Author name: oisinkelly

There has been a broad welcome to the news that Strabane is to be included in the bid for Fleadh Cheoil na h’Eireann to return to the north west in 2017. The Fleadh in Derry in 2013 was deemed a huge success with 430 thousand visitors converging on Derry over the course of the festival.

There is deep shock and sadness at the death of award-winning tour guide Martin McCrossan from Derry. Mr. McCrossan passed away with his family at his bedside in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast early on Friday afternoon. Paying tribute Foyle MP Mark Durkan said Martin McCrossan personified Derry hospitality with his ease of company,

Donegal based road safety group PARC has expressed concern at the news that the number of gardaí in the Traffic Corps continued to fall in 2014 and are now less than 750. Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald told Deputy Tommy Broughan that Garda management continually reviews numbers in the corps “in the context of crime

A new website ( www.killybegs.ie ) promoting tourism in Killybegs has been officially launched today. The new project, which includes a Facebook page and information pack, is designed to promote Killybegs and surrounding areas along the Wild Atlantic Way. It is also hoped to capitalise on the increasing numbers of visitors from Cruise Ships. Cathaoirleach

The HSE Donegal Mental Health Service is launching a new self-harm nurse service for Donegal. The new service will be accessible to people who need this professional help 0800am until 0800pm seven days per week, in the Emergency Department in Letterkenny General Hospital. The aim of the new service is to improve the outcomes for

Ulster Univeristy’s decision to scrap a number courses at the Magee campus in Derry has been described as “very disturbing”. In all 53 courses are being scrapped at the University of Ulster, with a dozen of these in the Magee campus. Local lobby group University for Derry (U4D) – which is spearheading the campaign for

Police in the North are appealing for witnesses to an arson attack on a house in Portstewart in Derry in the early hours of this morning. At around 4am it was reported that flammable liquid was poured through the letterbox of a house in Leer Park and also into the bins places against the door

The family of a Donegal man who is serving a prison sentence in Maghaberry have expressed concerns about their sons safety. Last week, a group representing some dissident republican prisoners in the jail released a statement saying that recent structural changes to Roe House landings were an attempt to debase and disempower the inmates. And

Dozens of Donegal customers of Permanent TSB could share in a refund of up to €30 million. It’s after the bank withdrew its Supreme Court appeals relating to cases involving four customers who wanted to switch out early from fixed-rate mortgages into trackers. It’s now understood that up to 2,000 customers similarly affected could be

A man has been sent for trial to Derry Crown Court on a charge of lewd and disgusting behaviour on a bus. Patrick Porter (38) from Grange in Inch Island in County Donegal appeared at a preliminary enquiry at Derry Magistrate’s Court. Patrick Porter was charged with committing a lewd, obscene and disgusting act on

The Tanaiste has been asked to explain why hundreds of Donegal patients are being forced back on to waiting lists at Letterkenny General Hospital. The issue has been raised in the Dail by Fianna Deputy Charlie McConolougue who blamed the Government’s failure to provide funding for their treatment under the 2013 Outpatient Waiting List Initiative.

Buncrana Cinema has rejected claims it chose not to show the controversial 50 shades of Grey because of its content. The film is about literature student Anastasia Steele whose life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey. The film is said to have over 20 minutes of sex scenes and is

New figures show that Highland Radio  is the number one listened to local radio station in Ireland. Highland Radio also retains it’s position as the station with the country’s highest market share, a key indicator for advertisers. According to the independent figures from the JNLR/MRBI – 62 percent of people that listen to radio in

Right2Water Donegal have this week lobbied the European Parliament in Brussels on the water charges issue in Ireland. Donegal representative Philip McFadden participated in the Brussels-based delegation on the Citizen’s Initiative. He was part of a group of Irish-based Right2Water representatives invited to the European Parliament by Dublin Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan. Mr McFadden

Transport Minister Pascal Donahoe says that once the planned A5 improvement works are underway, he is hopeful that connecting roads in Donegal will also be improved at the same time. Addressing a key cross border committee in Leinster House, Mr Donahoe again said the government remains committed to cofunding the A5. He said progress is

A Donegal teenager, who suffers from a rare blood disorder, is set to be provided with one of the world’s most expensive drugs. 15-year-old Maeve McGill and her family had been battling to get the drug which costs €437,000, but the HSE felt the cost was too expensive. However, despite the failure to reduce the

The allocation of 45 new social houses in Strabane has been described as nothing more than a ‘token gesture’. SDLP West Tyrone Westminster candidate Daniel McCrossan says while the announcement is encouraging, it falls well short of what is needed. Earlier this week he had called for 300 new builds in Strabane and 200 in

The pressure group ‘Our Childrens Voice’  say they had a very positive meeting with Health Minister Leo Varadkar last night to discuss the lack of Palliative paediatric care in Donegal. While in Leinster House, they also had an unscheduled meeting with the Taoiseach . Currently the parents have to travel to Dublin to the Children’s University

One person remains in custody this morning after two arrests were made this week by garda investigating the murder of Seamus Doherty in Churchill in June 2012. On Tuesday evening, a 57-year-old woman was arrested and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station, while a 51 year old man was detained yesterday afternoon. Both arrests were made

Cross border road infrastructure will be discussed by the Good Friday Agreement Implementation Committee later this morning. The Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe will appear before the committee to brief members on the A5 cross border road project, which been suspended for two years because of planning and legal issues. He is also expected to outline

Ten new jobs are to be created in Donegal County Council to implement the Social Housing Strategy. The Government are supplying 35,000 additional social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion over the next 6 years, but at this stage it’s not known how many of these will be built in Co Donegal. The

Donegal scientists are developing a new €25 blood test for bowel cancer, which could save thousands of lives by spotting the disease at the earliest possible opportunity. The simple check will pick up on antibodies in the blood, produced as the body reacts to the onset of bowel cancer. The collaboration between researchers from the

Gardaí investigating the murder of Seamus Doherty in Co Donegal more than two years ago have made two arrests. Mr Doherty’s body was discovered at his home in Drumacanoo, Churchill on the morning of June 17th, 2012. Yesterday evening, a 57-year-old woman was arrested and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station. While this afternoon, a 51-year-old

A number of buildings have had to be evacuated in Ballybofey this afternoon after a fire broke out in a flat above McLaughlins Bar A number of units of the fire service rushed to the scene following the blaze. It’s understood that one man was taken to hospital were he was treated for smoke inhalation. Main

‘Our Childrens Voice’ from Co Donegal are meeting with Health Minister Leo Varadkar to discuss the lack of Palliative paediatric care in this part of the country. The group of mothers, Gina Grant and Mary Louise Crossan of Letterkenny, Ashling Nibbs of Trentagh, Brenda McGeehan of Fintown, Sharon Thompson of Moville and Fiona Rodgers from

A 29-year-old man has appeared in court accused of drugs offences. District Judge Barney McElholm granted an anonymity order in the case, after hearing there is an ‘accepted threat’ on the defendants life. This bans the media from reporting the defendants name and address. During a brief hearing at Derry Magistrates Court the 29-year-old was

The Taoiseach says he wishes a company that has a life-saving drug for treating a very rare blood disorder would be “more reasonable”. Fianna Fáil has quizzed Enda Kenny again about the refusal by the H-S-E to offer the drug Soliris to five more patients in need of it, one of them Maeve Mc Gill,