Donegal County Council says it does not intend to close off reservoirs in the county tonight in an effort to avoid interfering with New Year’s celebrations.

In its latest update the council says that the problems of a low water supply seem to be gradually stabilising and that while some areas are still without a supply, work is ongoing to resolve the issues.

Council Senior Engineer Padear McGrory has the latest:  

The bitter dispute which threatened the future of 2010 motorsport calendar has been resolved.

It follows a meeting in Portlaoise last night between Motorsport Ireland Rallies Committee and the Motorsport Commission.

The dispute resulted from anger about the actions of an official at the Donegal Rally in June and evolved to include dissatisfaction with current Motorsport Ireland President John Naylor.

The controversy was sparked with alleged illegal refuelling of Gareth MacHale’s winning Ford Focus in Donegal.

A judge of fact, Robert Corrigan, took photographs of the alleged incident, but instead of presenting evidence to the event stewards, he chose not to mention it until he spoke to senior officials in Motorsport Ireland the following day.

It was decided that the photo evidence presented was inconclusive and didn’t incriminate MacHale.
Subsequently, MacHale’s father, Austin, wrote to the Rallies Committee to vent his feelings.

This letter was read out at the public meeting as well as a letter of complaint to the Rallies Committee from Donegal Motor Club

This led to multiple resignations from the rallies committee and the resignation of the chief executive of Motorsport Ireland resigned Alex Sinclair.

A statement was release following last nights meeting which says that that all outstanding issues have been resolved and that the 2010 motorsport calendar will now commence on the 1st January with the support of all parties.

The Mayor of Donegal has said that 2009 was a challenging year for the county and there are obvious further challenges to be faced in 2010.

In an end of year message Councillor Brendan Byrne says that cuts in Council staff and a reduction in the capital investment programme by half with create challenges.

However Councillor Byrne says that on the plus side opportunities will arise and the county must be ready to seize them:  

Concern is growing for the safety of a man from Claudy who has been missing since he left for work on Wednesday.

Richard McCall left his home in the village at about 7am and caught the bus to work in Derry, but never arrived.

The 28-year-old is described as 5ft 11in tall, of thin build and with short blond hair.

When he was last seen he was wearing black work clothes and a black coat with a fleece underneath.

Joe McHugh

Fine Gael Deputy Joe McHugh has said the cutbacks in frontline staff and there impact on Donegal’s frontline services have been underlined by the recent poor weather.

Deputy McHugh says the government inability to introduce reform while retaining essential services has been badly exposed as council staff tackle icy roads and burst water pipes.

He has praised their efforts in dealing with the problems, but says that it is clear that council cutbacks and the government’s recruitment ban are impacting negatively.

Deputy McHugh says the situation needs to be reassessed:  

The cross border shopping playing field will be levelled to some extent this evening when the VAT rate in Britain and Northern Ireland goes up at midnight, while the VAT in the Republic goes down.

A reduced rate for the past year has been partly blamed for a massive rise in cross-border shopping this year.

The VAT rate will return to 17 and a half percent from January 1st – it had been cut to 15 percent in November 2008 – the rate of VAT in the Republic drops .5% to 20%.

A 66 year-old man with an address in Letterkenny appeared in Derry Magistrates Court today charged with one hundred and sixty eight sex offences.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was extradited from Donegal and has been in custody since December 21st.

A Detective Constable Patterson told the court that he executed one hundred and sixty eight warrants.

The offences are believed to have taken place between 1978 and 1981 in the Derry area.

The man was remanded in custody to appear again by video link on the January 7th.

Police in Derry are investigating a shooting in the city last night.

A man in his 30′s was shot in the leg after being chased by three men in the Glenvista Road area at around 8 o’clock.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Councillor Maeve McLaughlin has condemned those responsible for last night’s shooting – she says the Glen community do not want these actions taking place on their streets: 

Hundreds of residential and business premises across Donegal are still without water today.

Recent cold weather has burst a number of pipes in supply lines with over a hundred water services staff actively engaged in trying to maintain and restore water supply.

Donegal County Council shut reservoirs across the county last night to allow supplies to build up again with the disruptions expected to continue for the next few days.

Padar McGrory is a senior engineer with Donegal County Council and you can click below to hear from him a full review of the water situation  

The 24 year old man suspected of being linked to the death of Garda Gary McLoughlin in Inishowen before Christmas is due back in court today.

So far, Martin Mc Dermott from Raphoe has not faced any charges in connection with the fatal crash in which he was also injured.

Martin McDermott of Castlegrove, Raphoe was charged with drink-driving in August, 2008. He was also accused of a public order offence and resisting arrest in Letterkenny on July 7, 2008, and of failing to appear in court in Letterkenny on Janaury 15.

He was not charged with any offence relating to the collision at Lisfannon in the early hours of December 13th which resulted in 24-year-old Gda McLoughlin’s death. Gardai are still investigating that incident.

Gda McLoughlin, a native of Fenagh, near Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, who was stationed in Buncrana, died in Letterkenny General Hospital 24 hours after a red Opel Astra collided head-on with his patrol car.