Author name: oisinkelly

The Rural Transport Programme has been officially rebranded by Community and Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring. Local Link Donegal is designed to provide quality, community-based, public transport for passengers living in rural areas across the county. Local Link provides both demand-responsive, door-to-door services on request, and scheduled bus services on fixed routes. In a statement […]

A local Abortion Rights group has branded Tim Jacksons fast outside the Dail as opportunistic and insensitive. The former Donegal Independent General Election candidate Tim Jackson has been participating in a fast outside the Dail for the last number of days. He’s demanding that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Oireachtas Committee on Abortion watch a

Gardaí say they’re employing high visibility policing on our roads today as part of ‘European Day Without A Road Death’, or ‘EDWARD’. The annual 24 hour safety project started at midnight and aims to reduce fatalities and improve driver safety. The initiative was marred by tragedy last year when two women died following a collusion

  Lawyers for the partner of a garda whistleblower have given details to the Charleton tribunal of an argument which led to a 999 call in April 2013. In its current module, the tribunal is investigating contacts between An Garda Síochána, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and Garda Keith Harrison. Tribunal chairman, Mr Justice

  Police are investigating the theft of 23, four month old lambs, from a field in the Castledamph Road area of Plumbridge. The theft was reported to police on Tuesday 19th September, however, it is believed that the theft occurred sometime within the last month. The lambs are not tagged due to their age and

  Police in Omagh are appealing for information in connection with an assault outside a takeaway premises on John Street in the early hours of Sunday morning last.  At approximately 12:20 am it was reported that a man in his 20s was assaulted by another man believed to be wearing a light blue shirt and

Fianna Fail has launched a document outlining what at believes should be at the heart of reform of the EU’s Common Agruicultural Policy. The document, which was launched by Donegal Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue calls for prompt payments, upper limits on what can be received and measures to protect prices paid to farmers. Deputy Mc

The Pan Celtic Charter has been officially handed over to Letterkenny, marking the beginning of the preparations for the return of the Pan Celtic Festival next year. Up to 5,000 people will attend a range of events and activities in Letterkenny from the 3rd to 8th April next, celebrating the Celtic languages, music, song, and

Gardai have confirmed that a residence was searched at Fortwell Court in Letterkenny this week as part of an ongoing investigation. A small quantity of drugs with an estimated street value of €500 was found. No arrests were made, and investigations are continuing. The Letterkenny search is understood to be linked to a drug find

There’s been a steep rise in the number awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital today, with 30 people in need of in-patient beds, 17 of them on Emergency Department trolleys. That’s up from 13 yesterday. Nationally, the INMO say there were 456 people awaiting admission across the hospital network this morning, 47 at University Hospital,

The number of patients awaiting surgery at Letterkenny University Hospital has risen by 12% since the start of the year. The National Treatment Purchase Fund has published figures showing that during August, there were 2,752 people awaiting procedures compared to 2,452 in January. The figures come less than a week following the party’s criticism of

The A5 Victoria Road at Bready is full operational again following a lane closure earlier. Traffic was down to one lane for a time following a three vehicle collision.

The Chair of the European Parliament Brexit Steering Group is visiting the Irish border today along with Midlands North West MEP Marian Harkin for a number of engagements. Guy Verhofstadt, the parliament’s Brexit coordinator, will have discussions with a number of groups whose members will be significantly affected by Brexit. He will also visit a

A Speed Awareness day is getting underway later outside the school in Liscooley, on the N15 between Kilygordon and Castlefinn. There have been further reports of motorists driving at excess speed since road surface improvements were carried out on the stretch of road recently. Residents in the area fear that someone will be killed if

Donegal County Council says it will reconsider an application for housing support to a family on foot of a hearing in the High Court. The journal.ie reports that Brian and Eileen Ward and their five children, who are members of the Travelling community, had sued the council after it decided not to offer them housing

A doctor who worked as a Senior House Officer in the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital is facing a Medical Council inquiry regarding her care of six patients. Dr Niveen Al-Khayyat is facing allegations of professional misconduct and or poor professional performance in relation to events between January and July 2015 at Letterkenny. RTE

  The European Court of Justice has ruled against Ireland over whether operators importing cars from Northern Ireland should have to pay the full amount of Vehicle Registration Tax up front, even if the vehicle was only being leased for a limited period of time. The Court ruled that Ireland was in breach of EU

The court of appeal in Belfast has given the go ahead for roadworks to go ahead between Castledawson and Randallstown, with work expected to begin later this year. The works on the nine mile stretch of the A6 Derry Belfast Road had been challenged by an environmentalist on the basis of the potential impact on

  Gardai are urging business people to review their security systems following a break-in at Kernan’s Filling Station at Tullygay near New Mills on the outskirts of Letterkenny. A quantity of cash was taken, along with a number of other items. Access was gained through the roof, in what gardai believe was a well planned

It’s been confirmed that four people will be presented with Tip O’Neill Irish Diaspora Awards at a ceremony in Buncrana next month. The four recipients will be former Ireland and Celtic goalkeeper Packie Bonner, Fraser Doherty, founder of Super Jams in Scotland, Barbara Koster, Senior Vice-President of Pramerica and Marty Meehan, President of the University

Donegal Deputy Charlie Mc Conologue has hit out at the government’s decision not to include any provision for agricultural losses caused by adverse weather in the Rural Development Programme 2014 to 2020. EU rules allow for measures to support the restoration of agricultural land and production damaged by natural disasters and adverse climatic events. Responding

A Donegal Councillor has slammed the Education Minister after it emerged four letters from the Donegal Education and Training Board to him, on the Buncrana three school campus, have been ignored. The campus has been on the agenda for over 10 years but the identification of a suitable site is still being deliberated on. The

Loyalist campaigners are meeting Garda officials in Dublin today to discuss their plans for a demonstration in the capital. They say they’ll hold the protest, unless the government gives greater co-operation to the inquiry into the 1976 Kingsmill massacre, in which 10 Protestant men were killed. Loyalist campaigner William Frazer says they’re demanding legislation to

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has thrown the government’s plans to alter tax bands in next month’s budget into doubt. Micheal Martin says the confidence and supply agreement underpinning the government, only allows for reductions in USC. He refused to say if that means he’ll block elements of Paschal Donohoe’s first budget. Meanwhile, Sinn Féin

Four Donegal groups are to share in €468,000 of grant aid approved by Government today. The money was announced today by Minister Michael Ring under the LEADER programme. €100,000 has been allocated to Mardal Hill Limited for the development of a glamping site & eco-lodge including luxury yurts and eco-friendly communal building in Ballintra. €118,100

Ireland’s first Head of Lobbying Regulation has expressed concern at the low level of registration in Donegal. People communicating with local authorities and public officials are advised to consider whether they need to register lobbying activities, and if so, to do so before September 21st. Donegal has 3.3% of the national population, only 1.3% of

Former Donegal Independent General Election candidate Tim Jackson is participating in a fast outside the Dail. He is demanding that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Oireachtas Committee on Abortion watch a video, he has chosen, of an abortion at their meeting before discussing a referendum any further. Mr Jackson, who says the hunger strike is

There’s been a 29% rise in the number of planning permissions granted in Donegal in the second quatrter of this year. There were 263 permissions granted in the county between April and June June, compared to 189 over the same period last year. There were 90 new dwellings approved in Quarter 2 2017, compared to

Donegal County Council has formally submitted an application to the Department for Rural & Community Development for Local Improvement Schemes funding. It is expected that funding for 2017, if any, will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The Council received in excess of 1200 applications from across the county confirming the huge demand for an

Gardai are at the scene of a break in at Kernan’s Filling Station near New Mills on the outskirts of Letterkenny. Gardai say scenes of crime officers are investigating how access was gained, and the value of what was taken is still being assessed.

A 48 year old woman has been killed in a collision in Derry this morning. She was walking on the Glenshane Road outside the city during the early hours when she was struck by a vehicle. Police in the North are appealing for witnesses to contact them The road has now reopened.

The BBC is reporting this morning that the biggest school building project in Northern Ireland is being delayed for a year because of what the department has termed “a number of important emergent issues”. The £140m project will eventually see six schools built on the site of the former Lisanelly army base in Omagh. One

Islands Minister Joe McHugh says he will meet community leaders from Tory this week to discuss proposals to construct a purpose-built ferry. It follows a decision by his Department to award a new contract for the service to and from the island from next year. The contract includes a bus service between Magheraroarty and Bunbeg

More than €340,000 is being set aside for the Disabled Persons Grant Scheme in Donegal. The Disabled Persons Grant Scheme provides funding for extensions and adaptations to existing social housing stock such as grab rails, disabled access ramps and wet rooms. The scheme also provides extensions in cases of overcrowding. In addition, the scheme provides