Author name: oisinkelly

Donegal County Council are to carry out a review of car parking charges in the county in the New Year. Currently car parking charges apply in Buncrana, the Twin Towns, Letterkenny, Donegal, Ballyshannon and Bundoran with the Council considering if other towns are suitable for the charges to be introduced. Cllr Barry O’Neill passed a […]

Gardai in Ballyshannon have confirmed that a number of minor crashes have happened this morning as a result of poor driving conditions today.  Gardai in Ballyshannon have confirmed that there was a collision main on the Bundoran Ballyshannon by pass earlier this morning – that the crash has now been cleared but the road remain

There are reports of severe black ice across the county this morning. Barnesmore Gap, Glenties, Ardara, Ballyshannon, Bundoran and Killybegs areas are understood to be particularly affected. Motorists are advised to exercise extreme caution and assume no road is ice free.

There are calls on Donegal County Council to remove the internal layout of all dwellings and commercial premises from their planning website over fears that burglars may use them to gain access to a property. Cllr. John O’Donnell raised the issue at this weeks sitting of Donegal County Council with the Council agreeing to write to

It’s been claimed that crime in Donegal goes unreported because there are not enough operational Garda stations in the county. Cllr. Michael McBride raised the need for an increase in Garda numbers in Donegal this week with the Council agreeing to write to the Justice Minister on the issue. Cllr. McBride says he has witnessed

A Donegal County Councillor has hit out over a change to the school transport policy.  Under the new terms, students who participate in extracurricular activities are no longer able to use their school bus ticket for later scheduled Bus Eireann services. Cllr. Gary Doherty has branded the change as an attack on rural Ireland which leaves both

It has been revealed that Donegal County Council has spent just 42% of money allocated by central Government to improve services in rural Ireland. According to the Irish Independent the council has failed to use funding specifically earmarked for four major rural development schemes, namely the Town & Village Scheme, CLAR Programme, REDZ Programme and the

West Tyrone MP Barry McElduff welcomed today’s announcement by the Department of Infrastructure that construction on the A5 scheme is to go ahead early in the new year. Last week at a Good Friday Agreement Committee meeting in the Dáil the West Tyrone MP stressed the importance of the A5 scheme to my constituents with

Irish Water say they are aware that some customers have received emails purporting to be from Irish Water with the subject line ‘Your Irish Water Account – Action required’. The utility has advised that changes to customers’ personal details will only be updated by phone and customers should always delete emails requesting this information. They

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Tuesday November 28th

Midlands Northwest MEP Luke Ming Flanagan has refused to apologise for allegedly criticising the lack of Fine Gael MEPs at a meeting of sexual abuse survivors in Brussels last week. The MEP has been criticised for labelling a parliamentary assistant to Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness as “a puppy”. Ming Flanagan told Shannonside, his use of

Housing Minister Damien English has confirmed that a number of people who applied for social housing because their homes were affected by Mica have been turned down. Responsing to questions from Donegal Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue in the Dail this afternoon, Minister English said data protection issues prevented him from discussing the reasons for applications

The Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald is to announce her resignation this afternoon. She made her intentions known at this morning’s cabinet meeting. A short time ago, Government Chief Whip and Minister Joe Mc Hugh confirmed the outcome of today’s cabinet meeting to Highland Radio News…………

The Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald is to announce her resignation this afternoon. She made her intentions known at this morning’s cabinet meeting. It’s expected Frances Fitzgerald will announce her resignation this afternoon in the Dáil – staving off a Christmas general election. It follows her handling of the Garda whistleblower controversy over emails sent to the

There were 16 people waiting admission to Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, down 17 compared to the same day last week. The latest trolley and ward watch figures show 4 people were on trolleys in the hospital’s Emergency Department with a further 12 on wards. 437 people are waiting on a bed at hospitals across

The A5 upgrade is to go ahead. The North’s Department for Infrastructure today confirmed its decision to proceed with the A5 Western Transport Corridor scheme, with the section between New Buildings and north of Strabane ready to start in early 2018. They say construction will start as soon as possible. West Tyrone MP Barry Mc

A Canadian firm has formally put plans in place to develop a gold mine in West Tyrone. Dalradian has located a site in the Sperrins, saying that 350 jobs would be created if the site gets approval. Environmental protesters are campaigning against it, but other local people are supportive – citing the job potential. Patrick

The Council is being asked to provide more funding for Buncrana Leisure Centre. Under the Three Year Capital programme, a number of leisure centres in the county including Buncrana are to share 300,000 in funding. Government funding has already been earmarked for Buncrana but the local authority need to provide 1.8 million for the project

Irish Water has confirmed that work on two major water supplies in Inishowen are going ahead. The line between Carndonagh to Gleneely is to be upgraded while work is also to be carried out at Bree in Malin. The work is to begin in the coming weeks and is expected to be complete in the

Progress is being made with providing public toilets in Ballybofey. An expression of interest has been received by the Council from an interested party in leasing facilities to the Council providing terms can be agreed. However, Local Cllr Patrick McGowan says that if agreement is not reached by the end of this year that the

Protecting the Good Friday Agreement will also protect the environment. That’s the argument being put forward by a cross border group of environmental NGOs who are making a presentation to MEPs in Brussels today. Michael Ewing of the Environmental Pillar says upholding the deal in the current talks, will ensure high standards are maintained after

Donegal County Council is to request a meeting with the General Manger of Letterkenny University Hospital, the Head of the National Ambulance Service and the Regional Chief Fire Officer to discuss issues facing the hospital. High on the agenda will be the ongoing overcrowding situation in its Emergency Department while the issue of poor ambulance

Plans to progress the Burtonport – Letterkenny Greenway could be a step closer. The Council say that it’s currently examining options to deliver the work with a view to preparing an application to the expected Greenways Fund 2018. 10km of the line is currently available for recreational use over routes in Creeslough, Falcarragh, Loughanire and

Transport Infrastructure Ireland has confirmed steady progress is being made on three N56 projects. It is expected that improvement works on the Kilkenny to Letterlily route, Coolboy to Kilmacrennan road and the Mountcharles to Drumbeigh stretch will all commence next year. In welcoming the announcement, Leas-Cheann Comhairle Donegal Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher is confident

  Concerns have been raised in Strabane over a vast amount of lighting outages in the area. According to local Councillor Patsy Kelly an excess of 300 lights are currently out across the town and wider district. He says there are cases where pedestrians are not visible to motorists at junctions due to the poor

Hundreds of people turned out at the Abbey Hotel on Monday evening for a public meeting called following the refusal of planning permission for a new cinema in Donegal Town. Earlier this month, Donegal County Council refused plans for the five-screen cinema along with public parking and a shop and restaurant. In the wake of

Frances Fitzgerald was made aware of a garda strategy to take an aggressive stance towards Maurice McCabe a second time in the summer of 2015, by way of a media query. The then Justice Minister was advised that if asked about this, she could say that Sergeant McCabe was a valued member of the force.

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Monday 27th November

There are calls on the Council to write to the Education Minister requesting that community schools in Donegal be included in the Deis programme. Earlier this month, €1.8 million had been allocated by Government to the programme however, no school in Donegal is to benefit from it. Cllr. John Sheamais O’Fearraigh says there’s an onus

Payments are due to be issued next week to Donegal farmers who suffered loss and destruction as a result of the Inishowen flooding in August. Government Chief Whip Minister Joe McHugh says he acknowledges the scheme is limited, he says EU rules governing it are very specific in that it does not cover arable crops

Irish Water are currently working to repair a burst water main in Letterkenny. Supply disruptions may be experienced in the Drumany, Letterkenny, Dromore, Drumardagh, Rossbracken and surrounding areas. The utility is advising that a traffic management plan will be in place for the duration of the works. It is estimated works will be completed by

There has been condemnation in Strabane after a car was crashed into a road sign before being set on fire in the Ballycolman Estate area of the town in the early hours of yesterday morning. West Tyrone MLA Michaela Boyle has described the actions of the driver who abandoned the car as completely reckless as

Four Donegal surfers will be honoured at Irish Water Safety’s National Annual Awards Ceremony this Wednesday for their quick actions when a group of teenagers got into difficulty at Tullan Strand earlier this year. Owen Murphy, Fergal Muller, Friederike Rost and Sean Young were giving surf lessons on Tullan Strand when a group of nine