Author name: oisinkelly

It’s been confirmed that the Department of Education has no appeals process for unsuccessful schools who participated in the recent round of DEIS school applications. Clarity was sought from Donegal Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher following concerns raised locally that some schools in the county were excluded from the scheme. In its reply, the Department

  Three million euro in funding has been announced for the LYIT Killybegs Tourism College from the Department of Education. This funding, of which €750,000 will be rolled out annually; will be to assist the Donegal Tourism and Educational development. Donegal Minister of State Joe McHugh says this will help strengthen existing initialise within the

    Detectives in Strabane attending a security alert in Sion Mills have confirmed they have recovered a pipe-bomb device. Residents were asked to leave their homes while the object was being examined. Sycamore Avenue reopened to traffic yesterday evening and evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes.

A Donegal County Councillor has expressed disappointment over the lack of response from some TDs in Donegal on his call for a united approach surrounding the exclusion of schools from the DEIS programme. While a number of schools in the county were included in the scheme, there had been widespread criticism that some who were

Donegal Senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn is questioning whether a full time breast surgeon will be appointed to Letterkenny University Hospital. After raising the issue in the Seanad today, to be told that while the needs of the hospital are being assessed, it is planned in the short term to appoint a full time locum breast

A press conference is to take place at City of Derry Airport this morning at which BMI will be confirmed as the new operator of the Derry to London Stanstead service. It follows a tender process after a new Public Service Obligation was agreed with the British Government. Foyle MLA Raymond mc Cartney says this

It’s been claimed that Opposition TDs and Senators are aware that a Second Breast Surgeon will be appointed to Letterkenny University Hospital shortly, and a renewed emphasis on the issue now is political. Minister Joe McHugh says he shares the frustration of everyone at the length of time it’s taken to have a second surgeon

The security alert in Derry is continuing this morning after a bomb exploded outside the home of a serving police officer yesterday. It’s understood that it happened as army technical officers were trying to defuse the bomb which was discovered earlier this morning in the Culmore area of the city. Police have said that the

A Donegal Deputy is warning that Brexit cannot be allowed to disrupt the thousands of people from Donegal who cross the border on a daily basis for work. The latest census data available reveals that in 2011 there were 6,416 commuters travelling from Ireland to work in Northern Ireland, and a further 1,879 people crossing

  Over 9,000 electricity customers were without power for a time this morning in Inishowen ESB networks  confirmed two faults, with just over 4,600 without power in Moville and more than 4,500 without power in Buncrana. Power has now been restored to most customers. Nationally, over 20,000 properties are without power this morning as Storm

Donegal County Council has begun to draw up a new draft scheme to determine how council services are delivered through the language into the future. People with comments or ideas on how that can be achieved are being urged to make submissions before the 10th of next month. The primary objective of to ensure better

  The security alert in Sion Mills in Strabane has now ended and ATO has removed a suspicious object for further examination. Sycamore Avenue has now reopened to traffic and evacuated residents allowed to return to their homes. Detective Sergeant Brian Reid said: “I would like to thank the public today for their patience during

  Police have confirmed that a bomb has exploded outside the home of a serving police officer in Derry. It’s understood that it happened as army technical officers were trying to defuse the bomb which was discovered earlier this morning in the Culmore area of the city. A number of homes have been evacuated and

  A West Tyrone MLA is calling for a full election hustings debate between all election candidates in the Constituency. MLA Daniel McCrossan believes it would be in the public interest to have such a debate before the people have their say in tomorrow week’s poll. He says in light of the political instability at

Pressure is growing on Health Minister Simon Harris to ensure the appointment of a second consultant breast surgeon at Letterkenny University Hospital is done as quickly as possible. Two years ago, the government confirmed a second surgeon would be appointed at a meeting, and an appointment was made. However, the person never took up the

There have been two security alerts in the North West today, one in Sion Mills and the other in the Ardanlee area of Culmore in Derry. Sinn Fein Cllr Elisha Mc Callion said those behind the Culmore alert, which is ongoing, have nothing to offer the community. Some residents remain out of their homes this

There’s been a slight rise in the number of patients awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital, with 22 patients awaiting admission this morning, ten of them on Emergency Department Trolleys. This compares to 16 people awaiting admission yesterday. According to the INMO, there were 516 patients in total without beds across the country this morning,

The Donegal Road Safety Working Group is appealing to drivers and passengers to ensure that every person in every seat wears a seatbelt. There were 188 fatalities on Ireland’s roads in 2016, 11 of them in Donegal. Analysis of the national figure has shown that one in five drivers and passengers were not wearing a seatbelt

The leader of Sinn Fein has called on the Taoiseach to clarify the issue of contingency planning in relation to a possible ‘hard border’ with Northern Ireland. It follows revelations last week that revenue commissioners are looking at various locations along the border with a view of possibly setting up checkpoints there. In the Dail

A number of Donegal farmers are heading to Sligo toay for a demonstration outside the Regional Veterinary Laboratory. There are fears the laboratory will close following a review which is to be undertaken by the Department of Agriculture. The closure would mean farmers in the North West would have to travel to Athlone, Celbridge or

It’s been revealed that there has been a thirty three per cent increase in adult homelessness in Donegal since December last to the end of January 2017. Figures also show that tout of the 41 adults classified as being homeless in the Northwest, which comprises counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo, almost half of those adults

  A Donegal Deputy is calling on both the HSE and the Minister for Health to clarify the extent of respite appointment cancellations and service disruption across the Donegal community hospital network. It follows a decision having been made to suspend services due to on-going service pressures. Deputy Doherty, who will this week raise the

  Police have received a number of reports in relation to potential fraudulent activity committed against staff at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. Police say that they currently have 9 potential victims of this alleged fraud, they believe there are more potential victims out there and we need them to contact us. They are working closely

Unions are split over whether progress can be made to avoid a strike at Bus Éireann. SIPTU say the company is coming around to their position while the NBRU is very pessimistic about a deal being done. Talks are underway at the Workplace Relations Commission this afternoon. The company is proposing to close three loss

There’s been a sharp drop in the number of patients awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital, where the Full Capacity Protocol was implemented yesterday. There were 16 patients awaiting admission this morning, four of them on Emergency Department Trolleys and 12 in overflow areas, and on chairs in wards. This compares to 34 people awaiting

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following last evening’s fatal crash in Inishowen. John ‘Rustard’ Mc Laughlin, a married father of two in his late thirties who lived in Greencastle and was deeply involved with Malin GAA club lost his life in the collision, which happened at Strand Head on the Carndonagh Road outside Malin. The

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following a fatal crash in Inishowen last evening. The two-car collision in which one man died happened at Strand Head near Malin at around 6pm. The dead man – who was in his late 30’s – was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to Letterkenny University

Calls have been made for an increase in bed capacity both Buncrana and Carndonagh community hospitals. The call comes following recent figures which revealed that almost one in four beds have been closed in both hospitals over the past nine years. Cardonagh Hospital now has a bed capacity of 45 compared to 55 nine years

Residents in the Manorcunningham have been warned to be on the lookout after an  Isuzu Trooper jeep was spotted acting suspiciously in the area. It follows reports that the same vehicle may have been involved in a burglary in the area on Saturday night. Anyone with information is asked to contact Letterkenny Garda Station. Councillor Paul

It’s been confirmed that Health Minister Simon Harris has refused to appoint a Review Team to Letterkenny University Hospital. The news comes after the Full Capacity Protocol was implemented at the hospital yesterday with the INMO reporting 34 patients waiting to be admitted. The proposal was initially made by Donegal Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher