The Peace Bridge in Derry has been named as one of the winners in the Construction Employers Federation awards. Ilex and Graham Construction were confirmed as recipients of the Achieving Excellence Partnering Award.

The Peace Bridge was one of 12 projects to be shortlisted in the category.

ILEX spokesperson Brenda Fraser says the public response to the Peace Bridge has exceeded all expectation and it is now very reassuring to receive this accolade from a professional organisation in the construction sector.such as the Construction Employers Federation.

She says the bridge is already recognised as an iconic structure for the city, and this is a great reward for the hard work and dedication of all those who worked in such a spirit of partnership to make the bridge happen.

Leo Martin is Northern Ireland Operations Director at GRAHAM Construction. He says the award recognises their approach of working in partnership with Ilex to successfully deliver this iconic structure.

He says the project team sought to work in partnership with the public to engage them in the project, anf that’s been a successful approach.

The Peace Bridge has also been shortlisted for the Engineers Ireland Engineering Project of the Year award, which showcases engineering at its best and is decided by a public vote.

The latest statistics from Google show that traffic to Highland Radio’s website continues to increase.

Last month alone the website had 250,000 unique visitors accounting for 1 million page views.

In the first 9 months of this year our listeners around the world clocked up 2.4 million unique visits accounting for 8 million page views.

Some of our heaviest traffic was during the hard winter spell as parents and pupils logged on to check on school closures. There were also exceptionally busy days as we continued coverage of the gorse fires that raged through Donegal in May and in September as we tracked Hurricane Katia’s approach to the county. Online election coverage in February also proved of interest to thousands.

In addition to our website, 300,000 stories are read each month by 0ur friends on facebook.

A big thank you to each and everyone of you for making highlandradio.com Donegal’s Number 1 website for news!

Donegal’s Karl Lacey has been called into the Ireland International Rules squad. The Four Master lad will join his fellow county men Michael Murphy and Neil Mc Gee on the plane which’s travels down under on Saturday. His call up comes after manager Anthony Tohill was hit with a spate of withdrawals and unavailability of key players.  Lacy is no stranger to the Rules Series having played for Ireland in 2006. Ireland face the Aussies in the first of two tests Down Under at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on Friday week.

Gardaí are understood to be investigating after a tyre on Dana’s presidential campaign car blew out on a motorway, amid claims it may have been slashed.

The Independent candidate was asleep in the back of the car, which was being driven by her husband, when the incident happened near the toll-bridge on the M4 last night.

Dana’s husband lost control of the car for a time and had to swerve to avoid a truck.

Gardaí have been asked to investigate whether the tyre may have been slashed while the car – which is emblazoned with Dana signage – was parked outside a Co. Leitrim hotel yesterday.

Dana has cancelled her campaign trips today.

Donegal’s Sinn Fein TDs have said that the Minister for Justice must consult with local communities over Garda station closures.

Deputies Pearse Doherty and Padraig McLaughlin have written to Alan Shatter demanding that he doesn’t sign off on the closure of any station.

They have said before he does, he must consult with Joint Policing Committees, community alert committees, parish councils, representative groups for the elderly and disabled and hear their cases why they think their local station be retained.

Deputy Padraig MacLochlain has said all community groups must be consulted before any closures:

Local traders in Letterkenny are exploring the idea of developing a themed quarter in the Lower Main Street area.

Traders have been in touch with the business Chamber and are proposing a unique space in the area for shops, bars and restaurants.

The promoters are modelling their idea on similar type quarters like the Titantic quarter in Belfast and Temple Bar in Dublin.

Businessman and Nite Club owner Jason Black, says if the town’s architecture is changed, then more events may come to the town:

It is understood that the creditors meeting for community development agency MFG was yesterday told that the company has liabilities in excess of one million euro.

The company closed suddenly last month with the loss of 130 jobs in the Gaeltacht.

MFG was responsible for administration of funding and community supports for numerous projects across Donegal and the wider Gaeltacht including rural transport schemes.

MFG is now in liquidation.

Gaeltacht Minister Dinny McGinley says the priority now is to put in place mechanisms to look after the company’s staff and the projects it was responsibility:

A seminar is being held this weekend recognising the importance of Donegal’s historic graveyards in a heritage, cultural and religious context.

The free seminar is hosted by Donegal County Council and takes place in Maghery this Saturday.

There will be a number of speakers on the day giving information on the relevant legislation, maintenance, and best practice associated with our historic graveyards.

The Council’s Heritage Officer is Joe Gallagher:

Booking is required, you can get more information HERE (PDF file)

A BBC programme has aired claims that the PSNI missed clues in the hunt for the murderers of IRA informer Denis Donaldson, shot dead in Co Donegal five years ago.

The former paramilitary and senior Sinn Fein officer was found dead in his remote home at Cloghercor, near Doochary in Co Donegal, on April 4, 2006.

Former Chief Executive of Police Ombudsman’s Office in the North, Sam Pollock told the BBCs Spotlight programme that he was unhappy with the approach taken in cases involving informers.

The programme revealed details of a complaint to the ombudsman by the family of Denis Donaldson, who was shot dead at a remote cottage in Donegal in April 2006.

But the ombudsman declared the case closed last year with a finding of ‘no misconduct’ by the police.

But Spotlight has established that investigators were not aware of a potentially vital piece of information that may shed light on what happened.

However, the ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, rejected claims that his office has gone soft on the police.

The campaign to have special status given to the newly formed Strabane Academy will step up a gear next week, when the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee visits the school on October 26th

The academy was formed when Strabane High School and Strabane Grammar joined together, the first time a Grammar and non-grammar school have merged in this way.

The Interim Board of Governors invited the committee to the school as part of their quest for “Pilot Status”, which would open the door to direct funding from Stormont.

The Interim Board of Governors says the meeting on Wednesday of next week will be crucial in the quest for pilot status for Strabane Academy.

Pilot status opens the door for the school to receive direct investment from the Education Department. Strabane Academy Principal David Hampton says it is a unique project, as it is the first time a former secondary school and a grammar school have merged, and there is no model they can follow.

He says he and the board want to ensure that pupils are given the best opportunities possible.

At the moment, he added, the school is able to operate on a satisfactory basis but the granting of pilot status would allow them to address a number of issues more effectively, including extracurricular actives, accommodation, transport and how best to maximise the operation of a school on a split site.

Ultimately, he stressed the goal is a new school on the Derry Road campus, and Pilot Status could be a very important first step in making that happen.