Author name: oisinkelly

The North West Cancer Centre will become operational next week, however some patients have already been scanned within the centre and the first patient for radiotherapy treatment will arrive next week. The centre will benefit patients both North and South of the border with the centre committing to taking in 1500 annually, 400 of those

The number of people awaiting admission to Letterkenny University Hospital this morning fell to 13, eight of them on Emergency Department trolleys. Nationally, there were over 420 people without beds at hospitals across the country. Meanwhile, the Seanad has been told that the overcrowding crisis has been caused by chronic underfunding, and that pattern will

  Donegal County Councillors will be asked to back a motion of no confidence in the HSE at the November monthly meeting on Monday. The motion will be moved by councillor Michael McBride, who got unanimous support for a similar motion at a recent Letterkenny Municipal District Meeting. Councillor McBride says the issues with the

A woman has died in hospital following yesterday morning’s three-vehicle crash on the Glenshane Pass outside Dungiven in County Derry. Three men and a woman were also taken to hospital after the crash near the Ponderosa. Two men have since been discharged. The other man and woman are still in hospital. The road was closed

Arranmore Island’s all-weather pitch has received a grant of 18,850 euro. Donegal Deputy, Pat the Cope Gallagher has welcomed the news with the grant being used for lighting at the all-weather pitch at Gairmscoil Mhic Dhiarmuida. Work is due to be completed on the pitch by early next year. Deputy Gallagher praised the ETB for

  Nursing Homes Ireland has welcomed a commitment by the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee to examine the cost of public nursing home care in Ireland. It was announced last week in the Dail that 22.75 million euro will be spent by the state to deliver 130 beds in Donegal. The commitment to examine the costs

Raw sewage is still being pumped into Ireland’s waterways. A new EPA environmental report claims ‘significant funding’ is needed to treat waste water if we’re to avoid pollution and health risks. Nationally, untreated sewage is being dumped into the sea and rivers at 43 locations, with 11 of those locations in Donegal, that’s 25% of

Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness has confirmed that she is running for the Presidency of the European Parliament. The Midlands North-West MEP, who is currently a vice-president of the Parliament, is a member of the European People’s Party Group, the EPP. Members of the EPP will decide next month what candidate they want to campaign

  Donegal County Council has adopted it’s Revenue Budget for 2017 which will see 135 million euro spent in the county. The spend is a €2.2 million increase on this year and will be spent on council services, roads, housing and job creation and tourism promotion. At today’s meeting there was praise for the executive

It has been announced that 100 new jobs have been created in Derry and Strabane. 10 businesses between Derry city and Strabane town will invest £5.6 million in the local economy as a result of the job creations. The North’s Economy Minister Simon Hamilton was at a special event in Derry today to acknowledge the

Discussions continue at Lifford House as Councilors meet to discuss and pass the Council’s Revenue Budget for 2017. €135 million will be spent on roads, housing, environmental services, job creation and tourism promotion. There is €2.3 million available for 2017 compared to last year equating to a spend of €851 per person in Donegal. The

The HSE have announced that they are undertaking a consultation and engagement process in order to deepen its understanding of priorities that will help support an improved Primary Care and GP service. The process involves service-user consultation and engagement including one-to-one interviews, an omnibus survey, a variety of focus groups with stakeholders and a public

Several people have been taken to hospital following a 3 vechicle road traffic collison on the Glenshane Road in Dungiven. The PSNI have advised that the road remains closed and is expected to do so for several more hours while a full investigation into the circumstances is conducted. The collision happened earlier this morning close to

Two new vaccines are being made available to babies born after the first of October this year, with the first being administered next week. The new vaccines are intended to immunise children against  and Men B, and are additional to vaccines which are already given. On today’s Shaun Doherty Show, Donegal based Public Health Specialist

An innovative recycled jewellery line being made in Portsalon is being showcased at the National Craft and Design Fair in Dublin next week. Shropshire born Helen Haworth makes Donegal Seaglass jewellery from glass and pottery collected from the beach at Portsalon. She says there is so much history around this part of the Donegal coast,

There were 23 people awaiting beds today at Letterkenny University Hospital 13 of them on trolleys in the emergency department. According to figures from the INMO there was a total of 464 people awaiting beds across the country today. Yesterday there were 31 patients awaiting admission to Letterkenny University Hospital.

Donegal County Council’s Chief Executive has told today’s Budget meeting that the local authority is taking a leadership role on the issue of Brexit. Seamus Neely says the council has already been engaging with effected groups and sectors, as well as with Derry City and Strabane District Council. Discussion continue at Lifford House as Councilors

New figures released to Fianna Fáil reveal that there have only been 11 IDA site visits to Donegal in 2015 and 2016. In contrast, there were 446 visits in Co. Dublin over the same period. Deputy Charlie McConalogue says there has been a complete vacuum of investment in the border counties over the past 5

Motorists on the A6 between Derry and Belfast are advised that the Glenshane Road outside Dungiven has been closed following a RTC collision to the Ponderosa. Motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible and seek alternative routes for their journeys.     Picture from the Ponderosa Facebook page

Businesses in the North West have successfully forged a number of trade links in America. These links have been brought about from the Ireland North West trade delegation to the United States last week. A joint partnership between Gartan Technologies from Donegal and US firm Adashi Systems, the establishment of a Boston office for Derry

County Councillors meet today discuss and most likely adopt the council’s revenue budget for 2017. Just over 135 million euro will be available to spend, an increase of 2.23 million euro on last year. The Revenue budget sets out council spending in areas such as housing, economic development and the provision of services. After a

      A Donegal County Councillor has claimed that the SAOLTA group has no long term plan for dealing with the overcrowding crisis at Letterkenny University Hospital. Yesterday’s figures from the INMO revealed that there were 31 people awaiting admission at the hospital, with 21 people awaiting admission on Monday morning. SAOLTA has confirmed

A Donegal Deputy is calling on the Government to address the implications of a Supreme Court ruling which has resulted in fishing vessels registered in Northern Ireland being prohibited from fishing in waters in the Republic. The call comes following the recent judgement to an appeal brought before Supreme Court Justice O’Donnell in which it

  There are fears that the effects of Brexit may already be taking hold in counties close to the border. That’s despite new CSO figures showing that the number of people at work in Ireland is now at its highest since the end of 2008. The figures show most regions benefitting from jobs growth, but

  Donegal County Council is to review the existing traffic calming measures in Castlefinn following claims that vehicles are exceeding the speed limit on the approaches to the town. There have been reports that some motorists are driving at over 100kmph entering the village from both Ballybofey and Lifford directions. The issue was raised by

  The security alert at Rossnagalliagh in Derry has ended. Technical officers examined the suspicious object which has been declared as an elaborate hoax. It has now been taken away for forensic examination. All roads have been re-opened and residents allowed back to their homes. Local SDLP Councillor Brian Tierney says the incident has caused serious

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the company that formerly owned Tory Island’s Hotel against a High Court ruling that it was responsible for demolishing a house in the island belonging to film-maker Neville Presho. Three judges ruled the company could not appeal as it has been dissolved. They ruled that Presho be

There were 31 patients awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning, 21 of them on trolleys in the Emergency Department. According to the INMO – Cork University Hospital is the most overcrowded with 54 people in need of a bed. University Hospital Limerick is next with 34 people on trolleys and overflow areas of

Irish Water has signed a contract with Coffey Water for the upgrade of the Owenteskna Public Water Supply in South west Donegal. €4 million euro is being invested in a new water treatment plant and reservoir which will benefit approximately 4,000 consumers in an area west of Killybegs including Kilcar, Carrick and Glencolumcille. At present,

Midlands North West MEP Marian Harkin is one of nine who are challenging elements of the CETA trade deal between the EU and Canada. Ms Harkin says the provision in the agreement for an Investor’s Court could leave Ireland open to multi-million euro claims, and it is horrifying that the government has provisionally signed up

Police are at the scene of a security alert in the Rossnagalliagh area of Derry following the discovery of a suspicious object. A number of roads have been closed and local diversions are in place. There are no further details at present.

A 51 year old man has been arrested in connection with dissident republican activity in Derry. Detectives from the PSNI’s Serious Crime Branch detained the man in the Crescent Link area of the city this morning. He’s been brought to Belfast, where he’s being held for questioning in the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave.