Author name: oisinkelly

Members of the Communication Workers’ Union in the 999 call centre in Ballyshannon are to be balloted – calling for dignity and respect. The CWU says it’s members across the country have asked their employer, Conduit Global, several times for a meeting to discuss a range of issues. Last week Conduit issued a new policy

Donegal is getting its first distillery in 174 years. The Sliabh Liag Distillery will be built on the slopes of the Sliabh Liag sea cliffs in the Donegal Gaeltacht. The Irish Whiskey Association says the announcement is another sign that the industry is moving towards double digit growth by 2020. Irish whiskey is now being

It’s emerged that there has been difficulty in filling nine positions for pediatric nurses in Donegal that have been made available by the HSE. More palliative care nurses are required as there are currently 36 terminally ill children in the county. That figure does not include children already in hospitals and children unknown to the

  Police attended a security alert in Derry following a suspicious object being thrown into the rear yard of a house in Ebrington Street at approximately 12.10am in the early hours of this morning.  ATO attended and a controlled explosion was carried out just after 5.30am. The object has now been declared as a viable

    At this stage most ESB customers in Donegal have had their power restored with the exception of 1659 in Milford, 76 in Donegal and 41 in Stranorlar. High winds and heavy rain hit many parts of the country overnight – with gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour. The North, West and

  It’s been revealed that  it would take 20 years to fully upgrade Donegals non-national roads to an acceptable standard. A question was put forward by Cllr. James Pat McDaid at this weeks DCC meeting regarding how many kilometeres of road was owned by Donegal County Council and how much would be re-resurfaced this year.

  A commitment has been given by the Health Minister that the future of St Joseph’s Hospital in Stranorlar, Lifford Hospital and the Ramelton Community Nursing Unit is secure but he has failed to commit to long stay residential nursing care in the facilities. Serious concern has been raised this week that the new €22 million

  Storm Gertrude has hit bringing severe winds and rain to all areas overnight. Gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour have been battering the country with the North, West worst affected. There are almost 2 thousand ESB customers without power in Stranorlar, 1714 in Milford, 529 in NewtownCunningham and 93 in Donegal. Power

The HSE has written to MInister Joe Mc Hugh about the future of the community hospitals in Lifford, Stranorlar and Ramelton, with the text suggesting that long stay beds will be removed from the three community hospitals to a new unit to be built in Letterkenny. The letter says services such as rehabilitation, respite, step

Police in Strabane and the family of Sean Thomas Diver are growing concerned for his wellbeing after he was reported missing last night. Mr Diver, who is 39, was last seen in the Townsend Street area last night.  He is described as being abut 5ft 7ins tall, of a slim build and with brown hair. 

The retail union Mandate says a line is being crossed by Tesco following the company’s decision to cut the wages of long term staff. Staff who have worked for the company since before 1996 are on special rates of pay, but Tesco say they will withdraw those rates from the 18th of April. The trade

A comprehensive review is being conducted into the murder of a man in Dungloe 11 years ago. On January 29th 2005, 36-year-old Shaun Duffy was found dead at his home at Meenacross near Dungloe. An inquest was told he died during a violent struggle, in which he suffered a deep gash to the back of

Questions marks are being raised over the Stobart Air Donegal to Dublin service after another cancellation caused the cancellation of a Donegal women’s cancer treatment appointment. There were 23 flight cancellations in December and 8 already this month. Deputy Thomas Pringle is asking the Minster for Transport to intervene given that it is a Public

The HSE has written to Minister Joe Mc Hugh about the future of the community hospitals in Lifford, Stranorlar and Ramelton, with the text indicating that long stay beds will be removed from the three community hospitals to a new unit to be built in Letterkenny. The letter says ” services such as rehabilitation, respite,

Mr. Dennis McCarthy has been appointed to chair the expert panel that is being established to investigate the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork in houses in Donegal. Thousands of homeowners in the county are thought to be affected by the issue, where their homes are crumbling and described as worthless and increasingly

It’s been confirmed that two weapons have been seized following a security alert at the City Cemetery in Derry. Police say the firearms,m described as semi-automatic handguns, were found within the grounds of the City Cemetery and have been taken away for further examination. Searches have continued in the area, since yesterday, with some people

The Council will find out how much it will have to pay, if anything, from defending an unsuccessful challenge taken against it by Councillor Dessie Shiels. The case surrounded the co-option of Michael McBride onto Donegal County Council. Independent Councillor Dessie Shiels took a case against the Council over the co-option of Michael McBride onto

It’s reported this morning that a major review is being conducted into the murder of a man in Dungloe 11 years ago. On January 29th 2005, 36-year-old Shaun Duffy was found dead at his home at Meenacross near Dungloe. An inquest was told he died during a violent struggle where he suffered a deep gash to

A security operation is continuing this morning in Derry. Police went to the city cemetery at Lone Moor Road yesterday afternoon when it was reported a suspicious object was found. A weapon was subsequently recovered from a car. Searches have continued in the area, Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney is condemning the incident:

A Donegal Councillor has hit out at some of his fellow Councillors for attacking him over walking out of the Donegal County Council this week. Both Councillor John Campbell and Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig left the meeting due to Cllr. John O’ Donnell being in attendance while also withdrawing from the Independent Grouping.

  Police are currently at the scene of a security alert in Derry.  The alert is happening close to the city cemetery at Lone Moor Road in Derry, where a suspicious object has been found. There are no further details at this stage.

Minister Joe Mc Hugh says the reference to the three hospitals being “replaced” in the government’s press release is not accurate, and they willplay a key role in the future organisation of services for the elderly in Donegal. Minister Mc Hugh spoke earlier on the Shaun Doherty Show………  

The HSE has fined the country’s acute hospitals over 3.7 million euro for breaching waiting list targets for the last five months of 2015. A report in the January edition of the Health Manager Journal says the fines have been levied on hospital groups, rather than individual hospitals. The largest cumulative fine for 2015 –

The HSE is expected to release a statement clarifying the future of St Joseph’s Hospital in Stranorlar, Lifford Hospital and the Ramelton Community Nursing Unit. A new €22 million Community Nursing Unit is to be built in Letterkenny under a Public Private Partnership. Minister Joe Mc Hugh said last evening that the facilities would not

Donegal County Council’s Whole System of Work was back on the Council’s agenda this week with the matter to now be referred to Value for Money Committee for examination. The controversial system was introduced at the tax payers expense at a cost of 4 million euro and was described as a framework with the aim

The RNLI has urged people to “respect the water” after the group’s 2015 report revealed that its lifeboats launched nearly 11 hundred rescue missions last year. The lifeboat organisation rescued over 12 hundred people last year. In Donegal, there were a total of 76 launches in 2015, with 61 people rescued. Aranmore Lifeboat was Donegal’s

A Donegal Deputy has raised further concern over the possible closure of three community hospitals in Donegal. Yesterday Minister Joe McHugh made the announcement that almost 30 million euro is to be spent on Community Hospitals in Donegal but the news has put the future of the facilities in Stranorlar, Ramelton and Lifford in the

Letterkenny University Hospital had the second highest number of hospital cancellations for elective surgical procedures across the entire Saolta Group over the past two years. Resoponding to a Dail question from Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty, Health Minister Leo Varadkar confirmed that a total of 351 scheduled procedures or non-urgent surgeries were cancelled by Letterkenny hospital

Donegal County Council is looking to go mobile, after committing to developing an app. It’s after a call from councillor Gary Doherty who says a council app for mobile devices would make it easier for the public to access information such as road closures and water outages. Councillor Doherty says it’s the way forward and