Category: Old Donegal

The draw for the 2022 provincial championships have taken place this afternoon.

In Ulster Donegal have been drawn against Armagh with the winner of that clash taking on the winner of Antrim and Cavan for a place in the decider.

All Ireland and Ulster champions Tyrone will play Fermanagh in the preliminary round with the winner of that tie to play Derry.

Monaghan are at home to Down with whoever comes through that tie playing either Tyrone, Fermanagh or Derry in the semi final

The Department of Health has reported an additional 4,791 cases of Covid 19 today.

There’s currently 536 patients in hospital, a drop of 35 on yesterday’s figures.

While 118 patients are receiving treatment in ICU, there’s no change on yesterday’s figure.

As many as 680 homes in the east of Donegal are without power this afternoon, following the effects of Storm Arwen, with high winds last night causing havoc across the county.

The ESB say the fault is set to be fixed by 4:30pm this afternoon – but will leave many homes without power for much of the day as a result.

There is also an outage currently affecting Arranmore Island this afternoon, with the ESB saying estimating it will be repaired by 3:30pm.

Another fault in the north of the county affecting the area around Malin Head is currently scheduled to be repaired around 4pm.

While a major outage in the Bunbeg area has now been fixed, repairs are also still being carried out in Milford and Carndonagh this afternoon according to the ESB.

Bonagee United won the John Gorey Curran Youth Cup on Friday night after they beat Drumkeen 2-0 in Ballyare.

Photo: @SSEAirtricityLg

There was Donegal involvement as UCD earned promotion to the SSE Airtricity Premier Division on Friday night.

Goals from Dara Keane and Colm Whelan – his 25th of the season – saw the Students beat Waterford 2-1 in the promotion-relegation playoff.

Defeat sees Waterford relegated to the First Division after a turbulent four years in the top flight.

The Donegal involvement comes via former Finn Harps players Sam Todd and Michael Gallagher, Donegal Town’s Jack Keaney and assistant manager William O’Connor.

After the game Oisin Langan spoke with UCD captain Jack Keaney…

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Numerous oil spills have been reported on Donegal roads this afternoon.

Gardai in Milford have advised motorists to take caution, with at least three separate spillages on roads in west Donegal – one at the Bunbeg Junction near the Cuirt Hotel, and another located at Upper Dore, on the road heading towards Crolly.

They also say there is a large spillage on the Dunlewey to Muckish road.

Gardaí in Letterkenny meanwhile say that there have also been oil spillages spotted on both the Kilmacrennan road and the Termon road into Letterkenny.

Gardaí say that Donegal County Council have dispatched units to help clear up the spills, but caution is being urged in affected areas.

Reports claim that the Government’s revised 100 percent Mica redress scheme will be capped at a cost of €420,000 per home, according to today’s Business Post.

The Business Post report also states that the Government believes their revised scheme will come at a cost of €2.2 billion – but it is unclear if that costing was calculated with every affected home receiving the maximum grant amount of €420,000. If so, the final cost may end up being less than that calculation.

Cabinet is set to sign off on the revised Mica redress scheme after months of delays this coming Tuesday, and it’s understood party leaders will meet on Monday to discuss a memo paper summarising the revised scheme.

You can read the full report from the Business Post here: https://www.businesspost.ie/houses/new-mica-scheme-to-be-capped-at-eur420k-per-home-18f91519

Gardaí at Milford Garda Station are warning of two oil spillages in the west of the county this afternoon.

Motorists are advised to take caution, with two separate spillages on roads – one at the Bunbeg Junction near the Cuirt Hotel, and another located at Upper Dore, on the road heading towards Crolly.

People are being advised to avoid travel to seven countries in southern Africa – and Irish residents already there, are being told to come home.

It’s after the World Health Organisation declared the new Covid strain ‘Omicron’ a ‘variant of concern’.

The countries affected are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The strain has also now been detected in Belgium, the first European country to report a case of the Omicron variant.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says hotel quarantine measures for some travellers will be considered again in the coming weeks:

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Walk-in booster vaccination clinics are being rolled out for healthcare workers and people in their sixties and above from today, including one in Letterkenny.

The Letterkenny Vaccination Centre on the Kilmacrennan road is open to walk-ins until 3:30pm today Saturday for any healthcare workers or aged 60 and above to receive a booster shot. The same centre is open from 8:15am to 5:20pm tomorrow Sunday.

You’ll need to have an appropriate gap since your last vaccination – currently at least 5 months since your second dose.

Attendees will also need proof of their birth date and photo ID, while healthcare workers need their employee ID.

Damian McCallion is the HSE national lead for vaccinations and testing – he says that you can also book an appointment for a booster at your local pharmacy:

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