Author name: oisinkelly

The Government has been urged to introduce a range of measures to support the Sexual Offences Act, 2017. The Law was enacted on February 22nd 2017 making the purchase of sex a criminal offence. Donegal Senator Padraig MacLochlainn this week, hosted a briefing for all members of the Oireachtas during which a range of organisations

The Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017 has passed all stages in the Dáil. The Bill will now give reciprocal rights to boats owned and operated in Northern Ireland and Ireland to fish within a 0.6 mile radius of Ireland’s coast. Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle told the Dail earlier that the Bill retrospectively legalises the exploitation

A Donegal Deputy has hit out at the Government for what he claims is the rushing through of the Sea-Fisheries Amendment Bill. Deputy Thomas Pringle has told the Dail that the Government has had ample amount of time to review the voisinage agreement which dates back to the 1960s rather than panicking now in the

A Donegal student has told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action that this is just the beginning of a climate revolution. Conal O’Boyle was part of a group of Donegal students who travelled to Dublin yesterday to present a petition to Minister Richard Bruton. Today, he addressed the Committee raising a number of issues

The Health Minister has today committed additional funding for the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Letterkenny. Half a million euro is being allocated nationally to improve sexual assault treatment units. The number of forensic nurse examiners will double and they will now be able to travel to patients if necessary. Last year, Donegal woman Dominique

  The Donegal GRA spokesperson has described a new report from the Oireachtas Justice Committee as a damning indictment of Government policy in recent years. The report on community policing and tackling rural crime recommends that rural areas that lost Garda stations during the economic crash should get more resources and have vacant positions filled.

  The 2019 Tidy Towns Competition is now open for entries. Last year, a record 883 communities entered the competition. Three new awards have been added this year including Community Climate Action, Air Quality, and the Pollinator Award. Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring praised all of the volunteers involved in the competition:

  Concern has been raised that the Public Service Centre in Carndonagh is not being utilised to its full potential. There are currently five public service centres in Donegal however some services in Carndonagh have been moved to Letterkenny over the years. The local authority says that it intends to carry out a countrywide review.

  There are further calls on Donegal County Council to install more traffic calming measures in two of border villages as a matter of urgency. Fears are mounting in Carrigans and Killea that someone will be killed due to the high frequency of crashes in both villages. The local authority in its response has said

A Donegal County Councillor claims he has been discriminated against by the local authority for his choice to use his native language when conducting council business. Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig met this week with the Chief Executive of Donegal County Council following a recent SPC meeting where Councillor MacGiolla Easbuig left after he was

  A Donegal Deputy has told the Taoiseach that there must be a referendum on Irish unity in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Deputy Pearse Doherty was speaking in the Dail during Post-European Council Statements. He called on the Taoiseach to establish an All-Ireland Forum on Irish Unity and to call on the British

  A group of Donegal students have travelled to Dublin and presented the Minister for Climate Action, Richard Bruton with a petition of almost 300 signatures. It follows a climate action protest held outside County House in Lifford on March 15th. The students were also present in the Dail when Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle told

  The mumps crisis in Donegal is said to be escalating with 17 new cases confirmed since Monday alone. The HSE say there are a number of reasons for this such as people not being vaccinated or may have had only one dose. Doctor Laura Heavey is Public Health Registrar with HSE West is urging

  It’s been claimed that historical sites in East Donegal are being overlooked as major tourist attractions. Cllr Frank McBrearty believes there are a number of worthy sites in the east of the county that deserve a funding injection. The local authority has pledged to work towards identifying additional funding to promote them. Cllr. McBrearty

  Donegal Sinn Fein Cllrs are calling on Cllr John O’Donnell to resign. It’s after yesterday’s publication of the Standards in Public Office report, which found Cllr O’Donnell breached the ethics code under three separate sections of the local government act. Speaking on today’s Nine till Noon Show, Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher believes that in

  There are calls to establish more Digital Hubs in border villages in Donegal. It’s thought that smaller towns and villages in the border area could have economic growth potential in a post-Brexit climate. Donegal County Council has pledged to assist interested community groups in developing business cases. Cllr Gary Doherty says Digital Hubs have

  New figures have revealed that 32 social housing units in Inishowen have been lying vacant for more than three months while 588 families on the peninsula are currently on the housing waiting list. Countywide, almost 100 Council houses have remained unoccupied over the same period with Inishowen having the largest number. It has led

    The Housing Minister has repeated his commitment to the delivery of a Mica redress scheme for affected homeowners in Donegal but when pressed for a timescale, Eoghan Murphy failed to give a definitive date for the roll out of the scheme. It was in response to Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue who told Minister

A scheme being launched today will let up to 62 towns around the country compete for new tourism funding of 15 million euro from Fáilte Ireland. The money will be made available through local authorities which can nominate two towns in their area that have the potential to become so-called ‘destination towns’. The towns involved

  Donegal is said to be leading the way in best practice for managing coastal heritage in developing coastal landscape. Delegates from Norway and the Basque region of Spain are currently visiting the county as part of the EU funded HERICOAST project to learn more about methodology used in Donegal to undertake and inform the Seascape

A Donegal fisherman has gone on hunger strike outside Leinster House. Gerard Kelly from Greencastle commenced his protest today as the Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Bill comes before the Seanad. The Government is proposing to reintroduce controversial legislation to permit foreign-owned vessels using a Northern address access to Irish waters. Donegal Senator Padraig MacLochlainn addressed the