Author name: oisinkelly

The Justice Minister has announced the appointment of Mr. Justice Frank Clarke to the independent inquiry of GSOC following the death of Sgt. Michael Galvin. Sgt Galvin apparently took his own life at Ballyshannon Garda Station in Donegal last month. He had been investigated by the Garda Ombudsman as a result of Garda contact with

The HSE has settled an action for damages arising from the death of a Donegal mother of three over failures to diagnose her breast cancer. Letterkenny General Hospital has issued an unreserved apology to the family of Melissa Hamilton that her cancer was not recognised and treated at an earlier stage. 34 year old Melissa

Construction on the new Letterkenny Courthouse is to begin later this year. In response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn this week, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said it’s anticipated that a contract for the project will be concluded in the coming months,  and construction will commence shortly after it has been agreed.

A new Development Plan for Carndonagh is nearing completion, with local community groups, businesses and Donegal County Council involved in putting it together. A draft plan was produced at a meeting last night, and that’s now being considered before the final plan is agreed. Local Councillor Martin Mc Dermott believes this plan will succeed, because

A campaign has been launched to achieve Fairtrade status for the Derry City and Strabane District Council area. Last year, Derry City was awarded Fairtrade status, and Cllr Eric Mc Ginley says it would be a logical progression for the Council to support a campaign for this recognition to be achieved at a district level.

€1.2 million has been set aside for energy efficiency projects to be carried out in Donegal this year under the Better Energy Communities scheme. It’s designed to improve energy efficiency in public buildings, businesses, sports clubs and homes, with a substantial portion of the funding going to an Udaras na Gaeltachta plan to upgrade a

The North’s Environment Minister has confirmed planning approval for an underground extension to an existing open cast mining operation in County Tyrone. The permission for the mining of gold, silver and lead at Cavanacaw, west of Omagh, includes approval for a further 15 years of work at the site. Approval has been granted for a

The High Court has heard that a mother of 3 died from breast cancer after 2 missed opportunities to diagnose the disease at a breast check clinic in Co Donegal. 34 year old Melissa Hamilton died in September 2011, 8 days after giving birth to a daughter by emergency caesarean section. She was diagnosed in

Police in Fermanagh have confirmed that the man who died in a road crash in Kesh last evening was 51 year old John Forsythe, from Castlederg. The crash happened on the Manoo Road in Kesh at 6 o’clock yesterday. A woman who was injured in the crash is in a stable condition in hospital. Police

HIQA has called for an urgent review about safety at a care centre for people with disabilities in Co Sligo. The report by the health watchdog raises serious concerns about the use of drugs to restrain adult and child residents at Cregg House. It’s also identified major breaches of standards; unsafe staffing levels and fire

Highland Radio News today able to reveal that the Government has confirmed funding to replace the infamous Cockhill Bridge in Buncrana. Deputy Joe McHugh has confirmed that 3 million euro has been set aside for the project with work expected to get underway this year. An estimated 15,000 vehicles, plus pedestrians, use the bridge daily.

A Derry & Strabane Councillor has urged parents and schools to ensure children are aware of the dangers of social media sites. It’s after to a 12-year-old Derry girl was sent explicit images via a smart phone App. Councillor Tierney made the appeal after being contacted by the girls parents after their daughter was sent

A Donegal Deputy has called on management at Letterkenny General to clarify the situation regarding the future of dermatology services at the hospital. It’s understood that the clinic has been closed for ten weeks to try and clear the backlog that had built up in Sligo. Patients who had scheduled appointments during this ten week

Donegal Independent Deputy Thomas Pringle says he has not been approached and would have no interest in joining any new political party. It’s being reported today that a new political party could be in the pipeline, with Independent TDs Catherine Murphy and Stephen Donnelly and former Labour TD Roisin Shortall said to be in talks

A new support service for young carers in Donegal has been officially launched by Donegal Youth Service. The new service, which is being run through the Loft Youth Project, will see new one to one and group supports available to young people aged 12-18 in the county who identify as young carers. Orla O’Reilly is

The new Chair of the Inishowen Municipal District is Fianna Fails Rena Donaghey. She was selected earlier this week. The newly elected Chair says there are a number of priorities for the coming year, and she will be lobbying to have adequate investment into the area to allow meaningful work take place. Cllr Rena Donaghey

Donegal County Council is asking the Department of the Environment to make funding available to install CCTV systems at residential estates in Letterkenny where crime has become a problem. The council is also set to expand its dialogue with residents in various estates, particularly those where Neighbourhood Watch schemes are established or planned. The issue

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said research shows that overnight GP cover in Donegal can be cut without compromising safety. All three Donegal South West TDs, Pearse Doherty, Dinny Mc Ginley and Thomas Pringle shared speaking time during a Topical Issues debate in the Dail last night to express concern at the prospective loss of

Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle says the battle against Water Charges is being won. It was confirmed in the Dáil today that over 800,000 Irish Water bills have passed the pay-by-date as of May 18th. Deputy Pringle says ‘this indicates we are heading towards at least one million people refusing to pay the water bills’. He

  Swan Park in Buncrana could become one of the county’s important tourist draws according to local councillor and Inishowen Municipal District Chairperson Rena Donaghey. She was speaking after the park received a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor. Cllr Donaghey says it’s the first Donegal County Council facility to get such an award….

Donegal has the highest uptake of GPs signing up to provide free care to children under 6. Nationally, only half of doctors around the country have signed up to provide the service, but in Dongal, the percentage 93%, with 89 contracts issued and 83 of them now returned. The scheme is due to be rolled

The mayor of Derry and Strabane Councils husband has been charged with assaulting a couple in their 50s. 34-year-old Declan Aaron McCallion, from Elaghmore Park in the Galliagh area of Derry, is the husband of Sinn Fein Mayor Elisha McCallion. Declan McCallion has been charged with physically assaulting a man. He is also charged with

The European Parliament has postponed a critical debate and vote on the EU-US trade talks negotiations known as TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). The MEPs were supposed to vote today on the EU’s negotiating position on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks between the EU and the US. But divisions among MEPs

The new Mayor of the Letterkenny Municipal District Council is Sinn Fein’s Gerry McMonagle. He was selected yesterday evening at its annual general meeting in Termon. His selection was no surprise as a deal was put into place following the last local elections about who would be Mayor over the five year term of the

It’s been revealed that Derry and Strabane Council has currently only one engineer to fix and repair street lights. The figures were revealed by the Department of Regional Development. There are over 33,000 lights in the Derry and Strabane districts, with 55 needing fixed or repaired. Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey, who received the figures from

The government’s being urged to expand a scheme that’s had a dramatic impact on the number of dangerous driving incidents in County Donegal. Co-ordinators of the Pro-Social Drivers scheme will present their case before a joint sitting of the Oireachtas Transport and Justice Committees today. The project which is based in Letterkenny says its work

The Dail has heard new claims that IBRC’s liquidators were involved in a major agreement with Denis O’Brien – which will not be investigated by a Commission of Investigation. Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty says the liquidators agreed a loan facility of 315 million euro with the businessman – nine months after the bank was