Author name: oisinkelly

10 staff at the Electoral Office in Derry are engaged in a one day strike today in protest at the proposed closure of the office. There is a proposal to close the Derry office, along with the offices in Banbridge, Newtownards, Newtownabbey, Ballymena and Omagh, and cemtralise all the jobs in Belfast. Speaking from the […]

A Strabane Councillor is calling on the public to carry out various measures to prevent gorse fire following an extensive fire yesterday evening. Six fire appliances were deployed and forty five fire fighters attended the blaze in the Stroanback, Dunnyboe area of the town. Local Councillor Patsy Kelly is urging people to be careful during

The official opening of the 1916 Commemoration Garden in Ballymacool Town Park in Letterkenny is taking place this evening. The garden will comprise of a stoned area, a flagpole with tricolour, replica of the proclamation and as well as the seven trees to represent each of the executed signatories. The event will include music, poetry

A meeting has taken place in Derry to discuss ongoing issues affecting St Columb’s Park in Derry. Council members and officials, community representatives and the PSNI met to discuss the anti-social behaviour, alcohol consumption and criminal incidents taking place in the park, with reports that there’s been an escalation in the problem over recent weeks.

Fighter fighters are currently attending the scene of an extensive gorse fire in Strabane.  It has been reported that the fire has stretched over a two mile front with six fire appliances deployed and forty-five firefighters currently attempting to bring the blaze under control. The fire is situated the Stroanback, Dunnyboe area and people are

  Donegal Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has failed to secure the position Leas Cheann Comhairle today following a two hour election process.  He was defeated by 83 votes to 52. There were four candidates in contention for the position in the Dáil today with  Sinn Féins Sean Crowe defeated by 106 votes to 33, Independent Mattie McGrath

  Six off-duty police officers have been arrested following an altercation outside a licensed premises in Portstewart. It happened at approximately 1am yesterday morning. Eight people in total were arrested and have since been released on bail pending further enquiries. Two of the people involved are foreign nationals and police are investigating a hate crime element. Three

A Derry Councillor says he is not convinced putting CCTV cameras around the City Cemetery would receive widespread support. Cllr John Boyle was speaking on the Shaun Doherty Show after vandalism at the cemetery earlier this week saw several graves and headstones damaged, some of them very old graves. Cllr Boyle says while it is

The IFA is urging MInister Michael Creed to implement the Locally Led Agri-Environment Scheme as quickly as possible. IFA spokesperson Gerry Cunningham says farmers are losing out due to environmental restrictions applying on their land. Under the final element of the EU’s Rural Development Programme, €70 million is being made available. The bulk of the

A Donegal councillor is calling for the scrapping of a new “Pay by weight” system of bin charges which is due to come into effect on July 1st. Waste collectors have been preparing for the new arrangements for some time, with bins being chipped and specialist weight measuring equipment being installed on bin lorries. The

Can’t pay Won’t Pay will host a meeting in Letterkenny tonight to discuss how to move forward with the campaign for the permanent abolition of water charges and a referendum to ensure that water privatisation never takes place. The final bill from Irish Water is due this month with the Government then due to suspend

Communities in Donegal are being asked to consider taking part “Street Feast”, a national day of street parties and community celebrations on Sunday week, June 12th. The initiative involves an individual or a club hosting a lunch in local area, and inviting their neighbours to join them. A total of 24 street parties are already

The jury in a conspiracy to defraud trial will resume its deliberations this morning in relation to two former bankers of Irish Life & Permanent. Yesterday, two former Anglo Irish Bank executives were found guilty of the charge and remanded on continuing bail until tomorrow. After 38 hours of deliberations spread out over nine days,

Top Ten #LittleThings you can do for your mental health Talk it out: We’re all guilty of harbouring our personal problems/stressful situations, not wanting to burden friends and family… but we need to realise this is merely a short term solution to a long term problem. Conversations are crucial & take a surprising amount of

  A total of €1,715,000 has been announced by Transport Infrastructure Ireland for pavement strengthening on four projects in Donegal. Earlier this week €900,000 for resurfacing works on the Dual Carriageway was made available but other projects to benefit from the funding have also been announced. €215,000 has been granted for the N56 Knocknamona Scheme

  Police are appealing for information following an incident of criminal damage at a cemetery in the Lone Moor Road area of Derry. The incident occurred sometime between yesterday evening and this morning. It’s is believed that approximately 20 headstones and memorials have been damaged. Police say this will obviously cause distress to a number

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the Dail he does not know when the expert panel established to examine the Mica issue will report back. The panel was promised some months ago, and began its work in the past number of weeks. The issue was raised on the Order of Business in the Dail today by

  The new agriculture Minister Michael Creed has confirmed he will be looking into the issue of penalty points for fishermen with the hope of a resolution in the very near future. There have been numerous calls from opposition parties for the controversial legislation facilitating the current penalty points system on the fishing industry to

Taoiseach Enda Kenny says he fears a British withdrawl from the EU would see the re-establishment of customs posts along the border. Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers, who supports the ‘Leave’ campaign says she does not believe customs posts are inevitable. However, speaking in the Dail today, the Taoiseach said if Britian exits the EU, he

  Derry’s Pennyburn Recycling Centre has reopened after an investment of £1.5 million by Derry City and Strabane District Council. The state of the art new-look recycling centre was officially opened yesterday by Mayor Elisha McCallion. The extensive work carried out encourages the public to get more involved in recycling as the new site is

As the debate about Mica continues in the wake of last night’s Prime Time investigation, the Mica Action Group  says it will keep campaigning for a redress scheme. Eileen Doherty is Joint Secretary of the Mica Action Group in Donegal, she says their campaign for a redress scehemsimilar to the Pyrite scheme in Leinster will

Deputy Pearse Doherty has hit out at the latest HSE suspension of hospital recruitment which he says will severely impact on staffing levels at Letterkenny University Hospital. Deputy Doherty’s was speaking after a recent announcment by the HSE confirming that a pause on recruitment is in force until agreement is reached on a new workforce

A Donegal County Councillor has described as “shocking” the level of stress related sick leave within the HSE. Councillor Gerry Crawford has obtained figures which show that in the first three months of 2016,in the HSE West Region alone, 126 staff were referred to Occupational Health Services due to stress. The HSE says the referrals

Donegal County Councillors has agreed to introduce a register for members to sign when attending and leaving meetings. Councillor John O’Donnell brought the motion as he feels the public should know how many meetings councillors attend and if they do, for how long attend. Councillors have an 80% attendance rate at monthly meetings, but Councillor O’Donnell says

An Inishowen councillor is calling for a special meeting of Donegal County Council to discuss last night’s Prime Time investigation into the Mica issue in the county. In a letter to Chief Executive Seamus Neely and Caothaireleach Ciaran Brogan, Cllr Albert Doherty says there were issues of grave concern raised in the programme. Among the