A leading Oncology Consultant has said that while the proposed Radiotherapy Unit in Derry is better than what is currently in place, the Northwest needs a full cancer treatment service Centre.

Professor John Crown, who is also a Senator, is calling for one of the four cancer centres in Dublin to be transferred to cover counties Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal.

Speaking to Shaun Doherty, the Professor says the people of the northwest need to unite in campaigning for the northwest cancer centre:

Aston Villa are closing in on a £5million deal for  Lifford’s Shay Given as manager Alex McLeish prepares to make his first signing since his controversial switch from Birmingham City. Villa’s recently-appointed manager has settled on Given as his preferred choice to replace Brad Friedel and is hopeful Villa’s board can agree to match the Republic of Ireland keeper’s £85,000-a-week Eastlands wages. Bookies stopped all bets on a Villa move for Given on Tuesday evening as reports suggested the Man City shot stopper had already agreed personal terms.

A convicted child killer and rapist has launched a legal challenge to the holding of an inquest into the death of Arlene Arkinson.

Robert Howard was acquitted of murdering the teenager from Castlederg.

The BBC reports that Howard is seeking a judicial review of the senior coroner’s decision to examine events surrounding Arlene’s disappearance.

Arlene Arkinson was 15 when she went missing in 1994 and is believed to have been murdered.

Robert Howard was acquitted at trial of her murder in 2005.

The family want an inquest to be held to examine how the RUC conducted its investigation into her disappearance and the acquittal of Howard for her murder.

A report by the Police Ombudsman in 2008 said police treated her disappearance as a missing person inquiry for too long rather than a potential abduction or murder.

It also said they took too long to arrest the main suspect, Robert Howard.

Although they had grounds to do this within 48 hours of her disappearance, it did not happen until 46 days after Arlene had first been reported missing.

Arlene vanished near her home in Castlederg after attending a disco at Bundoran with friends in August 1994.

She was last seen in a car driven by Howard.

Howard was questioned and later charged with her murder, but he was found not guilty in court.
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Details of a second shocking child cruelty case in as many days have emerged with a Derry man sentenced to four years in prison for child cruelty against his son.

27 year- old Robert Anderson swung the 18-week old baby back and forth by the leg over a five-minute period in December 2009.

The injuries to the child were such that he was left permanently blind, brain-damaged and can only respond to noise.

At a hearing in Belfast earlier this month Crown counsel said that Robert Anderson, whose address cannot be revealed by law,  had not accepted that he was responsible for the child’s injuries.

He said that although the accused had told a social worker he did not mean the child any harm, he still did not accept he was responsible for his son’s injuries which had also left him confined to a wheelchair.

Prosecution QC Mr. Charles McKay said that Anderson had abused his position of trust as the baby’s father and carer.

He added that Anderson had a criminal record for drugs offences, criminal damage and disorderly behaviour.

Anderson’s lawyer Mr. Billy McCrory QC said the accused had no history of ill-treatment, abuse or cruelty and he said Anderson did express concerns for his son.

Judge Phillip Babington told Anderson he had caused catastrophic injuries to a totally defenceless child – he said “As a human being and as your son, it was your duty to seek help for him at that time but you failed.”

Donegal County Council is to carry out a study of the different sewage treatment facilities in Culdaff in a bid to determine what’s needed to bring them together and reduce the risk of pollution.

Cllr Bernard Mc Guinness moved the issue, saying haphazard development over the years means that instead of a unified sewerage scheme in Culdaff, there are at least eight different treatment plants, two of them council owned and the rest private.

Other members said their areas have similar problems, Cllr Mc Guinness says the Culdaff situation is unique, but a study may provide answers for other areas.

Donegal County Council is examining its options to see if a Women’s Officer can be appointed within the confines of the current recruitment embargo.

Cllr Rena Donaghey said that on the council, there are three women out of 29 members, and no women in the higher echelons of the council’s executive.

She says there are barriers to women becoming more involved, and addressing them may give more women the chance to participate, and ultimately see more women elected and promoted.

Cllr Donaghey says a similar appointment in Derry saw more participation, and she wants to see that replicated in Donegal:

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton will announce five thousand internships today as part of the Government’s new National Internship Scheme.

Under the scheme – which was announced as a key element of the Government’s Jobs Initiative – companies will be encouraged to take on an intern for a period of up to nine months.

The job seeker – who must have been on the live register for three months or more – will receive an additional 50 euro a week on top of their job seeker benefits.

Six machine guns and a large quantity of ammunition from World War 2 have been discovered in Co. Donegal.

The find was made today during the excavation of a crashed RAF Spitfire aircraft on the Inisowen peninsula – which was buried 30 feet in a bog.

The weapons and a thousand rounds of ammunition were made safe by Army Bomb Disposal Team.

The collection has been moved to secure military location to be fully decommissioned and cleaned before being handed over to the Derry Museum.

The campaign group Donegal Action for Cancer Care says if action isn’t taken, Letterkenny General Hospital will eventually be downgraded to community hospital status.

The group has met with a cross party group of Oireachtas members urging them to be more vocal in their support for Letterkenny General Hospital in the Dail and Seanad.

DACC spokesperson Betty Holmes says all Oireachtas members, backed by the general public, must start campaigning for the hospital before it’s too late: