Author name: oisinkelly

A blade control system has been blamed for the destruction of a 100-metre wind turbine near Fintona in County Tyrone. The turbine collapsed during light winds on Friday 2 January, scattering debris more than 250 metres away on the Screggah windfarm on Murley mountain. People in the area said the rotor blades were spinning out […]

Donegal County Council is in the process of finalising its Corporate Plan for the current council term, with a public consultation process set to end next week. The council’s Communications Officer is urging community groups, organisations, businesses and members of the public to say what they believe the council’s priorities should be. Anne Marie Conlon

Nine staff at a television company in Derry have been told their jobs are gone. 360 Production, set up in 2009, makes programmes for broadcasters including the BBC, Sky and Channel 5. The company says its future is not in doubt, but a lack of new commissions has led to the job losses.

Donegal Action Against Cancer Care have said they are horrified by the resignation of a top cancer surgeon at Letterkenny General Hospital. Urologist and surgeon Kevin Moran is to leave his post next month, saying he no longer has the resources to take care of his patients. He tendered his resignation to hospital authorities and

Donegal Co Council and the Derry/Strabane super council are to apply for funding for the Riverine Project. The cross border initiative is aimed at regenerating the Strabane/Lifford border riverside area. Among the proposals were a network of cycle paths and a pedestrian bridge linking Strabane and Lifford. Two years ago the project collapsed because of

Deputy Thomas Pringle has said that the recently announced Action Plan for jobs by the Government does little for Donegal. Last month the Government unveiled the €250 million five-year strategy aimed at accelerating jobs recovery in every part of the country. The plan includes up to €150 million for an IDA property investment programme to

Up to 150 people turned out in Meenreagh last night to show their opposition against a proposed Windfarm development in the area. Planree Ltd have applied to An Board Pleanala to develop Irelands biggest onshore windfarm at Carrickduff Hill and Lismullyduff. The proposed windfarm could see up to 49 wind turbines built over 20 townlands

A top cancer surgeon is to leave his post next month after claiming he no longer has the resources to take care of his patients. Kevin Moran, a Urologist and General Surgeon at Letterkenny General Hospital, tendered his resignation to hospital authorities and expressed his growing fear for the future of Urology services at the hospital. Mr Moran has

Tory Islands only cafe has been destroyed in a fire. The roof and building of the family run Cafe Anchreagan was gutted in the blaze on Wednesday night. Garda forensics spent all day yesterday on Tory, at this stage it is not known what caused the fire. Jimmy and Mary McGinty had run the cafe

At Derry Magistrates Court today, District Judge Barney Mc Elholm granted anonymity to a man charged with a series of drug offences, including possessing ecstasy that was linked to the English batch which left 6 people in hospital. The judge granted the order after being told that while there was no specific threat against the

Police in Derry have confirmed that new ‘super-strength’ ecstasy tablets have been seized in the north west. A quantity of 1,200 tablets were recovered by police in one of two seizures in Derry. Police also seized another quantity of the tablets in Portstewart in recent days and three people have been arrested. The new yellow

A public meeting is to be held in the Finn Valley tonight over plans to build a massive windfarm in the area. Planree Ltd have applied to An Board Pleanala to develop Irelands biggest onshore windfarm at Carrickduff Hill and Lismullyduff. The proposed windfarm could see up to 49 wind turbines built over 20 townlands.

A Donegal Deputy has raised concerns surrounding the uncertainty of the future of the Out-of-Hours GP Service ‘NOWDoc’ in the county. It has been confirmed that ‘Caredoc’, who together with the HSE provide the NOWDoc Service, has indicated that it plans to withdraw from the service’s current arrangement. Caredoc had requested additional funding from the

One of Ireland’s foremost experts on climate change is addressing a meeting in Letterkenny’s Regional Cultural Centre tomorrow evening. Professor John Sweeney is founder of the Irish Climate Analysis Research Unit in NUI Maynooth, and has collaborated in a number of international initiatives, one of which won a Nobel Prize in 2007. He’ll be speaking

The head of the H-S-E says the decision to pay for expensive drugs for patients with a rare blood disorder will have a knock on effect on the rest of the health service. Tony O’Brien says the cost of the Soliris drug – which costs 430 thousand euro a year for every patient – will

The Council has been called on to examine what legal measures can be put in place to limit speed in housing estates and other built up areas across Donegal. Raising the issue Councillor Ciaran Brogan said the government has announced a review of speeding limits in council run estates but it doesn’t go far enough.

The HSE has been accused of enforcing smoking room laws for pubs and clubs in Donegal unfairly. The accusation has been made by Councillor Paul Canning. He has claimed that a number of businesses in the county have constructed smoking areas in line with legislation only to be informed by the HSE that a different

The priest who said mass at the wedding in Co Fermanagh where two people were shot – one fatally – says there was a sense of tension ‘waiting to explode’ ahead of the ceremony. It happened outside St Mary’s Catholic Church in Newtownbutler near the border. The victim was flown to hospital in police helicopter

A Derry councillor is claiming that a window replacement scheme in Carnhill has been postponed in order to facilitate a similar scheme in Ballymena. Cllr Tony Hassan says the Housing Executive embarked on a long awaited scheme to replace windows in the Carnhill area last month, but work stopped after around three or four homes

The overcrowding crisis continues at Letterkenny General Hospital, with one of the highest ever numbers of people awaiting admission registered by the INMO this morning. There were a total of 32 people awaiting admission, 18 of them on trollies in the emergency department and 14 on wards. Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle is Chairs of the

Gardaí in Buncrana have renewed their appeal for information in relation to the fatal shooting of Andrew Allen in Buncrana, Co Donegal on the 9th February 2012 The 9th of February 2015 marked the third anniversary of the murder of Andrew. Republican Action Against Drugs said it carried out the murder but his family have

The council is being asked to support the expansion and roll-out of the Pro Social Drivers programme which has been hailed as a success. The programme is used by the courts and offers those who face a driving conviction to take the course as part of a sentence. Since it’s inception 90 people have passed

A Councillor says commercial rates should be set against a company’s profits and not on the size of the premises they operate from. Councillor Seamus O’Domhnaill says Government plans to reevaluate commercial premises for the purpose of setting rates are not moving quickly enough and do not fully address the issue. He has welcomed a

Plans to establish a Text Alert system in Convoy are at an advanced stage, with the committee predicting that the initiative will be ready for launch in a matter of weeks. A community alert scheme has been in place, but a local committee got together to progress to a text a;ert scheme on the advice

The driver of a car involved in a single vehicle crash outside Castlefinn this morning is critically ill in hospital. The N15 remains closed approx 1 km outside Castlefinn on the Lifford side, with diversions in place, and will remain closed until at least 11 o’clock.

Donegal County Council has confirmed that the former Bundoran and Ballyshannon Town Council offices will close to the public from next Monday. The council says an outreach service will be provided through the existing libraries in both towns. The opening hours at Ballyshannon Library wuill be increased from one half day per week to three

A 13-year-old boy has been critically injured and an older pupil has been arrested following an assault at a County Fermanagh secondary school. The attack took place at St Michael’s College, Enniskillen, on Monday. The boy is in a critical condition at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital. The PSNI have confirmed a 17-year-old boy was detained