Author name: oisinkelly

Derry City and Strabane District Council has advised that there will be a number of changes to some Council services next week. The changes include some temporary closures of Council Recycling Sites and are due to staff shortages and resulting pressures on services. In the Strabane area, Plumbridge recycling centre will be closed on Monday,

  Students at Letterkenny Institute of Technology should know the fate of their winter exams next week. Discussions between LYIT management and Students’ Union representatives continued over the course of today on plans for rescheduling the exams. In a joint statement this evening, both parties say they are optimistic that discussions will come to a

  The Department of Health has reported a further 21,926 confirmed cases of Covid-19. As of 8 o’clock this morning, 936 people are currently in hospital with the virus – a decrease of 5 since yesterday. 84 Covid patients are being treated in intensive care – a drop of 2 in the past 24 hours.

Listen back to the main evening news, sport and obituaries for Friday January 7th: 

  Court sittings are facing disruptions due to Covid19 resulting in judges, witnesses, and court staff being unable to attend. The court service says business may have to be cancelled at short notice, and in this case any adjournment will be for the minimum period. Criminal trials due to begin in the Central and Circuit

  Colleges will reopen on Monday as planned. It follows a meeting between Higher Education Minister Simon Harris and student, staff and management representatives today. The re-opening will be staggered with five colleges returning on Monday and another five the following week. There are also plans to bring back pop-up Covid vaccination clinics on campus

A new operator has been confirmed for the PSO Donegal-Dublin service. The Government funded route will be operated by Ireland’s newest airline, Emerald Airlines. Emerald Airlines have been awarded a three year contract to operate flights on the Donegal-Dublin route for a three year period from February 26th with the option of a one year

There’s been a slight fall in the number of admitted patients awaiting beds at Letterkenny University Hospital, with 30 people waiting this morning, down nine from yesterday. Four of them were on Emergency Department trolleys. Latest INMO figures show Letterkenny had the third highest number of people awaiting admission this morning. Meanwhile, Sligo University Hospital

An Post says deliveries in some rural areas are being impacted by staffing shortages. The company says a spike in Covid-related absences has placed a “temporary strain” on its resources. It says the worst impact’s being felt across its mails and parcels network, and at some Post Offices, with some having to temporarily shut. It

Letterkenny University Hospital is dealing with 62 infectious cases of Covid-19. That’s down slightly on yesterday’s figure but remains the second highest in the country. 4 infectious cases are in ICU. Nationally, 941 people are being treated in hospital with the virus and 90 are in ICU.

Work to alleviate flooding issues in Strabane is due to begin in the coming weeks. A short term flood alleviation scheme is scheduled for the Pearse Gardens area of the town which has been badly hit by flooding issues in recent years. A new storm sewer is to be laid along St. Colman’s Drive which

Listen back to the main evening news, sport farming and obituaries here for Thursday January 6th here:   

  There are 23,817 new cases of covid 19. This is the highest figure to date since the outbreak of the pandemic. 941 patients with the virus are in hospital, of which 90 are in ICU. The Department of Health has issued today’s figures.

Updated Digital Covid Certs won’t be required to access services including indoor dining. People who’ve received a booster dose of a covid vaccine will start to receive their updated certs from this afternoon. The updated certs will reflect a person’s booster status. The Department of Health says the process will take a number of days,

  There were more Covid outbreaks linked to schools in the second half of last year than any other public place. New HPSC figures show just over 4,100 outbreaks were recorded from the end of June to the end of December. 514 of them were associated with schools – followed by workplaces at 458. Overall,

The Saolta University Health Care Group has confirmed that it has recently tendered for a new credit management company. The hospital group says it is in line with HSE financial requirements to recoup outstanding patient debt across its facilities, including Letterkenny University Hospital. The use of debt collectors to retrieve unpaid patient fees was suspended

The HSE is asking people to be patient as they work through the large volume of referrals for PCR tests. Nationally, the HSE has vastly increased its testing capacity to respond to the spread of disease – in September, it was providing 100,000 PCR tests per week, but is now providing over 300,000. Clinical referrals

A Foyle MLA is calling for a strengthening of legislation to protect the River Foyle and other waterways. Sinead McLaughlin was speaking after she was told that there have been four prosecutions for pollution on the Northern side of the River Foyle over the last five years, leading to fines totalling just £3,500. Responding to

39 people are waiting on a bed at Letterkenny University Hospital today again. The hospital is the second most overcrowded in the country for the third day in a row this week. 10 patients are waiting on trolleys in the hospital’s Emergency Department while a further 29 are on wards. Elsewhere in the North West,

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney will meet his British counterpart in London later. It’s the first time the two will meet in person since Liz Truss took over Brexit responsibilities. Simon Coveney and Liz Truss have already held a long virtual meeting on Anglo Irish relations but today’s will be the first in person

There’s been a 27% increase in the number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Donegal, along with a rise in the number of people claiming enhanced illness benefit. This week 1,936 people claimed the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Donegal, up from 1,523 on December 21st. However, the figure is still over 10 times

There’s been a jump in the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 at Letterkenny University Hospital. The hospital is currently dealing with 66 infectious cases, the joint second highest figure in the country. That’s up 10 on yesterday’s figure. According to latest figures from the HSE, 5 patients with the virus are in ICU.