The new chair of the Donegal VEC says the priority for the committee during his term will be to ensure further funding for the county’s schools and teachers.

FG Cllr Barry O’Neill was elected to the chair at yesterday’s AGM, he beat Bundoran FF Cllr Philip McGlynn to the position. His deputy is Labour Cllr Martin Farren who defeated FF Cllr Charlie McConologue.

Councillor O’Neill has also welcomed a decision that will see changes in how teachers are selected for jobs in Donegal:

A Donegal man has been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of sexually assaulting three young girls in his daughter’s bed while they were on sleepovers at his house.

The 44-year-old man, who can not be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting three then 13-year-old girls on separate dates between February 2006 and January 2007.

The jury of six men and six women returned their verdicts of guilty on all counts on day 6 of the trial following four hours and 55 minutes deliberations.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy remanded the accused in custody until his sentence date next month.

He registered the man as a sex offender and ordered victim impact statements.

The head of Failte Ireland North West is predicting a tourism increase in Donegal this summer as a result of the Donegal Live event which took place in Dublin’s Temple Bar yesterday.

Paul Mc Loone says the event is set to pay dividends, with industry representitives on the ground reporting a large number of positive inquiries.

Mr Mc Loone says this should lead to thousands of extra visitors to Donegal this year…

The head of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church says an audit of child protection in the Raphoe Diocese will be completed by the end of this year.

Ian Elliot said he had discussed claims of cover-ups by the diocese with former detective Martin Ridge, who claimed in a book that he encountered Church obstruction while investigating the convicted paedophile Father Eugene Greene.

Mr Elliot also met with Bishop Philip Boyce, and says he expects the bishop will publish the Board’s report without naming alleged abusers or complainants.

Mr Elliot says while new child protection standards in the church are being complied with nationally, fresh claims of abuse are still being made, and there’s no room for complacency….

The HSE is being urged to bring jobs to Letterkenny rather than take them away.

Deputy Niall Blaney has met the Health Minister Mary Harney to discuss the National Review of GP Out of Hours Service, which recommends that one call centre replace three currently in operation in the West.

It’s widely believed Galway will be chosen as the site, but Deputy Blaney says the jobs should be located in Letterkenny, and he is seeking a meeting with the HSE Chief Executive Brendan Drumm to press his case.

He says Minister Harney was positive about the idea…

Ballyshannon Councillor Barry O’Neill is the new Chair of Donegal VEC following a sometimes acrimonious meeting, at which Fianna Fail members accused representitives of other parties of excluding them.

The non-Fianna Fail councillors met at the weekend, leading to accusations of a secret pact to exclude Fianna Fail.

However, Cllr O’Neill denies this. He’s pledging that Fianna Fail will be included in what he says will be a fair and balanced way

A major exercise to test Donegal Airport’s Emergency Plan takes place tomorrow morning from half past seven.

Exercise Eagle will involve simulating a collision between an aircraft and a helicopter on the approach to the runway at the airport.

Eilis Barrett is Operations Manager at the airport, she says people shouldn’t be alarmed if they see emergency service activity in the area tomorrow

The Donegal VEC holds what it describes as its quinquennial meeting today, at which the way the political element of how the committee operates for the next number years will be determined.

Under new regulations, the committee chairperson is elected for three years, but in 2006, it was decided to implement a power sharing arrangement under which the chairperson would voluntarily resign and the position change on a regular basis. However, after a meeting of the non-Fianna Fail members over the weekend, FF claim they are being excluded.

FG Councillor Barry O’Neill denies this, claiming that Fianna Fail will be included, but in a fair and balanced way. He told this morning’s Donegal News that they have had it so good for so long, and at last year’s budget meeting in Lifford, they created their own downfall.

Tanaiste Mary Coughlan will attend a function this morning to sign the contract for a key element of the €16 million Killybegs Sewerage Scheme.

The document being signed today is a contract to design, build and operate the Main Pump Station, Outfall & Industrial collection System.

Donegal Mayor Cllr Brendan Byrne is hopeful that schemes in Convoy and Gloencolmcille which were included in the Killybegs application will now get clearance to proceed.

The Irish Aviation Authority has confirmed closed until midday tomorrow as a result of further volcanic activity in Iceland.

City of Derry Airport is also closed today, as are other airports in Belfast and in Britian.