Update, October 18th 2006
October 18th, 2006A few quick updates:
- Commiserations to St. Eunans, who lost this weekend’s County Senior Football Championship final to Gaoth Dobhair. Hopefully things will go better next year. Gaoth Dobhair were the best team in what was a disappointing game, and came through with a late flourish
- Donegal is set to get more than 10% of the new speed cameras announced yesterday. Of 400 “red-zones” identified nationwide, 45 are in Donegal. This should be seen as an acknowledgement of the horrific few years we’ve had on the roads here.
- Four organisations in Donegal have been succesful in gaining funding for new programes in suicide prevention. Together, they will share E221,000. Suicide is a massive issue in Donegal, particularly among young men. Hopefully this funding will help make a difference.
- Following on from my contribution to the recent “Blogging the Election” conference, I’m starting a new weekly column on the IrishElection.com website. The pieces should be on the website over there every Thursday. I’m keeping this website for local issues, so any comments or discussion will be kept for the IrishElection website. Update: Here’s my first piece: Beyond Bertiegate
- Brian Cowen was in Donegal last weekend. He visited the town to speak at the inaugural “Neil T Blaney Autumn School”, on the subject of republicanism. He also officially opened the new Gallagher’s Hotel, on the Main Street. As he visited Gallagher’s, he was greeted by a protest against the Council’s plans to sell the Leisure Centre on the High Road. I spoke for a few minutes with the protestors, and told them about my piece on the issue. If you have anything to say on the issue, please leave a comment on that article.
- From Slugger O’Toole, here’s the text of the St Andrew’s Agreement (PDF). This seems like the best chance for developments in the North in years. We can only hope that the two lead parties can get their acts together, and soon.
- Finally, plans for the CCTV system continue apace. Work on the tender documents is almost complete, and we should be advertising for interest late this week or early next week. We hope to see the system in place by the start of next year.