A Donegal pensioner has been charged with rape.

The man, who is from West Donegal, has been returned for trial to Sligo circuit court, on one charge of sexual assault against a male under the Rape Act.

The man is charged that on a date unknown between October 1 1993 and June 1 1994, he sexually assaulted a male contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 as amended by Section 37 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001

The alleged offence happened at a location in county Sligo.

Garda Shane O’Rourke gave evidence of serving the Book of Evidence on the man, at Sligo District Court.

Sergeant Derek Butler applied for a return for trial on one charge to the next sitting of Sligo Circuit Court on October 6 at 10.30 am.

The court was told there was no objection to a bail bond of E300 in respect of the defendant, who was in court.

Defence solicitor, Mr James Hayes of Hartnett and Hayes solicitors, applied for legal aid and was granted one counsel for the circuit court trial.

The defendant was remanded on continuing bail until that date.

In returning the defendant for trial, Judge Kevin Kilrane said that nothing could be published that might tend to identify the defendant or the alleged victim.

Donegal’s Covid incidence rate has soared yet again.

The latest figure show the county is far and above anywhere in the country with an incidence rate of 218.6 per 100,00 people.

The figures, released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, show the rate up to September 30th.

Monaghan’s 14-day Covid-19 incidence rate has jumped by 32.6 to 166.2 per 100,000 while Dublin’s incidence rate has now hit 162.9.

The national incidence rate has risen to 96.3 per 100,000

Donegal, still holding the highest rate in the country, rose by 7.5 to 218.6 and two weeks into Level 3 restrictions, Dublin increased by 3.9 to 162.9

The figures come as the county remains in Phase 3 of the Government’s LIving with Covid plan which remain here until October 19th.

However, those rising figures will give cause for concern that not enough is being done by the public to reduce the figures and could lead to a continued lockdown.

THERE was a record number of positive Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland over the last 24 hours – and the public have been told to prepare for a second lockdown.

There have been 934 positive cases and one further death confirmed by the Department of Health today.

Local restrictions were announced in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area yesterday.

The seven-day infection rate is 139.4 per 100,000 people in Northern Ireland. in the Derry City and Strabane area, that rate stands at 422.8.

Dr Michael McBride, Northern Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer told the BBC: “I do believe that we need to plan and prepare and look at options around a so-called circuit breaker.

“For us to get through the next number of months we may well need to apply further restrictions, perhaps for a short period of a couple of weeks … and then if the virus starts to increase again we may need to reapply some of those wider further restrictions.

“There may come a point, if we see very significant transmission at a Northern Ireland level, that we need to move away from local restrictions to wider restrictions at a Northern Ireland level, and that may include a circuit breaker.”

Since the outbreak, there have been 582 deaths and 12,886 positive cases.

There are 65 patients in Northern Ireland hospitals being treated for Covid-19 with nine of those in intensive care settings.

The Government has opted not to pursue an incident where a British navy ship instructed a Donegal fishing vessel to leave grounds where it was working some 60 miles off the coast.

The 32-metre fishing vessel Marlíona, registered in Greencastle was hailed by the British navy ship HMS Lancaster on July 21st last and asked to leave the area, even though it is well within the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was investigating the incident, which had been referred to the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) by the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO).

However, the department has subsequently said the location was “not within Ireland’s territorial sea and did not, therefore, infringe our sovereignty”.

“In general, it is not unusual for naval ships to ask other vessels in the vicinity to move away from an exercise location for safety reasons,” the department said.

A British navy spokesperson said that “courteous and professional exchanges between the fishing vessel and frigate operating within the designated exercise area enabled this lawful exercise to continue and conclude safely”.

“The safety of all mariners is taken extremely seriously by the Royal Navy. At no time was there a risk to safety to either the fishing vessel or submarine,” the British navy spokesperson said.

The British Directorate of Defence Communications said the ship “operated throughout in accordance with the UN Convention of the Law of Sea, having due regard for other vessels operating in the area”.

However, KFO chief executive Sean O’Donoghue has said there is now a case for the Government to state that the Irish EEZ should be protected from military training exercises by submarines on environmental grounds.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the issue was one for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.

DONEGAL TD Thomas Pringle, has lodged an official complaint with ComReg over Eir’s failure to respond to customers.

Deputy Pringle said: “There has been a constant stream of Eir customers contacting my office because they have been unable to reach Eir, or they haven’t gotten a response to the problems they reported.

“This pandemic, and the restrictions we’re living with in Donegal, have highlighted these issues because reliable telephone and broadband services have become such crucial means of communication. Eir’s lack of response is disgraceful.

“We have gotten on to the communications regulator in the past and they want us to go through all the processes with the company first, but the company won’t respond to us. That’s a great way of preventing someone from contacting ComReg, if you can’t reach them to go through their processes.”

Deputy Pringle said his Killybegs office has received calls from Eir customers on a range of issues, but an overall problem has been their inability to make contact with Eir, whether they try to reach them by phone, online, or via Facebook.

He said: “We have heard from people who said they have been left waiting on the phone for hours, only to be cut off during the call. We have heard from people unable to see even the simplest issue resolved, from collecting Eir equipment left in a customer’s garden to fixing a telephone pole that left several residents without a landline connection.

“We have heard from a family who have made many attempts since April to cancel the Eir account of a loved one who died. At this difficult time they are still faced with monthly bills.

“And when it comes to broadband, Eir seems to have washed their hands of any responsibility for intervention areas, referring people to National Broadband Ireland. Again, this is not nearly good enough.”

Deputy Pringle said Eir owes its customers a reliable customer service as well as reliable phone and broadband services.

He added: “This is not just a Donegal issue. Eir should be there to serve their customers. Customers are not there to serve Eir.”

UNIONS representing second and third level students have sought urgent meetings over errors that were found in the calculated grades system for the 2020 Leaving Cert.

The Irish Second-Level Students union and the Union of Students in Ireland have asked Ministers Norma Foley and Simon Harris for talks.

The unions note the ‘significant anxiety in the student population’  and say they want to ‘mitigate the impact of this regrettable and traumatic situation for so many students’.

Two errors occurred in this year’s system, and 7,200 grades were affected.

Both errors related to the way in which candidates’ Junior Cycle results were included in the standardisation process.

They resulted in incorrect grades being awarded to some students when they received their results on 7 September.

Some students, estimated at 6,500, are believed to receive grades lower than they deserved.

The two Unions sent a letter, signed by their respective presidents, Laura Fitzpatrick an Reuban Murray.

“If not handled correctly, this could result in serious fallout that goes far beyond just grades and offers. We need to find the solutions to this together, as quickly and efficiently as possible,” they said.

“We need to find the solutions to this together, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“You will be acutely aware that the apparent reported failures in the system for grading have caused significant anxiety within the student population. This has caused serious concerns to emerge on availability of classes for students moving on to higher education.

“We recognise that the Covid-19 emergency has inevitably caused deviations from the normal course for examinations, but we are concerned that the confidence expressed by you and others in the selected contingency system has been misplaced.”

GDC (IRL) LTD require an Experienced Groundworkers for Letterkenny and Inishowen.

Must have a minimum of three years experience in all aspects of groundworks associated with housing developments.

To Apply: Submit your details in the careers section on our website at www.gdcirl.com, by email info@gdcirl.com or by phone 074 9384700 (Office hours: Mon – Fri, 9am-5pm)

Fabplus Limited manufacture fire suppression systems and are based in Strabane, Co Tyrone.

The sprinkler industry is a specialized industry dictated by unique design, fabrication, and installations procedures.

Fabplus seek a candidate with AutoCAD experience.

The ideal candidate would analyse and interpret existing AutoCAD drawings and performing calculations for export into company internal software

Duties

* 3D Modelling
* Create stock lists for all material required throughout the project
* Maintain design historical records for future use
* Ability to read and comprehend NFPA 13, 14, 17, 20 and 25, etc.
* Provide lists for fabrication
* Other duties as assigned

To apply please email your CV to Fabplus Limited to careers@fabplus.co.uk

ANOTHER 36 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Donegal today – taking the total number of cases in the county since the outbreak over 1,000.

Nationally, a further 470 cases have been noted to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

That figure includes another 36 in Donegal, continuing the high volume of cases in the county in recent weeks.

In total, there have now been 1,013 cases of the coronavirus in Donegal.

Earlier today, figures showed that Donegal’s Covid-19 incidence rate rose again and is now far and above anywhere in the country with an incidence rate of 218.6 per 100,00 people.

The HPSC has been informed of one further Covid-19 related death today.

There have been 1,801 Covid-19 related deaths and 37,063 confirmed cases.

Of the cases notified today: 225 are men and 242 are women; 68 per cent are under 45 years of age; 40 per cent are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case; 68 cases have been identified as community transmission.

Of the new cases, 198 are in Dublin, 61 in Cork, 36 in Donegal, 19 in Kildare, 19 in Limerick, 12 in Kerry, 11 in Galway, 11 in Meath, 10 in Roscommon, 9 in Cavan, 9 in Clare, 9 in Kilkenny, 9 in Longford, 9 in Offaly, 9 in Westmeath, 8 in Louth, 7 in Tipperary, 7 in Wexford, with the remaining 17 cases in 7 counties.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “The situation nationally is a matter of serious concern and NPHET is now recommending that no more than two households should meet at any given time. It is vital that everyone – families, friends and neighbours – limit the opportunities this virus has to move from person to person and stop the spread of the disease across households.

“Behave as though you have the virus and keep yourself and those around you safe – don’t take a risk by organising or attending gatherings with more than one other household.”

A Legal Practice in West Donegal is seeking a receptionist for a six month contract.

Duties include:

* Greeting clients
* Answering telephone calls and routing to correct extension
* Scheduling client appointments
* Scanning & copying documents
* Dealing with incoming and outgoing mail
* Office administration
* Be familiar to Microsoft packages

The successful candidate must have:

* Excellent people skills
* Excellent telephone manner
* Excellent organisational skills
* Be a team player
* Must have good attention to detail
* Dependable and punctual

Previous experience in another legal practice or professional firm will be an advantage.

We require the successful candidate to start immediately.

Please send you letter of application and CV with the words Legal Receptionist in the headline to donegaldailyjobs@gmail.com

President Donald Trump has been rushed to a military hospital for the treatment of his Covid 19.

Trump, 74, will be moved to a special suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for the next few days as a precautionary measure, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

He is also being given an experimental drug.

The White House spokesperson added “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” she said in a statement.

Trump has a mild fever, according to a source familiar with the matter. White House doctor Sean P. Conley said that he is “fatigued but in good spirits.”

An active Twitter user, Trump has not posted any messages since then.

Trump is at high risk because of his age and weight. He has remained in apparent good health during his time in office but is not known to exercise regularly or to follow a healthy diet.

GARDAÍ have issued an alert regarding the latest phishing scam they have been made aware of.

Persons are being  contacted by an email claiming to be from the Department of Justice and Equality, but will use the words ‘Ireland Justice Department’ and will come from the email address ‘jury@justice.ie’.

The body of text asks people to register for jury service by clicking on the link, ‘justice.ie’. When clicked on it redirects people to a cloned website, where a person’s name, date of birth and PPS number is sought.

Gardaí are advising the public as follows:

• Do not respond to unsolicited emails

• Do not clicks onto links contained within them

• Do not give away any personal data

• Report the matter to An Garda Siochana

• Be aware that the public are never asked to register for jury service in this manner as people are contacted by summons for jury service by the County Registrar.

More information is available from Courts Services via the following link https://www.courts.ie/jury-service

Information on Crime Prevention can be found via the following link https://www.garda.ie/en/Crime-Prevention/

Met Éireann has issued a status yellow rainfall warning for Donegal for tomorrow (Sunday).

The forecaster said heavy and intense rainfall with totals of 25mm to 40mm are expected.

The warning comes into effect from 7am tomorrow morning.

Met Eireann said river levels would be elevated as a result of the rainfall, which may result in some rivers flooding, as well as surface flooding.

Drivers are asked to take extra care when traveling tomorrow morning.

Counties Sligo, Mayo and Leitrim have also been effected.

The warning will remain in place until 9pm tomorrow night.

DONEGAL is set to be lashed by heavy wind and rain all through Sunday and Met Eireann have issued two yellow alerts covering the county.

Northwest winds are set to strengthen significantly and gusts up to 100km/h are being forecast while heavy rainfall, with totals of up to 40mm, are expected.

A status yellow wind warning was issued this morning for Donegal, Mayo and Sligo for Sunday.

The warning is valid from 6am to 9pm on Sunday.

A Met Eireann forecaster said: “Northwest winds strengthening on Sunday with mean wind speeds of 50 to 65 km/h and gusts of 90 to 100 km/h.”

A status yellow rainfall warning has also been issued for eleven counties, including Donegal, and is valid from 7am to 11pm on Sunday.

A forecaster said: “Heavy and persistent rainfall on Sunday with totals of 25 to 40mm expected, higher totals over mountainous areas. This may result in some rivers flooding as well as surface flooding.”

TWO people were assaulted in an overnight incident in a Letterkenny housing estate.

Gardaí have launched an investigation into the incident at Ashlawn.

A Garda presence and a cordon remain in place in the area this morning and Gardaí are on the hunt for the perpetrator.

A Garda spokesperson told Donegal Daily: “Gardaí attended a public order incident in the Gortlee area of Letterkenny in the early hours of this morning, Saturday 3rd October.”

The spokesperson confirmed that no arrests have yet been made and enquiries are ongoing.

The scene at Ashlawn. (North West Newspix)

VISITOR facilities and amenities at the world famous Sliabh Liag have been closed temporarily following a significant rise in Cofid-19 cases in Donegal.

Donegal’s total number of Covid-19 cases passed 1,000 yesterday and now stands at 1,013 after the confirmation of 36 infections yesterday evening.

The incidence rate in Donegal is the highest in the country.

Sliabh Liag is a popular tourist attraction and last weaken was said to have experience ‘a huge influx of visitors’.

The decision has now been taken to close until further notice.

A statement said: “Comhlacht Pobal Shliabh Liag wishes to advise that visitor facilities and amenities at Sliabh Liag have closed temporarily until further notice.

“This decision was reached following the escalation of the COVID 19 pandemic. Last weekend the area experienced a huge influx of visitors and this has given rise to genuine fears for residents who live in the immediate vicinity of the Sliabh Liag Cliffs.

“Access will be for land owners only.

“We are asking the Public to comply fully with the new restrictions being implemented.

“We thank you for your co-operation.”

MINISTER for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has said the announcement of just over €5.8 million to Habinteg Housing Association for the development of 34 housing units at Castlefin, is a huge boost for the area. 

The announcement made under Stage 2 of the Capital Assistance Scheme, will see €5,843,071 allocated to Habinteg Housing Association for the development of 34 housing units on Raphoe Road Castlefin.

“I am delighted with the news of this funding for Castlefin and I congratulate the Chairman of the Association Dr. Paul Armstrong and all those involved with the Habinteg Housing Association who have worked tirelessly to progress the project to this crucial stage,” Minister McConalogue said.

Habinteg Housing Association is a local registered housing charity formed in Lifford in 2001 and is responsible for and manages an award winning 53 unit development in Ballyduff Park, Lifford.

The Castlefin site was purchased by Habinteg in 2016 and had been lying partly developed for several years.

“There are a number of key stages in the approval process but Stage 2 is the critical step on procurement, cost and value for money and is the key step in accessing funding, so I am delighted that the group has reached this stage now and the money has been approved,” the Minister said.

Minister McConalogue acknowledged the work of Donegal County Council, the HSE and MH Associates who had all given tremendous assistance to Habinteg to progress the project.

“The announcement is a great boost for the area and I am certain that this development will provide lifetime standard housing options for individuals of all levels of ability along with families and the elderly,” he said.

The Minister said he has been informed it is planned to start construction in quarter 2 of next year, with the houses set for completion in quarter 3 of 2022.

DONEGAL’S 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 has increased again.

The incidence rate – the number of cases of the virus per 100,000 of the population – in Donegal now stands at 233.1 and remains the highest in the country.

Donegal’s figure is up from 218.6 yesterday.

The latest data shows that Monaghan’s incidence rate is 172.2, Dublin had a rate of 168.2.

The national rate is now 100.9 – compared to 32.7 just a month ago.

Roscommon (134.8) and Longford (119.9) both have rates that are above the country’s figure.

The HSE say that there are 113 people in hospital with Covid-19, 21 of whom are in intensive care units.

A STUNNING rendition of The Auld Triangle by three Donegal singers and made in a Donegal forest has gone viral around the world.

The video, uploaded last weekend, has gained massive traction across social media.

The singers are Tom McHugh from Inver, Deane Connaghan from Mountcharles and Diarmaid McGee from Ballintra and the guitar backing is from Declan Gaughan from Frosses.

Filming took around nine hours in Murvagh Forest and some 150 hours were put into the entire production.

The piece was ‘filmed as darkness fell in the forest’ on Thursday, September 24.

One person commenting on YouTube said this version of the Irish ballad ‘reaches the depths of the soul’.

ONE further Covid-19 related death has been announced in Northern Ireland, where there have been 726 new cases.

Figures released today by the Department of Health show the one additional death, taking the region’s death toll to 583.

The 726 new infections bring to 13,612 the number of cases since the outbreak.

The Derry City and Strabane area remains of concern with the incidence rate per 100,000 population now standing at 946.

There are currently 65 patients in Northern Ireland hospitals being treated for Covid-19, with nine of those in intensive care units.