Author name: oisinkelly

Concern has been raised over delays to dredging at Magheroarty Pier. A foreshore licence application was submitted by Donegal County Council in January to commence dredging but to date, the go ahead has not been given. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage say the application is currently pending. Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig

The General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation has accused public health of walking away from primary schools at the end of September. John Boyle says as a result, Covid-19 has spiraled out of control in schools. Latest figures show 6,077 primary school students tested positive for the virus last week alone. Speaking on

The Agriculture Minister says he’s “hopeful” the Republic of Ireland can avoid another lockdown. It comes as NPHET meet today to consider recommending new restrictions, after the first case of the Omicron variant in the Republic of Ireland was identified yesterday. Minister Charlie McConlogue is confident the country can continue under the restrictions currently in

A Donegal Deputy is backing calls for adequate ventilation in the workplace. The Workplace Ventilation Bill was debated in the Dail yesterday and if passed would pave the way for work to be carried out to provide sufficient air quality in businesses and schools as part of the battle against Covid-19. It has been described

A south Donegal Deputy is calling on the Taoiseach to take immediate action on hospital overcrowding in the North West. Deputy Marian Harkin says the region is coming out on top time and time again when it comes to overcrowding. Yesterday there were almost 80 people awaiting admission at both Letterkenny and Sligo University Hospitals,

The Mica Action Group have described their trip to Brussels as successful. Representatives of the group travelled to Brussels on Tuesday as part of their campaign for 100% redress. Yesterday, petitions presented to the EU Petitions Committee received unanimous support from MEPs. A written response from the EU Commission has now been requested. A report

The Government is under fire yet again over abandoning plans to subsidise antigen tests. The decision was based on retailers reducing prices, resulting in the removal of the need for the government to intervene. The issue was raised in the Dail by Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty; he claimed that the price for some antigen tests

NPHET’s meeting this morning to consider recommending more restrictions, due to high Covid case numbers and the worrying new variant. The first Omicron case was confirmed in the Republic of Ireland yesterday, while the five-day moving average of coronavirus infections is nearly 4,500. But Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told his parliamentary party last night he’s not

It’s estimated 2,000 cancer cases went undiagnosed last year, due to the pandemic. A report from the National Cancer Registry shows as many as 1 in 8 cancers that were predicted to be diagnosed in 2020, were not. The Irish Cancer Society’s urging anyone with symptoms, they suspect may be cancer-related, to speak to their

Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh is backing calls for the scrapping of the sliding scale saying it doesn’t make sense. On today’s Nine til Noon he says there appear to have been a number of 11th hour changes made in the days leading to yesterday’s announcement. Deputy McHugh has said he will consider his position

  The Taoiseach has accused Sinn Féin of making up figures when it comes to mica redress and feigned outrage over the scheme. Pearse Doherty has said the new Government proposals don’t amount to 100 per cent redress for the families affected. Micheál Martin says the drop in the per square foot payment rate after

  The first case of the Omicron covid variant has been identified in Ireland. Health officials say eight samples were sent for testing, and ONE case of the strain has been confirmed. The case is linked to travel to a country in southern Africa and was identified from a sample taken within the last week.

Mica is once again the hot topic of heated exchanges in the Dail this afternoon. The fallout of the inclusion of the ‘sliding scale’ element of the revised Mica Redress Scheme was brought before the Taoiseach by Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty. Micheal Martin further repeated Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien’s stance that the square foot cap

Mica campaigner Paddy Diver says he has had a conversation with Agriculture Minister,  in which he told Charlie McConalogue the sliding scale is confusing, and has to go. The government says in February, the per foot rate will change, based on Housing Agency assessments of prevailing market conditions. Paddy Diver says if that happens in

The Housing Minister has admitted there is more work to be done on the enhanced Mica redress scheme unveiled yesterday. Much criticism has been voiced over the inclusion of a €145 per square foot cap for the first 1,000 square foot of a property which could leave homeowners still forking out tens of thousands of

Urgent clarity is being sought over what added cost a Mica affected homeowner will have to incur in the enhanced redress scheme. There are fears that people will still have to contribute a significant amount of money towards the demolition and reconstruction of their homes. Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn says the Housing Agency has played a

Donegal County Council is being urged to prepare a response to the National Transport Authority public consultation on Connecting Ireland. The consultation is proposing a series of new public transport routes as well as improving some existing routes. As Donegal is solely dependent on roads, its thought that there should be positive discrimination towards the

Children in third class and above have to wear masks in school from today onwards. New Department of Education guidelines state a medical cert’s required for an exemption, and those without evidence will be refused entry. The government’s also calling for less indoor socialising among under-12s for the next two weeks, after a sharp increase

The PRO of the Mica Action Group believes the new Mica Redress scheme has the potential to deliver a lot but some amendments are needed. 7,500 affected homes will be fixed under the revised €2.2 billion scheme and will be tackled on a ‘worst, first’ basis. However, there is concern that a ‘sliding scale’ of

Cuts to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme take effect today – despite the recent announcements of more restrictions. Many employers will get almost 150 euro less per week to help pay the wages of each staff member. There were subsidies of up to 350 euro a week – but they’re now capped at 203 euro.

Agriculture Minister and Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue says he’s been speaking to members of the Mica Action Group this afternoon, and they’re now digesting the details of the scheme. He told Highland Radio News this evening that he believes the revised scheme addresses the issues with what came before………..