Author name: oisinkelly

The Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter Committee has expressed disappointment after no members of the Letterkenny Municipal District turned up for a meeting in Dillon’s Hotel last night. All ten members were invited. Two of them, Councillors Michael mc Bride and John O’Donnell sent apologies, and Cathedral Quarter Co-ordinator Donnan Harvey says he understands a number were […]

Over €50,000 in funding is being made available for a Gaelic football pitch development in West Donegal. Government Chief Whip Minister Joe McHugh has sanctioned €50,050 to help finance a €70,000 spend on fencing and access to the new Na Rossa pitch in Gweebarra. Minister McHugh says he visited the pitch earlier this year to

  An inquest opens into the Buncrana Pier Tragedy this morning – which killed five members of a family from Derry. Sean McGrotty – his two sons, Mark and Evan – his partner’s mother Ruth Daniels and her daughter, Jodie Lee died in March last year. Their car slid from the slipway into Lough Swilly.

  A former Tanaiste has described comments made by Lord Kilclooney about Donegal as ‘nonsense’. John Taylor, now Lord Kilclooney, says Donegal has been forgotten by the Irish Government and has suggested that the County would be better off being part of the UK. Speaking at Bank of Ireland’s Women in Business event in Letterkenny,

Bank of Ireland Donegal hosted a highly successful ‘Women in Business Lunch’ this week in the idyllic surroundings of Castle Grove Country Hotel just outside Letterkenny. Guest speakers included: Deirdre McGlone: President Donegal Women in Business Network. Nikki Bradley: Motivational/Mental Health Speaker. Mary Coughlan: Former Politician Joann Hosey Regional Director Bank Of Ireland Connaught &

  A Donegal County Councillor has reiterated his call on the Government to implement the eight technical recommendations of the Report of the Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks in counties Donegal and Mayo. The report was published almost six months ago and had been delayed a year prior to that. One of its recommendations is

The inquest into the Buncrana pier tragedy will begin this morning. The Coroner for Donegal says they’ll aim to establish exactly what happened on the day five members of one family lost their lives. On March 20th 2016 a car slid off Buncrana pier and into the waters of Lough Swilly. Five members of one

A cross border initiative has been launched to establish a number of cross border “Community Health and Well Being Hubs” in Donegal, Cavan / Monaghan, Derry, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh, and Scotland. A tender has been issued inviting community groups and other organisations to bid for funding to establish eight hubs in total. The EU backed

There are calls for a proper operational plan for rural post offices to help them stay open. Fianna Fáil says the 30 million euro loan announced by the Government yesterday is merely a short term fix and doesn’t properly address how to make post offices viable. It says they should be seen as part of

In an address to Minister Michael Creed in the Dail last evening, Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue says the fodder shortage in Donegal is a very severe situation that needs urgent action by Government. The Fianna Fail Agriculture Spokesperson said Minister Michael Creed’s approach and response to the emergencies facing the farming community is poor. He

  Churches and state buildings here and in the UK will be lit up today as part of a campaign to highlight religious intolerance. Derry, Waterford, Sligo and Armagh Cathedrals are taking part in the ‘hashtag Red Wednesday’ initiative as well as Knock Basilica. In the UK, the houses of Parliament and The Palace of

Main Evening News, Sport and Obituaries Tuesday 21st November

The Tanaiste is to make a statement to the Dail this evening on when she became aware of a garda strategy to discredit Maurice McCabe. Frances Fitzgerald says she doesn’t remember an e-mail she got in May 2015 which described a row between the legal teams of the Garda commissioner and Sergeant McCabe. Taoiseach Leo

The High Court has approved a €15m settlement for a four-year-old boy who was catastrophically injured during his birth at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin. The hospital apologised to Eoin McCallig from Dunkineely in Donegal, and his parents for his injuries and for the devastating consequences for the family. RTE is reporting that speaking outside

The HSE says the SAOLTA group has applied for funding to have extra beds opened at Letterkenny University Hospital under a special winter initiative, but would give no commitment on providing money to enable them to open up the closed Short Stay Ward at the hospital. Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle says he is disappointed with

Coillte has today announced that they have withdrawn their application for a road through Lis Na Grath Woods, Muff. A meeting was held last week with the company after concerns were raised locally over the environmental impact the proposed plans would have on wildlife in the area. The company has now agreed on an alternative

A former Ulster Unionist MP is suggesting that Donegal would be better off being part of the UK. John Taylor, now Lord Kilclooney, says Donegal has been forgotten by the Irish Government. Speaking during a discussion on the potential impact of Brexit on border counties, Lord Kilclooney told Ocean FM that Donegal would gain from

There were 33 people awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 20 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. That’s an increase of 11 on yesterday’s figure, making Letterkenny the third most overcrowded in the country today. Nationally, the INMO says there were 448 people awaiting in-patient beds at hospitals across the country this morning,

  There’s been a 52% increase in the number of passengers travelling on the Aer Lingus Regional route between Donegal Airport and Dublin. Figures released this morning show just over 33,500 passengers flew between Dublin and Donegal in the past twelve months, compared to just over 22,000 the previous year. August of this year was

People in the Twin Towns area are being encouraged to attend the launch of the new Ballybofey Stranorlar Text Alert scheme. The launch takes place tomorrow evening in the Finn Valley Centre at 8pm with guest speakers on the night including Supt Michael Finan and Crime Prevention Officer Sgt Paul Wallace Crime prevention Officer. Local

A Donegal County Councillor is warning over a possible downturn in trade in the run up to Christmas if commercial rates are increased. Fine Gael Whip Cllr Barry O’Neill was speaking after local representatives failed to reach an agreement on Budget 2018 last night. Cllr O’Neill says with much uncertainty surrounding Brexit, now is not

Donegal County Council has proposed to increase funding support for both the Foyle and Swilly ferry service. An additional €175,000 is being made available as part of budget 2018, bringing the total amount to €225,000. The local authority say that this will remove the uncertainty in relation to the availability of the services. Cllr. Martin

Donegal County Councillors have been unable to reach an agreement on the council’s 2018 budget. After almost 6 hours of adjournments and private deliberations at yesterday’s meeting, it was agreed last night that the meeting be adjourned until December 1st. All Councillors from across the party divide voted against an increase of 5% in commercial

  The number of drinking water supplies in Donegal with high levels of THMs has been reduced to 11, following the removal of Fintown from Donegal’s Remedial Action List. The Environmental Protection Agency removed the supply from the list after a €1.1 million investment programme involving the construction of new water mains and two booster

The Government has been lambasted for its failure to extend a compensation scheme to all farmers affected by August’s unprecedented flooding in Inishowen. Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue has also questioned the authority for the length of time it is taking for payments to be made. Minister Michael Creed announced a compensation scheme for farmers following the

A man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a 35-year-old Strabane man at a pub near Croke Park in Dublin. Michael Barr, a father of five from Co. Tyrone, was shot seven times when two masked gunmen burst into the pub in April 2016. Opening his case before the non-jury court today, prosecuting

The deadline to pass the Budget is Friday week December 1st. Councillors have voted overwhelmingly today against applying a 5% increase in commercial rates as part of the Councils budget for 2018. Labour’s Martin Farren says to accept the increase would send out the wrong signal. He’s calling on all local representatives to work together

A Donegal Deputy is calling on all elected representatives to work together in a bid to secure the proposed new cinema in Donegal Town. Plans for a proposed five-screen theatre were rejected by the council this month over fears of increased traffic volume in the area. Deputy Gallagher says he is shocked by how the

The PSNI is appealing to communities to speak out against paramilitaries as a gesture to mark the United Nation’s Universal Children’s Day. Police are highlighting what they say is the continued use of violence in paramilitary style attacks on young people, including an incident in Derry earlier this month in which a 17 year old

Milford Garda Station has been given the go-ahead for a major refurbishment. Government Chief Whip Minister Joe McHugh has announced today that works at the station are due to begin before the end of the year. Works will include additional space by extending and re-designing the existing station to include conference rooms, incident rooms, additional storage

A Donegal man has spoken of his distress at becoming homeless. ‘John’ lost his home in Falcarragh last Friday as its owners plans to renovate the property. He was told that emergency homeless accommodation in the county was full and has since been staying in a B&B. He also says that the landlords that he

There were 24 people awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 11 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. Nationally, the INMO says there were 355 people awaiting in-patient beds at hospitals across the country this morning, with the highest figure, 37, recorded at Waterford University Hospital.