A 62-year-old man has admitted carrying out a number of sex acts on a drunken teenage girl he met in a Derry park on Sunday night.

Defence solicitor John Fahy told District Judge Barney McElholm that during two interviews after his arrest, his client admitted sexual activity with the girl.

James Gallagher from St Columb’s Wells on the cityside, appeared in court yesterday on three charges of sexually assaulting the 15-year-old in Bay Road Park.

Opposing bail, a detective constable said the defendant was alleged to have pushed the drunken teenage girl to the ground after she’d asked him to look for her mobile phone.

During his interviews the defendant said he thought the girl was aged between 17 and 20 and that she consented to the sex acts.

A police officer said that the girl had been drinking with friends in the park and was then afraid to go home because her parents would have been angry with her.

The Bay Road Park, a scenic wildlife refuge which was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 2009, runs along the shore of Lough Foyle almost under the Foyle Bridge and is a favoured place for young people to gather.

Describing the case as highly emotive, District Judge McElholm refused bail and remanded the defendant in custody for three weeks.

All five men arrested in connection with the murder of Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr in Co. Tyrone were released last night.

A 23 year old woman remains in police custody.

Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has hit out at the investigation into the dissident republican murder of Constable Kerr.

The Sinn Fein representative was among the senior figures who led cross-community condemnation of the killing in April.

In a response, the PSNI said it carried out its investigations to the highest standards “without fear or favour in accordance with the law”.

Constable Kerr was killed when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car outside his home in Omagh on April 2nd.

Letterkenny athlete Ruairi Finnegan has taken a gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Turkey. The Letterkenny AC member led the race  throughout, with 120m to go he moved away from the rest of the leading pack, to win in convincing style in 3:53.78.

Donegal’s  Ruairi Finnegan has this afternoon won Gold at the European Youth Olympics in Turkey. The Letterkenny AC athlete dominated the race leading from the start to win in a time of 3.53.8.

Highland’s Athletics Correspondent Patsy Mc Gonagle has the details.
 

Donegal were put through their paces last night (Tuesday) ahead of Saturday’s All Ireland quarter final with Kildare. For the first time since the Ulster Final, Dermot “Brick” Molloy trained with the rest of the squad. The Noamh Conaill man picked up a knee injury last week in an U21 Club game and first indications were suggesting a six week lay off, however these fears were allayed when medics said the injury was not as bad as first thought. Although Molloy trained last night he is still rated as doubtful for Saturday’s game.

The last time Donegal were in an All Ireland Quarter Final they lost heavily to Cork. This time round Manager Jim Mc Guinness says its an opportunity they don’t want to let slip.
 

There has been strong condemnation of the state campers left sand dunes in Culdaff last weekend.

It is claimed the campers burnt almost everything in sight before they left including tents, chairs, parts of a nearby fence to the point that the dunes themselves caught fire.

Donegal County Council has been praised for its swift reaction in clearing up this mess very soon after it was reported to them.

Council staff collected 12 to15 bags of rubbish, as well as a lot of broken glass.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with arson following an early morning attack on a Strabane bookmakers last week.

A second 20-year-old man arrested in relation to the fire has been released and a file has been sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

Police said wheelie bins were set alight and pushed up outside the front door of the Ladbrokes bookmakers in Butcher Street shortly after 2.30am last Friday morning.

After police viewed CCTV footage from a nearby business the two men were arrested the following day.

The 19-year-old man is due to appear before Strabane Magistrates Court on the 18th August.

Plans to introduce anti-fraud and corruption laws within Donegal County Council have been deferred over concerns that they aren’t clear and could incriminate councillors.

Despite an audit in 2009 highlighting the fact that the council hadn’t such a policy in place, only now is the local authority seeking to introduce the measures.

When councillors were called on to sanction the policy this week, agreement couldn’t be reached and the matter was deferred.

The proposed anti-fraud and corruption policy will cover all local authorities in Donegal and apply to council staff and elected members.

The rules would formally put in place a number of anti-fraud measures – As it relates to staff,  they would have to inform superiors if offered gifts or hospitality or if any outside interests could conflict with their duties.

They would also be expected to inform superiors if they thought there was a misuse of council resources or if they suspected fraud.

The new rules would also govern councillors – they must be seen to act in a way which enhances public trust and confidence, avoid conflicts of interest and never seek to use improper influence.

They will also be expected to treat colleagues and local authority employees with courtesy and respect.

The policy wasn’t adopted this week due to objections, most notably from Frank McBrearty Junior.

He wants a number of points clarified – He used the example that if he were to make a representation to council staff on behalf of someone he knew, could that been deemed to be breaking the rules deeming someone as having engaged in fraud or corruption.

Council officials have agreed to take on board concerns and present a revised document at the next council meeting in September.

There father of missing Lifford man David Colhoun has called for a dived search of the River Mourne to resume.

Joseph Colhoun was speaking today on the Shaun Doherty Show.

David Colhoun has been missing for 10 weeks; he disappeared after escaping from police custody in Strabane having been arrested over a minor incident.

His family believe he fell in to the river as he attempted to make his way home to Lifford.

Joseph Colhoun has welcomed the fact that the body of Sean McNair was found earlier this week after he drowned off Rathmullan pier – he wants the same diving teams to assist his family:

The IMPACT trade union is accusing the H.S.E. of dismantling the NowDOC service in Donegal by stealth.

If follows confirmation that HSE plans to compulsory redeploy 16 Reception/Call Handler staff based in four outlying centres in Derrybeg, Carndonagh, Mountcharles and Carrick on Shannon to other HSE facilities.

IMPACT says the move seems to be part of the ongoing review to reduce the number of GP Out of Hours Services in the West from 3 to 1.

Spokesperson Richie Curruthers says this is an attack on the vital services to the people living in rural communities: