Author name: oisinkelly

A series of events will take across Northern Ireland on Tuesday week next, August 28th, to highlight the length of time the Assembly at Stormont has been inactive. Derry’s Guildhall Square is one of the areas where people will hold signs numbered from 1 to 589, highlighting the number of days since the assembly collapsed

Irish accents are confusing voice controlled technology systems like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Echo. The voice recognition devices have most difficulty recognising Donegal accents with 39% of the county’s population saying the smart devices only ‘occasionally or never’ understand them. While, nearly half of people in Laois say their home assistants ‘always’ understand them, followed

There’s condemnation in Derry this morning after poppy wreaths and the names of murdered police and prison officers were placed on a bonfire in the Bogside area and set alight last night. In some nationalist areas, it’s a tradition to light bonfires on August 15th to mark the Feast of the Assumption. Its reported that

Politicians shouldn’t be afraid to have an adult conversation about immigration, according to Presidential candidate, Kevin Sharkey. The Donegal man says it’s something Ireland needs to be conscious of in the wake of Brexit. He was one of four candidates to address Carlow County Council yesterday seeking its support. Mr Sharkey says Ireland needs to

Brexit negotiations in Brussels over the next two days are focusing on the issue of the Irish border. The EU and UK have agreed there will be no hard border, but they differ on how it can be achieved. Fine Gael Senator and spokesperson on EU Affairs, Neale Richmond, says Ireland and the UK will

Serious concern has been raised following reports of apples being thrown at vehicles travelling through the Lifford area. Local Councillor Gary Doherty says there are fears the actions of those responsible could lead to a serious crash with a number of cars already damaged and motorists left shaken as a result. He has appealed to

Donegal presidential hopeful Kevin Sharkey has compared Donald Trump to film star John Wayne. The Donegal man launched the defence of Trump while speaking to Carlow County Council seeking their nomination to run for the Áras. Businessman Gavin Duffy, Senator Joan Freeman and former Aer Lingus worker Patrick Feeney also addressed the council. Kevin Sharkey

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Wednesday August 15th:

Donegal’s commercial vacancy rate was 15 per cent in the second quarter of this year, unchanged compared to the same period in 2017 according to the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report which has just been published. The national commercial vacancy rate stands at 13.1%, with GeoDirectory saying the figures suggest the recovery is taking

Students have begun collecting their Leaving Cert results, over 57,000 across the country, 2,122 of them in Donegal. Results are now available in schools, and will be available online at 12 noon. Almost 4,000 have failed maths, with a breakdown of the statistics shows that works out as around 10 percent of all those who

Memorial services will take place in Omagh and Buncrana today to mark 20 years since the Omagh bombing. 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when a massive car bomb ripped through the town centre on the 15th of August 1998. Over 200 others were injured in the Real IRA attack –

Over 57,000 pupils will receive their Leaving Certificate Results today across the country today, 2,122 of them in Donegal. The State Examinations Commission says the results obtained this year are generally broadly in line with 2017 results. Of the total candidates who sat Leaving Certificate examinations this year, 54,440 candidates followed the Leaving Certificate programme,

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bomb in which 29 people and unborn twins lost their lives. No one has ever been convicted for the Real IRA bombing. Michael Gallagher’s son Aiden was one of whose who died. On the anniversary of the atrocity, Michael is again, calling for Governments on both sides

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Tuesday August 14th:

SIPTU is currently balloting its members in the Rapid Action Packaging Factory in Gweedore on industrial action. It comes after the company is believed to have refused to recognise a Labour Court recommendation on grievance procedures, health and safety issues, pay and workers’ terms and conditions. Local Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig is urging relevant

Today marks the 24th anniversary of the disappearance of 15 year old Arlene Arkinson from Castlederg, with her family now asking for more information about a grave in County Sligo which was exhumed during the search for her. In a statement this morning, Arlene’s sister Kathleen says Gardaí took a body from the grave, but

The Lifford Clonleigh Text Alert Scheme is the latest to have its renewal meeting this evening, with local people being urged to sign up. Secretary Grace Kelly says after its formation in 2014, the numbers fell, and the scheme may have been a victim of its own success. However, she told Greg Hughes on today’s

The Peter McVerry Trust is warning that hundreds of people are likely to become homeless because of mortgage sales to vulture funds. In the latest sale, Ulster Bank has offloaded more than 5 thousand non-performing mortgages to the Cerberus fund. That’s on top of the over ten thousand being sold off by Permanent TSB. The

There are calls for a Europe wide response to the fodder crisis, with one Midlands North West MEP saying there is a need for sonme fundamental policy changes to reflect changing weather patterns. Mairead Mc Guinness, a Vice-President of European Parliment, says drought is causing severe problems for farmers not just in Ireland but in

The Border Counties and the Midlands were the only regions to record a decline in overseas visitor numbers last year, according to the most recent figures published by Fáílte Ireland. The national tourism development agency reports that 746,000 overseas tourists visited border counties last year. Of the border counties, Donegal remained the most popular destination

The Drinks and Hospitality sector in Donegal would be vulnerable to a hard or no-deal Brexit. A new report, written by DCU economist Tony Foley, shows that just under 8% of all employment in the county is in that sector. The report was commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), and finds an