Category: Old Donegal

Photo: @WattyGrahamsGAA on Twitter

Steelstown and Glen will be looking to make home advantage count on Sunday when they Derry champions go into Ulster club championship quarter final action at Celtic Park.

Brian Og’s Steelstown host Donaghmoyne of Monaghan in the intermediate clash at 1pm and that’s followed by Glen taking on Scotstown in the senior at 3.15pm.

Tom Comack has been looking ahead to those two games with Michael McMullan of the Gaelic Life:

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Stormont’s Health Minister says he wants to avoid bringing back tougher covid restrictions.

This week has seen the introduction of vaccine passports, and a tightening of rules for international travel.

The Northern Ireland Executive’s expected to discuss the new Omicron variant when it meets today.

Here’s Health Minister Robin Swann:

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Further restrictions are being considered to slow the spread of Covid over Christmas.

The Tanaiste says new measures aren’t needed, but the Taoiseach has refused to speculate.

With thousands of Covid cases being reported every day, public health officials were already nervous about how the virus is spreading.

And that was even before the first case of Omicron in Ireland was confirmed yesterday.

While no lockdowns are expected, NPHET is likely to consider reducing hospitality capacity, and expanding the use of the Covid cert at its meeting today.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar last night told a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting he didn’t think further restrictions were needed.

NPHET is set to make its recommendations to government later today, with any further decisions expected shortly afterwards.

 

The Tanaiste has confirmed that the Housing Minister is ‘considering’ the controversial sliding scale issue in the enhanced Mica Redress.

There has been much outrage to the sliding scale element of the scheme which could result in homeowners still having to pay out tens of thousands of euro to fix their homes.

The Tanaiste was responding to questions in the Dail from Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle.

Leo Varadkar says that he expects the indicative figure to be increased:

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Alan Reynolds. Photo Derry City FC

Derry City’s raft of new signings continued today, unveiling Alan Reynolds as the club’s new Assistant Manager.

The 47-year old who replaces Rafa Cetaro had been at Shelbourne last season, splitting his time between there and the FAI where his Development role included assisting the national under-21 side.

Reynolds is no stranger to the Brandywell having spent the 2008 campaign in the ‘home’ dugout alongside Stephen Kenny.

Derry Boss Ruaidhri Higgins told derrycityfc.net: “Alan is a fantastic coach and it is important for me to have someone of his quality and experience here.”
“He knows the league inside out and will have the trust of the players, which is key.”

“He’s been here before which always helps as well, and he will bring plenty of ideas and energy to the club.”

“We are comfortable with where we are in our preparations for the new season and are looking forward to getting going again in the coming weeks ”

 

 

Police are investigating damage to the Christmas Decorations on the tree at Guildhall Square.

Police believe that this happened during last night when someone has pulled and damaged a significant number of the ornaments.

Police say that the community has put in a lot of hard work to bring light and joy after a hard few years and this act of vandalism is really frustrating for everyone in the City.

CCTV enquiries continue however if anyone has any information regarding this incident please contact police on 101.

Gardai in Donegal are urging people to park and shop smart.

In the run up to Christmas motorists are being asked to consider car security.

Gardai are advising people to always double check their vehicle is locked, windows are fully closed, to park in well lit or secure areas, to not leave valuables such as cash, jewellery or expensive gifts in a vehicle and report any thefts or suspicious activity to Gardai as soon as possible.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell has written to Taoiseach Micheal Martin over concerns around the exclusion of Northern Irish holiday home owners from the Mica redress scheme.

The revised scheme announced this week does not offer redress for holiday homes while rental properties will only be covered if they were registered with the RTB by November 1st.

Gregory Campbell says it would be ironic for the Irish Government to use the border as a reasonable excuse for the exclusion of affected homes owned by people whose primary residence is in Northern Ireland.

He told Greg Hughes today that there are serious anomalies in the scheme’s criteria:

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People are being warned to watch out for website’s offering unsecured loans in the run up to Christmas.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau says they’re targeting vulnerable people who’ve had difficulty accessing loans from established institutions.

One such case of ‘Advance Free Fraud’ saw a person in Dublin lose 680 euro, after transferring money to guarantee a loan which they never received.

Gardai are urging people never to pay money in advance before the loan’s drawn down, and always check to see if the company’s regulated by the Central Bank.

It’s emerged that just a fraction of additional beds allocated to Letterkenny University Hospital for 2020/ 2021 have opened.

Of the 39 beds allocated only 16 are open for use.

It comes as figures released by the INMO this week show that over 1,000 admitted patients were on a trolley at the hospital last month waiting on a bed.

Donegal Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn says what is being experienced at Letterkenny University Hospital is neglect.

He is once again appealing to the Health Minister to visit Donegal to see first hand the pressure being experienced by the health service in the county:

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