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 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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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…

The Sinn Fein Leader has defended the party's stance on the location of asylum seeker accommodation centres. The party believes it should be focused on "affluent areas". Sinn Fein is also proposing to introduce a new immigration management agency, which would have responsibility for processing, enforcement, registration and accommodation. It comes …

Confirmation has been given by the HSE this afternoon that four long-term care units will be open in the Shiel Community Hospital in Ballyshannon before Christmas. It's also understood that more specific care units will be open at the hospital shortly after Christmas. Disappointment had previously been expressed this week that no daycare facilities…

The Irish Hotel Federation are calling on the next Government to provide more supports to the hospitality sector following the General Election. It's widely felt that a change in view towards the industry is needed, as many hotels around the country are struggling to keep up with increasing costs. Among the IHF's requests are a permanent reduction …

The reinstatement of a rail link between Sligo to Claremorris, a link to Knock Airport, and ultimately onwards to Galway and Limerick has to be more than just a pipe dream. That's according to Sligo Leitrim Labour General Election Candidate Nessa Cosgrove who has confirmed that she would vigorously advocate for the implementation of the Western Rai…

It's emerged that Sligo University Hospital is still waiting to receive almost 70 new beds - despite approval being given almost six months ago. The approval was given by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, in an effort to combat overcrowding at the hospital, which has been consistently been among the busiest hospitals in Ireland in 2024. It's u…

A hustings is to be held in Leitrim this evening for all General Election candidates in the Sligo Leitrim constituency, focusing on a number of environmental issues affecting the area. The debate gets underway at 8pm tonight in the Glens Centre in Manorhamilton. The event is being hosted by a number of local environmental groups, including Love Lei…

Many business across Leitrim are said to be struggling to access enterprise grants. Restrictive criteria is the root of the problem with the Power Up grant, with a number of businesses unable to access the fund because they didn't weren't signed up to a previous scheme. Grants of up to four thousand euro are available to potentially draw down. Sinn…

An incident has been highlighted in Sligo where an Irish Water inspector was refused entry to a home following an unannounced inspection. The elderly homeowner was unsure of the inspector’s motives, and did not allow them access. This follows a number of warnings from Gardaí to not give uninvited visitors access to your home. Local Fianna Fail Cllr…

More clarity is being sought over two bus stop locations in Strandhill, where there is currently no signage. This has caused confusion among residents and tourists, attempting to avail of public transport services. Sligo County Council will be asked for the installation of bus stop signs and timetables. Local Sinn Fein Cllr Arthur Gibbons says the …

Molly Candon has been selected by the Party for Animal Welfare to contest the upcoming general election. Ms Candon is from Ballisodare, and will be competing in the Sligo-Leitrim Constituency, bringing the total number of candidates to 16. Included in her party’s aims are to end grants to greyhound and horse racing. Speaking to OceanFM news, Ms Can…

Calls persist in Sligo for road safety improvements following recent study showing 81% of Irish public have witnessed reckless driving in the past year. A new report by Geotab, highlights a range of measures people would like to see introduced to decrease road accidents. As it stands, there have been 149 road deaths so far in 2024. Ballymote-Tubber…

A fair and firm asylum process which respects everyone involved is needed. That's according to Fianna Fail General Election Candidate Eamon Scanlon, who says immigration is one of the biggest issues being raised on the doors during this campaign. It comes as Sinn Fein launched its immigration policy today, with the party proposing to introduce a ne…

Its thought that Fine Gaels promise to cut the VAT rate for the hospitality sector is too little too late for many businesses across the North West that have closed their doors are already. The party has pledged to cut the n rate for the sector to 11 per cent just weeks after no change was implemented in the Budget. The rate had previously been cut…

There's a warning that increasing commercial rates in County Leitrim will put more pressure on local businesses. Earlier this week, Leitrim County Council made the decision to increase rates for businesses by 5% in 2025. There's been a mixed reaction to the move, but the majority of Cllr feel that the hike is needed in order for the local authority…