Met Éireann has upgraded its weather warnings for counties Sligo and Leitrim as part of Storm Bert. Both counties along with Mayo are now under a status orange wind warning. That will be in place until 2am on Monday. Donegal remains under a status yellow wind warning until 8am on Monday morning. Met Eireann's Gerry Murphy says it’s not your typical…

There are hopes a “total solution” can be found to help those affected by Storm Bert in Killybegs. Overnight rain caused serious flood damage to homes and businesses on Saturday. Council staff along with local volunteers participated in a major clean-up operation which lasted several hours and is continuing. Local Fine Gael Councillor, Manus Boyle …

Serious safety concerns have been raised over the state of footpaths in Drumshanbo. The foothpath at Convent Avenue are said to have fallen in disrepair. Ahead of the Christmas period, there are fears locally that someone will be injured close to St. Patrick's Church. Local Fine Gael Councillor Enda McGloin is urging Leitrim County Council to step …

No injuries have reported following severe flooding in Killybegs. Brutal rain caused chaos in Donegal, especially in the south west of the county during Met Éireann's status yellow warning. A clean-up operation is underway as crews and residents begin to count the costs of the damage. General Election candidate, Independent Thomas Pringle's office …

A major clean-up operation is continuing following severe flooding in Killybegs. Hundreds of homes and businesses suffered severe damage when Storm Bert passed over the south west Donegal village in the early hours of Saturday morning. ESB crews are working to restore power to the over a thousand customers who are still affected by power outages. G…

Some knock-on delays could impact rail passengers on the Sligo to Dublin Connolly rail line. Passengers travelling on Irish Rail's 06:40 service from Sligo to Dublin Connolly were hit with significant delays on Saturday morning. Due to severe overnight flooding, the train was unable to depart the north Roscommon station's platform one. However, aft…

Homes and businesses in Killybegs are counting the costs following overnight wind and rain from Storm Bert. The Bridge Street area in particular was struck with crews carrying out works throughout the night to reduce the impact of the floods and assist locals. General Election candidate, Fianna Fáil's Pat "The Cope" Gallagher has been in contact wi…

Claims have been made at today's Sligo County Council Budget meeting that Strandhill is being unfairly discriminated against in terms of funding. Fine Gael councillor, Fergal Nealon, made the point that Strandhill got no money out of the one-off Christmas fund as it was spent in the town, where as other MDs were able to avail of the funding. Counci…

There are claims that the Government may have been misled over planning regulations at Benbulben Court in Sligo. Hundreds of international protection applicants are now living in the complex, a move which heightened the ongoing student accommodation crisis in the town as the building traditionally catered to students. Now, management at Benbulben C…

Sligo County Councillors are meeting this afternoon to finalise the budget for the upcoming year. It's expected that a decision will be taken to increase commercial rates by 5%. A similar move was made by Leitrim County Councillors in recent weeks, which caused some controversy among local businesses. Today will also outline what the Council in Sli…

The HSE West and North West region had the highest percentage of its population availing of a medical card in 2022, according to data released by the CSO. The region covers Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Roscommon, Mayo, and Galway. As of April 2022, the region had a population of almost 760,000, 34% of which had a medical card and 11% had a GP visit car…

Donegal County Council have been named as Local Authority of the Year. The Excellence in Local Government awards, hosted by Chambers Ireland, were held in the Crowne Plaza hotel in Dublin last night. Donegal also picked up two other awards in the Supporting Sustainable Communities and Health and Wellbeing categories.…

There are renewed calls for some local roads around County Sligo to be designated regional road status. The potential move would ultimately provide for more Government investment for upgrade works. It's thought that there are many routes across the County which are no longer able to cope with the amount of traffic travelling on them. This is said t…

Dromore West’s Keelan Kilrehill on his national cross country title gold medal run in Irvinestown last Sunday. Tis the season for Coolera/Strandhill GAA/LGFA... The men’s gaelic football team are getting ready for a first every Connacht senior club final on Sunday week. The women are packing tonight for a flight out to the Netherlands ahead of Satu…

Disappointment has been expressed after a number of street lights between Collooney and Ballisodare remain out of order. Substantial works were carried out between the two villages of late through the Active Travel Scheme, in order to make the route more accessible for pedestrians. However, a number of street lights still aren't working along the s…

Concern is growing over proposals to move the Donegal Education Centre out of Donegal Town and up to Letterkenny. The education centre has been located in Donegal Town for the last 27 years, and it's felt that the proposals to relocate have come out of the blue. It's understood that the decision to move was an in-house decision made by management o…

Concern is said to be growing among residents in Ballyshannon over whats been described as a dangerous corner along the N15. It follows a crash near an area known locally as Parkhill this week - the latest in a string of crashes at this particular corner. Local Sinn Fein Cllr Michael McMahon says Transport Infrastructure Ireland must initiate an im…

Progress is being made on the new community hospital due to open outside Letterkenny in just over a year's time. The sod was turned on the site a year ago, and the hospital is on track to open in the first quarter of 2026. Among the amenities at the new facility will be 110 beds for long and short stay care, a new nursing unit and rehabilitation fo…

The Tánaiste says he doesn't agree with statements made by two Fianna Fáil election candidates in relation to immigration. Sligo-Leitrim's Edel McSharry labelled the Government’s handling of the migration crisis as ‘reckless’, while Longford-Westmeath candidate, Dympna Cunniffe’s TikTok account was highly critical of plans to accommodate asylum see…

There are urgent calls for increased resources to be pumped into the Irish Defence Forces at Finner Camp in Ballyshannon and elsewhere. It follows ongoing concern that Gardai in the North West are not sufficiently equipped to deal with what's been described as an increase in incidents of unrest. Independent Ireland Sligo Leitrim General Election Ca…

Questions are being asked over whether some routes around County Sligo were adequately gritted overnight. If follows claims locally that some roads were in a treacherous condition this morning, despite a yellow alert for ice and snow being in place for the region. Meanwhile a further cold temperature/ice warning for the North West is coming into ef…

The knock-on effects of the housing crisis are being felt right across the north west region. 250 new jobs were announced for Leitrim last week, with Freudenberg Medical set expand their operations in Carrick-on-Shannon. Despite this, Sinn Féin General Election candidate in Sligo-Leitrim, Martin Kenny has expressed concerns over the lack of availab…

Fianna Fáil Councillor and General Election candidate in Sligo Leitrim, has hit out at the previous Government's handling of the immigration crisis. This is despite Fianna Fáil being in power when initial policies and regulations were introduced. It's an issue that has been to the fore in Sligo of late, as two buildings previously used to house thi…

It's thought that a move to erect white crosses along the N17 in south Sligo is a plea for action for upgrade works to take place. The route has long been flagged as having numerous accident blackspots. The crosses are dotted along the route, near sites were people have previously lost their lives in road traffic collisions. It's not yet known who …

Calls are being made for road safety measures to implemented in Bruckless. It follows a road traffic accident last Saturday, which saw a woman in her 70s taken to hospital with serious injuries. It's widely felt that traffic calming measures, such as a pedestrian crossing and traffic lights, would go a long way to preventing such accidents. Speakin…

There’s renewed concern over the notorious derelict mill apartment complex in Ballisodare. The premises, comprising 70 apartments, is said to have become an eyesore in the village, having been lying idle since 2009 and built at a cost of 12 million euro. Now it’s understood that a southern boundary fence has fallen, leaving the building accessible …

Outgoing Taoiseach Simon Harris visited The Showgrounds, home of Sligo Rovers, last evening on a brief stop on his election campaign. Mr Harris met members of the club, just weeks after the Government grant of €16.4m for the redevelopment of the ground. Rovers were among the biggest recipients from the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund, just a…

Second level ASTI members in the north west were among the almost thirty thousand nationally that took to the picket line earlier today. The reason behind the strike is due to the redevelopment of the leaving cycle programme, which is set to be introduced in September of next year. The redevelopment of the Leaving Cycle has been met with mixed revi…

Aontú candidate, Mary T Sweeney, branded the comments as a disgrace, and said that the Apple Tax money should be allocated to rectify the crisis.

Listen back to Ocean FMs General Election Debate with candidates from the Donegal constituency. Twelve candidates took part in the debate where issues like housing, immigration and the defective concrete block crisis were discussed. Ocean FMs second live debate with candidates from the Sligo/Leitrim constituency takes place this Thursday from 9-11a…

In response, Mr Ward claimed that he had is chance to make it count while he was in government.

Sparks were flying at this morning's Donegal General Election debate in the Abbey Hotel over the defective concrete block crisis. Outgoing TD and Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue was branded a liar by 100% Redress Party candidate, Charles Ward, following comments made on the supports available to people affected. The outgoing Minister …

Tenders have gone out today for the redevelopment of the Ursuline College in Sligo town. Plans are afoot to transform the school into a state of the art, three story building, as well as adding a number of additional educational and sporting facilities. The closing date is in early January, with hopes construction can begin early next year, to the …

History has been made following confirmation that fishing and marine has been included in a Fine Gael General Election manifesto for the very first time. A 10-point plan devised by the United Representation of the Irish Fish Industry has been approved the party. Outgoing Taoiseach, party leader Simon Harris previously confirmed that he will look to…

Sligo County Council have been allocated €640,000 to appoint a design team for a regeneration project in Ballisodare. Two sites have also been purchased for redevelopment out of this fund, one on the Main Street in Ballisodare, and the other near the Old Mill building. The rest of the funding will be used to appoint a multi-disciplinary team to bri…

A preferred route has been decided on for the long awaited Sligo Greenway. The selected route will be along the disused railway line between Collooney and Bellahy. A number of public consultation events are to take place in the coming weeks before the project moves to a detailed design phase. Many had hoped that the old line could be repurposed to …

There needs to be more urgency with an extension at Sligo Cemetery. That's according to People before Profit Cllr and General Election candidate Gino O'Boyle, who believes that a plan needs to be initiated sooner rather than later. There's ongoing concern that plots are filling up quite quickly which could result in space in the cemetery being stre…

There’s another cold day in store, with sleet and snow falling in some parts of the North West this morning. A status yellow snow and ice warning currently in place for Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan will expire at 11am this morning, according to Met Eireann. The forecaster is warning of poor visibility and difficult travelling conditi…

Fears have been allayed after it was reported that delays have hit the €800m Coast Guard search-and-rescue contract, which includes Sligo-based Rescue 118. The Sunday Independent is reporting that complaints have been made that the plans to introduce the new service by Bristow Ireland Limited are rushed and undermine confidence. The new 10-year con…

Counties Leitrim and Donegal are set to fall under the grip of a cold snap later tonight. Both counties as well as Cavan have been included in a status yellow warning for snow and ice. The warning will be in place from 7pm this evening until 8am on Tuesday morning. Met Éireann is warning that snow could fall overnight, which could lead to poor visi…

Calls have been made for a much stronger clampdown on rural crime in the north west. Burglary crime rates published last week show a decrease in the Sligo-Leitrim Garda Division over the past 12 months by 19%. PhoneWatch's November 2024 burglary reported highlighted the noticeable drop when compared to the previous year. Despite this, Aontú candida…

It's feared that more rural post offices in south Donegal will close their doors. The Government have previously been called on to act urgently by The Irish Postmasters' Union to provided much-needed financial injections. While last month, it was confirmed that sorting offices in a number of areas in the north west are set to be centralised. Indepe…

It's hoped that issues around class sizes and teacher to pupil ratios will be some of the issues rectified following the upcoming General Election. The average in pupil-teacher ratio is currently above the EU average. While a survey in 2020 found 85% of teachers agreed that class size often inhibits their capacity to deploy adequate differentiation…

It is hoped that those contesting the General Election in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency are aware of environmental issues affecting north Leitrim. Local environmental groups Love Leitrim, Treasure Leitrim, Save Leitrim and Save Dough Mountain hosted 9 candidates last Friday evening. The issue of gold mining in the county has been a real bone of co…

Air pollution concerns at the Geevagh Waste Water Treatment Plant are to be investigated with works to be carried out in the near future. Residents of the area have previously raised the issue of bad odours impacting their daily lives. Ballymote-Tubbercurry Fine Gael Cllr Gerard Mullaney says this issue used to be managed when under the remit of Sl…

Temperatures across the north west look set to plummet this week. While November has been a mostly mild month, much cold weather is set to hit counties Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. It's not yet known if sleet, snow and hail are to hit the region, however, members of the public are being advised to prepare for that. Forecaster with Met Éireann, Brand…

The north west will fall under the grip of a cold snap from Monday. The icy weather is expected to last through much of the week after a mild start to the month. There's a potential for sleet, snow and hail and temperatures are likely to plummet. Cathal Nolan of Ireland's Weather Channel has the outlook for Monday:…

The 2024 Teagasc National Beef Conference is set to take place this coming Tuesday in the Landmark Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Sustainable Beef Farming: Pathways to a greener future’. A range of speakers will discuss a number of topics at the event which are relevant to the Irish beef industry Tom Coll, Drys…

Disappointment has been expressed locally in Sligo over the refusal to install a number of road developments on N4. The TII were asked to develop three safe right hand turn lanes along the national route, in order to provide more safety for motorists. However due to the sites not being designated as a high-collision location, work will not be carri…

John Mahon has signed a new contract with Sligo Rovers ahead of next season. It's understood that Mahon has signed a one-year deal, with the option of an extension for 2026. 2024 has been a rough year for the centre-back, after a ruptured achilles in pre-season meant he was ruled out for almost the entirety of the year. He made two competitive appe…