Author name: oisinkelly

  15 Donegal festivals have been allocated a total of 43 thousand 500 hundred euro under the Department of Tourism and Sport’s 2016 Festivals and Events Programme. Events to benefit include the Transatlantic Connections Conference, the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships, the MacGill Summer School and the Mary from Dungloe festival. The biggest single allocation

  A public demonstration is planned for Monday in Carndonagh calling for a 2nd ambulance to be available to Inishowen on a 24/7 basis. Currently there is just one ambulance serving the entire peninsula with claims that there have been significant delays in response times to those needing the emergency services. The demonstration takes place at the Carndonagh

A vital report into the investigation of the suicide of a Garda sergeant following questioning by a garda watchdog is expected to be with Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald this month. Mr Justice Frank Clarke completed his inquiries several weeks ago and is concluding a report that is expected to make recommendations about investigative procedures. He

Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has said that the party mismanaged its vote in Donegal. The party opted to run three candidates in Donegal with the electorate in the end only returning Deputy Doherty to the Dail. He also told RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta that the party should have sought a full recount when

    There are now 250 years of Donegal records available online including collections of birth, marriage and death records from over 40 parishes in the Raphoe dioceses. Ancestry.ie, an online family history resource, has made 10 million historic Catholic Parish records from Ireland available on their website. Written in either English or Latin, the

    A local water campaigner is urging the people of Donegal to be aware of the dangers of carcinogenic tap water. Over 400,000 homes across the country are believed to be affected by the issue and it has been claimed that this includes some Donegal homes. Enda Craig is advising the public to be

  Two former Donegal TDs are to seek Seanad seats – Fianna Fails Niall Blaney and Sinn Feins Padraig Mac Lochlainn. It’s understood Blaney will contest the forthcoming Seanad Election while MacLochlainn is awaiting nomination from the Sinn Fein Party. Padraig MacLochlainn, who narrowly missed out on the final seat in the General Election to

    An Bord Pleanala has granted permission for a 7 turbine windfarm despite its own inspector recommending that planning permission be refused. Clogheravaddy Wind Farm Limited has now been green lighted to build up to 7 wind turbines and an electrical substation at Clogheravaddy on the main Donegal Town to Glenties road. The plans were opposed by a

  A Donegal TD says Eir’s annoucment that it will provide fibre broadband to 14 thousand homes and businesses in the county this year is not actually good news. Thomas Pringle says the company’s announcement covers homes have that already been earmarked for the rural broadband scheme established by the outgoing Government. He says Eir

    Weather records continued to be broken in Donegal with Malin Head recording its highest winter temperature in over 60 years and its wettest winter since the nineteen hundreds. Over half of the country’s weather stations reported their rainiest ever winter after a series of storms triggered months of flooding nationwide. Malin Head reported its wettest winter in

  Met Eireann has issued a snow-ice warning for Donegal. The forecaster says there will be sleet and snow showers ranging between 1 and 3 centimetres – especially on high ground. The weather alert is in place until 10am. Joanna Donnelly is a Meteorologist with Met Eireann. She says the rain will clear later this

  24 communities in Donegal are set to benefit from high- speed fibre broadband within the next year following further plans announced by Eir. The company, previously known as Eircom has said it plans to generate speeds of 1 gigabit per second and will become available to 200 communities across the country by the end

  The Donegal Sexual abuse and Rape Crisis Centre has announced they are opening a new outreach service in Lifford Community Hospital. It will be available to anyone from from Donegal, Derry and Tyrone and will offer a free and confidential service each Wednesday. Manager Marina Porter says if there is a demand they will

    Planning permission has been granted for a multi-million euro development in Donegal with almost 100 new jobs expected to be created. Donegal Co. Council has given the green light to build a 34 bedroom hotel at the old Cloghan Lodge Estate, between Ballybofey and Glenties. Other plans for the devleopment include conference facilities,

  Police in Derry were called to a violent disturbance outside licensed premises in Waterloo Street at around 1am on the morning of Monday 22nd February. The disturbance involved up to 15 people with one man left requiring treatment for facial injuries having reportedly been repeatedly kicked to the head. Enquiries are ongoing and police

  Former Minister and newly elected Fianna Fail Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has been widely tipped to secure the Ceann Comhairle position. It’s believed Deputy Gallagher could take over from Sean Barrett as Dail Chairman given his fluency in the Irish language. He faces competition for the post within his own party – Sean

    Donegal Tourism is inviting all those involved in the industry to its annual Seminar in Letterkenny next week. Tourism providers will hear of the the marketing plans for 2016 and how they can influence and avail of them. Donegal Tourism is this year expanding its membership to a wider geographical and sectoral base. It’s Director, Barney McLoughlin says it

      A six bedroom house with a reserve of just 45 thousand euro and 9 apartments with a reserve of 135 thousand euro are just two of the Donegal lots to be included in the latest Allsop property auction. Bids for the properties open at 8am on Wednesday the 16th March. In what

Donegal County Councillor John O’Donnell today told Letterkenny District Court that he is filing for bankruptcy. Mr O’Donnell was back in court having failed to pay all compensation awarded in relation to a civil matter involving a woman whose foot he had driven over on a building site several years ago. She re-entered the case

A fish-processing plant and one of its owners was sent for trial today accused of weighing fish-catches illegally. Norfish Ltd and a director Tony Byrne, of Roshin Rd, Killybegs, were charged at Donegal District Court. Judge Kevin Kilrane was told the books of evidence had been served earlier today and Donegal State Solicitor Ciaran Liddy

The Taoiseach says he has a duty to ensure Ireland gets a stable government – and that includes talking to Fianna Fáil. But Enda Kenny would not be drawn on whether he would form a coalition with them, or depend on their support from outside. The Taoiseach says his proposal to return the Fine Gael

It has been claimed the ambulance service in the Inishowen area is inadequate with only one ambulance serving the entire peninsula on a 24/7 basis. There have been numerous reports of long periods of time for a call out in the event of an emergency and the consequent time it takes for patients to be

  A total of  537 people are waiting on hospital trolleys or chairs around the country today , 23 of them at Letterkenny University Hospital. The INMO’s figures show 16 people waiting admission on trolleys in the Emergency Department at Letterkenny Hospital today, while a further 7  are waiting on the wards. The hospital has

  There have been fresh calls for funding to preserve the iconic ship wreck ‘Bad Eddie’ following months of winter weather which has led to it deteriorating further. Last year, residents voiced concerns in relation to the health and safety hazard the wreck poses to both tourists and locals who may use the beach, some

  Gardai are investigating an incident on Arranmore Island in which a pensioner was assaulted. The incident happened last night at approximately 8pm when an intruder entered the mans home, man-handled him and made off with a sum of money The man who is in 80s didn’t sustain any life-threatening injuries. Gardai say they have

  A Donegal man has pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences. Joe McBride with an address at Murleog, Downings was fined €200 and ordered to pay €152 costs to the ISPCA after admitting an offence under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 at Letterkenny District Court today. The case arose from visits made to

  Police in Derry have charged a 30 year old man with a number of drugs related offences including possession of class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. He is due to appear at Derry Magistrates Court today  As is normal procedure the charges are reviewed by the PPS.

  Storm Jake has brought wintry and windy conditions. A snow and ice alert was in effect earlier this morning, with snow reported on higher ground in parts of Donegal. Due to forecast Gale Force winds the Harry Blaney Bridge over Mulroy Bay will be closed from 10am to 6pm this evening. Forecaster with Met

  Right2Water Donegal are committed to keeping the campaign going and are confident water charges can be abolished following the outcome of the General Election. Fianna Fail has indicated the scrapping of the water charges will be a red line issue if it is to go into coalition with Fine Gael. It’s also been revealed

  Detectives are appealing for information following a burglary that occurred at a house in Derry. The incident happened on Saturday but details are only emerging now. Sometime between 2.30pm and 8.30pm on Saturday a house in the Duncastle Park area of Newbuildings of the city entered and a sum of money was taken. It’s

  Concern has been raised following the alleged removal of signs by Donegal County Council across the county for a charity event in the Rosses area. ‘WAAR wild atlantic way adventure race’, a community led project by Naomh Muire takes place in May and the club erected signs across the North West. However, it has

  Weather warnings for snow, ice and wind are in effect for Donegal this morning. Snow has been reported on higher ground as a status yellow alert is in place until 9am this morning, for Connacht, Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. A status yellow warning for wind is in place for the whole country up