A former guide dog has undergone a £5k operation to prevent her from going blind. Owner Michelle Earl, 52, took in Alice, a 14-year-old Labrador Retriever cross, after her career as a guide dog came to an end five years ago following her previous owner's death. Alice had a four-hour procedure to remove ulcers on her eyes at Medivet in Sidcup on Friday May 3. Alice will have her eyes bandaged for four or five weeks while she heals. Michelle, a nanny from Sevenoaks in Kent, said: "She was just...
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have identified new COVID variants which are behind a sharp rise in coronavirus hospitalisations and infections in recent weeks. The new COVID FLiRT variants appear to be similar to previous versions of the virus but have some key variations. Here’s all you need to know about the new virus variant. The FLiRT variants are a collective of variant strains which include KP.2, JN1.7 and any other variants starting with KP or JN which have independently picked up...
More than 30 female artists and performers from across Europe will converge on Northern Ireland for YES, a new, free festival of female creativity inspired by Joyce’s most famous female character, Molly Bloom. Among the many highlights of YES will be the world premiere of The Molly Films, a new cinematic suite giving a fresh presentation of a literary masterpiece and featuring a cast of some of the UK and Ireland’s finest actors, including Dame Harriet Walter, Fiona Shaw, Adjoa Andoh, Siobhán...
St Cecilia's College Environmental Group scooped the prestigious ECO UNESCO Young Environmentalist Award for their waste reduction efforts, in Dublin this week. The judges were impressed with their clothing swap shop initiative and announced to over 100 schools at the final showcase that each school should follow suit! Their teacher Ms Rainey is immensely proud of all their work on the project and how they are excellent environmental role models for Derry. The idea behind the swap shop is to...
In partnership with GEMX, the college’s staff at the newly opened i4.0 centre at Springtown Campus set the students a challenge to automate the process of palletising using a state of the art collaborative robot. The students then presented their design plan and solutions to a panel of judges. The team from St Mary’s College triumphed on the day on what was a close-run competition, and each of the students received a google nest mini speaker, Industry 4.0 branded t-shirt from NWRC and GEMX as...
Leading Derry into a rave revolution, Conor is a DJ, producer and event organiser who just turned 23. Conor and his friends, Jordan Villa, Tiernan Hughs and Cian McFeely decided to be the change they wanted to see in the world and created their own record label named Xtend. From Xtend came the event organisation Project X which had a massively successful debut event, with 400 people attending. The Journal spoke with the man behind the it all Conor Lynch. Conor spoke on his beginnings in the...
Paul Mullin has been channelling his inner Tyson Fury, with a favourite of Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney taking in a boxing workout.
There’s something a bit depressing about looking out at a sogging and overgrown garden as the rain pelts down on the window and this has been the case in Ireland for so very long, so it is a great relief to finally be able to start pottering about and putting plans into practice outdoors. May is a busy, busy month for gardening. The danger of frost has faded, the garden centres are full of beautiful, bright plants and everywhere there are signs of life beginning anew as the days lengthen....
The Transport Minister Eamon Ryan outlined the extent of state support to the Carrickfinn facility in the Dáil this week. "On aviation, my Department's Regional Airports Programme 2021 to 2025 provides direct capital investment and operational supports to Donegal and Ireland West airports, and public service obligation (PSO) air services between Donegal and Dublin. "Under the regional airports programme, since 2014, almost €9.44 million has gone to Donegal Airport and more than €39.42 million to...
The popular, free to attend festival will be staged over four days along the River Foyle from June 27 to 30, and here’s some photos from previous festivals to get everyone in the mood. Photos by George Sweeney / Derry Journal.
During a report on accessibility improvements for the stadium, presented before Derry City & Strabane District Council’s May meeting of the Health and Community Committee meeting on Thursday, members approved the purchase transmitter/ radio equipment, at a cost of £2,000, to allow for live audio description during matches. “A motion was proposed at December’s Full Council to make improvements to accessibility at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium,” the report presented to elected...
The realignment of the N14, which runs behind Derry from Manorcunningham to Lifford, is among three sections of the road network in the Laggan area identified as priority routes under the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) European-wide road scheme. “The Donegal TEN-T road scheme has reached the preliminary business case stage. I met with some councillors from the region last week to confirm our commitment to these projects,” the Minister of Transport told TDs this week. Sligo-Leitrim TD...