Category: Old Donegal

 

A South Donegal Deputy and former Fianna Fail TD says Ireland has gone the scenic route on a number of issues in relation to the pandemic.

Deputy Marc McSharry says he is also against any further talk of another lockdown.

People are being asked to revert to working from home from today, unless it’s necessary.

But the Government’s being warned it may not have the desired effect on Covid-19 case numbers.

Speaking on the on The Nine Till noon Show, Deputy MCSharry referenced the swift approach by Israel and their Covid booster programme, yet this country continues to be reactive instead of proactive:

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There were 46 people awaiting admission to Letterkenny University Hospital this morning according to the latest trolley watch report.

11 people were on trolleys in its Emergency Department while a further 35 were waiting on wards.

It is once again the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland today.

Nationally, 288 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning, 212 patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 76 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

 

Irish Water is being urged to give more reassurances regarding planned work in the Twin Towns.

More than 100m of old cast iron water mains along the Stranorlar Bridge Crossing is to be replaced with a view towards reducing the high level of leakage and bursts in the area.

The work is to get underway this month and due to be finished by early December.

While it’s understood that the work will take place at night time, Cllr Patrick McGowan says given the time of year, it’s imperative that businesses will not be impacted:

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The GoFundMe Page set up by Brendan Devenney to help raise funds for the charities that will benefit from his charity ball held last Friday in Letterkenny will close at the weekend.

DV’s Charity Ball in the Mount Errigal Hotel was sold out at the start of the month, with over 400 hundred tickets being purchased for the event. The three benefiting charities are Plan International, Focus Ireland, and Cancer Care West.

“I’m so grateful to everyone who bought a ticket, to people who made a donation through the GoFundMe Page, to the local businesses who were so generous with spot prizes, and to the many individuals who played their part behind the scenes to bring it all together,” commented the former Donegal senior footballer who presents the weekly GAA podcast, The DL Debate, on Highland Radio.

“We are going to close the GoFundMe Page at the weekend, so there’s still time for people to make a donation. I’m really looking forward to handing over the proceeds to the benefitting charities after what has been a hectic few weeks. The charity ball was a great success and was also a huge learning experience,” he added.

To make a donation to the GoFundMe Page, follow the link below:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dvs-charity-ball

 

A former Garda Inspector in Donegal has revealed that Gardai wouldn’t get official legislation from Government on enforcing Covid restrictions until two days after they were announced.

It comes bars, restaurants and nightclubs have to shut from midnight with Gardai to monitor premises to ensure compliance.

However, at the beginning of the pandemic, it’s understood that Gardai first heard about any new or additional restrictions from the media.

Former Inspector Michael Harrison who retired last year says that was extremely frustrating from a management perspective, and he’s not sure if that has changed:

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Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) and CLG Dhun na nGall yesterday, Thursday 18 November, resigned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Both organisations have had a successful MoU in place since 2016 and are delighted to continue their partnership journey. The MoU aims to keep the best of
previous arrangements, whilst also embracing the opportunities of the new MoU and ensuring that both partners work to enhance education, research and performance.

Numerous activities and collaborations are organised by the partners. LYIT provides a mix of performance/functional testing, scholarships, general/technical workshops and access to facilities. LYIT is the Academy Sponsor to Donegal U14, U15, U16, in football and hurling.

CLG Dhun na Gall provides access to the Donegal GAA centre to LYIT Sports Teams, who have been having increasing success on the fields since the signing of the first MoU in 2016. CLG Dhun na nGall has become a brand ambassador for LYIT, promoting the institute, the programmes and scholarship opportunities on
offer.

LYIT has an ongoing commitment to provide scholarships for students, who play Gaelic games.

Furthermore, the Institute is committed to providing career guidance and nutritional advice to academy
teams.

Henry McGarvey, LYIT Vice President for Finance and Corporate Services welcomes the partnership: “The
partnership with Donegal GAA offers a unique opportunity to students in Donegal to develop as scholars
and athletes in a professional academic and sporting environment, with additional supports in areas such as
career guidance, nutrition and strength and conditioning. We are proud to be associated with the GAA in
Donegal and value the opportunity that this MOU offers to build our profile in the new Technological
University.”

Paul Hannigan, LYIT President says: “We are delighted to build on the success of our collaboration with
Donegal GAA that began five years ago. This is an ambitious agreement that will add to the suite of
interventions planned to improve the profile of sporting activity at LYIT and the new Technological
University.”

Speaking about the signing Donegal GAA Chairman Mick McGrath says: “On behalf of CLG Dhún na nGall we
are delighted to advance and renew our partnership for another five years with LYIT. We certainly take this
opportunity to recognise the constructive planning which both partners have delivered into this
memorandum of understanding. The Donegal GAA is assisting its members in achieving an education
through LYIT with scholarships, which benefits their future. This is a very practical step forward for our
young members, while they remain and train in their home county.”

This new MoU is a commitment from both parties to the partnership for a five-year duration with an annual
review. LYIT will make an annual contribution to the development of the Academy and CLG Dhun na nGall
will be a brand ambassador to the institute. This positive partnership will provide athletes and students the
opportunity to progress both their educational and sporting journey in the North West region.

This is an exciting time for the region as LYIT celebrates its 50th anniversary and continues its journey to
becoming a Technological University (TU), with partners GMIT and IT Sligo. The TU will be designated early
in 2022 and Letterkenny and Killybegs will become university towns for the first time.

LYIT and CLG Dhun na nGall both aim to build upon this partnership and look forward positively to the
future.

Donagh Kelly in action. Photo Brian McDaid / Cristeph Studio

The dates for the 2022  Irish Tarmac Rally Championship have been revealed.

The seven-round championship makes its return after organisers were forced to cancel 2020 and ’21 editions due to coronavirus restrictions.

The Donegal International Rally will be held from June 17-19th.

The opening round will be the Galway International Rally in February while it concludes with the Cork 20 rally in September.

Next week’s Killarney Historic Rally is the opening round of ITRC’s 2022 Historic Championship while the main championship gets underway at its traditional Galway Rally curtain-raiser.

2022 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship calendar:

Killarney Historic Rally // 27 November 2021

Galway International Rally // 5-6 February 2022

West Cork International Rally // 19-20 March

Circuit of Ireland Rally // 15-16 April

Killarney International Rally of the Lakes // 30 April – 1 May

Donegal International Rally // 17-19 June

Ulster International Rally // 19-20 August

Cork 20 International Rally // 24-25 September

 

More than 100m of old cast iron watermains along the Stranorlar Bridge Crossing with a view towards providing a more safe and secure water supply for customers in the area.

Irish Water says that the works will also reduce the high level of leakage and bursts in the area.

The ageing cast iron watermains are being replaced with new high density plastic pipes.

In a statement, Declan Cawley of Irish Water says “These essential works will benefit customers in the area by replacing ageing cast iron watermains with new and improved plastic pipes.

The immediate impact of this work will see an improvement to water quality in the area, as well as reduced leakage rates and unplanned interruptions when bursts occur.

Upon completion, there will also be significant improvements in the network performance and levels of customer service in this area in terms of efficiency and security of supply.

The works are scheduled to commence in November along the N15 Stranorlar Bridge and are due for completion in early December.

 

It looks like people in Northern Ireland are going to have to start working from home again.

It’s being considered to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed due to rising covid case numbers.

It’s part of new plans put forward by health officials to curb covid numbers.

The proposals also include stronger enforcement of mask wearing.

and a “scores on the doors” system that would rate covid compliance levels for businesses – similar to the one we have for food hygiene.

If approved – the measures will come on top of the introduction of covid passports – which will start being used for entry to bars, restaurants, and other venues from Mid-December.

 

The HSE boss says the health service is looking to extend the use of private hospitals to deal with the covid surge.

Paul Reid says there are discussions going on right now and the current agreement with them continues until the year end.

It comes as 4,650 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded, with 643 in hospital, including 118 in ICU.

Paul Reid says there’s flexibility in how much private hospitals can be used to treat patients:

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