The Deputy Mayor of Derry says a fire at the Sean Dolan’s clubhouse in the city last night is a blow for the GAA and the entire Creggan community.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, with Cllr Kevin Campbell saying arson hasn’t been ruled out.

The overnight fire caused extensive damage to the clubhouse, but we understand the playing surface and dressing rooms are not badly damaged.

Cllr Campbell says it’s a resource that’s used by many people in the Creggan……….

The Road Safety Authority is advising people to be extra careful on the roads in the coming days – as Met Eireann has issued a severe weather warning.

Winds gusting up to 140 kilometres per hour will batter the country today and tomorrow – which is likely to lead to fallen debris or tree branches on some roads.

CEO of the RSA is Noel Brett…………

Latest forecast from Met Eireann -

Extremely windy or stormy for the afternoon with strong to gale force westerly winds gusting to between 100 and 130 km/hr. Bright with sunny spells and widespread showers of rain or hail with a risk of thunder too. Highest temperatures of 5 to 7 degrees.

Windy overnight. Clear spells and just isolated showers initially and cold with lowest temperatures ranging from 3 to 5 degrees. Turning milder overnight with cloud and outbreaks of rain and drizzle spreading from the west.

Cloudy tomorrow with rain and drizzle, persistent and heavy at times. Windy again with strong to gale force and gusty westerly winds. Highest temperatures ranging from 7 to 9 degrees.

A road safety campaigner in Donegal is describing the possibility of further cuts to the Garda Road Traffic Corps as “ludicrous”.

Mary Clinton of A-Ceart was speaking after it emerged that the number of Gardai in the traffic corps has already been cut from 12-hundred to 950, and is set to decrease further in 2012.

She believes the increased strength of the Traffic Corps in recent years was a major contributor to falling road deaths,  which are expected to drop below 200 this year, for the first time since records began.

Ms Clinton says speeding detections were up this year, and that proves the traffic corps is still very necessary…………..

Former Oireachtas members in Donegal are paid a combined total of just over €404,000 in pension payments.

According to the figures collated by the Irish Independent, the largest Oireachtas pensions being received by former Donegal Oireachtas members are going to Dr James Mc Daid at just over €97,000 and MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher at just over €70,000. These figures do not include the pension reductions implemented this year.

In the case of former Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, her pension is given as just under €49,000, but that does not include the ministerial pension she will draw down when eligible. Former Donegal North East Deputies Cecilia Keavney and Niall Blaney are not yet eligible for pensions because of their age.

The lowest pensions paid to former Donegal TDs are going toThomas Gildea at just over €12,000 and Harry Blaney at just over €14,000.

Meanwhile, three former senators in Donegal are also in receipt of Oireachtas pensions. Bernard Mc Glinchey receives just over €37,000, Enda Bonner receives just under €8,500 and Sean Maloney receives just under €8,000.

Donegal figures in full -

Donegal North East

Harry Blaney (IFF)            €14,637
Hugh Conaghan (FF)        €31,975
Paddy Harte (FG)              €53,291
Dr James Mc Daid (FF)   €97,407

Donegal South West

Pat The Cope Gallagher (FF)   €70,562
Thomas Gildea (IND)                 €12,393
Mary Coughlan (FF)                   €46,945
Dr James White (FG)                  €23,262

Seanad

Enda Bonner (FF)                    €8,493
Bernard Mc Glinchey (FF)   €37,304
Sean Maloney (LAB)              €7,912

Police in the Scottish Highlands are continuing their investigations into the death of a Donegal fisherman whose body was recovered from Ullapool Harbour on St Stephen’s Day. However, they do not suspect foul play.

The search began on Monday after it emerged that  Philip Anthony Toland from Glengad hadn’t been seen since Christmas Day.

His body was recovered by members of the Grampian Police Dive Team.

Police believe the 34 year old, who had been working in Scotland,  may lost his footing and fallen into the water as he returned to his boat.

Mr Toland, a father of one, was a former captain of the Glengad United football team.

The Letterkenny Joint Policing Committee is to hold a series of public meetings in the new year, aimed at briefing people on crime patterns in the area, and also seeking their views on how policing in Letterkenny should be prioritised.

Cllr Dessie Larkin is Chairperson of Letterkenny JPC – He says seperate meetings will be held for business people and residents associations to ensure that each sector has a chance to address specific issues.

He also says it’s important that gardai get a chance to advise people on how to minimise the risk of crime………

Donegal Local Development Company has published its end of year report, saying that all investment targets have been exceeded, particularly in the Leader programme.

DLDC had been allocated just over a million euro for Leader in 2011, but had extra projects ready to proceed in the hope that extra money would become available. It then emerged towards the end of the year that because some other companies nationally were not able to spend their entire allocations, and DLDC applied for, and received, extra funding.

DLDC Chief Executive Caoimhin Mac Aoidh says they were in a position to spend €1.45 million on Leader projects in the county……….

The body of a Donegal born fisherman has been recovered from a harbour in Scotland.

A search had begun for 34 year old Philip Anthony Toland from Glengad after it emerged he hadn’t been seen since at the pier in Ullapool in the early hours of Christmas morning.

Police, Coastguard, the RNLI and Grampian Police Dive Team started a search early yesterday morning, and a body was subsequently recovered from the harbour.

Police say Mr Toland’s family have been informed, and enquiries into the circumstances of his death are continuing.

A 19-year-old man is seriously ill in hospital after he was found with head injuries in Omagh this morning.

The man was found lying in Gardenville Avenue off the Gorteen Road just before 5 o’clock

It is not yet known how he received his injuries.

Police are appealing for information.

Donegal may be set to lose its unenviable reputation as one of the country’s most dangerous counties for drivers, with the number of deaths so far this year just a third of last year’s total.

A comparitive study published by the Irish Independent today shows that based on last year’s Road Safety Authority statistics, Donegal was the third most dangerous county in the country in which to drive. However, that is set to change.

There were 19 deaths on the county’s roads in 2010, that’s 129 deaths per one million people, compared to a national average of 70. Only two counties had a higher proportion of fatalities, Roscommon with 154 deaths per million and Laois with 134.

This compares to Dublin with 17 death per million last year and Galway with 26.

However, Donegal’s average is set to plummet, with only 6 confirmed deaths on the county’s roads so far this year, the lowest ever total recorded in the county.

Last year’s total of 19 included the eight people killed in one tragedy in Inishowen. 2009 saw 14 deaths on Donegal’s roads, maintaining a downward trend since 29 died in the county in 2004.