July 19, 1975
Council Chairman calls for enquiry into dole abuses
There were further allegations surrounding the abuse of social welfare payments when Letterkenny Urban Council met this week.
There has been considerable controversy over the dole payments for several weeks, and from around Donegal there have been reports of some signing for the dole and at the same time picking up more money than those in regular employment.
The extra money comes in through working unofficially without the necessity of paying taxes, or even the now high – priced Social Welfare stamp.
Complaints of abuse have come in from farmers and building contractors in particular. The regular employer and worker are said to have become embittered, and the Letterkenny UDC Chairman, Mr. Tony Gallagher said: “It has gone far too far.
“A lot of the highest paid people are signing,” he said. “How is it that some can earn far more than those at work and continue to sign at the Labour Exchange?
“They are signing and carrying on all classes of business and occupations, some taking contracts and driving lorries and some switching ownership to another name in order to draw steadily. Ordinary working people are fed up with it all. There will soon be no honest workers left. In the long run, it is the poor that will suffer.”
Glencar residents angry
Householders in the Upper Glencar area of Letterkenny are very angry at what they consider the lethargy of public representatives and bungling by officialdom that has left them with a continuing poor water supply.
Their patience was exhausted last weekend when the limited supply came to a complete halt. Homes were left totally without water from Friday morning until late on Sunday night.
Today, Letterkenny has an abundant supply of water. But the Glencar problems have been so far untouched. Residents point out that officialdom was very well aware that their Glencar reservoir, fed from springs, was a diminishing supply. The engineers knew this for several years, but provided no alternative.
And in the midst of this, they allege that the Donegal County Council gave themselves planning permission to build 80 houses in this problem area. They say the Council planners must have been very well aware that they were approving the building where the infrastructure was not provided.
£7,000 grant from Courtaulds for Regional College
At the Regional Technical College, Letterkenny, there was a formal presentation by Mr. Ken Worrell, General Manager of Lirelle (Ireland) Ltd on behalf of parent firm Courtaulds of a grant of £7,000 which is to go towards student scholarships.
The grant is to be spread over a seven year period and is to be used by the college authorities to extend travel facilities for students over the wider area of Donegal.
In thanking Mr. Worrell and Courtauis, Mr. Peter Gallagher, Principal of the R.T.C., said one of the great difficulties was the wide catchment area for which the college had to cater. It was difficult to serve Donegal in an institution such as theirs.
From the outset, the college authorities had set as a priority that travel facilities be extended so that students from all over the county could use the college facilities. To this end they had sought support from a large number of business and professional organisations.
There was great pleasure at knowing that the biggest industrial concern in the county had considered them worthy of support with such a very generous grant of £1,000 per annum for the next seven years.
July 20, 2001
Shooting at Travellers wedding
A man was seriously injured in Strabane on Wednesday in a shooting incident during the wedding ceremony involving members of a Traveller family from Letterkenny.
The shooting happened at 12 noon at St Mary’s Church, Melmont Road. The victim, who was later found in nearby Sion Mills, suffered two gunshot wounds to his chest.
Another man, who had been stabbed several times, was discovered in Strabane. Both are in a stable condition in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.
Guns, machetes and knives were used during the incident which occurred at the side entrance to the church. Two men were arrested by the police and two cars were seized for forensic examination.
A spokesperson for the RUC said patrols were sent to investigate reports of disturbances and claims that shots of gunfire had been heard.
The wedding was disrupted by the gunfire and the police moved to calm the situation.
The police blocked all entrances to the church car park as they sealed off the area.
Later, police inspected all vehicles leaving the car park at the church and issued tickets to several drivers failing to have insurance or tax displayed.
A police spokesman said an examination of the scene was underway and the incident is being actively pursued. He said it was obviously pre-planned.
“Two people have been arrested and are being held for interview. Guns, knives and machetes are not normally associated with weddings. Although we believe members of the Travelling community were involved either directly or indirectly in the disturbances, so too were other people who are not members of the community,” the spokesperson said.
Filth and chaos loom for West Donegal
Waste collections in parts of West Donegal will cease from next week with the closure of the Donegal County Council landfill site at Muckish it emerged.
The news came in a statement from the Donegal Waste Management Organisation (DWNO), an umbrella body which represents seven of the nine waste collectors in the country.
The statement was issued through a spokesperson following a meeting in Letterkenny on Tuesday night.
A number of council officials were also in attendance at the meeting in the Mount Errigal Hotel to hear at first hand the concern of collectors who have claimed the waste disposal system in Donegal is now in total disarray and could lead to major problems of illegal dumping.
Rubbish will now have to be brought to Binbane near Killybegs, Ballintra or Glenalla near Rathmullan.
Yesterday a Council spokesperson acknowledged they faced acute problems in the months ahead with waste disposal.
This follows an order issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for the closure of the Muckish dump by next week.
Cars moving at a slower pace in donegal
Registration on new vehicles is down considerably this year according to the Department of Customs and Excise.
Last year the total number of registrations in the county was just under 7,000.
A spokesperson for the Department has said that registrations are roughly 1,100 below what they were for the same period last year.
“We registered a car with a number this week but last year that same number was issued on the 17th of May. Figures are about two months behind where they were last year.
“They didn’t begin to slacken until around late August last year but it has slowed down a lot this year already,” a spokesman said.
“Letterkenny holds a large number of dealerships and there should be a flow of cars coming through but instead there is only a trickle.
“Only ten or twelve cars are registered in the country each day,” he added.
Chairman of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) in Donegal, Mr Paddy Peoples said “Generally the motor trade is ticking over.
Figures are down on last year, but we’re not aiming for last year. We won’t be far away from the figures in 1999. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
Morris Dancers heading up the Port Rd for one of the last of the Letterkenny International Folks Festivals photo Brian McDaid