Forty-seven apartments are set to be sold in Ballbofey by auction next month after the company who developed them went into recievership.

The apartments, which are unfinished, are situated at Navenney Place, Trusk Road in Ballybofey.

All the apartments are to be sold in a single lot, with a reserve price of 550,000 euro.

Dermott Rainey, from Sherry Fitzgerald Rainey Estate Agents spoke on todays Shaun Doherty Show, and he said the apartments should be a good buy…………..

Donegal North East Deputy Niall Blaney has launched an online petition to highlight the need for improved road infrastructure in Donegal to complement the N2/A5 Dual Carriageway, which is due to be completed in 2015.

Deputy Blaney says the Bonagee Link, incorporating a second bridge over the River Swilly is vital to the future growth of Letterkenny, and it is also a priority of Letterkenny Town Council.

However, when the governemnt long fingered the Letterkenny to Lifford road earlier this year, it did not bode well for the Letterkenny element of the plan.

There had been some suggestions that the Bonagee improvements could proceed on their own, but Deputy Blaney believes the two will have to come together…………

The Chairperson of the Donegal County Development Board says the outcome of a conference on unemployment held in the county yesterday will be that agencies in the county will be better briefed on the needs of people who are out of work at present.

The event, held as part of Social Inclusion Week in the county, say unemployed people share their perspectives and experiences, including problems experienced in accessing training and services.

Cllr Dessie Larkin says the board will now collect everything that came up during the discussions and workshops, and that will help inform future policy:

The 10th Annual Information Technology and Telecommunications Conference gets under way at Letterkenny Institute of Technology today.

The event, which the college says is now more relevant than ever, will hear from a number of guests over the next few days, including Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.

The conference opens this afternoon with a number of papers being presented, including a session on computer security. However, the centrepiece of the conference is likely to be a discusson on research funding tomorrow morning.

Organiser Jim Morrison says in the current economic climate research will play an increasingly important role in generating economic growth, but the availability and distribution of research funds within the island and across Europe has become increasingly competitive.

Tomorrow’s discussion will ask if research spending in a small area like Ireland be focused in a few selected centres, or is there a role for academic institutions in the regions?.

The discussion in the CoLab Building will be preceded by a speech from Educations Minister and Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan on the future of research in the Higher Education sector.

A clear picture of Ireland’s ghost estates will be unveiled this morning, with the publication of a new report.

It’s thought the Department of the Environment could reveal up to 100 thousand houses lying idle in the aftermath of the property market collapse.

Many of the estates are scattered across the midlands and northwest of the country, and were often built after the introduction of special tax breaks to incentivise developers.

Environment Correspondent with the Irish Independent Treacy Hogan says they’re a major cause for concern:

One of Donegal’s biggest insurance companies announced today it is restructuring its operations, with the equivalent 3.5 jobs being shed out of a total of 36.

Top Quote Direct in Letterkenny says since 2005, the General Insurance Industry in Ireland has experienced an 18% drop in premiums and like most businesses has also been affected by the downturn in the economy.

The Managing Director, Mr. Carl Rainey, regrets the course of action in having to make positions redundant but believes the course of action is absolutely unavoidable.

He is confident that the Industry will stabilise over 2011 and should return to growth again in the latter part of the year. He is also confident that the streamlined organisation in Letterkenny will be better positioned to develop and grow going forward and will have a viable and sustainable future.

The prospects for job creation in Donegal are being discussed at a conference in the Silver Tassie Hotel this afternoon. The “Making the Future Happen” seminar is being coordinated by the County Development Board.

Unemployed people have been outlining their experiences, with the CDB hoping this will be the first in a number of such discussions.

The seminar was opened this morning by Donegal’s Mayor Cllr Cora Harvey , she says it’s a significant event……….

There’s been another stand off between customs personnel and a motorist over VRT, this time at Lisfannon outside Buncrana.

A man with an address in the republic but working for a company in Northern Ireland claims he was driving a company car to appointments in Inishowen when he was stopped and ordered to hand the vehicle over.

Speaking on today’s Shaun Doherty Show, Mark, who works for company called Promote NI, says the Mini was clearly a company car, with a company logo and also a Derry City of Culture 2013 logo clearly displayed on it.

He outlined what happened when he was stopped at half past eight in the morning, and how the stand off ended two and a half hours later…………

The High Court will rule next month whether the Government has excessively delayed calling a by-election in Donegal South West.

The action was brought by Sinn Fein Senator Pearse Doherty.

Following the conclusion of legal submissions, Mr Justice Kearns said he would give judgment on November 5.

Senator Pearse Doherty says he’s done everything in his power and he says he’s made the best possible argument he could.

The trial has begun of a 27-year-old man charged with dangerous driving causing three deaths in a crash on the N15.

Niall McGrath, of Grahamstown, Ballintra has pleaded not guilty at Donegal Circuit Court to three charges of dangerous driving causing death in a collision on the N15 at Ballinacarrick, Ballintra just over five years ago.

Three people died in the crash on September 11th, 2005. They were 74 year old Nora McGee, of Magheraroarty, Gortahork, a passenger in a car driven by her daughter Noreen, and Damien and Teresa Quigg, both 49, a married couple from Dungiven.

The court heard that McGrath, his brother and two friends were part of a group of bikers returning from a rally in Cavan at the time of the crash, which took place in the early evening in dry, bright conditions.

The jury was shown video footage and photographs of the scene.

The case continues.