Author name: oisinkelly

  Questions are being asked as to what next for the Ritz Cinema in Ballybofey after An Bord Pleanala said it could not be demolished. Donegal County Council had already refused The Butt Hall Committee permission to demolish the iconic building but that decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala. The planning appeals authority has

  Donegal businesses are being encouraged to make their premises a welcoming place for breast feeding mothers. So far Boots and Oscars Cafe have signed up to display ‘Breastfeeding Welcome here’ marks. The intiative is frm the First One Thousand Days movement which is hoping to reverse the trend which has Ireland as one of

  A 24-hour Garda clampdown on speeding concluded at 7am this morning with the North West recording the worst speeding offences in the county. Gardai have confirmed that 322 vehicles countrywide were caught driving in excess of the speed limit on ‘National Slow Down Day’. A car was clocked doing 128km/h in a 80 km/h

Bomb components were found during today’s security alert in Strabane. The security alert in the Evish Road area of Strabane has now ended. The alert began after a suspicious object was discovered during a planned search by officers from PSNI Serious Crime Branch. ATO examined the object that was discovered in a laneway off the

Highland Radio News can reveal that The Butt Hall Committee has been told it cannot demolish the Old Ritz Cinema in Ballybofey. Donegal County Council had already refused the committee permission to demolish the iconic building but that decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala. The planning appeals authority has this week ordered that the

The Heritage Council has today announced funding for a number of heritage projects in County Donegal under its 2016 Community-based Heritage Grants Scheme. In total 17 projects in Donegal will share in just over 100 thousand euro. The joint biggest allocation is for 10,000 euro to St. Columba’s Straid Conservation Group for repair Works to

  Since 7am this morning GoSafe has checked the speed of 13,454 vehicles with 25 detected travelling in excess of the posted speed limit as part of National Slow Down Day. In Donegal there have been notable speed occurrences so far today. A motorist was clocked doing 128km/h in an 80 km/h zone in Cashel,

    It’s emerged that six people including a family of three young children were taken to hospital this week following a fire in Moville. The fire, which started on the ground floor at an apartment block in James Street on Monday night last caused the building to be consumed with smoke with the upstairs

  It has been revealed that the number of Gardai in Donegal has declined by sixteen per cent over the last five years. Figures released by the Department of Justice show that the number of Gardai in Donegal dropped from 466 in 2010 to 392 in 2015 – a decrease of 74 Gardai in the

  Police are appealing for information following an incident in the Glenabbey Drive area of Derry. The incident happened last month on Friday 14 April but details are only emerging now. At approximately 9pm, as a teenage girl was sitting outside her house, a group of three or four males approached her and using an

  A local property expert is claiming the rental property market is in dire straits in Donegal with 20 students forced to defer their college places in LYIT in Letterkenny for this current academic  year because they couldn’t find accommodation. There were 294 residential property transactions in Letterkenny alone last year compared to 125 in 2013

  Donegal had the highest number of deaths in the country as a result of speeding at 8.4% between 2008 and 2012 according to the RSA. Despite a significant drop in road deaths nationally last year, figures in Donegal were up. The report was compiled ahead of National Slow Down Day which is in effect

A Donegal mother whose son died after taking so called legal highs has welcomed a blanket ban on the drugs coming into effect in the UK Anyone found producing or supplying the psychoactive substances now facing up to seven years in prison. Letterkenny based Karen Vandersypen, whose son, Jimmy, died after taking a legal high

  A Donegal County Councillor has been critical of a small protest against yesterday’s Royal Visit. Up to 40 people assembled in the vicinity of the LYIT amid tight security with placards and banners opposing the proceedings of Prince Charles and Camilla taking a tour of the county. Councillor Ian McGarvey who is Ireland’s oldest

  An Taisce has announced the International Blue Flag Award and the National Green Coast Award recipients for the 2016 bathing season. A total of 13 beaches in Donegal have retained their blue flag this while five sites in the county have also retained their Green Coasts Awards which were awarded last year. The beaches

A Judge in a Derry court has criticised the efficiency of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency since its centralisation to Wales, saying there has been ‘a severe drop off in performance’. District Judge Barney McElholm made the comments when dealing with a number of minor traffic offences at Derry Magistrates Court yesterday. In one

Fianna Fail has defended its decision not to vote against the abolition of Irish Water in a Dail vote. Earlier this week, Sinn Fein’s Finance Spokesperson Deputy Pearse Doherty urged Fianna Fail to support the vote, saying it would kill offf Irish Water for once and for all. However, last night, Fianna Fail abstained, and

A security alert outside Derry ended last night with nothing serious being found. The Feeny Road was closed at its junction with the Rallagh Road, and the Glenedra Road was also closed at its junction with the Altinure Road for a time while army experts examined a suspicious object. It was later declared to be

Calls have been made for a public consultation process on the naming of the new Cockhill Bridge. The official sod turning ceremony has taken place, marking the beginning of the construction of the bridge. The old bridge will remain open for pedestrians, while the new bridge is expected to be completed in 2-3 years. Local

The Donegal Youth Service has published its annual report for 2015 with over 8 thousand young people engaging with the service last year. The report also revealed that over 10 thousand queries were submitted to the service and almost 5 thousand services provided from the drop-in centre last year. The top queries by young people

  An investigation is underway this evening in Derry following the discovery of a suspicious object in the city. Consequently the Feeny Road,is closed at the Rallagh Road junction and the  Glenedra Rosd is closed the the Altinure Rd junction with motorists being asked to avoid the area if possible. There are no further details

  The latest royal visit to Ireland is being hailed as a great chance to build cross-border co-operation. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited several parts of Donegal earlier. Hundreds of people gathered to greet the royal couple in Donegal Town. Caoithearlach of Donegal County Council Ciaran Brogan says it’s a great chance to

  Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are continuing their tour of Donegal. The British Royals attended a civic reception this lunchtime in Letterkenny, after earlier visiting Donegal town. Camilla has been visiting Ballyraine National School while Prince Charles visited the L.Y.I.T. in Letterkenny. Prince Charles addressed the crowd in the LYIT opening with a

    Householders are being urged to return their census form by post if it has not yet been collected. Over 1.7 million forms have been collected so far. A CSO spokesperson says that some forms in Donegal haven’t been collected yet and people are being asked to return their form by post as soon

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have concluded their visit to Donegal Town, where they visited Magee’s and Donegal Castle. They were greeted by broadcaster and hotelier Noel Cunningham, who said they received a very warm welcome to Donegal………. The Royal couple also visited Mc Gettigans Butchers. Brothers Ernan and Diarmuid told

The Mica issue has been discussed again in the Dail, with Donegal Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue saying the he believes there are thousands of homes affected. He was responding to Minister of State Damien English, who said there are around 300 confirmed cases at the moment, but investigations are continuing. He committed to visiting Donegal

Hotelier and broadcaster Noel Cunningham is greeting the Royal couple in Donegal Town this morning, he believes there is no doubt that today’s visit will bring long term benefits to the county and the region……..  

A Donegal councillor claims that one of the organisers of a protest against the Royal Visit in Letterkenny today is being harrassed by gardai. Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig alleges up to eight gardai called to the individual’s home today, and questioned another person. He says this is despite assurances he and others had

As Prince Charlas and his wife Camilla arrive in Donegal Town, a group of children and their teachers from Glebe National School have been awaiting their arrival. Greg Hughes spoke to some of them a short time ago….  

Today is the 25th anniversary of the murder of Inishowen Sinn Fein Cllr Eddie Fullerton, who was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his family home in Cockhill, Buncrana on this day 25 years ago. Donegal County Council will hold a wreath laying ceremony at the the Eddie Fullerton memorial at the Stone Jug, Buncrana