The Whitehouse Road, Derry is currently closed to through traffic as police carry out enquiries as part of an ongoing investigation.
Road users are advised to seek an alternative route for journey.
No further details are currently available.
Donegal’s Frank McGhee will receive nationwide recognition for his years of dedicated volunteer work with CLG Ard an Ratha at next week’s virtual Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards ceremony, proudly supported by EBS.
Frank McGhee’s involvement with CLG Ard an Ratha began in 1958 when he played with his Primary School Meenavalley in the Ardara Schoolboys League. Little did he realise then that he would go on and play for the club for a further 43 years. Frank’s contribution to the club was not limited to playing, as he managed underage teams in the ‘70s and ‘80s before holding the Senior Team Manager’s position from 1987 to 1990. He has since trained the senior and reserve teams with his enthusiasm for the game never waning. In addition to his coaching, Frank also spent time refereeing at underage level, often acting as linesman and umpire for the club at both home and away games. Furthermore, Frank prepares the grounds for all matches, getting flags ready, car park stewarding, opening of dressing rooms, and anything in relation to repairs and maintenance he always has the tool box in the boot of his car.
The Volunteers in Sport Awards celebrate the contributions of the band of volunteers across the country who give their time to Irish sport and physical activity every year. This equates to approximately 37.3 million hours of volunteering across Ireland’s 13,000 registered sports clubs and associations and, according to Sport Ireland’s 2021 ‘Researching the Value of Sport in Ireland’ report, is worth an estimated €1.5bn to the exchequer.
Throughout September and October members of the public, sports clubs and governing bodies were invited to nominate an individual whose contribution to sport and physical activity in Ireland has made a real difference to their community, club or county. The nominations and award recipients were selected by a judging panel consisting of 12 individuals drawn from sports administration, the volunteer community and media, and included former Director General of the GAA, Paraic Duffy, RTÉ broadcaster, Marie Crowe and CEO of Gaisce, Yvonne McKenna.
In addition to the 32 county-level award winners, Amina Moustafa, a volunteer across many different sports including football, basketball and swimming, received the overall Outstanding Achievement Award for her incredible service to the promotion of sport amongst women of diverse ethnic backgrounds, as well as her continued support of Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI).
Máire Allen and Jacqueline McCormack have also received a Special Recognition Award for their amazing work with Roscommon Special Olympics Club. They have dedicated their time tirelessly over the last number of years and more recently, in the face of the challenging circumstances caused by Covid-19, did everything to ensure the club’s members remained fit and active throughout the various lockdowns.
Pádraic Kearney (RIP) has been honoured with a Special Recognition Award for his commitment to Gaelic Games in Adare GAA Club (Limerick). Pádraic was incredibly committed to his community, with his volunteerism going far beyond sport. His untimely passing earlier this year has been felt by everyone in the club, especially the younger members, who Pádraic coached for many years.
Commenting on the awards, Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, TD, said: “It is an honour for me to support this year’s Volunteers in Sport Awards and help recognise so many fantastic volunteers in our community. These awards have a special place in the sporting calendar as they recognise those who have given an incredible amount of time throughout the year who have ensured that sport can takes place in our communities, and they do so without the expectation of gratitude or reward. The amount of hard work and dedication that these volunteers give to sport in Ireland is quite truly astonishing and I am privileged to support both the volunteers and these awards. I would also like to thank the Federation of Irish Sport and EBS, and all who will help make these virtual ceremonies a memorable occasion for all.”
Speaking about the awards, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport, Mary O’Connor said: “Despite another very challenging year for sport, we have once again seen how important volunteering has been to communities across Ireland. We have an enormous amount of gratitude for the army of volunteers who have ensured that sport could take place in a safe and controlled manner. Whether it be on pitches, courts, tracks, pools or even community halls across the country, the volunteers are always there to make sure sport and physical activity continues to take place around Ireland. It gives me immense pride to be able to recognise so many of these volunteers at next week’s virtual Volunteers in Sport Awards and I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to all of this year’s recipients. I would like to also thank EBS for their continued support in bringing wider recognition of volunteers in sport in Ireland to life. I would also like to express my gratitude to Minister Jack Chambers who will be taking the time out of his schedule to attend our virtual ceremonies next week and helping us to champion and celebrate the recipients.”
Managing Director of EBS, Paul Butler, commented: “EBS is delighted to partner with the Federation of Irish Sport once more to honour and recognise the everyday heroes around Ireland who make sure sport happens every day. EBS has been involved in local communities around Ireland for over 80 years and we are delighted to showcase the tremendous work these volunteers do for sport throughout their communities. These volunteers truly are the backbone of Irish sport, and we are proud to support them. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the recipients of the 2021 Volunteers in Sports Awards and thank them for all of the tireless work they do to ensure sport in Ireland continues to flourish.”
The awards will be streamed live each evening from 7pm on the Federation of Irish Sport’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/federationofirishsport/ with the awards schedule listed below:
Tuesday, December 7th: Leinster and Special Recognition Award
Wednesday, December 8th: Munster, Connacht and Special Recognition Award
Thursday, December 9th: Ulster and Outstanding Achievement Award
For more information on the awards, visit http://www.volunteersinsport.ie/
Former All Ireland winning hurling manager Liam Sheedy is to join the backroom staff of the Monaghan senior footballers for 2022.
The Tipperary native will link up with Farney boss Seamus ‘Banty’ McEneaney.
Monaghan already have Donie Buckley as a coach for next season.
They lost by one point to subsequent All Ireland champions Tyrone in Ulster this year.
Over 1,000 people awaited admission to Letterkenny University Hospital over the course of November.
As expected, the hospital was one of the worst hit for overcrowding in Ireland over the same period.
It come as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for the public and private healthcare systems to act as one to tackle the issue.
According to the INMO trolley watch figures there were a total of 1,067 patients awaiting admission to Letterkenny University Hospital over the month of November.
It has been ranked as the second most overcrowded in Ireland over the same period.
The data shows that nationally, there were 8,317 people awaiting admission at various hospitals during November, an increase of 110% on the same time last year.
In a statement INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says overcrowding in Letterkenny University Hospital is a constant problem and is calling for bespoke plans from management on how they plan to tackle this problem as we enter the winter months.
There are also calls for an increase in capacity and utilise the private hospitals.
Ms Ní Sheaghdha says it has come to a stage where all health services including public and private need to be acting as one.
The Children’s Ombudsman is calling on the Government to keep Covid guidelines for children “proportionate and under constant review”.
Parents are expected to be asked to limit their child’s social activities to one per week, when cabinet sign off on it later.
It comes as case numbers continue to rise in the 5 to 11 year old age group.
Dr Niall Muldoon says children learn as much through playing and socialising as they do in school………
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An infectious disease specialist says mask wearing in schools needs to be introduced in a gentle, non-confrontational way.
Sam McConkey says the measure could cause issues among parents………….
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A green Victorian Cast iron post box has been stolen from a pole in Fintown.
The item was taken at some point between Friday morning and yesterday afternoon.
Anyone with information about the post box or who may come across such an item for sale is asked to contact gardai in Ballyshannon on 071-9858530.
On today’s Community Garda Slot, Garda Grainne Doherty said the item in question is a unique one………
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Investigations are continuing after a number of vehicles were damaged in Letterkenny last week.
Between 3:30pm on Monday November 22nd and 8:30am the following morning, damage was caused to a resident’s van in the Gleann Eadan area.
Upon returning to the van which was parked in a back yard, the resident discovered that the front and rear passenger side tyres had been slashed.
Meanwhile, in the Willowbrook area of Letterkenny, the rear window of a car was smashed.
The car was parked in the resident’s driveway between 11pm on Sunday last and 7:50am yesterday morning.
Gardai are appealing to anyone with any information relating to either incident to contact Gardai in Letterkenny.
Donegal County Council has recently added three new electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet in an effort to promote sustainability and climate action.
The Council recognises the vital role the organisation has to play in relation to reducing energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Council say it looks forward to expanding it’s EV fleet in the coming years.
Cahal Moss, Senior Executive Engineer notes “the new vehicles represent part of a range of sustainable transport initiatives including the provision of dedicated electric charging points and enhanced facilities for pedestrians and cyclists”.
Donegal County Council was recently recertified to the International Standard for Energy Management – ISO 50001:2018 and continues to deliver improvements in energy use, carbon emissions and cost using this framework. This helps the authority to deliver on its own internal energy saving targets as well as the national public sector targets of 50% energy efficiency reduction and 51% reduction in CO2eq by 2030”.
A Donegal man has become the first member of the Irish Travelling community in the North West to graduate with a Masters degree.
David Friel recently graduated with a Masters degree in Social Care and Social Justice from IT Sligo.
He says while it was a momentous occasion it is a reminder also of travellers position in society:
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Ministers are due to sign off on a new Mica redress scheme today.
Cabinet are meeting to discuss the scheme which involves a rebuilding cap of €420,000 and an increased cap of €150 per square foot.
Homeowners with two properties, one being a principal residence, the other a rental property, will now be able to access the scheme.
A cert for remedial works is also set to be issued as well as a building standards regulator established to ensure a similar defective blocks scandal won’t occur again.
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue believes the scheme will be accepted by affected homeowners:
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