There have been reports of three whales and a dolphin have been found beached in recent days.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group says it recieved reports of a pilot whale on Fintra Beach in south Donegal earlier this week.

And in the latest discovery, a male sperm whale was found stranded on Omey Island near Cleggan.

The IWDG says it is relatively common to have standings, with between 140 and 150 reports each year.

Buncrana Town Council has committed to make every effort to ensure Inishowen benefits to the maximum from Derry being the City of Culture 2013.

The issue was raised at the December monthly meeting of Buncrana Town Council by Cllr Ciaran McLaughlin who called for a meeting with the Derry City of Culture Committee 2013.

He said some time had passed since the last meeting and it is in Buncrana’s best interest to be best prepared for all opportunities to promote the town.

He says Inishowen has plenty to offer the hundreds of thousands expected in the Northwest for the year long event.

There were 61 reported sightings of UFO’s in Ireland this year, only one of those came from Donegal.

The UFO research association of Ireland revealed that sightings were up 75% on 2010.

There were a further three reported UFO sightings in Sligo.

While many believe airborne Chinese lanterns or balls of lighting are responsible, space experts say some cannot be explained by natural events.

The PSNI have confirmed that a security alert in Strabane today was an elaborate hoax, investigations are underway.

All roads that were closed are now reopen.

Earlier today Bridge Street was closed to traffic and pedestrians, while the the Fiveways junction at Bradley Way was also been closed.

The hoax today caused much disruption in the town, with traffic being averted to the bypass.

Up to 40 residents, including a number of OAP’s were evacuated from their homes earlier too.

Army bomb experts have been sent to the scene of a security alert in Strabane.

Police were called to Bridge Street after a suspect object was found at a tyre depot, close to the back of a local Chinese take-away.

Bridge Street is closed to traffic and pedestrians, while the the Fiveways junction at Bradley Way has also been closed, which is likely to cause major disruption.

Police have advised anyone who wants to go into the town to use the bypass until further notice.

A number of residents, including OAP’s had to leave their homes in the Bridge Street area, and local Councillor Patsy Kelly has said todays security alert has inconvenienced a lot of people….

A Priest involved in a out-of-court settlement after allegations of a sex assault has been banned from saying Mass where he now lives, in France, according to the Irish Independent.

Father Andrew McCloskey paid out €20,000 in 2005 to a man who claimed he had been sexually assaulted by him when he was 18. A second teenager also made allegations against the priest, though he never took legal action.

Fr McCloskey was later given a job within the church counselling sex abuse victims in the Diocese of Derry.

Fr McCloskey stood down from his role with the ‘Hope Alive’ group and from his position in Dungiven, when news of the out-of-court deal emerged in January 2005.

In a statement to the Irish Independent, a spokesman for the Derry Diocese insisted the church and civil authorities in France are aware of the allegations made against Fr McCloskey.

The statement added that the diocese is guided by the civil authorities and the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

The priest told parishioners in January 2005 that he was taking a leave of absence saying he had made a mistake.

The abuse incident allegedly took place in the parochial house of St Mary’s Church in the Creggan estate in Derry in 1992.

Fr McCloskey was transferred by the then Bishop Edward Daly shortly afterwards to the parish of Drumsurn 15 miles away.

Bishop Seamus Hegarty later admitted that a second allegation against Fr McCloskey had been made in 1999 but that he had gone ahead and appointed the priest to the abuse victim counselling role a year later.

The most recent hospital performance indicators published by the HSE show Letterkenny General Hospital is generally performing well, but money remains a serious problem.

The hospital is rated as performing very well in many areas, with room for improvement in others. However, the figures show that at the end of October, Letterkenny General was just over €8.4 million over-budget.

The results are graded in a traffic light system, green denoting very good performance, amber denoting average performance with improvement possible, and red denoting the need for urgent action.

The hospital functions which return a green rating include out patient referral times for ultrasound, x-ray, colonoscopy and physiotherapy. In terms of appropriateness of admissions and care, the hospital was well within all targets, and it also performed well in the area of day procedures.

However, when it came to elective surgery, no discipline met the target of 75% admissions on the day. An amber rating was given in terms of adult waiting times for elective surgery, but a red was given in the case of children.

Most worrying for the hospital, finance remains a concern, with year to date expenditure of € 88,568,000, 10% over budget.

The fear now is that measures to claw back that deficit may see more procedures cancelled, and see the  gaps in service widen further.

Link to online report -

http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/Healthstat/hospitalresults/LGH/October_2011_Letterkenny_General_Hospital.pdf

The number of people arrested in Donegal on suspicion of drink-driving over the Christmas period has shown a significant drop on last year.

22 people were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving across the county from December 1st up to St Stephens Day, compared to 29 last year.

Gardai say there was the same number of checkpoints this year compared to last year, and the drop in drink-driving figures is a reflection of a change in the drink-driving culture.

Inspector Michael Harrison, Head of the Road Traffic Corps in the county, says hopefully the message of road safety is getting through, and appealed to pedestrians to be safe over the New Year weekend……

Strong winds and rain will continue to pummel the county today, although temperatures will remain mild for this time of year.

A storm depression tracking eastward over the Irish Sea brought strong and gale force winds with severe gusts hitting the north and northwest coast yesterday.

Gusts of up 130kmh knocked down ESB powerlines in Letterkenny and Killybegs, yesterday afternoon, leaving several hundred residents without power for several hours.

Joanna Donnelly from Met Eireann says although the winds are expected to ease today, the north and northwest coast will bear the brunt of much of the stormy weather……

Gardai in West Donegal are investigating a break in at Molloy’s Supermarket in Derrybeg on Christmas day.

Thieves stole charity boxes that were. beside the  window they smashed.

It is understood they then fled the scene without taking any more as an alarm activated on the premises.