Author name: oisinkelly

There are reports of treacherous driving conditions in parts of Donegal this evening. A number of cars have become stuck at Lurgybrack in Letterkenny due to heavy snowfall. There are also dangerous driving conditions in the Finn Valley area, Glenties, Carndonagh and in parts of Derry and Tyrone. The council says it began gritting at

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Wednesday 17th January:

Detectives have seized more than £200,000 worth of illegal drugs in Limavady and Derry in recent days. On Tuesday last, planned searches were carried out of two houses in the Glens area of Limavady with a quantity of suspected Class C drugs seized along with a number of mobile phones and cash. A short time

The Government has failed to sanction a funding request to re-open the Short Stay Ward at Letterkenny University Hospital. As 39 patients await admission to the hospital this morning, Donegal Senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn appealed to the Health Minister in the Seanad today that the €1.8 million funding request to re-open the ward and increase

There are over 200 children in the North West region awaiting an initial assessment from the Children and Mental Health Service team. Figures obtained by Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty reveal that 204 children are currently on the waiting list, of those, 16 have been waiting over a year and 6 have been waiting more than

The Abbey Vocational School in Donegal Town, under the management of Donegal Education and Training Board has announced plans to establish an Aonad Gaeilge within the school from September 2018. The Aonad will be part of the school’s site and will offer students subjects through the Irish language, including Gaeilge, Maths, History, Geography, Science and

Letterkenny Institute of Technology has been awarded €2.7 million for its role in a new cross-border research centre for renewable energy projects. The Bryden Centre for Advanced Marine and Bio-Energy Research will recruit 34 PhD students across the marine and bio-energy disciplines and will be based at LYIT, Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University and University

Police and the family of missing 69 year old Lesley McHugh from the Strabane area, who has been missing for over 10 days now, are becoming increasingly concerned for her welfare. Ms McHugh is described as being approximately 5’6 in height, of a slim build with brown hair. She was last in contact with her

It’s expected that work on the new multi-sport 3G facility at Melvin in Strabane is expected to be completed in the next three months. Derry City and Strabane District Council is investing £1.4m towards replacing the existing sand synthetic pitch and grass football pitch with a new multi-sport surface that will primarily cater for football,

Two new weather warnings have been issued just hours after the passing of Storm Fionn. An orange alert is in place for snow and ice in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. While there’s a yellow warning for Munster, Connacht and Leinster, with gusts of up to 110 kilometres an hour expected. Forecaster with Met Eireann, Liz

A businessman on Arranmore says action is needed to repair the Lighthouse Road on the island, which he says is deteriorating very badly. Jerry Early says last May, he and members of the local co-op took a number of politicians and officials on a tour of the island, including an examnination of the Lighthouse Road.

There were 39 patients awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 23 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. That’s three up on yesterday’s figure of 36.. Accordingt to the INMO’s latest figures, Letterkenny has the third highest number of people awaiting in-patient beds for second morning in a row. Cork University Hospital was again

The ESB is reporting 701 homes and businesses in the Stranorlar area are without power this morning, the issue was reported shortly after 10.30, and it’s hoped it will be resolved by 1 o’clock this afternoon. Earlier problems in Glenties and Donegal Town have now been resolved. There are also 29 homes without power until

A Donegal County Councillor has accused the Council and Central Government of not taking responsibility for the clean-up of rivers in Inishowen. Widespread destruction was caused to the peninsula last summer when torential rain hit on August 22nd. Councillor Martin McDermott says, five months on the issue is still being passed from pillar to post

The Taoiseach is in Strasbourg this morning to discuss the future of Europe. Leo Varadkar will speak to MEPs in the European Parliament. He’s the first European leader to address the issue in a planned series of debates. Vice president of the European Parliament – Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness – is hoping for a

Three new psychologists have been appointed to the Children and Adolsecent Mental Health Service in the North West. The HSE has confirmed that two psychologists taken taken up posts in recent weeks with a third due to start later this month. Deputy Eamon Scanlon says while this is welcome progress, there is more to be

The Dáil last night approved a Sinn Féin motion calling for a more proactive approach to hospital overcrowding. The party called on the Health Minister to re-open all hospital beds closed as part of austerity cuts, and improve pay and conditions for healthcare staff. The Health Minister Simon Harris said the government would not oppose

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has confirmed he is setting up a scheme to alleviate the costs of transporting fodder to farmers in Donegal and the North West. Details of a scheme had been expected on Monday when the minister came to Sligo for a meeting of the Fodder Action Group. The meeting was told 85%

Letterkenny traffic unit detected two motorists driving over the speed limit as they conducted a speed check on N13. One motorist was caught driving at 136 km/h and the other was detected travelling at 127 km/h. An €80 fine was issued along with 3 penalty points.

345 homes and businesses are currently without power in Derrybeg. ESB Networks have apologised for the loss of supply as Storm Fionn approaches. It is hoped power will be restored by 9 o’clock tonight. In Dungloe, 30 premises have lost supply due to a fault. ESB have estimated that power will be restored by 10pm.

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Tuesday 16th January:

Snow is continuing to fall across Donegal, with four weather warnings now in place. An orange weather warning has been issued for strong winds across Donegal, a yellow alert has been issued for strong winds for Leinster, Monaghan, Roscommon, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. While a nationwide weather warning is in place for snow showers and

Safety concerns have been raised after a wind turbine in Inishowen was struck by lightning yesterday evening. At around 6 o’clock, one of the wind turbines on Crockbrack Hill, Meanletterbale, was struck, causing damage to one of the 94 metre long turbine blades with dents and scorch marks also visible on the nacelle of the

The issue of the re-opening of the Short Stay Ward at Letterkenny University Hospital is to come before the Seanad tomorrow. Donegal Senator Padraig MacLochlainn is calling on the Health Minister to ensure that the funding request to re-open the ward is provided without delay, in order to relieve the imminent pressure on the hospitals

A petition was presented to Inishowen Municipal District today, calling for access to Lagg Beach to be repaired, preserved and reopened. Representatives from the Red Cross and the local community along with local campaigner Desmond Glackin, made the presentation to Councillors today with over 1200 local signatures. The Five Fingers Strand is a popular local

  A new survey shows there’s an urban-rural divide when it comes to TDs’ views on abortion. The Irish Independent says the number of Deputies opposed to unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks, is four times greater in rural Ireland than in Dublin. Two of Donegal’s five TDs did not divulge their intentions – Fine

There were 36 patients awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 13 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. That’s a 50% increase on yesterday’s figure of 24. Accordingt to the INMO’s latest figures, Letterkenny had the third highest number of people awaiting in-patient beds this morning, after Cork with 41 and Galway with 38.

HBAN, the Halo Business Angel Network says Donegal and the North West are set to benefit with plans to sign up a record 35 new business angel investors at a conference in Dubblin next month. HBAN, an joint initiatve of Enterprise Ireland and Intertrade Ireland, predicts the initiative will bring a combined €7 million of

The BBC is reporting that a financial support scheme for farms hit by flooding cannot be sanctioned until a Stormont agriculture minister is in place. More than 1,000 hectares of farmland flooded in the North West when record rainfall fell across the region on the night of August 22nd last. The Norths Department of Agriculture,

Snow, ice, wind and flood warnings are in place today as an arctic blast grips the country. Yellow wind and ice warnings are in place countrywide, while there’s a status orange gale warning along the west coast. Atlantic counties are also on high alert for flooding at high tide. There is already some snow on

Fianna Fáil Agriculture Spokesperson has criticised Minister Michael Creed for what he termed his continued refusal to put fodder crisis funding in place. Speaking after the Fodder Action Group met the minister in Sligo yesterday, Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue says farmers are bitterly disappointed that Mr Creed failed to announce a fodder support scheme. With

A Donegal councillor has accussed the National Transport Authority of focussing on Dublin, and not taking counties such as Donegal seriously. Cllr Ciaran Brogan was speaking after raising the issue of the lack of facilities in Letterkenny for private bus passengers at the private stop close to the former Oatfield site. When he raised the

The Managing Director of one of the country’s premier recruitment companies says investment in broadband is the key to attracting investment and jobs to Donegal. Peter Cosgrove was speaking as CPL published its latest quarterly review, which finds that just over 51% of people are unable to save any of their wages, and 68% have