A Donegal North East Election candidate says his inclusion on a list of people who have failed to disclose election expenses and donations was due to a miscommunication which has now been cleared up.

Ryan Stewart, who contested the election as an independent, was named thios evening by the Standards in Public Office Commission as one of 23 people whose details have been referred to the gardai and the DPP.

Mr Stewart says he did submit documentation, but didn’t receive other documentation from SIPO because he had moved house shortly after the election………

 
Meanwhile, the report shows disclosed expenses were down almost 16 per cent on the figure reported for the 2007 election.

Fine Gael spent 3.1-million euro, followed by Fianna Fail with 2.1-million.

Labour’s election costs amounted to almost 2-million, while Sinn Féin’s figure totaled almost 500-thousand.

The Green party – who failed to have any candidate elected – spent almost a quarter of a million euro.

Detectives in Derry investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Caolan Page in the city at the weekend are studying the results of a post mortem examination which was completed earlier today.

Police are also continuing to examine CCTV footage and interviewing a number of potential witnesses about what happened in the area of Magazine Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Following the completion of the post mortem examination, Caolan’s remains have been released to the Page family to allow a funeral to take place.

Derry has become the first city in Ireland and the UK to be fully upgraded with fibre broadband technology.

In a statement today, BT confirmed it has completed the rollout of the project, announced as part of its sponsorship of Derry’s year as UK City of Culture in 2013.

Almost 40,000 homes and businesses will be able to access the service, at a cost 30% above standard broadband provision.

The announcement is being welcomed by ILEX, the Derry Regeneration Company. It’s Chief Executive Aideen Mc Ginley recently told Highland Radio News that the BT project puts the entire North West at the centre of a digital world..

A Donegal man raped his ex-partner in front of their infant child the Central Criminal Court has heard.

During that attack the man tried to rape the woman seven times before succeeding. He will be sentenced next month by Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to rape of the woman at his home on February 26, 2010. He has several previous convictions including theft, assault and burglary.

A local detective garda told prosecuting counsel, Mr Paul Coffey SC, that the man and the victim lived together and had a child before they separated in 2009.

They took turns to mind the child and on the day of the attack the woman was leaving her with her partner at his home. They both washed and played with the child before putting her to bed in her cot.

The man then attacked his ex-partner and held her on the bed. He tried to rape her several times before succeeding. The baby was in the room at the time.

Defence counsel, Conor Devally  said his client “misread the situation”, and stopped once he realised the woman wasn‘t consenting.

Mr Devally called it a “once-off, spur of the moment incident” and said the man pleaded guilty to spare his partner the ordeal of trial.

Mr Justice Sheehan said he wanted time to consider a sentence and remanded the man in custody until next month.

Illies Golden Gloves fighter Willie Mc Laughlin has confirmed that he has signed up with Milano Thunder to compete in the World Series of Boxing.  McLaughlin has joined the same team as Derry’s Eamon O’Kane and along with his new teammates are placed in Group A with Los Angeles Matadors, Astana Arlans, Dynamo Moscow, Mumbai fighters and Bangkok. The series starts in November. William spoke with Myles Gallagher about his move to Milano.
 

National Irish Bank secured summary judgment orders for almost €12 million against Donegal property developer Brendan Gildea.

Orders were also secured for about €6 million against his wife arising from their personal guarantees of the debts of their property company.

There was no appearance by or on behalf of Mr Gildea, his wife Tessie and their company, Brendan Gildea Ltd (in receivership), all with addresses at Brookside Villas, Magherennan, Letterkenny, when the bank’s proceedings came before Mr Justice Peter Kelly at the Commercial Court .

People living in rural areas of the County are being urged not to keep large sums of money in their property.

The warning comes after €30,000 was stolen from a shed in Raphoe.

The money, which was kept in a biscuit tin in a cupboard in a back shed, was stolen sometime between 8pm on Thursday and 7am on Friday in the Raphoe area.

The Head of the IFA in Donegal has asked farmers not to leave large sums of money lying around their properties.

And PJ McMonagle also said this incident highlights that rural areas won’t be able to deal with a cut in Garda numbers……

Police in Foyle have launched Operation Relentless – an operation that focuses on tracking down those people who have failed to turn up at court and are wanted for criminal offences.

Area Commander Chief Inspector Jon Burrows says the operation has been running since the beginning of October and to date police have arrested 44 people on warrants and 14 people for breaching their bail conditions.

In a statement, Police say they are conducting nightly curfew checks on those persons charged with crime, and any bail conditions will be rigorously enforced. If you are on curfew, they warn, expect us to call. Those charged with burgling homes will be prioritised.

According to the statement, crime is at its lowest in Foyle in over a decade. This year there have been 100 fewer victims of burglary, over a 150 fewer victims of assault and anti social behaviour over the spring and summer was reduced by over 600 incidents. This means a better quality of life for all our citizens.”

Chief Inspector Burrows added that success could not have been achieved without the help and active support of our partners, community leaders and the public. He concluded the public should feel confident that officers in Foyle are taking all necessary steps to disrupt criminal activity in the local area.”

The annual Road Safe Road Show takes place over the next two days in Letterkenny, with over 3,000 Transition Year students attending, along with students from Donegal Youth-reach and Fas.

The show is now in its fourth year, and again features hard hitting testimony from emergency service personnel who attend crash scenes and people affected by crashes, including a young man who was very seriously injured in a collision.

Many students who attended the first two years of the roadshow are now on the roads themselves, with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group saying the perspective gained will hopefully affect their driving habits.

There is already evidence that crashes in Donegal are down, with Roadshow Organiser Eamon Brown saying it is a contributory factor..

A Donegal Deputy claims up to 10% of the County could be left with a blank television screen when the analogue service is switched off next year.

It was confirmed at the weekend that analogue services will be switched off on 24th October 2012 with terrestrial TV then only available with a digital TV or set top box.

But 2% of the population do not have adequate coverage to pick up digital TV through an aerial – Deputy Charlie McConologue believes the figure in Donegal is closer to 10%.

He says lessons learned with broadband must be acted on now…