Category: Old Donegal

Walk-in Covid booster clinics will be held this week at the Letterkenny Vaccination Centre for people aged 60 to 69.

The clinics will be held at the recently relocated centre in Letterkenny Business Park, Ballyraine for those in the age group who have reached an interval of at least 150 days since their second dose vaccine or an interval of at least 3 months since receiving the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Clincs will run today until 7pm for people who had their second dose on or before July 9th and tomorrow between 8.15am and 12.30pm for those who received their second dose on or before July 10th.

On Saturday people can receive a booster vaccine at the walk-in clinic from 8:15am to 12:30pm for if they had their second dose on or before July 14th and to the later time of 5:30pm on Sunday for people who had their second dose on or before July 15th.

Anyone aged 60 to 69 who has already received a vaccine appointment for the coming days is advised to attend their appointment, instead of coming to a walk-in clinic and anyone who has had COVID-19 since their previous vaccination should wait at least 6 months after the positive test result before getting the booster.

There’s been a jump in the number of people waiting on a bed at Letterkenny University Hospital today to 70, the highest figure in weeks.

19 people are on trolleys in the hospital’s Emergency Department while a further 51 are waiting on wards.

436 patients are awaiting a bed at hospitals across the country according to today’s Trolley Watch report from the INMO.

A Donegal County Councillor believes a discussion needs to be had around the possibility of the Government carrying out a compulsory purchase of vacant holiday homes.

Councillor Micheal Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig believes the taking over of holiday homes could help alleviate the housing crisis.

He says questions need to be asked when people are left homeless yet there are houses around them laying empty:

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Mark Coyle, this year’s Player of the Year at Finn Harps, has left the club and joined Premier Division rivals Shelbourne.

The north Dublin side who gained promotion back to the top flight confirmed the signing of the 24 year old Donegal man on Monday morning.

Mark played 34 times for Harps last season and has followed Sean Boyd in leaving Ballybofey for Damien Duff’s Shels.

Mark’s move will disappoint Harps fans but Duff was delighted to get the midfielder: “It is brilliant that Mark has decided to join Shelbourne Football Club.He has an amazing desire and hunger to win, on top of his impressive footballing qualities. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he is someone that the fans, the players and staff will relate to”

€50 million in funding has been announced to address the digital divide in schools.

203 primary and post-primary schools in Donegal will benefit from €2.5 million worth of the grants under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Schools will be required to use the funding for the direct benefit of their students including the option to provide devices on loan.

The Department of Education has revised its rules for mask wearing among primary school children.

Last week it advised that all kids in third class and above wear one, and that they should be sent home if they declined without a medical reason.

However in updated advice, it now says children should not be “excluded from school in the first instance” and that principals should engage “pragmatically and sensitively” with parents who object to their child wearing a mask in class.

Standing orders are to be suspended at today’s meeting of Donegal County Council.

Cathaoirleach Councillor Jack Murray has taken the decision to facilitate a full discussion on Mica.

Details of the ‘enhanced’ Mica redress scheme were unveiled by Government last week however, as the devil in the detail emerged, it transpired tens of thousands of euros would still have to be found by affected homeowners to repair their homes.

Councillor Murray says high on the agenda will be the now infamous sliding scale element of the scheme:

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The amount of people driving with their fog lights on unnecessarily in Donegal has been described as ‘chaotic’.

Cllr Nicholas Crossan made the comments at the latest sitting of the Joint Policing Committee.

He told the meeting that to have fog lights on on a clear night or when it’s not foggy is illegal.

Gardai are to be advised of the issue.

Cllr Crossan estimates that there are a lot of culprits in the county and is urging offending motorists to have more consideration for others:

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The Chair of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee says an urgent national effort is needed to tackle the level of sexual crimes in Donegal and elsewhere.

It’s after figures revealed by Chief Superintendent Terry McGinn show that there’s been a 50% increase in sexual offences including rape and assaults in Donegal since last year.

Domestic violence cases are also up in the county.

The Chief Superintendent said that as a result, she made the decision to transfer more resources to this area.

Chair Cllr Gerry McMonagle says more needs to be done on a national level:

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Reinstating the pandemic unemployment payment at its highest level for some, but not all workers is unfair.

That’s according to the Music and Entertainment Association which is one of a number of groups that’ll meet with the Tanaiste and Tourism Minister later to discuss supports.

The PUP’s to be reintroduced at 350 euro, but only for workers who lost their jobs overnight as a result of the latest restrictions.

Workers who’re already on the payment at 250 euro or 203 euro will NOT get an increase.

Spokesperson for Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland is Donegal musician, Matt McGranaghan, he outlines what he hopes to hear at today’s meeting:

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