Author name: oisinkelly

A million people have visited Derry’s Guildhall since the completion of a major restoration programme three years ago. Mayor  Alderman Hilary McClintock, made a special presentation to Kevin and Christine Keenan from Randalstown whose visit yesterday saw the one million figure achieved. Derry City and Strabane District Council says since completion of its major restoration in

More than €245,000 in capital funding has been allocated through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to 36 of Donegal’s 145 pre-school service providers operating across the county. €62,533 was allocated to community managed early childhood services with privately managed early childhood services receiving the larger allocation of €182,635. Avril McMonagle is Manager of

The annual Twelfth of July parade takes place today in Rossnowlagh, three days ahead of the main demonstrations which take place on Tuesday next across the North. Fifty lodges from Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim and Monaghan will take part in the parade, joined by lodges and visitors from the North, Scotland and further afield. The parade

There were 2,000 less people on the live register in Donegal last month when compared to June of 2015 The live register figure in Donegal now stands at just short of 16,000. All offices across Donegal recorded a fall in those signing on last month compared to the same time a year ago. The numbers

There will be no second EU referendum for the UK following last month’s vote to leave Europe. The British government has officially responded to a petition saying the decision of the people ‘must be respected’. The online document attracted more than 4-million signatures in the days following the BREXIT vote. In Northern Ireland, 5,634 signed

There’s a major boost for Killybegs after An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission for a new bio-marine ingredients facility. Bio-marine Ingredients Ireland Ltd was originally given permission for the project in 2015 but An Taisce appealed the decision delaying the project for 17 months. The company says that now up to 120 new jobs could

The Chair of the Donegal Hospice Committee says there is no question of the services at the hospice being compromised as a result of a quarter of a million euro overspend last year. Dr James Mc Daid says a rise in costs and a fall in money raised by the hospice has seen a gap

The first batch of Funding Agreements under the LEADER Programme have been signed today, with local funding expected to begin kicking in in the early autumn. Donegal will just over €12.9 million funding as part of the Rural Development Programme package. Diaspora Minister Joe Mc Hugh acknowledges that the figure is down, but he expects

Pic – Cllr Patrick Mc Gowan with the driver of the latest car to crash at that spot There’s been another crash on Donegal road outside Ballybofey, leading to renewed calls for safety works. Last night’s crash saw the driver walk away, but local Cllr Patrick McGowan says there have been several deaths on that

Up to 100 participants are set to attend a Marine Tourism Seminar in Donegal Town today. The seminar, which is taking place at the Central Hotel in Donegal Town, is examining how to grow marine tourism, with discussions on using digital technology to boost business in the sector, and also the growth in adventure holidays.

Donegal County Council is attempting to significantly reduce it’s own energy costs as part of an Energy Awareness Campaign being launched in County House on Monday Next. The campaign is being introduced to complement the Councils new Energy Management System. Paddy Mullen is an Executive Engineer with the council. He says the council’s annual energy

    €149 million was spent on on repairs, maintenance and improvement to commercial and domestic buildings in Donegal last year, according to figuresn which have been published. Over €7 million of that was spent on private homes, leading to calls for incentives to be retained. An analysis by the Construction Industry Federation showed improvement

  A 71-year-old man from Donegal will be sentenced in September after he admitted 14 charges of indecent assault. John Callaghan of Drum in Quigley’s Point in Donegal appeared at Derry Crown Court where he faced fourteen indecent assault charges against three different females. The charges relate to assaults on the three females on dates

Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has said for the first time publicly, he was not the politician alleged to have influenced the investigation into the disappearance of Mary Boyle. Two retired detectives have alleged in a documentary that there was political interference in the investigation of 6 year-old Mary Boyle’s disappearance. Mary was last seen

A campaign has been officially launched in Donegal with aim of reducing the amount of gum litter across the county. It is the second year of the gum litter education campaign in Donegal and is backed and funded by the council and the the gum industry. Paul Kelly is Chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce,

Police in Derry are appealing for information following a suspected arson attack at the derelict Immaculate Conception School site on Derry’s Waterside early yesterday morning, Wednesday 6th of June. Police say the fire was reported at around 4.40 yesterday morning,  and is believed to have been started deliberately. Due to the extensive damage caused to the

An opinion poll in today’s Irish Times shows support for Fianna Fáil is at its highest point in the last eight years, with Michael Martin the most popular party leader. The party’s support has risen 9 points to 33%. Fine Gael are on 24%, down 2, Sinn Fein on 16%, up 2 and Labour on

A Donegal County Councillor is urging those eligible for the SUSI grant to make their submission before tomorrow’s deadline if they haven’t already done so. This year, SUSI has changed the process and said it will be awarding new applicants earlier than last year. Previously, Leaving Cert students would have to wait until they received

A new charge of harassment has been dropped against a garda who was previously found not guilty by reason of insanity for harassing a married female sergeant. 40 year old Garda Donal Maguire suffers from early onset dementia, and was last month committed to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) at the end of a trial

Donegal Fianna Fail Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has been elected Leas Cheann Comhairle in the Dail, defeating Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan by just one vote. Independent Mattie Mc Grath and Sinn Fein’s Sean Crowe also contested the election, which wasconducted by secret ballot usiong proportional representation. It was transfers from Deputy Crowe which proved

  The Justice Minister has been asked to address the Mary Boyle case as a matter of urgency following allegations made during a documentary about the missing child. The documentary, which was uploaded on YouTube on Monday night has gained almost 40 thousand views so far and claims that there was political interference in the

  A book of evidence is to be served on a Letterkenny-based woman accused of assaulting a Garda at a courthouse. Donegal District Court today fixed September 7th as the day on which the book is to be served on 37-year-old Mary Kamunya. The defendant, with an address at The Maples, Lismonaghan, Letterkenny, is accused

The Detective Inspector who led the investigation into the 2013 murder of 41 year old Bogdan Michalkiewicz in Letterkenny has paid tribute to the Polish community for their help in bringing the case to a conclusion. Yesterday, 22 year old Krzystof Grzegorski was convicted of murder in the Central Criminal Court after a three week

A Donegal native who became one of the first sex offenders jailed in the UK for Internet child grooming is renewing his bid to be deported back to Ireland. 58 year old James Brennan, originally from Manorcunningham, wants to serve the remainder of his jail term in an Irish prison. However, he is serving a

The North’s Deputy First Minister has conceded that a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland will be hard to avoid. Martin McGuinness’ comments come as the British Irish Chamber of Commerce says we need to start thinking about how we’ll continue trading with the UK – in the wake of the BREXIT vote.

University Hospital Limerick and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda are the most overcrowded in the country today according to nurses. The latest trolleywatch report from the INMO shows 302 people on trolleys in emergency departments and overflow areas of wards. At Letterkenny University Hospital, there were 12 patients awaiting admission, 8 on trolleys