Author name: oisinkelly

Over 45 tonnes of waste was removed from a scenic site at Brinaleck, Meenaclady in Gaoth Dobhair last week following an intensive clean-up operation by Donegal County Council and local development group Coiste Forbartha Chnoc Fola. This clean-up operation was undertaken as part of the national Anti-Dumping Initiative following an €11,000 allocation to the Glenties […]

  There’s criticism of the Western Health Trust after it emerged that Strabane has omitted from a series of public consultations on cost savings. The trust has been ordered to save £12.5 million, and as part of that process, consultation meetings are to take place in Derry, Enniskillen, Limavady, and Omagh. However, West Tyrone MP

An investigation has been launched after a dumper truck was stolen in Derry, and driven though a number of estates, damaging lamposts and street furniture. Police say the dumper was taken from the Skeoge Road area at around 8.25 last night. Two male youths were seen driving it through local housing estates, including Ederowen Park,

The Foreign Affairs Minister says it’s “unlikely” a mediator will be brought in to deal with the North’s political crisis. Simon Coveney spent yesterday meeting the main parties in Belfast. He’s warned them time is running out to reach a deal on restoring power sharing. But Minister Coveney doesn’t think a mediator is the answer…………..

The HSE is reminding people who have been affected by the flooding in Inishowen that the helpline is still in operation. In a statement, the HSE say that the experience of flooding in Inishowen has been very shocking and as a result people who are directly affected will feel distressed and emotional. They say that

Frustration is said to be building among farmers in Inishowen who have been devastated by last month’s flooding. While home and business owners are being helped in some way through emergency funding, a similar scheme is yet to be established for farmers. An interdepartmental meeting is taking place in Dublin later today. Donegal Chairman of

Community groups in Donegal are being urged to apply for funding under the LEADER programme. In Donegal, the overall LEADER budget is approximately 9.4 million euro as part of a €250m national allocation, but there’s been concern at the low level of projects funded under the cirrent round so far, particularly in Donegal. The funding

    Minister Joe McHugh has welcomed Government grants towards a €134,000 investment in two local aquaculture companies. Trabay Limited in Lettermacaward is to receive €33,830 towards a total investment of €83k in oyster handling machinery. Ocean Farms Limited in Inver is to to receive €25,805 Government grant towards a €51,610 investment in research. The

The new Bishop of Raphoe has revealed that a major reshuffle is taking place within the Diocese. In a statement released by the diocese, it’s been confirmed that Fr Gerard Cunningham, CC, Fintown and Administrator Glenties is to be PP Glenties. Fr Donnchadh Ó Baoill, CC, in Cnoc Fola, is to be CC in Fintown.

Letterkenny University is the third most overcrowded hospital in the country today according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association. 27 sick people are awaiting a bed at the hospital with 14 of those on Trolleys and 13 ‘on wards’. The only hospitals with worse overcrowding today are University Hospital Galway with 30

The Chair of the Save our St Joseph’s Hospital Committee Chair says the HSE ansd government must clarify the future plans for community hospitals Fr Duffy says the hospital is registered with HIQA as a 78 bed facility, but a lack of investment and the loss of significant staff numbers means it hasn’t operated at

The IFA says its vital that assistance for the farming sector in Donegal is processed speedily. Michael Chance, the IFA Chair in Donegal says it’s vital that farmers participate in the Teagasc survey. He, along with IFA President Joe Healy met with Minister Michael Creed on Friday. He says they stressed the need for swift action

Patients shouldn’t be made pawns in a pay row among doctors, according to the Health Minister. Many freelance doctors have refused to show up for work in a number of emergency departments after the HSE reduced their pay rate by 6 euro an hour. Letterkenny University Hospital is one of the hospitals affected. A number

The average price of a 3-bedroom semi-detached house in Donegal in the first six months of this year was €143,334, according to a new Residential Property Price Barometer published by the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers. This compares with to a low of €90,000 for a similar property in Longford, while at the other

The HSE has issued a statement this morning saying St Joseph’s Hospital has capacity for 67 beds currently ; 29 long stay beds and 38 short term care beds. The report from Rhatigan architects makes provision for 65 beds in total. Earlier, Fr John Joe Duffy said the capacity of St Joseph’s was being cut

Concern’s being raised about a lack of skilled engineering workers in the North West. One company in Leitrim says it has 15 Engineering jobs which it can’t fill because it can’t find enough people qualified to do the work. John McCartin is a Leitrim councillor, and Managing Director of Newtowngore Engineering says his company can’t

Work due to commence in the coming weeks to address coastal erosion in West Donegal has been welcomed. €85,000 of funding has been made available to Donegal County Council to carry out work at Curransport. 50m of Rock Armour will be installed at the base of the embankment and granular material will be used to

The HSE has announced that the bed capacity at St Jospeh’s Hospital, Stranorlar is to be reduced. The total number of beds is to be cut from 78 to 64, as part of proposals set out in the Rhatigan report. This is the latest in a number of amendments made to the running of the

  Donegal TD and Government Chief Whip Joe McHugh has urged all farmers hit by last month’s floods in the county to take part in a survey of the damage. Teagasc has been tasked by the Department of Agriculture to assess the fallout from the storm in Inishowen and east Donegal. Minister McHugh has met

Donegal experienced its wettest day in over 60 years two weeks ago today as flash flooding hit the county, causing severe damage in large parts of the Inishowen peninsula. According to Met Eireann’s weather summary for August, it was an unsettled and very changable month weather wise, with August also being Donegal’s wettest since 1992.

The Northern secretary James Brokenshire has warned that time is running out to restore power-sharing. He made the statement after meeting the northern parties in Belfast this afternoon. The meetings were exploring whether there’s room for fresh talks to break the deadlock between Sinn Féin and the DUP. Mr Brokenshire says the Westminster government may

Donegal County Council has advised that the road between Quigelys Point and Carndonagh will not reopen this evening as was previously hoped. It is now estimated that it will reopen to single lane traffic on Wednesday afternoon. Additional work is required. Level differences encountered on site and the structure of the bailey bridge has meant

Minister Shane Ross has today met with a group of road safety campaigners to discuss the progression of the Road Traffic Bill. The Bill aimed to increase road safety and decrease road deaths would see motorists caught over the legal drink-driving limit automatically disqualified for a period of 3 months. Mary Clinton, Founder of A-Cert

The September issue of National Geographic Traveller, featuring Donegal in a 20 page supplement has been officially launched. Following the announcement that County Donegal was named as the ‘Coolest Place on the Planet 2017’ by the highly renowned magazine, the team at Donegal Tourism CLG made contact with National Geographic Traveller to explore potential marketing

Weather forecasters say we can expect more extreme weather events like the Donegal floods in the coming years. Our average temperature is now over half a degree warmer than it was 30 year ago and this trend is expected to continue. Meteorologists from across the world are gathering in Dublin this week to discuss how

It’s emerged that seven skips of clothing and other items had to be dispopsed of last week by the Buncrana Flood Relief Depot, because the items were not fit for use. Susan Farren from the depot told Greg on the Ten to One Show today that much of the unfit material arrived on a lorry

New figures from the INMO show the numbers of patients on trolleys and overflow areas of wards has reached record levels. The latest trolleywatch report for August shows over 7,700 were awaiting in-patient beds, on the temporary beds in August up 27 per cent on 2016 In the first eight months of this year 65,455

There’s been widespread criticism of an incident in Derry which has seen the Multi Use Games Area in Shantallow damaged, apparently by a burning tyre. Local Councillor Sandra Duffy says it’s the second attack on a community facility in less than a week, with damage caused to a play park at Racecourse Road last week.

Letterkenny is “clean to European norms”, according to the pressure group Irish Business Against Litter. 80 percent of the country has been judged ‘clean’ in the latest IBAL litter survey – with 16 towns deemed “cleaner than European Norms”. Tullamore topped the rankings, followed by the area surrounding Dublin Airport – which was deemed a

Concern and fear is mounting among the farming community in Donegal following the flash flooding that devastated the Inishowen Peninsula. As of yet no clear commitment has been given by the Government as to what support will be made available for the Agriculture sector to help in the clean-up process. Senator Padraig MacLochlainn is to

The National Chairperson of the Irish Red Cross has praised the resilience of the people of Donegal as efforts continue to rebuild Inishowen in the wake of last month’s floods. Pat Carey, a former minister, visited Donegal at the weekend. Yesterday, he attended a special concert at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny at which

North Korea’s latest nuclear test registered on the St Columba’s College seisomometer. Pyongyang said it had successfully trialled a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on to a long-range missile. The signal from the bomb was recorded on the college’s equipment 11 minutes after it was detonated. North Korea has defied UN sanctions and international

The Minister for Foreign Affairs says the only ray of light in a bad week of Brexit talks has been progress made on Ireland. Simon Coveney will tomorrow meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels but says he is in daily contact with negotiators. Minister Coveney says all sides have come round to accepting