Ocean FM News Reports

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 9-11am.

  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 outlined details of the benefits of the scheme tha...

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 tune of around 28m euro. Speaking to Ocean FM News...

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 escalate the issue of Norwegian and Faroese overf...

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 bring the project to a finalised design, with the tea...

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 run a new train from Collooney into Mayo. But spea...

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 stretched. Cllr O'Boyle says while there are efforts o...

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 conditions across the region. A yellow alert for low temp...

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 contract was awarded to Bristow by the...

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 visibility and hazardous driving conditions. Meteorolo...

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 candidate for Sligo-Leitrim Graham Monaghan, feels an imp...

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. Independent General Election candidate Thomas Pringle sa...

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 strategies. ASTI Vice President and Donegal schoo...

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 contention for some time after two prospecting licen...

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 Sligo County Council. Cllr Mullaney has called upon...

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, Brandon Creagh says current indica...

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, Drystock Business and Teagasc Adv...

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 carried out. Ballymote-Tubbercurry Fine Gael Cllr Gerar...

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 appearances for Rovers last season, coming off the ben...

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 are in the pipeline for the Ballyshannon hospital...

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 as Mary Lou McDonald has joined the campaign trial...

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 of the VAT rate to 9%, as well as other commercial...

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 Rail Corridor if she were elected to the next...