There’s been a widespread welcome for confirmation that two brothers at the centre of an abuse scandal in Donagh, County Fermanagh have been admitted to a psychiatric unit.

James and Owen-Roe McDermott admitted themselves on a voluntary basis because a loophole in the law means they cannot be sectioned.

They had been allowed to return home to the village in June after they were declared mentally unfit to stand trial at Omagh Crown Court. A third brother was convicted and imprisoned, while a fourth took his own life during the trial.

One survivor has told Highland Radio News that he has had a good night’s sleep for the first time since the trial.

A Donegal Senator has described suggestions from Michael McDowell that the republic make the 12th of a July a national holiday as off the wall, but says bank holidays north and south should be harmonised.

Senator Pearse Doherty says that such a move would be good for the Island’s economy.

He says that in making his comments, at the MacGill Summer School earlier this week, Mr McDowell was headline hunting……….

Buncrana Town Council has been told that a plan for responding to tragedy needs to be established in the town and across the Inishowen Peninsula.

The proposal has been made by the group BCCS, which says a coordinated response from agencies including the HSE and the emergency services. However, the group is saying it would like the model to be developed locally, with Inishowen Development Partnership looking at how that can be achieved.

Chairperson Breda Friel says local leadership is vital………..

In the immediate aftermath of the July 11th crash, BCCS organised drop in services and dropped leaflets in Buncrana and further afield. Now, the group says five people are needed to work with the bereaved families.

The group said it could take up to 18 months to see a HSE bereavement counsellor, and that’s unacceptable.

BCCS Spokesperson Denise Gallinagh Wood says help must be made available to the families immediately………..

Buncrana is in line to host a major high profile event next year, but no more details can be revealed at present according to Mayor Padraig Mac Lochlainn.

The news emerged as Town Councillors were told every hotel room in the area is now booked out for this year’s Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland conference on the 8th, 9th and 10th of September.

Local B&Bs and guesthouses are now being asked to register with the council ahead of the event, which
will attract over 500 delegates.

Former AMAI president and Buncrana Councillor Nicholas Crossan says with the government preparing a white paper on the future of town councils, the Buncrana conference may well be the first salvo in a battle for survival in the face of recommendations that the councils be abolished…………

Six men from Donegal are getting on their bikes for a three day charity challenge to cycle the length of the country.

They’ll set out from Mizen Head in Co. Cork today and aim to reach Malin Head by Saturday.

It’s all in the name of charity.  The group is hoping to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald house for sick children and their families – and spun-out-dot-ie, which is a national youth organisation.

One of those involved is Ted McCaffrey, who lost his brother Bobby to suicide at the age of 21.

He has this message for anyone who’d like to support the cause:

Newly qualified teachers at both primary and post-primary levels will have to undergo a new induction and probationary programme.

The reform, which will be announced today by Education Minister Mary Coughlan, is to be phased in from September.

Aimed at improving teacher quality, it will involve more rigorous assessment and inspection in the nation’s classrooms.

Education Minister Mary Coughlan will outline details of the new programme at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties today.

She believes that Ireland has significant weaknesses in helping newly qualified teachers to take charge of a classroom.

Ms Coughlan says that a teacher’s first months and year in a post are critical. She says that at the moment, induction support for teachers at primary level is limited.

And, with a small number of exceptions, induction support at post-primary level is virtually non-existent. The minister says the probationary process for teachers is “also well below the optimum”.

At primary level, it excludes any meaningful involvement of school management; while at post-primary, it involves, in most cases, the sign-off of a principal teacher without any observation of the teacher’s work in the classroom.

The Teaching Council will be empowered to take responsibility for the reforms from 2012, but it is being phased in from September with an induction programme.

All primary teachers qualifying from September of this year will undergo induction immediately and all new post-primary teachers by the end of December.

The Gweebarra Conservation Group in West Donegal is calling for changes to planning laws to make it easier for people to view planning applications.

The group was commenting after details of an application for a 38 turbine windfarm outside Glenties appeared online this week. Spokesperson Patricia Sharkey says the fairest way to ensure access would be to oblige councils to provide maps and plans on CD.

She says it’s difficult for people to assess a 500 page document……..

A bus driver has been left badly shaken after a paint-bomb was thrown at him in the Hazelbank area of Derry.

A youth threw the bottle into the open door of the bus on Monday night.

The bottle did not break, but the driver was left covered in paint.

Translink withdrew its service in the area after the incident and said it will do so again if buses are attacked.

Local Councillor, Billy Page, spoke to the PSNI yesterday, and he confirmed there were a number of incidents in the area over the past couple of days.