News from around the Irish counties

Source: The Corkman

DERRY

The gate lodge of Strabane Grammar School has been destroyed by fire. Police are treating the incident at Liskey Road as arson. The cost of the damage has been estimated at £10,000. The blaze was reported on Monday two weeks ago, and was extinguished by firefighters.

Source: The Derry Journal

DONEGAL

A female councilor has been voted chairperson of the Glenties Electoral Area for the first time ever. Sinn Féin Councilor, Marie Therese Gallagher was nominated to the position by Fianna Fail Councilor David Alcorn in the Glenties Electoral Area last week. Councilor Padraig Ó’Dochartaigh supported Councilor Alcorn’s nomination. There were no other proposals. It is understood that the five councilors will rotate the chairmanship for the following five years with Councilor Gallagher taking to the seat first.

Source: Donegal Democrat

DOWN

Personal injury claims from Newry and Mourne have cost Roads Service more than £81,000 in the past year. The figure comprises both legal costs (£34,300) and compensation payments (£46,757.48). Despite this being a significant reduction from the year before, local Assembly member Dominic Bradley has described the management of Personal Injury Claims as ‘deeply disturbing’. The Newry and Armagh MLA have now called for a complete overhaul of the compensation process. “The Department of Regional Development (DRD) paid out a whopping £4 million across the north last year, nearly half of which went on legal fees either to the claimant’s solicitors or to government legal advisors in the Departmental Solicitor’s Office,” he said. “It is more akin to the accounting procedures of Mr. Micawber in the Charles Dickens novel ‘David Copperfield’.

Source: The Down Democrat

DUBLIN

People with disabilities are the latest group to suffer at the hands of Dublin City Council's cost-cutting program. The cash-strapped local authority is refusing to accept any more applications for housing grants for disabled people. The council said it did not have the "financial resources" to process any further applications in 2009. The grants are used to help disabled people adapt their homes by installing access ramps, stair lifts, downstairs toilets and other facilities. "We find it very disturbing that the council is ceasing to accept applications," Disability of Ireland Federation spokesman Allen Dunne said.

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Nster.com