Ocean FM News Reports

Condolences are being sent to Ronan Keating's family following the death of his older brother Ciaran in a road crash over the weekend. Mr. Keating who lived in Westport in Mayo was driving with his wife to Sligo to watch their son play a football game for Cork City against Sligo Rovers on Saturday afternoon. The collision happened at a black spot on the N5 at Ballymiles outside Swinford. Westport...

A Sligo-Leitrim TD has urged sports clubs and communities to apply for funding under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme. The funding will open for new applications from July 17th to provide support to sports clubs and communities to develop infrastructure. Fine Gael deputy, Frank Feighan, has welcomed the announcement, and is advising eligible sports clubs across the constituency to review...

A Leitrim based environmentalist says the staging of the annual Slí Eile climate camp in Leitrim this year will afford the North West region to air concerns over many environmental issues. It’s understood that raising awareness to the possibility of gold mining in parts of Leitrim, the construction of super wind Turbines and ongoing forestry concerns will be key local issues that various north wes...

Serious concern has been raised that the Public Realm Space planned for the Diamond in Donegal Town may be shelved indefinitely. The scheme was intended to transform and restore the Diamond and while it had been anticipated that the project would get underway in September, Donegal County Council has confirmed that it has been stalled due to rising material costs. It's only one of a number of plann...

The Tánaiste is facing calls to help workers at Iceland who are still seeking pay after the company went into examinership. Several stores, across the country including the one in Letterkenny, have been closed as a result of the ongoing issue. It effectively means that hundreds of works have been left without wages owed to them, holiday pay and redundancy pay. Speaking in the Dail, Independent TD...

A Donegal TD is calling for homeowners affected by defective blocks to be included on the Implementation Steering Group which is being formed to address issues as they arise in the new redress scheme. In a submission to an Oireachtas Housing Committee Deputy Joe McHugh called for representation from homeowners to be included. The Fine Gael TD told the committee that there is a danger that official...

A Sligo Councillor is warning that extending a 'right of first refusal' for tenants whose rental homes are being sold will not make any serious inroads in the housing crisis currently gripping the North West region. People Before Profit Councillor Gino O' Boyle the scheme was announced in hast by the Minister for Housing Darragh O' Brien. The Sligo Strandhill Councillor says independent valuations...

There's concern over the slow progress being made on safety measures for Dunkineely. Flashing lights outside the local school had been earmarked for some time while there are also ongoing calls for a footpath to be installed coming into the village. Local Fianna Fail Cllr Michael Naughton says it's important that the local community feel safe going about their daily activities. He believes that fu...

Some campers are coming under fire for leaving their rubbish behind them at a scenic area of south Donegal. An additional car park has been established near Fintra beach in recent years and while its been a huge success, some people using the facility are discarding their rubbish after them. The community are said to be frustrated having to clean up the mess time and time again. Local Independent...

The first ever 'All-Island Strategic Rail Review' will be published by the end of the month. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says he expects to bring a memo to Cabinet on the matter in two weeks time. It'll outline the recommended and assessed rail-lines which could be re-opened in the North West and across the whole island of Ireland Minister Ryan says moves are already being made, in anticipation...

A local farming official has express his disappointment the European Parliament's vote, on the EU Nature Restoration Law. The President of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association says vote is a direct attack on farmers and communities in the North West/ Vincent Roddy has also expressed his surprise that all the Irish MEPs voted for this measure. The legislation, which intends to restore Euro...

A walkability study is getting underway on the grounds of the Sheil Hospital in Ballyshannon. The 80 bed facility is nearing completion and this audit is to ensure that users will be accommodated. Local Fine Gael Cllr Barry Sweeney says it's a good initiative for the hospital but the focus must turn to the general accessibility issues that present in the town of Ballyshannon:

There are further calls for Municipal District meetings to be livestreamed. Independent Councillor Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig has made the call numerous times, saying it would be in the interest of fairness and transparency. The issue was raised at the latest sitting Glenties Municipal District meeting be livestreamed. Speaking to Ocean FM news, Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig believes that with fu...

A Sligo-Leitrim TD has launched a scathing attack on the housing minister. Deputy Martin Kenny claims that the Minister Darragh O'Brien's policies are constantly failing resulting a surge in rent prices in counties Sligo and Leitrim amongst others. Speaking in the Dáil, Sinn Féin TD says the only way the crisis can ease is for the Housing Minister to 'step aside' and for the government to 'get out...

Bus Eireann is facing calls to attend an emergency meeting with Donegal County Councillors over the latest in the cancellations debacle. Passengers wishing to travel to Donegal and Fermanagh were left stranded at Dublin Airport last Friday morning with little notice given while a similar incident happened in Donegal Town yesterday morning where the service from there to the Capital was cancelled....

Serious health and safety concerns have been raised yet again over problematic grass verges on more minor routes in the region. It's estimated that there hundreds of routes in south Donegal and elsewhere that are currently a major safety hazard due to overgrowth at this time of year. There are fears that the issue will lead to a potential tragedy if it's not tackled. Donegal County Council says it...

Following the discovery of a man’s body in North Sligo earlier this afternoon, the missing person appeal for 22-year-old David Slanina has been stood down. A Garda statement says that no further information is available at this time. Gardaí have thanked the public and media for their assistance in this matter. Local Councillor Dónal Gilroy has paid tribute to those involved in the search operation...

A Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA says she is hopeful that today's July 12th parades will pass off without incident. Police are treating as a hate crime the burning of an effigy of Sinn Féin's Vice President Michelle O'Neill on a bonfire in Tyrone. PSNI officers are liaising with community representatives after the picture, and Irish flags, appeared on a bonfire in Dungannon last night. The Northern Ir...

A Sligo Councillor has backed calls for a fresh investigation to be carried out into the Sean Ross Abbey Mother and Baby Home after the discovery of what's believed to be mass baby graves. Engineers working on the site who also surveyed the Bon Secours plot in Tuam has reported similar anomalies at the Co. Tipperary site. It's being reported that several locations in the grounds of the abbey are s...

A Sligo councillor says it needs to be established if there will be changes in relation to how Irish coastguard search and rescue operations are ran locally after the contract for the provision of the service recently was awarded to a different company. Bristow Ltd were recently awarded the contract and whereas Sligo Strandhill Councillor Sinead Maguire fully supports the process which allows comp...

It's been claimed that the housing crisis in the North West is growing. It comes as the Government is facing pressure to provide some financial assistance to renters before the Dail breaks for the summer. Sinn Fein is to bring forward a motion before the Dail tonight on the issue, calling on the Government to introduce a three-year ban on rent increases among other measures. Donegal Sinn Fein TD P...

A Sligo-Leitrim, North Roscommon and South Donegal TD says years of government neglect is beginning to manifest in census figures that shows the population of Killybegs and Ballyshannon have decreased over the last 30 years. Data compiled in 2022 compared to the numbers recorded in the census figures of 1991 show the population in Ballyshannon has decreased by 592 while Killybegs has also seen a d...

A local representative of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association says the examples of animal cruelty that were broadcast on an RTÉ programme last night were disturbing. The Minister for Agriculture has condemned the incidents adding that they were certainly not reflective of the work that farmers put into managing their farm enterprises responsibly. Brendan Barry says the examples focused...

Serious concern has been raised once again over car parking facilities at Sligo University Hospital. While it's been said that there are many issues afoot as it relates to parking there, the latest appeal is to those who are waiting in their cars for other family members who are in the hospital for appointments. It's understood that there have been several instances of people 'hogging' spaces whil...

Property prices in counties Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal all rose in the second quarter of 2023, according to the latest MyHome.ie property price report. Property prices in Sligo have risen by €1,000 during the quarter. The report also shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is now €190,000. Leitrim, meanwhile, saw the largest increase in the north west with properties rising...