Traffic counters reveal impact of Level 5 restrictions


THOUSANDS of less journeys are being made on Donegal’s roads since Ireland moved to Level 5 of the Plan for Living with Covid. Donegal moved to Level 3 on Friday, September 25 – initially for a three-week period – with pubs, restaurants and cinemas being forced to close their doors once more. However, on Wednesday […]


Covid cases fall in five of Donegal’s seven LEAs


FIVE of the seven Local Electoral Areas in Donegal have seen a reduction in the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 cases. Covid rates in Letterkenny, Milford and Glenties are now all below the national average. Numbers have also dropped in Carndonagh and notably in the Lifford-Stranorlar area, previously one of the hardest hit areas in the […]


Lockdown but Donegal traders fighting back


  COVID-19 cases are dropping in the county but new, stricter restrictions came into place yesterday, generating anger in some quarters and resignation in others. On Wednesday evening, shop owners around Letterkenny were busy putting in place alternative systems for trading, including online and click and collect. “We’re trying to be as positive as possible […]


Timely reminder how history repeats itself


THE proprietor of the Stores Bar and Lounge in Portsalon was given a gentle reminder this week that history has a tendency to repeat itself. Seamus McGettigan was going through an old receipt book when he came across a notice that the premises was closing its doors due to the Spanish Flu. The date was […]


Impact of climate change brought home by Maghery walk


A DONEGAL student spent much of his time during lockdown earlier this year writing a book on Ireland and climate change. Ben Harkin (19) from Termon is a second year Software and Electronics students at Queen’s University in Belfast. Writing the book ‘Time nor tide’ gave Ben something to focus on during lockdown. Advertisement “It […]


A brave face as local businesses close again


“KEEP the head up, stay focused and we’ll all come through this together and emerge safely out the other side.” That was the rallying message delivered to the business community this week by Letterkenny hairdresser Patrick Gildea. The Government announced on Wednesday night that Donegal, along with Cavan and Monaghan, had been moved to Level […]


Figures show drop in Covid-19 cases in Letterkenny area


THERE has been a significant reduction in the number of cases of Covid-19 being reported in the Letterkenny Electoral Area over the past seven days. The figures, available from the Covid-19 Data Hub, show case information at a Local Electoral Area (LEA) level across Ireland between September 29 and October 12. The Health Protection Surveillance […]


‘The numbers have come down slightly in Donegal’


A LEADING public health specialist has warned that it will take some time yet before we see a decrease in Covid-19 numbers in Donegal. As cases continue to mount, Donegal has seen an incidence rate of 354.9 cases per 100,000, and 565 new cases in the last 14 days. It is one of three border […]


Writer turns attention to west Donegal’s ‘Wise Guys’


A US Congressman, world boxing champion and major brothel keeper is just one of the gangsters featured in a new book by Gaoth Dobhair based writer and author John Joe McGinley. The Irish Wise Guys shines the spotlight on 17 of the most notorious Irish American crime bosses for whom death and destruction was a […]


Islander becomes youngest president of nursing union


  A FORMER member of the Arranmore Island RNLI crew has been elected President of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. Karen McGowan (35) becomes the youngest person to lead the largest Irish professional union for nurses and midwives. Advertisement The second eldest child of Alice and Eddie McGowan, Karen said that she was very […]