A famous Donegal soft drink, made from a secret recipe, is about to be lauched nationwide.

Apart people who are from or who have visited North Donegal, few have heard of Football Special, a frothy, fruity, cola-style drink, made by the McDaid family in Ramelton.

Now, owner, Edward McDaid is to add a marketing and sales person to his staff and he aims to rebrand the product and launch it nationally in June.

Although his business has been hit by the recession, he believes Football Special will go down well with fizzy drinks fans:

The County manager has launched a strong defense of himself and his staff following claims  that some of his answers to council members were pathetic.

He made his comments as a debate on the county’s roads, particularly in the Finn Valley area became heated.

Labour Councillor Frank McBrearty proposed a motion calling on the council to award extra funding for the Stranorar Electoral Area for road improvement and that the county manager lobby government in order to receive more fudning.

During a debate on the issue Councillor McBrearty suggested that the local authority should be taken to court if poor road conditions
were found to have contributed to a road accident.

Councillor Ciaran Brogan suggested the meeting to be adjourned to bring in legal advice to ascertain what impact those comments
could have if a legal case did arise, Councillor McBrearty commented that a Breathalyzer also be brought in,

When the meeting resumed Councillor McBrearty, reiterated his breathalyzer comment and accused a number a number of unnamed members of having drunk alcohol
during a lunch break. At this point Councillor Ciaran Brogan offered to take a breath test, an offer which was not accepted.

Earlier the County Manager rejected claims answers provided to Councillors were pathetic and a fudge. He defended himself and his staff
stating that they work long hours for the benefit of the county and that they act fully and properly in teh areas they have control and responsibility.

National Football League Division Two Results.
Donegal 0-8 v Kildare 1-5
Sligo 0-15 v Tyrone 2-15
Derry 1-07 v Laois 1-21

Donegal assistant manager Rory Gallagher said Sunday’s result with Kildare feels more like a defeat than a draw. Donegal surrendered a four point lead in the closing two minutes of yesterday’s NFL Division Two clash at the O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny. With sixty eight minutes on the clock Jim Mc Guinness side had taken control of the game with four scores from Michael Murphy (2), Michael Hegarty and Mark Mc Hugh. In the final minute a Kildare goal from full back Michael Foley stunned the home side to take a share of the spoils.

Rory Gallagher spoke with Charlie Collins.
 

Tyrone took their first win of the league on Sunday beating Sligo by 6 points at Markievicz Park. The goals from Enda Mc Ginley and Sean Cavanagh scored in either half proved to be the difference come full time. Both sides were reduced to 14 men as Conor Gormley and Mark Breheny were sent off for second bookings in the first half. The O’Neill County have made a slow start to their campaign, but will be pleased to finally have a win under their belts.

Sean Cavanagh who finished the match with a 1-5 tally spoke with Francis Mooney.
 

Derry who were well beaten by Laois lost their 100% record in Division two. The visitors to Celtic Park were eight points to the good at half time 1-9 to 0-4. It got even tougher for Derry on 42 minutes when they were reduced to 14 men. Declan Mullan was sent-off for two yellow cards. Paddy Bradley who pointed from his first penalty did score from the second spot kick.

Finn Valley’s Tori Pena broke the Irish pole vault record on Saturday at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.  Pena hails from California, USA but has family roots in Derry and this allows her to represent the country and the Donegal club. The 23 year old broke the record on her way to winning the Scottish Championship. She won the title with a jump of 4.31m breaking her own record which she set a number of weeks ago. Pena is part of a nine strong Irish team which leaves on Wednesday for the European Indoor Championship in Paris. Also on that team are Letterkenny’s Darren Mc Brearty who goes in the 800m and Irish Team Coach Patsy McGonagle.

Newly elected Independent Deputy Thomas Pringle is now in the process of talking to like minded independents with a view to forming a technical grouping which would have speaking rights.

There had been some suggestions that Sinn Fein might enter into a deal with independents to create a technical group with more members than Fianna Fail, and effectively make Gerry Adams the leader of the opposition.

However, Deputy Pringle says while independents will cooperate with Sinn Fein on certain issues, he doesn’t believe a formal arrangement is on the cards……………

Donegal County Council has unveiled a new electronic water monitoring system.

3 million euro has been spent on the system which allows engineers monitor water flow and better identify water leakages remotely.

It was essential that such a program be put in place to allow the local authority apply for funding to develop and improve the county’s aging water supply infrastructure.

Councillor Patrick McGowen says it is a step in the right direction:
 

Donegal county council’s monthly meeting was adjourned for 10 minutes today following heated exchanges.

Councillor Cora Harvey adjourned the meeting claiming she was being bullied by Labour Councilor Frank McBrearty.

Voices were raised on the issue of water quality, councillor McBrearty took issue with a response from the county manager that water quality in the Finn valley area was of a high standard.

Councillor McBrearty took issue with not being allowed respond. The debate escalated leading to the meeting being adjourned.

Donegal County Council is meeting in Lifford for its February Monthly meeting today, with three empty seats. Sinn Fein’s Padraig Mac Lochlainn, Fianna Fail’s Charlie Mc Conalogue and Independent Thomas Pringle are no longer members of the council having been elected to the Dail.

In the case of the parties, they will now be considering their replacements for the council chamber, but in the case of Cllr Pringle, his replacement has already been named.

The new councillor to represent the Donegal Electoral Area will be 31 year old teacher John Campbell, a member of staff at St Columba’s Comprehensive School in Glenties, Deputy Pringle’s Director of Elections.

Mr Campbell says this has been on the cards for some time………

There was mixed results for North West fighters at the National Senior Elite Championship finals on Friday night. The only Donegal winner at the National Stadium in Dublin was Cathal Mc Monagle. The Letterkenny lad who fights out of Holy Trinity Belfast retained his super heavyweight title with a brilliant comeback against Kenneth Okungbowa. Mc Monagle was 3-1 down after round one but fought back to comfortably take the victory 12-5 after the third. Friday’s win was Cathal’s fourth title in five years. In the middle weight decider Finn Valley’s Jason Quigley lost to Darren O’Neill 7-4. Quigley who won the European Youth Championships in 2009 showed his talents during the final three minutes but it was the experience of  O’Neill which proved to be the difference come the end. There was also defeat for Derry’s Tyrone Mc Cullagh who lost  to John Joe Nevin 5-2.

Chris Mc Nulty spoke with boxers after their fights.

Cathal Mc Monagle.
 

Jason Quigley.
 

Omagh Coun

cillor Seán Begley has confirmed that the Omagh Fire tragedy home is to be finally demolished.

In November 2007, 39 year old Arthur McElhill, his partner Lorraine McGovern and their five children Caroline, Sean, Bellina, Clodagh and baby James died in a fire at Lammy Crescent in Omagh.

It was determined that Mc Elhill, a conmvicted sex offender, had started the blaze, and an enquiry later found that not all agencies were aware that he had twice been found guilty of indecently assaulting teenage girls in the 1990s, resulting in his imprisonment in 1998.

The house has stood empty now for over three years, and according to Omagh Cllr Sean Begley, the Housing Executive will take ownership of the property. ………..