Category: Old Donegal

 

The Finn Harps board hope to be in a position to confirm the re-appointment of manager Ollie Horgan soon.

Board member Aidan Campbell told Highland’s Saturday Sport programme that the club has to discuss a number of issues with the Harps boss ahead of the new 2022 season.

The fixtures for the new Premier Division and First Division campaigns will be released on Monday.

And while several players have already committed to re-signing for the club ahead of the new season, Aidan Campbell is hoping that Ollie Horgan’s reappointment will be confirmed soon.

 

 

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Milford have been crowned Donegal U-21B football champions following a thrilling victory over Malin in Saturday’s final at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny.

There was just a point in it at the finish as Milford won by 0-15 to 2-8.

Ryan Ferry reports

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Mona McSharry has set another Irish record at the World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi.

The Sligo native swam a time of 59.35 in the semi-final of the 100 metres individual medley event.

It wasn’t good enough to progress to the final, however.

McSharry goes in her preferred event – the 100 breaststroke – on Sunday

The Taoiseach says he understands hospitality sector staff are devastated by the most recent round of restrictions.

Under the new rules bars and restaurants must close by 8pm each night, but that doesn’t include takeaways or delivery services.

Indoor events cannot take place after 8pm and are limited to 50 percent capacity to a maximum of 1,000 people.

Outdoor events are also limited to 50 percent venue capacity to a maximum of 5,000 people.

Wedding receptions are allowed to take place after 8pm but are limited to 100 people.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin claims that despite the difficult news, the Government will support these industries again – but that won’t be much consolation to those in the industry:

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The announcement that pubs and restaurants will close at 8pm from Monday is a killer blow to the entertainment sector according to Donegal musician Matt McGranaghan.

The Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland says banks are now repossessing homes owned by musicians due to a massive drop in income since March of last year.

MEAI Spokesperson Matt McGranahan says new measures are needed to stop musicians and entertainers from losing their homes.

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The Dail has heard calls for extra supports for hospitals in the North West.

South Donegal Deputy Marian Harkin highlighted the high levels of overcrowding at Letterkenny and Sligo University Hospitals.

According to figures from the INMO up to yesterday, a total of 247 people were on a trolley at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Deputy Harkin told the Dail that overcrowding is having a significant impact on people needing care:

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The Tánaiste has warned the number of new Covid cases in the coming weeks will break all records.

A new 8pm curfew on hospitality comes into effect from Monday along with caps on attendance at indoor and outdoor activities.

There will be an exemption for weddings which will be capped at 100 attendees; and further exemptions for hotel residents.

It’s expected cases will continue to fall over the coming days before spiking in the weeks ahead.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says he expects the situation to deteriorate quickly:

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The Environmental Protection Agency has warned that more focused and co-ordinated enforcement is needed by local authorities to protect water and air quality.

The EPA’s latest report shows a high level of inspections and enforcement actions carried out by local authorities in 2020 with the bulk of the inspections relating to waste and litter.

While councils across the country were found to carry out approximately 180,000 inspections last year, as well as 19,000 enforcement actions, the EPA found progress on water and air enforcement priorities lagged behind waste enforcement.

They say it is primarily due to having less resources assigned to them and a lack of enforcement co-ordination services across the local authorities.

Around 1,200 complaints were received by Donegal County Council last year.

1,400 water inspections were completed by the local authority in 2020 while 143 water enforcement actions were initiated by the council.

4,100 waste inspections (excluding litter inspections) were carried out by Donegal County Council along with 350 waste enforcement actions.

13 waste prosecutions were recorded in the county which does not include litter prosecutions.

150 air and noise inspections were conducted with 85 enforcement actions initiated by the council.

Tokyo 2020 Finalist, Mona McSharry on Friday set her second Irish Senior Record of the meet when finishing fourth in the 50m Breaststroke Final at the 15th FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Taking place at the Etihad Arena, the Championships are World Swimming’s finale of 2021 and the culmination of the short course (25m pool) season.

Sligo’s McSharry, based at University of Tennessee in the US, set a new Irish Senior Record of 29.65 in the 50m Breaststroke Semi-Final and bettered that in the final, clocking 29.59.

She finished fourth, touched out of the medals by 0.04s, with Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko taking Gold, Italy’s Benedetta Pilato in second and Sweden’s Sophie Hansson finishing third.

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McSharry made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer and became Ireland’s first Olympic swimming finalist in 25 years when advancing to the 100m Breaststroke Final.

She will compete in that event at this competition on Monday, with the 100m Individual Medley on Saturday’s schedule for her, and the 200m Breaststroke set to conclude her Championships on Tuesday. Also competing for Ireland in Abu Dhabi on Saturday are 400m Medley Silver Medallist Ellen Walshe in 50m Butterfly and Calum Bain in 50m Freestyle.
The heats session begins at 05:30am Irish time

A new 8pm closing time has been imposed on the hospitality sector in a bid to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned the number of new Covid cases and hospitalisations is likely to surpass anything seen before in the coming weeks.

Indoor gatherings won’t be allowed after 8pm – and will be limited to 50% capacity or 1,000 attendees.

Outdoor gatherings like matches will see 50% capacity to a max of 5,000 people.

There will be an exemption to the 8pm closing time for weddings – which can continue until midnight but with a cap of 100 guests.

New rules on close contacts will mean people who have had a booster need to restrict movements for five days, rising to ten days for those who haven’t been boosted.

All people arriving into the Republic of Ireland through ports and airports will be advised to do daily antigen testing for five days post arrival.

Announcing the measures Taoiseach Michael Martin said the need to move quickly and slow the spread of the omicron variant is clear:

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