Ocean FM News Reports

There's disgust in Sligo after bags of clothing and household items were dumped at one of the banks last night. If the banks are full, people are urged to hold onto their items and return another day or visit a different site. Cllr Gibbons says this kind of dumping damages the town's image and undermines community efforts. The Sinn Féin councillor is calling for more regular collections and CCTV c...

Calls have been made locally to make provisions for Trumps tariffs in the upcoming Budget. The 15 per cent charges on most EU goods heading to America took effect yesterday. The EU says the terms of the deal mean a cap of 15 per cent on pharmaceuticals - but Donald Trump is threatening 250 per cent tariffs on the sector. But Sligo Labour Cllr Ann Higgins says the economy is in the healthy position...

Sligo has a new hurling manager. He’s Limerick man Tom Hennessy. He sets out his stall on the programme for the season ahead. Last weekend’s National Senior Athletics Championships were memorable for several young athletes based in Sligo. Two of the local medal winner interview each other about their Santry exploits. And we’re in Castleconnor to tee up the start of the Sligo LGFA Connacht Gold adu...

It's thought that south Donegal should be prioritised in any potential roll-out of permanent weather relief stations.   New hubs with generators and industrial pumps could be installed in towns affected by flooding.   Both Donegal Town and Killybegs have been devastated by floods in recent years.   Fine Gael Senator Manus Boyle says it's imperative the vulnerable areas in the North...

A Leitrim Councillor has called on the government to consider other measures other than increasing carbon taxes in their effort to implement climate change.   The comments from Leitrim Independent Councillor James Gilmartin come as the government is set to continue with carbon tax increases in Budget 2026.   Increases will impact commuters, gas, electricity, home-heating and the cost of...

The impact of Donald Trump's new tariffs will undoubtedly be felt in the North West. That's according to Junior Minister Marian Harkin, who says while the arrangement provides some certainty, there's still an element of the unknown on the horizon. The higher rate of 15 per cent kicked in at 5am Irish Time. Minister Harkin says companies have already starting exploring other export options but says...

Almost €2.5M is being allocated to the North West in the latest round of the Local Improvement Scheme. Donegal is set to get the biggest share at €1.6M following by Leitrim at €528,000 while County Sligo is getting €321,000. The investment will be geared towards upgrading rural roads and laneways in the region, improving access to rural homes, farms and outdoor amenities. Fianna Fail TD Eamon Scan...

A major campaign is set to begin in Bundoran, calling for improvements to the local medical centre. The current building is said to be no longer fit for purpose due to an ever growing population. Local Sinn Fein Cllr Michael McMahon is set to contact the Government on the matter to see what can be done. He feels that both the local community and the staff who there deserve better and either the id...

There are renewed calls for a local link bus between Ballymote and Tubbercurry. Currently, there is no direct bus link between the two large towns and its thought that with a constant rise in population, the need to improve public transport has never been greater. Ballymote has a train station with six return journeys from Sligo to Dublin which is used by many people from Tubbercurry- south Sligo...

The CEO of a Sligo based addiction service says that Alcohol and cocaine remain the most prominent substances that people are addicted to right across the country,   Nationally it's being claimed that there was an increase in the number of women accessing addiction services last year.   Aubrey Melville is the CEO of Social Ground force in Sligo.   He says that while there are still...

A brand new outdoor fitness suite is set to hit Ballisadare. It’s part of a wider effort to promote health and wellbeing in the local community. Work is expected to begin shortly, with just €3,000 in match funding still required. Speaking to Ocean FM News, Cllr Thomas Walsh says it’s a great boost to the local community

A Sligo Councillor says there a number of measures that could be introduced to help under pressure families with back to school costs.   Parents say they're raiding savings, going to moneylenders, and cutting back on essentials to cover the costs of the new school year,   The Back to School survey for Barnardos shows more than half are worried about how they’ll meet the costs this year....

Gardai in Sligo have been praised for their swift response to an alleged weekend stabbing incident. 30 year old Dylan Feeney with an address of 16 Maugheraboy Estate, appeared before a Special Sitting of Sligo District Court yesterday evening, charged in connection with the incident. Emergency services were called to the scene on Church Hill in the early hours of Monday morning last. Sligo Leitrim...

Calls ae being made on the Government to take immediate action to prevent recurring power outages in the North West. The calls come from Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice following what he described as a “light storm” over the weekend that still left residents without electricity once again. The Independent Deputy says falling electricity lines fall, have resulted in homes without power j...

There's concern in the North West that short-term rental properties are posing a threat to the Irish language. It comes following moves local activists in Gaeltacht areas in Galway to erect signs highlighting the accommodation shortage there. Meanwhile, new figures show a rise in the number of rental properties being advertised on websites such as Air B and B. Donegal County Councillor Michael Cho...

It's emerged that Letterkenny University Hospital has spent €1.2 million outsourcing just 5.5% of its GP blood test workload from March 2024 to March 2025.   In contrast, internal estimates show that this same volume of testing could be processed in-house for just €105,000.   Meanwhile, other data shows that the the volume of blood tests processed at LUH has increased by 78% since 2019....

Wind Energy Ireland says planning decisions for new wind farms are slowing down again.   Just two applications have been approved in the second quarter of the year - while 31 projects are still waiting for a decision.   In recent times Concern has been expressed about the proximity of proposed wind farms to homes in Leitrim.    The Save Dough Mountain and Leitrim Wind Aware gro...

A Donegal TD has urged the Tánaiste to meet with the family of the late Private Sean Rooney as soon as possible The mother of the Donegal solider has hit out at Simon Harris over comments he made after a Lebanese court convicted several men for offences related to her son's murder. Pte Rooney (24), from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was killed while serving in Lebanon when his UN peacekeeping con...

There's disappointment in Grange after what's been branded as wanton weekend vandalism. On Sunday morning last, the local Tidy Towns group were met with two of their flower boxes upturned and wrecked. It follows similar incidents in Sligo Town in recent weekend. Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council and Fianna Fail Cllr Donal Gilroy says it's very disheartening for those who are responsible for ma...

The Cathaoirleach of the Donegal MD has launched a scathing attack on RTE over its weekend coverage of the Ladies All Ireland Final. The game between Meath and Dublin was broadcast on TG4 on Sunday. However RTE didn't feature a preview of the event on its Six one news on Saturday evening. Past President of the LGFA and Fianna Fail Cllr Michael Naughton says this is sharp contrast with RTE's covera...

An urgent meeting is being sought with Uisce Eireann over the water supply in Bundoran. It comes after the area was severely impacted by an outage yesterday, leaving hundreds of homes and businesses without water at the peak of the tourism season. This is the latest in a string of bursts to the main pipeline serving the community. Local Sinn Fein Cllr Michael McMahon says he will be pursuing utili...

In the North, a campaign movement to increase safety on the A5 says it remains confident the road upgrade will go ahead It follows confirmation a High Court ruling against the current plans is to be appealed by Stormont's Infrastructure Minister. Since 2006, there've been more than 50 deaths on the A5 - which links Derry with Aughnacloy in County Tyrone, and forms a significant part of the route f...

At the age of 8, Australian woman Linda Kelly Lawless learned that the man raising her wasn’t her biological father. It wasn’t until decades later, through DNA testing, that she discovered the truth – her father was a Catholic priest. Linda has gone on to help many people trace their family and to learn who they are, including the O’Boyle family locally. Ms. Kelly-Lawless has been visiting Sligo i...

It's emerged that The Yeats Country Hotel in Rosses Point has been officially sold. The hotel went on the market late last year with a guide price of €7m. It's understood that it's has been bought by a local consortium with plans to develop the hotel into a top tourist destination in County Sligo. The ocean front hotel currently boasts 98 bedrooms and a leisure centre. Fine Gael Cllr Thomas Walsh...

A North West member of Anotu has called on the Health Minister and HSE to recruit homecare workers directly. Mary T Sweeney made the call after it emerged that a person remained in Sligo University Hospital for up to two years due to no home care packages or residential care being available for them. Similar situation are believed to have impacted thirty one patients in Letterkenny and twenty nine...