Author name: oisinkelly

Hundreds of people from Co Donegal turned out last night for Vincent Brownes Peoples Debate. Almost 900 people packed into the Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny. There was a panel made up of four sitting TD’s, Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty and Padraig MacLochlainn, Fianna Fails Charlie McConalogue and Independent Thomas Pringle. The TD’s from Fine Gael were

18 workers have been made redundant in Killybegs this morning with the closure of Donegal fish products. The factory is closing after it was taken over by another company. The majority of the workers being made redundant today had been working there for over 30 years. Deputy Thomas Pringle says it’s a blow to the

A Donegal family are urging the HSE to make a life saving drug available for their daughter who has a rare blood disease. 15-year-old Maeve McGill from Ardara, requires a drug which costs €437,000 a year to treat her life-threatening blood disorder, but the HSE are refusing to pay for it. The rare disease causes

An Independent member of Donegal County Council says while there’s never enough money available for road improvements, significant works will be done in the Letterkenny Municipal District in 2015. Cllr Dessie Shiels says two significant projects have been given top priority, and a number of other projects in the town and outside it have also

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalogue has told the Dail it will be years before much of Donegal receives a proper broadband service, and that’s hampering development and job creation. Deputy Mc Conalogue asked Communications Minister Alex White to outline a timeline for the provision of a proper broadband service across the county. Minister

Around 600 homes are without power in Co Donegal this morning after windy conditions hit the county last night. Arranmore Island is the worst affected area this morning, with around 450 power outages on the island. The ESB have said power will not be restored until this afternoon. Meanwhile as Donegal avoided the worst of the

One of the most prominent retailers on Letterkenny’s Main Street has been elected President of Letterkenny Chamber. Brian McCormick says he has taken over at a very challlenging time, but one which also offers a lot of opportunity. He says the Chamber will continue to keep pressure on our local councillors and TDs to create

Met Eireann has issued an orange wind weather warning for Donegal with conditions set to worsen overnight. Gusts are expected to reach up to 110kmph in Co Donegal tonight, while temperatures will also drop, which will bring some wintry showers. A spell of rain and sleet will move down across the country from the northwest

A man who was described by a judge as ‘a violent thug’ has been jailed for 24 weeks for an assault on a female taxi driver in Derry in December. 28 year old Cathal Patrick Feeney of 60c, Meelmore Drive in Omagh admitted assaulting the woman on December 28th, after twice refusing to get out

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton is promising a special focus on jobs in the border region for the coming year, saying that a corner has been turned and the government intends building on that success. An advance factory nearing completion in Letterkenny will be one of the priorities of that focus. Mr Bruton says there were

Strabane Courthouse is set to be closed due to budget cuts at the Department of Justice. In total 20 courthouses are to be cut to 12 in the North under the proposals set out by Justice Minister David Ford as he wrestles with a £75 million cut to his department’s budget. Yesterday Northern Ireland’s most

A family of four had a lucky escape this morning when their jeep overturned on the Glen Road between Loughanure and Annagry due to slippery conditions. The mother, two daughters and son were on their way to school in Dungloe when the accident happened. The jeep went off the road and overturned just below the

The Energy Minister says wind turbine technology is safe despite a number of incidents here. In 2013 a 245-foot high wind turbine collapsed near Ardara while a blade came off a turbine in Kerry and investigations by the Health and Safety Authority. There were also issues with a turbine in Tyrone earlier this year. Alex

Concerns are being expressed at the recent spate of car crime in the Ballymagroarty and Foyle Springs areas of Derry city. Over the past number of days there have been a number of car crime incidents – a car was burned out in Foyle Springs last night after careering through the Ballymagroarty estate There was

There has been an angry response to plans by Irish Water to pump water from Inishowen to Letterkenny with claims problems in the water supply in the North of the county should be addressed first. The company has confirmed plans to pump water from the Pollen Dam in Buncrana to Letterkenny to bolster the water

Motorists are being advised to drive with care this morning as a snow and ice warning remains in place across Ireland. Met Eireann’s advising of wintry showers – with snow accumulations of up to 3 centimetres. It says the showers will be most frequent in the west and north and over hills and mountains. There

Talks aimed at averting a third day of strike action by secondary school teachers are to take place today. The TUI and the ASTI are meeting with officials from the Department of Education in an effort to resolve the row over Junior Cert reform. Ahead of the talks Unions say there is still some distance

Donegal South West Deputy Thomas Pringle says he doesn’t expect bad weather to affect support for the Right to Water protest taking place in Letterkenny on Saturday. The Independent TD says previous marches and rallies in Donegal have attracted huge support, and he doesn’t expect this one to be any different. Monday next is the

  The Market Square has been the focal point of Letterkenny down through the years. It was once a busy, bustling place full of activity with markets or marts there on a daily basis. But what is like today and does it need a revamp? There have been concerns over the poor lighting at night

A group of Donegal mothers are to meet next with the Health Minister to discuss issues of paediatric care in the county. Gina Grant and Mary Louise Crossan of Letterkenny, Ashling Nibbs of Trentagh, Brenda McGeehan of Fintown, Sharon Thompson of Moville and Fiona Rodgers from Arranmore Island will meet Minister Varadkar in Dublin on

There’s a snow and ice warning in effect across the country. Met Eireann has a status yellow alert in place for wintry showers, which could lead to up to 3cm of snow during tonight and tomorrow. The northwest, as well as high ground, are expected to see the largest accumulations. It’s to remain windy with

100 people were rescued during 98 lifeboat launches in Donegal last year according to figures released this morning by the RNLI. Aranmore Lifeboat launched 38 times, rescuing 41 people, Lough Swilly Lifeboat launched 33 times rescuing 32 people and Bundoran lifeboat launched 27 times, rescuing 26 people. This year, Lough Swilly will become the first

Donegal North East Deputy Charlie Mc Conalgue has written to the government and the Stormont executive to seek clarity on what plans are in place to fund the A5. Money had previously been set aside by both administrations, but the work was stalled as a result of a legal challenge, and the project has been

A new all Ireland Independent political grouping has been formed to represent the views and concerns of Independent Councillors. Independents from Donegal are part of the “Independents Together” group which also promises to offer information and supports to elected indendent representatives. The inaugural Chairperson is Donegal Cllr Nicholas Crossan – he says it is not