Author name: oisinkelly

The European Parliament this week approved plans to reduce toxic emissions that cause air pollution. MEPs voted for more ambitious national caps on emissions of six key pollutants including methane and ammonia. The EU says cattle are big culprits when it comes to emitting methane and ammonia, but Midlands North West MEP Mairead McGuinness says […]

A man is due in court this morning, charged in relation to the investigation into the murder of a woman in Sligo yesterday. 24 year old Natalie McGuinness died after she was found in a house on the Mailcoach Road yesterday morning. A man carrying a knife was subdued by Gardai using a taser at

Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch has officially opened the new Ballyshannon Health Campus, on the site of the former St. Catherine’s Convent. It provides primary care services in the South Donegal area servicing a population of approx 10,000. It also brings together HSE services that were provided from a number of different locations within the

A Ballybofey man says his ‘Clean Up Politics’ campaign is stepping up a gear this week with the launch of a billboard truck which will visit towns across the county in the coming weeks. Tim Jackson who leads the campaign aims to reduce TD’s wages from just under €90,000 to €45,000, along with a raft of

At least 80 jobs are forecast for Strabane under a a 26 million pound scheme. The ‘Three Rivers’ project Group has announced its commitment to a new housing scheme on lands at Curley Hill Road, Strabane. Work on the new 220 unit ‘Bracken Gate’ development will commence in the new year after the completion of

  A charge of dangerous driving causing the death of a man outside Bundoran has been dropped against a young woman. Instead, Lisa Roohan, 25, was charged today with the alternative of careless driving at Ardfarna, Bundoran. The prosecution has dropped the accusation which she faced for 16 months that she was responsible for the

Donegal County Council’s Road Safety Officer says all road users must be extra careful in the coming weeks as winter time sets in. Brian O’Donnell says after the clocks went back last weekend, the driving landscape is very different in the evenings, and bad weather makes the situation even more challenging………….

A Derry Councillor says there’s an urgent need for a review of traffic management in Glenowen and the Bywash. Cllr Colly Kelly says the area, which is close to the Creggan Road, is very low on the Transport NI priority list for traffic calming measures, and he believes it should be higher. He says there

Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy says he believes a pact with left wing candidates could offer Ireland a real political alternative. Yesterday, Sinn Fein confirmed it would sign a document prepared by the campaign group Right2Change, which is urging what it terms left wing candidates committed to a progressive government to enter into a voting

A conference in Cork has been told that in 10 years time, people will look at the decimation of community led development structures in rural Ireland, and ask how that was allowed to happen. Midlands North West MEP Marian Harkin told the conference that instead of encouraging genuine community involvement in local development, the current

  A couple who defrauded the State of more than €44,000 have been given suspended jail sentences. Martin Stokes, 26, and his 25-year-old wife Margaret, who were arrested on EU warrants, yesterday admitted dozens of benefit fraud charges at Donegal Circuit Court. Judge John Aylmer was told the fraudulent claims were made in Ballybofey and

The EU has been criticised following a delay in the abolition of roaming charges. A ban on roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad in the EU has been postponed until June 2017. Clear rules on the right to internet access will also become law following the European Parliament’s final approval yesterday of the new telecoms

  Gardaí will be given new testing kits to catch drivers under the influence of drugs. It is a swab-based kit that will be rubbed on the inside of the persons cheek, and will tell if someone has taken substances like cocaine or cannabis. The new tests are expected to live on a phased basis

A Donegal councillor has described the budget process as a “farce”, claiming that as discussions on the 2016 budget get underway, the entire process is doomed to be meaningless before it even starts. Cllr Dessie Shiels says last years County budget was passed without a line being changed, after hours of hanging around and several

The trial of a woman accused of the death of a man by dangerous driving outside Bundoran is set to start tomorrow. The Circuit Court in Donegal town was told today that the trial of 25-year-old Lisa Roohan could take two to three days. Ms Roohan, from Boyannagh, near Bundoran, is charged with the death

A delegation of Irish families seeking justice for their dead relatives will meet MPs in Westminster today to discuss alleged failures on the part of the Irish authorities. They include the twin sister of Mary Boyle, the six-year-old girl abducted and murdered in Donegal in 1977, and the mother of Shane O’Farrell, who was killed

It’s emerged that wheelie bins were set alight and placed against the back doors of two terraced houses in Newtowncunningham at the weekend. Cllr Paul Canning says the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday morning in the Colehill Housing Estate. Cllr Canning says there were elderly people in both houses, and a young

A major job boost is set for Donegal as one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs says he is bringing new businesses to the North West. At least 30 initial jobs will be created by Largo founder Ray Coyle as he is investing in three new food businesses after announcing he will leave the company he founded

It’s been confirmed that a beach wheelchair is to be deployed to Donegal during the summer season next year. The beach wheelchair is being provided by Donegal County Council and the Loughs Agency will most likely be available at either Culdaff or Shrove beach. It will operate as a pilot scheme, with the hope of

The Courts Service has rejected widespread reports on the low-rate of drink driving convictions as “inaccurate and simply wrong”. Last week, figures were released claiming only 40 per cent of motorists before the district courts on drink driving charges were convicted. The figures claimed Donegal had the fifth lowest conviction rate in the state, at

  Two men have been charged in relation to a drug seizure in Carrigans.  The seizure was carried out on Friday night. The value of the drugs, believed to be cannabis, is not yet known. Two men were arrested at the scene and charged before a special sitting of Sligo District Court yesterday morning. They

    Thieves have stolen lead from a number of houses in Derry over the past week. Constable McCluskey, the investigating officer, said:  “Most of the houses that have been targeted had a small strip of lead stolen from the rear of the property.  Some of the residents were elderly and vulnerable.” Between on Thursday

The fire service from Dungloe and Gweedore tackled a blaze at house in Crolly this morning. Three units of the fire service from Dungloe and Gweedore extinguished a house fire near Crolly this morning. The fire at the former railway station house on the N56 between Loughanure and Crolly was noticed by a passerby around

A senior bishop has warned that prostitution could become a scourge in border towns such as Letterkenny if laws on prostitution in the republic are not brought into line with those in the North. Bishop John McAreavey says draft legislation here would address the problem, but he fears it may fall with the government in

Pedestrians and cyclists are being urged to make sure they’re visible to other road users. The Road Safety Authority issued the warning as evenings gradually become darker during the coming weeks. It’s officially winter-time as the clocks – turned back by an hour this morning. Brian Farrell of the RSA – says walkers and cyclists

Gardai and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating the death of one of Donegal’s best known car dealers in an industrial accident. Dan Mc Ginty, owner of DMG Motors in Donegal Town, died yeseterday after falling at the Clar Road premises. He was rushed to Letterkenny General Hospital by ambulance, but was pronounced dead