Author name: oisinkelly

  Hundreds of people in County Donegal are still without power this morning, following high winds last night as a result of Storm Arwen. According to the ESB, the biggest outage is currently in the Dungloe area, with almost 500 homes affected there – power is expected to be restored in the Dungloe area by

Gardai in Donegal are urging people to drive carefully in the stormy weather this evening. A number of motorists were stopped and issued with fines and penalty points by members of the Letterkenny Roads Policing Unit today. In a social media post this evening, gardai say with a wind warning in place until 6am tomorrow

4,620 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening. 571 patients are in hospital with the virus, with 118 in intensive care. Latest figures for Letterkenny University Hospital show there were 15 Covid infected patients being treated there, one of them in intensive care. Northern Ireland has recorded over 2,000 cases of Covid-19, for

The Agriculture Minister has announced the commencement of advance payments under Year 5 of the Sheep Welfare Scheme. Almost €16 million is now being paid to some 18,000 farmers participating in the Sheep Welfare Scheme. In a statement Minister Charlie McConalogue says these payments reflect the change to the reference year, bringing it to the

  NIAC has given the green light to roll-out booster vaccinations to everyone over the age of 16. People will still have to wait 5 months after their second dose of the initial vaccine course. NIAC has approved the use of booster vaccines for almost everyone. They will be rolled out with pregnant women given

  Letterkenny University Hospital is the most overcrowded hospital nationwide yet again today. 45 people were awaiting admission there this morning with eight on trolleys in its Emergency Department while a further 37 were waiting on wards. It is a drop of 13 on yesterday’s figure of 58. Nationally, 259 admitted patients were waiting for

  Walk-in booster vaccination clinics will be available for healthcare works and those aged 60 to 69 in Letterkenny this weekend. The booster jabs will be administered to those in this cohort who have reached an interval of at least 152 days since their second dose vaccine. The Letterkenny Vaccination Centre on the Kilmacrennan Road

  High level talks aimed at resolving a row over the Northern Ireland Protocol are set to resume later. Maros Sefcovic is in London to meet with his UK counterpart David Frost. Both sides remain at odds over how goods travelling between Britain and the north are checked.

Police are becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of a missing teenager from Derry.  Aimee Kee went missing from the area of Crawford Square in the city at around about 08:30am yesterday morning. The 15 year old is being described as having long dark hair and was wearing a St Mary’s uniform with doc Martin

  Children over the age of nine are to be asked to wear masks in school, in shops and on public transport. NPHET has also advised against indoor community gatherings for under 12s. NPHET has recommended against sleepovers, indoor playdates, pantos, nativity plays and communions for the under twelves for at least the next two

According to the latest figures, North Inishowen has maintained the highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in County Donegal – but its rate of the virus has fallen sharply in the last week. It was one of four of Donegal’s seven Local Electoral Areas that saw a decrease in their Covid incidence in the last seven

4,764 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening in the Republic of Ireland. 598 patients are now in hospital with the virus – down 13 from yesterday – while the ICU figure is down six, to 126. The chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, says the incidence of Covid-19 remains ‘concerningly high’ here. As

Latest Government figures show that there were almost 2.5 million people employed in the Republic of Ireland at the end of Quarter 3 in September. The Department of Finance say that just over 221,000 jobs were created here in the first nine months of the year – with almost 152,000 of those jobs created outside

There was a heated discussion at Donegal County Council’s budget meeting this afternoon on foot of comments made by Cllr Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig. In his submission to the meeting, which was delivered in Irish, Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig called for an investigation into what he characterised as the relationship between some staff and

A Donegal based father of two found guilty of murdering his wife during a boating holiday in County Fermanagh will serve a minimum of 20 years in prison. 44 year old Stephen McKinney, a native of Strabane who had been living in Convoy with his family killed Lu Na McKinney in April 2017. Her body

Cathaoirleach Jack Murray has proposed that Donegal County Council’s draft budget for 2022 be accepted, and that’s been seconded by Fianna Fail Whip Cllr Ciaran Brogan. The council’s Chief Executive and Finance Director both gave an overview on the figures, before each Director of Service gave specific presentations on their own areas. Members are currently

A new entrance is being developed for the Public Services Centre in Letterkenny. Donegal County Council is currently completing the Neil T Blaney Road Section of the Letterkenny Traffic Management Project, and as part of that work, the entrance to the centre and the Breast Screening Centre is being relocated to Joe Bonner Road. The

Donegal County Council’s budget meeting is underway, with Cathaoirleach Cllr Jack Murray saying it’s the biggest day of the council’s calendar. He said with projected expenditure of over €162 million, the budget includes over a thousand euro for every man, woman and child in the county. Finance Officer Richard Gibson presented members with a detailed

  Letterkenny University Hospital is once again the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland today with 58 people awaiting admission there this morning. 22 were on trolleys in its Emergency Department while a further 38 people were on wards. Nationally, 274 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning, according to today’s INMO Trolley Watch. 203

  Planning has been approved by Donegal County Council for on-site, renewable, electric vehicle charging stations, with additional energy storage capacity, at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology Campus. The project will see LYIT become one of the first third level campuses to showcase renewable powered, on-site, EV charging infrastructure in Ireland. The pilot, conducted under

  Emergency services are currently at the scene of a crash on the outskirts of Letterkenny. The collision happened shortly after 8am in the Drumkeen area. Traffic is currently moving freely in the area. There are no further details at this stage.

  NPHET will consider whether children should wear masks in primary schools when it meets later this morning. It comes as nearly one in every hundred children tested positive for Covid-19 last week. 5,375 contracted the virus, according to the latest Health Protection Surveillance Centre report – the highest infection rate of any age cohort.