The County Manager has again given a vigorous defence of a decision to employ the services of two experts to develop a new system of work to streamline local government.

It follows questions raised in in an audit of the council’s accounts for 2008 which question why the services of the two tenders did not go out to tender.

The manager was also keen to clarify the situation publicly as his role in the employment of the specialists has been questioned  in emails and phone calls to councillors bu some critical of the managers role in the process.

He questioned the motives of those that perceive themselves  ‘whistleblowers’

In a presentation of a report this morning the county manager said today’s meeting was perhaps the most important meeting of his career.

He has argued that the services being provided by the specialists was a new concept which was not available on the open market.

Donegal County Council, in 1997, was given funding by the government , to fund a pilot scheme to look at how local government was run.

From that the ‘Whole System of Work’ was compiled by the two specialists which looks at a number of areas including efficiencies within the council and how they can be implemented.

Today the specialists, Stephen Cang and David Stroll, have been outlining to councillors in great detail how the ‘Whole System of Work’ operates, what it will achieve and how much it will costs the council.

They have also outlined how they own the Intellectual Property Rights to the system backing up the county manager’s argument that their services were not available on the open market hence them not being procured by tender.

The county manager underlined his faith in the system, saying that Donegal is going from being perceived as a backwater to an edge leader in terms of local government reform.

It was also revealed today that the the Environment minister has requested a copy of the ‘Whole System of Work’ which will be forwarded to the department responsible for transforming public services.

It will also be considered in the context of the Local Government Efficient Review Group’s work.

The county manager said this was a very positive development and vindicates the spearheading work being carried out in Donegal.

The new NCT facility in Carndonagh is to expand. From Tuesday April 6th, the centre will be open 5 days a week, and a second mechanic will be employed.

This is being welcomed by Senator Cecilia Keaveney, who says it was very disappointing that serious delays began building up immediately after the centre opened, with clients being advised to go to Letterkenny to have the test done there.

She says it’s important that the Carndonagh centre is a success, and is urguing people in Inishowen to use it.

There’s no sign of any light at the end of the tunnel for those trying to get a passport at the office on Molesworth Street in Dublin.

For the fourth day in a row, hundreds of people gathered from the early hours, hoping to wait out the delays in getting their application processed.

Fine Gael Donegal TD Joe McHugh is now pleading with the Minister for Foreign Affairs to provide a 24-passport office service until next Wednesday.

Deputy McHughs been contacted by member of the public, who needs a passport to travel abroad to go to a funeral.

A 23-year-old Strabane man accused of punching a 67-year-old woman in the face at the weekend was remanded in custody at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Bryan McShane, of Lisnafin Park, is charged with assaulting the pensioner, on the Melmount Road last Saturday evening.

A detective constable told the court that he believed he could connect the accused to the charge.

The court heard that the police received a report at around 5.30pm on Saturday that a man had assaulted a 67-year-old woman, who had just left her home in sheltered accommodation using a zimmerframe.

The woman was taken to hospital with a swollen eye and was also spitting up blood.

The detective constable said that the police were told that the defendant had allegedly been seen going through the victim’s handbag. He added that a witness to the incident had identified the alleged assailant as 23-year-old, Bryan McShane.

The PSNI officer said that the police were strongly opposed to releasing the defendant on bail, saying that the defendant was recently released from custody, and that there had been concerns about his state of mind while he was in prison.

The district judge Neil Rafferty described the incident as a “random, unprovoked” assault on a 67-year-old woman and remanded the defendant in custody, to appear before the court again via videolink on April 20.

Calls are being made for an all-Ireland market for electricity and water.

SDLP Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tommy Gallagher has asked regulators on both sides of the border to sort out the provision.

One of his constituents, who lives close to the Donegal border, was turned down by ESB, as the company cannot connect to new customers in the North.

Mr Gallagher says that cross-border connections have been used for a long time, and should be allowed continue.

Calls are being made for the Minister for Helath to reverse her decision to slash home help hours in Donegal by 78,000 hours.

Speaking in the Seanad yesterday evening, Senator Pearse Doherty said that if home help hours are slashed, then it will mean great hardship for many elderly people in Donegal.

He says that the cuts will leave many elderly people alone and vulnerable.

The UUP have launched a scathing attack on West Tyrone DUP MLA Tom Buchanan.

Mr.Buchanan currently has four jobs; he’s a councillor, a member of the transition committee, a member of the assembly and a member of the policing board.

And Secretary of the West Tyrone Young Unionists, Ryan Moses, says that Unionism can be better represented in the constituency by somone who has a single mandate.

Visiting has been suspended to Letterkenny General Hospital’s Medical Wards 2 and 3 due to the presence of the winter vomiting bug.

Management is advising that, in exceptional circumstances, people should telephone the wards to make arrangements for next-of-kin only.

All visitors to other wards in the hospital are asked to wash their hands prior to coming into the hospital, and no children are currently allowed to visit.

Anyone with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting should not visit the hospital under any circumstances.

Two Inishowen men have been have been sentenced to two months detention for their part in an act of cruelty to a sheep last year.

20 Year-old Mark Fair from Fahan and 19 year-old Shaun McLaughlin from Ballinarry, Buncrana pleaded guilty to cruelty charges in court yesterday.

The court heard that Fair and McLaughlin were among a group of nine that hatched a plan while out drinking to steal a sheep and set it loose on the streets on Buncrana in the early hours of April 29th last year.

The horned ewe was stolen from a field and stuffed into the boot of a car and driven 15km, the journey from Leenan to Buncrana included the steep Mamore Gap.

The driver of the vehicle, who fled the jurisdiction, is said to have performed burn-outs and other stunts to create smoke from the tires under the boot.

Vet Anne Scott told the court when she arrived at the scene at 3.45am the ewe was in a state of shock and appeared terrified – she said she had to put it down.

One month on the police in Derry has re-newed an appeal for information on the murder of Kieran Doherty close to the Donegal border.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Harrison, said the victim, Kieran Doherty, had suffered a horrific death.

Kieran Doherty had been in the family home until about 8pm on Wednesday February 24.

He went out to the shops and that was the last his family saw of him.  His body was discovered by a passer by on the Braehead Road later that night.

Chief Inspector Ian Harrison said Kieran suffered a brutal death and said it was a savage attack, and cannot be justified for any reason

He added that a motive for the murder is being investigated.

Detective Chief Inspector Harrison said he believed that death was as a result of gunshot wounds, and that while the victim had come to police attention before, it was vital to concentrate on the investigation.

Anyone with information, or anyone who was on the Braehead Road in Derry on the evening of Wednesday February 24, is asked to contact police.