Job Vacancy: The award-winning Glencar Inn in Letterkenny is recruiting for hard-working and motivated candidates to fill the roles of Store Person (Temporary) and part-time Bar Staff.

Management are seeking high-quality candidates who will be able to develop the business.

Store Person (Temporary)

An experienced store person is required who has an excellent understanding of stock management, stock ordering and stock rotation. This is a temporary position.

Part-Time Bar Staff

Job requirements:

· Experience is not essential as full training will be given but it will be an advantage.
· The ability to work in a busy environment.
· Must be fully flexible.
· Must have a full clean driving licence.
· Work with a team.
· Have a friendly manner and the ability to be social with customers.

To apply send a CV with a cover letter stating which role you are applying for to hrglencar@gmail.com

All applications will be dealt with in the strictest confidence

Twenty-three coach and group tour operators, as well as a journalist writing for the Coach Tourism Association’s quarterly magazine, are exploring Donegal and Ireland.

They are here to attend workshops in the Waterfoot Hotel in Derry and the Landmark Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, where they will meet with local tourism enterprises to negotiate for their 2020 programmes.

Between the two workshops, the tour operators are also taking part in a fact-finding visit as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, to experience for themselves the high standard and variety of our tourism offering.

Their action-packed programme includes Fanad Head Lighthouse, Doe Castle, Glenveagh National Park and Glenveagh Castle, as well as the Sliabh Liag Cliffs. It also includes lunch and a trad music session at Leo’s Tavern in Crolly and an overnight stay in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Letterkenny.

British coach and group tour operators pictured with Linda Duncan (left) and Juno Thompson (right), both Tourism Ireland, at Fanad Lighthouse.
Pic – John McConnell

Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Britain, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these leading British tour operators to Donegal and Ireland, to see and experience some of our many visitor attractions and to encourage them to extend the Donegal and Ireland content of their existing programmes and itineraries, or to include Ireland for the first time in their 2020 programmes.”

Brexit remains an ongoing challenge for Irish tourism – giving rise to consumer concern in Britain. The fall in the value of sterling has made holidays here more expensive for British visitors – and has made Britain more affordable for visitors from many of our top markets.

Therefore, attractive offers for good value fares and packages are a major focus for Tourism Ireland’s autumn campaign in Britain. An extensive programme of co-operative promotions with air and sea carriers, online travel agents, as well as traditional tour operators and travel agents, is either under way or in the pipeline.

Britain continues to be a very important market for tourism to the island of Ireland, delivering 44% of all overseas visitors and around 25% of all overseas tourism revenue. Its contribution to the regional tourism economy and to season extension objectives are also significant, with 42% of British visitors arriving between October and March.

Julie Wakley continued: “Tourism Ireland is rolling out an extensive programme of promotional activity in Britain this autumn – highlighting compelling reasons to visit Donegal and Ireland, as well as showing how easy it is to get here and the good value available from our industry partners. Our autumn campaign aims to take advantage of late booking trends, as there is still plenty of business to play for. One of our key objectives is to drive more business to our regions, right throughout the off-peak and shoulder season months.”

The owners of a missing dog are appealing to those in the Killea / Newtowncunningham area for help finding their much-loved pet.

The Collie dog (pictured above) was last seen in the area on Friday 13th of October.

A reward is being offered for its safe return.

If you have any information or can help in any way, please contact Joe on 0863082511

ALMOST 600 children turned out on a gorgeous September morning to compete at the 19th annual Primary Schools Cross Country event at Finn Valley AC.

Some 596 participants, drawn from 35 schools all across Donegal, took part.

Pictures by Dermot McGranaghan

“It was a lovely day so we have to be very happy and pleased,” said Patsy McGonagle of Finn Valley, who was instrumental in the initial driving primary schools athletics in the early 1970s.

“It’s really about coming and trying it.

“It’s about giving the kids a taste of it. It’s a nice day out and the conditions at Finn Valley are excellent because you don’t want to throw them into a big mucky field.”

There were sections for small, medium and large schools in the various races.

Today began a busy week of activity as a large amount of secondary schools in the North West are anticipated tomorrow with the Champions Cup, an inter-club event, on Sunday.

GREENCASTLE woman Kerry Brown netted a screamer for the Republic of Ireland U17s yesterday against Greece.

Brown, who plays for NIFL challengers Sion Swifts, set Ireland on their way to a 5-0 win over Greece with this stunning goal in Lithuania.

It has been a good week for Ireland, who had big wins over Albania and Lithuania, with Culdaff’s Erin McLaughlin scoring five goals in the opening two games.

Check out Brown’s super strike here:

When the opposition think they're holding the group-leaders #IRLWU17 to 0-0 at half-time, then up steps Kerry Brown with a worldie!

Watch the Sion Swifts striker score a 30-yard screamer to put Ireland 1-0 up against Greece yesterday #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/OnH9KMHbGT

— FAIreland (@FAIreland) September 17, 2019

The North West Simon Community is calling on volunteers to rise to a special challenge to help them continue to prevent and resolve homelessness.

The annual ‘Sleep Out for Simon’ fundraiser takes place on Friday 4th of October in Letterkenny, when people will swap their beds for sleeping bags for one night in an effort to raise funds and awareness to tackle homelessness in the local community.

Are you thinking about getting involved with your colleagues and/or your local community group?

Or are you a business that would like to lend your support?

Sign-up today! For further information on exactly how you can help make a difference contact Collette Ferguson, the NW Simon Community Development Officer for Donegal.

Call: 087 0552478 or email: collette@northwestsimon.ie

North West Simon Community work to Prevent and Resolve Homelessness throughout Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. In 2018, the cause provided supported housing, tenancy support, and settlement services, to a total of 371 people. 

If you would like to get involved or help, make a difference contact:

North West Simon Community
9 Riverfront House
Pearse Road
Letterkenny 
074 9121613

www.facebook/northwestsimon.ie 

FORMED IN 1983, Milford are one of Donegal GAA’s youngest clubs and the Moyle View men are the first team into this year’s Donegal SFC quarter-finals.

Indeed, heading into the final round of group games, Milford are the only team mathematically guaranteed a quarter-final berth.

Milford made safe their passage with a 1-17 to 3-8 win over Glenfin on Saturday.

“It’s massive,” Luke Barrett, who scored nine points, said.

“We targeted from early in the year to get to the quarter-finals.

“The last number of years have been difficult to compete in Division 1 playing against top opposition every week. We put the heads down and thankfully we put a big effort in the last couple of weeks to get ready and it’s paid off.”

Watch the full interview below …

Donegal’s Marina Hamilton has returned to the Corinthian Challenge Charity Race Series with hopes to finish in front in 2019. 

The former pony racer came second in the 2018 edition of the series, which raises funds for Irish Injured Jockeys.

Hamilton is best-known as one of Ireland’s most renowned painters and sculptors. And she is no stranger to the world of horse racing either, having clocked up no less than 150 winners in her pony days.

The Corinthians are facing the third and final leg of the series at Leopardstown on October 26th. Riders accumulate points for placings throughout the series with the overall winner to be announced at the final race.

Each rider is also aiming to raise €10,000 through sponsorship and/or fundraising. See Marina’s fundraising profile here: https://the-corinthian-challenge-charity-race-series-2019.everydayhero.com/ie/marina-hamilton

Video via Irish Injured Jockeys

THE FUNERAL of former Finn Harps player Noel Melvin will take place in County Monaghan tomorrow.

On Sunday evening, the League of Ireland world was plunged into sadness with news of Noel’s sudden death, aged just 48.

Picture: The late Noel Melvin. Picture courtesy of www.finnharps.com

He had played for Finn Harps, Monaghan United and Dundalk in the League.

Tomorrow, his Funeral Mass will take place at St Mary’s Church, Threemilehouse, at 12 noon with burial in the adjoining cemetery.

Noel is predeceased by his father and mother Joe and Dorothy and his sister Mary.

He is survived by his loving wife Kate, his adored children Marc and Sophie, his brothers and sisters Cathy, Alec, Betty, Joe, Thomas, Pauric, Dorothy, Donny, Agnes and a wide circle of family and friends.

Finn Harps paid tribute to Noel in a statement saying: “Eeryone at Finn Harps were shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of our former player Noel Melvin.   A hugely popular man with fans and his team-mates alike, many tributes have been paid to him.”

Noel was part of the first Harps squad to win promotion to the Premier Division in the 1995/96 season and he starred the following campaign in the top flight.

In two seasons at Harps the Ballina native played 68 times and scored five goals.

A West Donegal family who were asked for €66,000 for a water connection for their new home by Irish Water have been given the go-ahead to do the work – for just €3,000.

Danny Boyle and his young family had spent the past two years building their dream home in Gortahork.

However, when they went to Irish Water to get connected to the mains they were told it would cost in the region o €66,000 to connect a pipe from the main road and across the 270 metres to their home.

Despite pleading with Irish Water, Mr Boyle was left helpless despite being ready to move into his home.

He contacted local county councillor Micheal Mac Giolla Easbuig who took up his case.

But despite a number of meetings, Irish Water said they could not change their policy in charging for their work.

When contacted by Donegal Daily, a spokesman said the standard charge for connections in the vicinity (within 10 metres) of the existing public network is €2,272.

However, where new infrastructure is required such as mains extension to provide a service to the applicant’s property Irish Water will undertake a detailed design to identify the project requirements.

They say that site surveys and investigations may also be required, including engagement with statutory authorities such as the local authority to procure a road opening licence.

However, it now appears that Irish Water have allowed Mr Boyle to carry out his own works – for a fraction of the cost of the original estimate.

Apart from the €600 connection fee, Mr Boyle plans to do all the work himself.

Councillor Micheal Mac Giolla Easbuig said he is delighted for the Boyle family and the victory showed the reward for perseverance.

He said “This is a victory for common sense and proof that if you stick with something it will happen.

“We persevered with this and with met with Irish Water a number of times and would not give up on it.

“It shows that things can be changed and I’m delighted for the Boyle family that Irish Water agreed to do this and took a sensible approach to it.”

Author, broadcaster, award-winning celebrity chef and chef/proprietor of the Foyle Hotel in Moville, Brian McDermott will officially open the Bia Bundoran Food & Drink Festival this Friday evening.

The launch will take place in Madden’s Bridge Bar and will also incorporate the launch of the limited edition Roguey Pale Ale which has been brewed especially for the festival by the Donegal Brewing Company based in Ballyshannon.

Bundoran Tourism Officer Shane Smyth with Brendan O’Reilly of the Donegal Brewing Company with the new Roguey Pale Ale

Bundoran Tourism Officer Shane Smyth is coordinating the festival and said ‘it’s great news that Brian has very kindly agreed to officially launch Bia Bundoran. Fans of Brian will be familiar with Brian’s passion for local food and of course Donegal and that has made him a regular guest on the Irish food festival circuit. Following his success with the world’s best cook book written by a chef “Donegal Table” this year, we are thankful to him for taking time out of his very busy schedule to do the honours for us on Friday.”

Brian McDermott added “I’m delighted to be invited to officially open the inaugural Bia Bundoran Food & Drink Festival. Food tourism is such an important aspect of the offering of county Donegal and the more great events like Bia Bundoran that exist to promote the wonderful range of food and drink available the length and breadth of the county, the better. Having travelled the world talking about food, it’s always nice to get home and offer the support to our own community.’

Bia Bundoran Food & Drink Festival takes place from this Friday September 20^th to Sunday September 22^nd in Bundoran, County Donegal offering a range of food and drink events to special offers from food providers across the town. More details are available on the website www.discoverbundoran.com/bia. Many events require pre-booking. All contact info is online.

OISIN ORR rode his latest winner for trainer Dermot Weld at Galway this evening.

Orr took the 6/5 Shehreen to victory over seven furlongs in soft conditions.

Shereen was in second around a furling from home before taking over. Under strong pressure by Soineanta, the even money favourite with Ronan Whelan in the saddle, Shereen held on to win by a head.

It was Orr’s 37th win of 2019.

RONAN CURTIS and Stephen McLaughlin scored for Portsmouth and Southend United In League One tonight – but neither was on the winning side.

Ronan Curtis (pictured) netted for Portsmouth, who needed a late Brett Pitman penalty to earn a dramatic draw with Burton at Fratton Park.

Joe Sbarra and Kieran Wallace had Burton 2-0 up. Sbarra tucked in after just six minutes and Wallace’s attempt from distance took a deflection and flew beyond Craig MacGillivray to leave the home side stunned.

Burton had John-Joe O’Toole sent off for two quick fire yellow cards and Curtis gave Pompey hope six minutes before the break.

The St Johnston man hammered to the roof of the net from close range.

Just last week, Curtis made his full debut for the Republic of Ireland in the friendly win over Bulgaria.

Curtis was heavily involved in the second half and had one good effort saved by Kieran O’Hara – who also played for Ireland last Tuesday at Aviva Stadium.

Pitman drilled past O’Hara right at the death to earn Portsmouth a point.

Stephen McLaughlin was on target for Southend United, but they lost a League One thriller 4-3 to Shrewsbury at New Meadow.

McLaughlin scored just before the half-hour.

By that stage, they were two down as Omar Beckles and Jason Cummings netted for Shrewsbury.

Inishowen man McLaughlin headed in from Elvis Bwomono’s cross to reduce the arrears.

Ollie Norburn restored the two-goal cushion only for Stephen Humphrys to respond.

Callum Lang made it 4-2 and while Simon Cox grabbed a third for Southend, they fell to a seventh loss in eight games.

Conrad Logan was in goal for Mansfield, but they shipped a heavy 4-0 loss to Cambridge United at Field Mill.

Cambridge struck all four goals from the 74th minute, with three of them arriving beyond the 85th minute as Jack Roles, Sam Smith, George Maris and Reggie Lambe, from a penalty gave Cambridge the win.

Mansfield had Matt Preston sent off in the 49th minute.

A last-minute James Jones goal saw Crewe defeat Leyton Orient in League Two. Dale Gorman started for Orient, who saw Jordan Maguire-Drew level things after Eddie Nolan put Crewe in front at Brisbane Road.

Two US Army Veterans will be completing a protest walk in Malin Head next week after walking from Limerick to Donegal.

Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff, two former US servicemen, were arrested in March facing charges of trespassing and criminal damage at Shannon Airport. The men were accused of an alleged security breach for attempting to ‘inspect’ a plane.

Released on bail, the duo began a ‘Boots on the Ground for Freedom’ walk in a bid to return home to their families and to promote peace.

The protest movement began on 7th September. Mayers and Kauff will arrive in Letterkenny on Saturday 21st September and walk in stages to Bridgend and then from Buncrana to Malin Head, They intend to arrive at the “Eire” stone sign at Malin Head on Friday 27 September.

Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has called on the government to do more to protect and develop Ireland’s off-shore islands.

The Donegal TD used the return of the Dáil to urge policy makers to recognise the cultural and linguistic importance of the islands, and to take measures which aim to promote island communities and to development their sustainability into the future.

Speaking ahead of a Dáil debate, Deputy Doherty said: “For far too long many of Donegal’s off-shore islands, such as Arranmore, Tory Island, Gola, Inishfree, and Inishboffin and others have been abandoned by successive governments.

“They have suffered decades of population decline due to underinvestment, lack of services and policy failure in areas such as fishing which once provided much needed employment on the islands.

“This is why my colleague Deputy Martin Kenny and I introduced the Island Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill in 2017. This legislation is currently making its way through the Dáil and, if enacted, will provide for the issuing of heritage licences to island fishermen to facilitate the continuance of traditional fishing practices on Ireland’s offshore islands.”

Deputy Doherty called on the Government and all TDs to support the motion, which also seeks the development of unique policies for offshore islands as well as an action plan for measures to ensure that island’s can reach their full economic potential.

The north west can look forward to more glorious sunshine today during this good spell of warm Autumnal weather.

Temperatures are expected to rise to highs of 17-21C today and the warm conditions will last for at least three more days, according to Met Eireann.

High pressure will dominate this week to bring rain-free days, ‘above normal’ temperatures and plenty of sunshine.

And the warm spell is expected to get even better by Saturday, when temperatures reach up to 23C.

The coming nights will feel more seasonal, as temperatures drop as low as 4C.

Beachgoers will have to make the most of the good weather and stunning September sunsets this week before the rain is predicted to return by Saturday evening. The outlook for next week is ‘unsettled’, say Met Eireann forecasters.

Fianna Fáil and Agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue are bringing forward a private members motion in the Dáil this evening to highlight the downward spiral in beef prices which has resulted in farmer protests, factories closing, and workers laid off.

Immediate action is needed to solve the Beef Crisis, according to the Donegal TD, who is advocating for more policy changes to help farmers.

Speaking ahead of the motion, Agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue TD, said, “We welcome the deal struck over the weekend and it is now important that space is given to farm organisations to advocate all aspects of the deal to their members and that Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and the Minister for Agriculture ensure that all agreed actions are implemented promptly.

“An income crisis for beef farmers warrants an immediate set of actions to be carried out as pinpointed in our Dáil motion. While some of these points are included in the deal brokered on Sunday, there are still a number of areas that Fianna Fail will advocate for.

“These include requesting CAP market disturbance aid for price losses suffered since May; working towards the introduction of a €200 suckler cow payment in the next CAP and implementing the EU new Directive on Unfair Trading Practices into Irish law, which should be enforced by an independent National Food Ombudsman.

“I look forward to this evening’s debate on our motion and would urge the government to support the motion, taking real action to help farmers affected by the beef crisis,” concluded Deputy McConalogue.

Donegal TD Pat the Cope Gallagher has strongly criticised the government for having a lack of understanding of rural community needs after revealing that €270 million is still unspent on improvement schemes. 

The Fianna Fail TD calculated, from parliamentary question replies, that €270M which was sanctioned for 2017-2019 rural schemes and LEADER funding had not been spent by the end of August.

The rural schemes include the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure scheme; Town & Village Renewal scheme; CLÁR, the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), the Rural Regeneration fund and LEADER.

“Taking funds allocated to key rural improvement schemes over the period 2017-2019 there is an unspent balance of €111m alone. In the region of €56m still remains on departmental funds allocated to the Town & Village Renewal scheme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme going back two years,” Deputy Gallagher said. 

“Yet, the numbers get worse. The much-heralded Rural Regeneration fund was launched 14 months ago with €52m allocated for 2019. To date, just €4.1m in project funding released by the Department, representing an underspend of 92%. This type of funding would be urgently required in many areas throughout Donegal..

Deputy Gallagher added: “There are just 16 months remaining in the current 2014-2020 LEADER programme which is a key Rural Development Programme. However, despite €250m allocated to the seven-year programme, €159m remains unspent or 72% of total funds.”

Deputy Gallagher slammed the underspend as poor planning by government.

He said: “It is regrettable that funding on the levels such as these schemes, cannot be properly spent in a well-planned and timely fashion, what we will witness now is a rush to spend money and to commit the funding, which will lead to poor planning in some cases and a greater chance of the funding being wasted.”

Deputy Gallagher is calling for counties such as Donegal to be prioritised for Rural Ireland spending as the €270million funding is allocated.

A family of skilled farmers from Donegal will be featured in a special edition of RTE’s Nationwide this Wednesday evening.

The Simms brothers from Milford have gained attention at the National Ploughing Championships as all six of them are competing in Carlow this week.

RTE cameras will meet Matthew, Lee, Gary, Alan, Andrew and Ivan Simms tonight to hear about their events and preparations.  Competitiveness clearly runs in the family, as eldest brother Matthew is coach to the Republic of Ireland ploughing team.

Tune in to Nationwide on RTE One from 7pm this Wednesday, 18th September, to see the show.

Don't miss #RTENationwide this evening, Wed 18th Sept, from the Ploughing Championships in Co Carlow –@KennedyMary chats to the Simms brothers from Co Donegal, all six of them ploughing over the three days on @RTEOne 7pm & RTE+1 8pm @rte @DonegalHour @dgldemocrat @donegalpage RT pic.twitter.com/WntxH8fUgS

— RTÉ Nationwide (@RTENationwide) September 18, 2019