Author name: oisinkelly

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

The Government has been heavily criticised for its failure to adhere to the EU Floods Directive. EU member states were required to produce flood risk management plans by 2015 in compliance with the directive, however the Irish Government has failed to submit plans to the EU Commission. The news comes in the aftermath of flash

Police in Derry are appealing for information following a serious assault on a man last month. The man was attacked sometime between 1:30am and 2am as he attended a bonfire in the Gallaigh area of the city on 16th August. The victim sustained injuries to his face, including a fracture to his left eye socket

The Minister for Agriculture has visited Donegal to assess firsthand, the aftermath of last weeks floods. Many farmers have been left devastated after livestock was lost, crops washed away and fields and fencing demolished. Michael Chance, Donegal IFA Chairman, met with Minister Creed and discussed the support needed to return farms to their pre-flood state.

As the political deadlock continues in Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has appealed to parties to cooperate and compromise in a bid to restore the assembly. The Taoiseach says while Brexit negotiations continue it is vital Northern Ireland has a voice at the table and that it is not up to British Ministers to run

The actions of the Minister for Agriculture are unacceptable as farmers have yet to receive confirmation that they will be awarded support in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s flood. That’s according to Donegal Deputy Charlie McConalogue who says he feels farmers are being treated in a discriminatory manner by the Government. Many farmers, particularly those

The Donegal branch of the Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers’ Association has offered its assistance to farmers in the county who have been affected by last week’s flash flooding. Livestock was lost, fields and fencing damaged and crops washed away as the torrential rain struck. The ICSA has also called on Minister Michael Creed to

Police believe the New IRA was behind the attempted murder of a police officer in Derry earlier this year. On 22nd February, a viable Under Vehicle Improvised Explosive Device was discovered at the home of the officer in the Ardanlee area. Police sources have indicated that the device which they say was designed to kill

The security alert in Lettershandoney, Derry has now ended. Superintendent Gordon McCalmont has confirmed that a viable device has been recovered and will be taken away for further examination. Superintendent McCalmont says; “When violent dissident criminals tell us that there is a device in the area we do not take chances. Conflicting and inaccurate information

Applications are now open for the Donegal Emergency Humanitarian Support Scheme. The Government has requested the Red Cross administer two temporary emergency support schemes in the wake of flash flooding that devastated hundreds across Donegal last week. The temporary emergency scheme will provide emergency humanitarian support to small businesses, up to 20 employees, that have

A number of protests were held across the country today in opposition of Bank of Ireland’s decision to remove its Irish langauge option from its newer ATM’s. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty attended a protest at the banks Bunbeg branch which he has desribed as positive and has welcomed the prospect of a meeting with senior