Author name: oisinkelly

The EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, will travel to Killybegs on Monday to hear how Brexit is affecting those in the fishing industry. The Commissioner will meet government ministers and representatives from environmental organisations during his two day trip. He says Ireland is a trusted partner when it comes to […]

The Children’s Minister says any announcement around childcare in next month’s Budget will try to end the marketisation of the sector. There’s been continued increases in annual fees that parents are paying, while also increased overheads for providers. The Department of Children say a fully public childcare sector would cost two billion euro a year

The Government has been warned not to rush into plans end routine Covid 19 contact tracing. Reports today suggest that NPHET is considering the move in four weeks, when the majority of pandemic restrictions will be lifted in Ireland. Earlier this week it was decided that children who are close contacts, but have no symptoms,

The tenth annual ‘March for Choice’ is calling on the Government to tackle barriers to abortion in Ireland. Campaigners say despite the result of the abortion referendum, people are still travelling abroad for services which should be available here. Marchers are also calling on the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to deliver on promises of safe

Tomorrow, is National Walking Day, and Donegal County Council is urging people to go walking on any of the many paths and trails in the county. In particular, the council is promoting the Inch Levels Wildfowl Reserve, which is part of Trail Gazers, a European network of walks which is looking at ensuring investments in

A group of Fine Gael representatives from Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick met today with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. In a statement afterwards, the party said the meeting was an opportunity to reinforce the strong solidarity that emanated from the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party on Wednesday night in favour of a resolution to the issue. Party

Senior management with HSE Community Services in the North West are publishing six special videos thanking staff for their efforts over the course of the Covid 19 pandemic. The first video was posted this afternoon featuring John Hayes, the Chief Officer in CHO Area 1, which encompasses Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Monaghan and Cavan. In it,

A Rural Ireland campaigner is calling on the government to build temporary and alternative accommodation for those in homes affected by Mica. It comes as the Tanaiste meets this afternoon with party colleagues who want the government to agree to a 100 per cent redress scheme. Leo Varadkar is speaking with TDs from some of

The PRO of the Mica Action Group has said that it’s increasingly likely that the civil servants on the Defective Block Working Group will have a different opinion to that of the Mica family representatives – and that both different perspectives will be presented to the Housing Minister on the Working Group’s final paper. Michael

The Policing Authority says it’s simply not good enough that a number of gardai cancelled emergency calls. It’s emerged a further 53 emergency calls were cancelled without a proper Garda response, after new procedures were implemented when it emerged that thousands of emergency calls to Gardaí had been cancelled. Chairman of the Policing Authority Bob

The UK Government has approved sending 100 military doctors to Northern Ireland to support under-pressure hospitals dealing with Covid-19. The medics are expected to be deployed at two hospitals in Belfast, and possibly a third. They will be sent to Northern Ireland in the next few days. Dr. Andrew Dobbin is an A&E Consultant at

  Several Fine Gael TDs will back calls for a 100 per cent mica redress scheme when they meet with the Tánaiste this afternoon. Leo Varadkar will hold talks with his party colleagues from some of the worst hit areas. Discussions are ongoing on the scheme, which is due to go to cabinet early next