Category: Old Donegal

Final preparations are being made for the 2021 Donegal Sports Star Awards which will take place virtually this Friday night at 7.30. The Awards will be streamed live on the Donegal Sports Star Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels. It will also be streamed on their exclusive sponsor Donegal County Council’s Facebook and Twitter channels.

For the second year running the event will be presented virtually. With plenty of sporting activity from the summer onwards the committee is pleased to be able to bring in some more categories for Friday night and will be introducing a few extra features that is set to give the event added appeal.

Chairperson Grace Boyle says that the work put in by the committee in recent months will ensure that the 46th Donegal Sports Star Awards will be special most of all for the winners but also for the sporting public who watch online this Friday night. “We’re really looking forward to it now. A bit of work to finalise the presentation and we’re ready to go at 7.30 on Friday night. There has been a decent selection of sporting successes in 2021 and we’re just delighted to be in a position to honour those who will be winners on Friday night. I want to congratulate Eamon Giles who we announced last week as the Hall of Fame winner. Eamon is a most deserving recipient after giving 60 years of his life to athletics which is remarkable. The committee has put in a couple of months of hard work to produce an event that will be fitting for all those who have achieved in 2021. So I would just invite all those interested in sport across Donegal to join with us in honouring individuals and teams who done the county proud last year” Ms Boyle said.

Council looking forward to Awards

The Cathaoirleach and Chief Executive of Donegal County Council have extended their good wishes to the Donegal Sports Star Committee ahead of this Friday’s Virtual Ceremony. This year marks the 46th annual awards ceremony with the first event held in the Milford Inn in November 1976. Last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee very successfully adapted to organising their first ever Virtual Awards Ceremony.

The Cathaoirleach Cllr. Jack Murray, welcomed the fact that the 2021 Donegal Sports Star Awards would go ahead virtually this year given the great success of last year’s virtual ceremony. “It is so important that our sporting community across the county is acknowledged. Great credit must go to the Donegal Sports Star committee for facing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and going ahead once again with a virtual ceremony. No doubt the pandemic has changed all of our lives, how we work, and socialise, how businesses operate, and how we go about our daily life.

“However, it must be acknowledged that Covid-19 represented a major challenge for our sporting community. In this regard, I would like to especially pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of all our sports men and women during the past year. I am very proud of the fact that Donegal County Council is again the main sponsor of the awards and it’s fantastic for us to be associated with an event that means so much to the people of our county” Cllr Murray said.

The Chief Executive of Donegal County Council, John G McLaughlin said that sport is a cornerstone of life in Ireland and gave much needed relief to so many during the pandemic and throughout 2021 when times continued to be very difficult. “I am delighted as the Chief Executive of Donegal County Council to acknowledge the great work of everyone involved in planning and preparing for Friday evening’s awards. It is great to be involved in an event that honours the sporting achievements of so many within our county.The Council has been a sponsor going all the way back to 1977 and it’s great to see the Donegal Sports Star Awards celebrating their 46th anniversary.

“The decision made by the committee to go

ahead with a virtual awards ceremony again this year is very welcome in the interest of public health. I want to commend everyone involved in sport in 2021 in what again was a very challenging year for the sporting world. I applaud all our sporting volunteers, for without them there would be no sport. Hopefully next year we can return to a live awards event and I look forward in hope to a wonderful sporting year ahead. I would also commend the hard work of the organising committee.” Mr McLaughlin said.

The post Sports Star Awards on Friday night appeared first on Highland Radio – Latest Donegal News and Sport.

Ireland’s economy has returned to pre-Covid levels.

In its latest quarterly bulletin, the Central Bank’s predicting domestic demand to grow by 7.1 percent this year.

It’s forecasting roughly 170,000 new jobs to be created through to 2024, and unemployment to fall below 5 per cent in that period.

However it says inflation’s now at a 21 year high, at 5.7 percent, due to surging demand, supply bottlenecks and rising energy prices.

But Director of Economics and Statistics at the Central Bank, Mark Cassidy, says the overall outlook’s positive:

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43,500 mortgages were drawn down in Ireland last year – the largest amount in 11 years.

New figures from the Banking and Payments Federation show they totalled 10.5 billion euro, with first-time buyers making up more than half of drawdowns.

Just over 53,000 mortgages were approved in 2021.

Chief Executive of the BPFI, Brian Hayes, says the numbers are significant:

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Surveying works as it relates to the Government’s National Broadband Plan is said to be well underway in Donegal.

In Donegal, there are 32,483 premises in the Intervention Area, which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools.

This equates to 32% of all premises in the county.

Under the National Broadband Plan, Donegal will see an investment of €128M in the new high speed fibre network.

This will enable e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock or equipment, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, and facilitate increased levels of remote working.

NBI crews are said to have made substantial progress in Donegal, where the following areas have been surveyed: Creeslough, Craigtown, Ballyconnell, and Magherablad.

These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts and includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub duct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed.

Residents are being reminded that all NBI contractors will also carry official ID cards and essential worker letters.

They will have vehicles, PPE and signage with both their own, and NBI logos.

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The requirement for all employers to have a remote working policy’s “excessive” and “unnecessary”, according to IBEC.

Workers could be given the legal right to ask their boss to work from home by the summer, under new draft legislation announced yesterday.

Among its provisions, ALL employers will need to set out how remote working requests are managed and the conditions that’ll apply in their business.

But IBEC spokesperson, Maeve McElwee, says this shouldn’t be the case:

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Nightclubs can reopen in Northern Ireland today, as more Covid restrictions are eased at 12 noon.

Dancing at indoor events will be allowed again and social-distancing at work will no longer be a requirement.

Covid passports will be scrapped for bars, restaurants and hotels – but still needed in nightclubs.

Chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, Colin Neil, objects to that.

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The Chief Executive of Donegal County Council is to ask the OPW to engage with members of the authority to discuss initiatives to tackle coastal erosion.

The issue was raised at Municipal District level by North Inishowen Cllr Martin McDermott, who said a number of areas such as Lagg and Pollan Beach are threatened by erosion, but measures to address it are being blocked by the OPW or National Parks and Wildlife.

Cllr McDermott says there is much that can be done, but the OPW will not discuss the issue with councillors:

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Funding is available for a number of heritage projects in Donegal with the Heritage Council inviting applications to its Community Grant Scheme.

The aim of the scheme are to support capital projects that improve access and inclusion to heritage sites while it also supports the purchase of essential equipment.

Grant applications must be submitted using the Heritage Council’s on-line application system with the closing date Wednesday, February 16 at 5 p.m.

Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer says it is an important stream of funding:

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A pilot programme to equip garda cars in the Buncrana District has been praised in the Seanad, with members being told that plans are being finalised to roll the project out across the country.

The issue was raised by Senator Robbie Gallagher, who said while there is incredible work being done by individuals at community level all over the country, the involvement of emergency services is necessary to ensure every area is covered…………….

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Responding, Minister of State Anne Rabbitte said the plan is to roll out the Buncrana initiative to every area in the country, but it will be done in a way that ensures places that don’t have significant community coverage will be facilitated first…………..

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Discussion in full –

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The LYIT progressed to the quarter finals of the Sigerson Cup on Tuesday night knocking out UCD in a low scoring 0-7 to 0-6 win at the Donegal GAA Centre in Convoy..

Joel Bradley Walsh hit four points including the match winner in the closing moments of the game.

Jason McGee and Conor O’Donnell kicked the only points for the Letterkenny college.

The game was the first in the Sigerson competition to be played in the county and LYIT Manager Maxi Curran told Tom Comack it was a night to savour:

The post Watch: Night to savour for LYIT – Maxi Curran appeared first on Highland Radio – Latest Donegal News and Sport.