Ocean FM News Reports

A Leitrim councillor has called for as many third level students as possible to be included in measures to ease the cost of living crisis on those and their families that are returning to third level education this autumn. It's being reported today that the government will consider getting rid of the three thousand euro student contribution fee for 100 thousand students in the budget. The proposal...

Tributes are being paid to the late John Mullaney Snr. The prominent Sligo businessman passed away peacefully yesterday. Mr Mullaney was instrumental in a number of local initiatives through the decades. His funeral takes place on Thursday. Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr Gerard Mullaney described the late Mr Mullaney as a gentleman who was passionate about Sligo Town: 

Local contractor, Donlon Civil and Building Services has been awarded the contracts. The works include the provision of pedestrian crossings and footpaths along the R290 Collooney to Carrignagat road. Funding allocated will also allow for the provision of bus shelters and of junction tightening measures. The works will be divided up into different phases over an eight-month period. A full traffic...

Almost 500 homes, farms and business in west Sligo are set to be connected to high-speed fibre broadband in an announcement by National Broadband Ireland (NBI). National Broadband Ireland does not supply internet themselves, instead, they lay the required infrastructure for Internet Service Providers to deliver speeds of up to 500 megabits per second. The roll-out in Corbally is part of a €59 mill...

Summer 2023 is shaping up to be one of the worst on record for Irish farmers. Persistent heavy rain has prevented many farmers from cutting hay. Many others have seen baled hay completely destroyed. Deputy Editor of the Irish Farmers' Journal, Catriona Morrissey says the cost to farmers this year will be massive.

A Kiltyclogher native has been appointed as the National Dairy Council's new Farm Advocacy Manager. Majella McCafferty qualified from Dundalk IT with a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing specialising in large animals, winning Irish Veterinary Nurse student of the year in 2015. Miss McCafferty previously was employed as Farm Development Manager for LacPatrick Dairies and most recently held a...

Large crowds attended two preview days at the new Ballyshannon Community Hospital recently, ahead of its opening later this year. The €36.7 million facility located at the site of the old Sheil Hospital in Ballyshannon. The HSE provided tours of the Dementia Unit, Short Stay Unit, Long Stay Unit, Day Hospital and Sensory Garden. Ballyshannon Community Hospital features 52 long stay beds, 20 short...

A baby gathering will be taking place this Saturday in Carrick on Shannon. Mothers are asked to take a photo of their babies as part of a montage, which will be sent to Russia to highlight young victims of the ongoing war. It's also being run as a show of support to Kateryna Konyshcheva, 18, who has been in Leitrim just a few months and works in BR Bistro in Carrick-on-Shannon. She lost her mother...

With schools due to reopen in the coming weeks, the annual challenge of securing bus tickets for children attending Primary and Post Primary schools is continuing to prove to be a major one for many parents and guardians. Many families who have used the school bus service for a number of years are said to be finding themselves without tickets before the start of school term in September. Ballymote...

Works are to be carried out in Ballisodare on a water mains that needs replacing. The mains is located between the Drumiskabole crossroads and Ballisodare, and should stop bursts, outages and leakages in the area. Up to 3.5km of mains are to be replaced, with work starting along the Old Dublin Road in the coming weeks, and a road closure with diversions will be in place on the L3603. Speaking to O...

Ireland West Airport Knock is the top ranked airport for queue times in Ireland and the UK, and has been ranked 6th quickest in Europe. The survey was carried out by holiday home rental company Casago, who compiled a list of the best and worst airports in terms of queue times. 55% of passengers surveyed gave Ireland West Airport Knock a rating of either 4 or 5 stars. Speaking to Ocean FM News, Don...

The centre, which is located in St John's Hospital in Sligo, is hosting a party to mark 30 years and acknowledge the support that it has received in that time. The event will get underway at midday and finish around 3pm this afternoon, with many guests expected to attend. Speaking to Ocean FM News, Tamara Gormley, manager of the MS North West Therapy centre, described the last 30 years as remarkab...

It's understood that retained firefighters are set to suspend their strike action, following late-night talks last night. Among the conditions agreed are commitments to increase the guaranteed pay, as well as assurances on the firefighter's fixed retainer payments. The process has been described as slow and painful, and Siptu will consult with its members regarding proposals ahead of a new ballot....

It has been confirmed that a contract has been offered for the continuation of postal services in Collooney. In May, the current postmistress confirmed her intentions to retire from her position after ten years in the role. However, following a review by An Post, the service looks set to now resume with postal services, with a smooth transition between the existing post office and the new post off...

The vice-chair of the Donegal Joint-Policing Committee has said the fact that Donegal will be a stand-alone Garda division going forward marks "a good day for Donegal". It's in response to the news that Donegal will not be amalgamated into a division with Sligo and Leitrim as originally planned. The move has been welcomed across Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. Speaking to Ocean FM News, Councillor Bar...

Tributes have been paid to Bishop Liam MacDaid, Bishop-Emeritus of Clogher. Bishop MacDaid was Bishop of Clogher from 2010 until his retirement on health grounds October of 2016. A native of Bundoran, Bishop MacDaid was previously the President of St Macartan’s College in Monaghan and Administrator of the Parish of Tyholland as well as serving in the roles of Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor of t...

The Chairperson of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee has welcomed today’s announcement that Donegal is to become a stand-alone garda division following a review of the proposed new divisions. Three divisions which were to encompass three counties were reviewed, and this morning, Garda Headquarters has confirmed that Donegal will go forward as its own garda division. Among the changes considered...

Donegal will now be a stand alone Garda division. The decision was made after a review requested by the Garda Commissioner and as a result, the Garda Senior Leadership Team has decided to re-configure the composition of certain three-county Divisions under the Garda Operating Model. This now means Donegal will be its own Garda Division, and will no longer be amalgamated with the Sligo/Leitrim divi...

A recent survey carried out by Active Retirement Ireland hs shown that up to 94% of older people would like to see an Irish Commissioner for Aging and Older People. Among the respondents to the survey were members of Active Retirement associations in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. The survey was carried out in March and April of this year, and among the main findings were that older people feel that...

HSE clerical and administrative staff across the North West have served notice of industrial action. It comes following the results of a ballot last week, in which Fórsa members voted over a dispute on outsourcing and a recruitment ban. The union ballot, which was backed by 93.3% of members, came off the back of a HSE decision to stop all recruitment of clerical and administrative staff in July. S...

A former chair of the Sligo branch of the IFA has said farmers are "disheartened" by the performance of the Minister and the Department of Agriculture to date. Eddie Davitt described the mood amongst farmers as disillusioned, given that prices have declined and the cost of production has almost doubled. There is also discontent among the farming community about the number of schemes set up lately,...

A former vice-Principal says a number of variables are deterring people away from the teaching profession. Currently, there are at least 416 vacant teaching jobs in secondary schools across the country. Teachers are calling on the Minister for Education Norma Foley to overhaul the profession to attract more people into the job. Seán Wynne, former vice-Principal of Drumshanbo Vocational School says...

Both the Justice Minister and the Garda Commissioner have been called on to review where frontline Gardaí are stationed particularly in rural areas. Latest figures show that Sligo-Leitrim had the fourth highest number of Gardaí per 100,000 with 269 in total. Cathaoirleach of the Sligo-Drumcliff Municipal District Thomas Walsh has previously raised the issue and is calling for a recruitment strateg...

There's calls for emergency action in the wake of rents continuing to skyrocket in the North West. Last week's Daft.ie report revealed that rents increased by 16% in Sligo, and 20% in Leitrim in the last 12 months. Sligo Leitrim Sinn Fein TD Martin Kenny is urging the Government to support a ban on rent increases for all existing and new tenancies for three years, He also feels that a full month's...

A solution can be found to alleviate the shortage of available parking at Dublin Airport. That's the view of Sligo Leitrim TD Martin Kenny, who was speaking in response to the announcement by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission that it intends to carry out an in-depth investigation into the purchase of a private carpark by the DAA. The car park in question was bought by the airport...