central Bank is going to contact consumers to find out about their experiences of dual pricing in relation to insurance. The Central Bank is before an Oireachtas Committee this afternoon to discuss the issue. Derville Rowland, Director General, Financial Conduct at the Central Bank says it will be helpful to get the facts rather

Gardaí have issued a further warning to business owners to be aware of a new scam doing the rounds. These scams, called invoice or CEO scams, target businesses by asking them to change their payment details to a service provider via emails that are designed to look like they come from a legitimate source. On

Gardaí are seeking information relating to a burglary at an apartment at Fortwell Court, Lower Main Street in Letterkenny. The burglary occurred on Tuesday last between 3pm and 6pm. Its believed, the lock on the door of the apartment was broken and a sum of cash and a TV were stolen. Garda Grainne Doherty says

Donegal County Council is being urged to take back control of Civic Amenity Sites, and not to put them out to tender. At present, Bryson Recycling operates the centres in the county, but Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig says the council should not be depending on the private sector to operate its facilities. He

  There’s been renewed calls for the end of dual pricing in the insurance industry. It’s when people can be charged different rates for the same cover, and has been described as a cosy cartel operation. The Central Bank is due before an Oireachtas Committee this afternoon to discuss the issue. Sinn Féin’s Finance Spokesman

Serious health and safety concerns have been raised over Conwal road just outside Letterkenny. The route is home to a vast graveyard which sees a significant amount of visitors on a daily basis. However, there’s currently no right hand turn available for people to use to pull into the graveyard, with a minor crash happening

A planning application has been lodged for 160 social houses in Strabane. The proposed development would be located at the former Adria site in the town. West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan believes that this should go a long way in addressing what he terms as the chronic housing executive waiting lists in the area. He

  Its been confirmed that funding for a new building for the Cleary Centre, Donegal Town has been included in the HSE’s 2020 Capital budget. The centre was deemed no longer fit-for-purpose in 2014 and services were relocated to the Victor Building Complex in Donegal Town, to provide short-term accommodation for staff and service users.

  A South Donegal TD has hit out at Tourism Minister Shane Ross, claiming he has not met with Tourism Ireland officials in 2019 at all, and has only done so five times since becoming a minister. Deputy Mac Sharry says figures he has received show that 70% of tourist overnight stays are spent in

A Donegal hotelier says insurance costs are a serious issue for the sector, particularly in light of the number of false claims being made. Failte Ireland are reporting a drop in domestic tourism this year, with Brexit uncertainty cited by the industry as one of the main reasons. Carolyn Harrison runs the Shandon Hotel in

The Garda Representative Association is calling on the Minister of State Michael D’Arcy to apologise for his comments on policing in the border region. On today’s Nine ’til Noon Show, Donegal GRA Representative Brendan O’Connor said recent announcements of more investment in garda resources in the Cavan Monaghan area are an acknowledgement that the area

The Principal of the Little Angels School in Letterkenny says while they’ve moved a step closer to a new school building, it’s likely to be this time next year before contractors are on site. At present, they are at the pre-qualification stage, in which builders with an interest in the job are applying for the

  It’s emerged that the Four Lanes Scheme in Letterkenny could take almost two years to complete. The project, which is due to begin next year, will see improvements works carried out between the Dry Arch and Polestar roundabouts. The lengthy projection time of 18- 20 months for works to be complete has in turn