Author name: oisinkelly

The Cookstown born comedian Jimmy Cricket has been named a Papal Knight by Pope Francis, the highest honour that can be awarded by the Roman Catholic Church. The 69 year old entertainer, whose real name is James Joseph Mulgrew, is based in the Salford diocese in Manchester. In a tweet, he said he was overjoyed

People Before Profit is calling on the Government to declare a National Emergency in relation to the housing crisis. There are 130 thousand households on the waiting list for local authority houses. It’s reported today, the Government is considering building housing on NAMA controlled land. However, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, is calling

Police are appealing for information after a pipe bomb was been found during a security alert in Strabane. It was discovered in the back garden of a house at Innisfree Gardens last evening. Army bomb experts examined the device and it has been taken for tests. The area was evacuated for a time, but the

Gardai said it was a “miracle” no passenger was hurt when a tour bus tumbled into a roadside ditch after a collision with on Friday. The only injury was to a young woman driving the car whose front was smashed in the crash. She suffered an injured ankle and was transferred to Letterkenny General Hospital.

The Minister for Health will be asked in the Dail to review the country’s ambulance fleet after the rear wheels of an ambulance transporting a patient on life support from Donegal to Galway fell off. The incident occurred at the end of August, when the driver of the ambulance brought the vehicle to a stop

The NowDoc ‘Red Eye’ service for Carndonagh and Gweedore will not be cut. That was the outcome of a meeting today to discuss a “Live Test” conducted in both areas over the summer to assess whether it would be viable to cut the overnight NowDoc services there. There was strong opposition to the proposals with

Gardai in Buncrana are trying to trace the whereabouts of a Belfast native who’s been living in the town since 2009. Inspector David Murphy says Patrick Skillen’s family became concerned on Wednesday last when he failed to return home. Inspector Murphy made this appeal………..

Tourism Minister Michael Ring is in Donegal today to launch the next phase of the Wild Atlantic Way with further development for the touring route’s 188 designated Discovery Points. 3.5 million euro is being spent on planned photo-markers and interpretative panels, with the first of them being unveiled at Bloody Foreland this afternoon. Huston Engineering

The road between Killybegs and Kilcar has re-opened following an incident involving a bus this morning. A bus carrying German tourists left the road and ended up in a ditch. No one on the bus was injured. It happened at Tullid, Fintra.

Some Donegal people with suspected cancer symptoms are to be sent to private clinics for ultrasound scans, with urgent cases waiting no more than five days. A pilot scheme to reduce waiting times for scans is being rolled out in rural areas between now and the end of the year. Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim will

Serious concerns have been raised following confirmation that two back wheels dislodged from an ambulance transferring a patient from Letterkenny General Hospital to Galway University Hospital. The incident occured last month when the driver of the ambulance brought the vehicle to a stop after experiencing a shudder an noise in the vehicle. It was then

A meeting is to take place later today in relation to the proposed NoWDOC services being cut in Donegal. The HSE, GP Clinical leads, Caredoc, and elected representatives will all be in attendence and it’s expected the results of the live test conducted during the summer will be announced. Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has said

Detectives at Strand Road in Derry are appealing for information about a spate of burglaries in the area. All incidents are said to have occurred Wednesday last. Detectives say that by Wednesday evening, three burglaries were reported to police. In the Culmore area, residents returned to their home at Belvoir Park to find it had

The 10th Culture Night is taking place around the country this evening. 3 thousand events will take place in 15 hundred venues in towns and cities in the 32 counties of Ireland. There are several events in Letterkenny, and also in Derry and Strabane, while there are also Irish language events in the Donegal Gaeltacht.

  Concerns have been raised after vandals have stolen numerous road signs in Donegal. The majority of the signage has been stolen from the Inishowen area and without them there is a fear a traffic collision is inevitable. The incidents are believed to have happened in recent weeks and months. Councillor Albert Doherty has been

The National Ambulance Service has confirmed that two back wheels dislodged from an ambulance transferring a patient from Letterkenny General Hospital to Galway University Hospital. In a statement the NAS said the incident occurred on the 26th August last at approximately 14.10. The driver of the ambulance  experienced  a shudder and some noise in the vehicle

Donegal South West Deputy Pearse Doherty is calling on the Government to fulfil its pledge to introduce a new personal microcredit scheme to assist people who have no or limited access to loan finance. The proposed scheme, which has yet to be formally introduced, was advocated in a report by the Social Finance Foundation and

A Donegal Councillor says many people are being left in limbo because it is taking months to review their eligibility for a medical card. Cllr Ian Mc Garvey says reviews are taking place at a centralised office in Dublin, very often leaving people in severe pain because they cannot afford GP visits or drugs while

The Red Door Country House in Fahan, Co Donegal has been announced as the AA’s ‘Guest Accommodation of the Year’, an award bestowed to the best AA accredited Bed and Breakfasts, Guesthouses, and Farmhouses in Ireland. The award was presented by Minister of State Michael Ring at a prestigious ceremony in Dublin’s Westbury Hotel on

  An investigation is underway following the death of 65 year old Patrick Dowds on a farm in Burt. His twin brother George was injured, but has since been discharged from Letterkenny General Hospital. It’s understood a bull attacked both men. The incident is said to have happened at approximately half past two yesterday afternoon

Two people arrested in Derry yesterday by detectives investigating offences committed at the wake and funeral of Peggy O’Hara in the city in July have been released unconditionally. A 53 year old man was freed just before teatime last night, a 44 year old woman was released shorly afterwards. Examinations are continuing on a numner

A new survey has revealed that Donegal people are more likely to apply for a visa to emigrate. The study conducted by www.visafirst.com shows that applications from Donegal are eighty per cent higher than other counties when the populations are compared. Applications from more suburban areas such as Dublin have decreased dramatically compared to last