After the recent successful TradFest in February, Moville is now gearing up for Ireland’s only festivals dedicated to music legends Bob Dylan and the Beatles music. 

Titled “Stuck Inside of Moville” and “BeatlesFest on the Lough,” 10,000 leaflets have been printed with the DylanFest and BeatlesFest promoting both events with many distributed at the Paul McCartney concert at the O2 in Dublin in December.

 DylanFest will take place from July 1 – 4 and BeatlesFest from August 12 – 15. 

 Organiser Gerry McLaughlin said he expected both events to be bigger and better than ever before.

He said: “We have created the www.DylanFest.com website which will help to bring extra people to Moville this year – and we have registered the festivals on all the top entertainment websites. We’re going to make a real effort to bring the crowds flocking to Moville this summer.”

He added: “A lot of background preparatory work has been done in getting high search engine positions for the two festivals. For instance, if you type DylanFest into Google, eight of the ten slots on the first page relate to the Moville DylanFest. It’s the biggest and best publicised of the world’s DylanFests, easily beating the ones in Detroit, upstate New York, California, Berlin, North Italy and Manchester. It’s a similar story for the BeatlesFest.”

 BeatlesFest this year is to be called “Here Comes the Sun” after the hit Fab Four song. 

Gerry explained: “We wanted to say to people ‘It’s been a long winter and the town’s taken a bit of an economic battering. Let’s brighten things up a bit and have some fun. The worst is over. The sun is coming’.” 

He concluded: “It’s something positive to look forward to which will hopefully bring an economic boost to Moville and add further to Moville’s growing reputation as a fun town to visit.”

The Garda presence in the border area of Muff is to be increased, it has been revealed.

According to Cllr Mickey Doherty he was assured by Superintendent William Johnston the area is to  get one extra Garda.

Welcoming the news, Cllr Doherty said:  “At a meeting held in St.Mary’s Hall in Muff on March 2 to reform the Muff community alert group, I was assured by Superintendent William Johnston that in the next few weeks the present Garda team in Muff will be increased to four Garda officers and one Sergeant. At present, we have three Garda officers and one sergeant.” 

Cllr Doherty concluded: “This will bring Muff station back to what it was always meant to be. This news in very welcomed by the Inishowen community.”

Meanwhile, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy is committed to providing the best policing service in Inishowen, according to Senator Cecilia Keaveney.

Speaking after meeting the Commissioner, Senator Keaveney said he had “confirmed” that patrolling of the North Inishowen Policing Initiative Area was now being dealt with under a planned weekley operation driven by the District Officer to focus Garda resources to include the use of “District traffic, crime and drugs units.”

Senator  Keaveney continued: “Rregarding personnel resources on the Inishowen peninsula, overall policing arrangements and operational strategy in the Donegal Division are continually monitored and reviewed by Garda management. Such monitoring ensures the optimum use of resources, and ensure the best possible Garda services are provided to the general public. 

“Good policing” has led to an 80 per cent reduction in the crime rate in Inishowen, according to Cllr Mickey Doherty.

Cllr Doherty was speaking after welcoming the arrival of Garda Sergeant Ambrose Bradley to Carndonagh.

Cllr. Doherty said the appointment of a second sergeant to the area was due to the “hard work” of Superintendent William Johnston was putting into proper policing in Inishowen.

He added: “In the past six months crime in Inishowen has been reduced by about 80 per cent. This is obviously down to good policing and the public being much more alert than in previous times.

“Sergeant Bradley is a native of Buncrana and also lives in Inishowen which is an enormous advantage to successful policing. I hope Sgt. Bradley will have a long successful stay in Carndonagh.”

Cllr Doherty said the appointment of  Sgt. Bradley dispelled fears about the area losing its present sergeant.

Cllr Doherty said: “Some fears have been floating regarding the losing of the present Sgt. Doherty but I have been assured that this is not the case which again is much to our advantage. This is an upturn for Carndonagh as there has been lots of goosip and political debates circulating in the last week or so.”

The first sod was cut yesterdaqy afternoon of Moville’s first ever Community Garden.

The project is a joint effort between local people, the Health Service Executive (HSE), Donegal County Cuncil and the Moville and District Family Resource Centre.

Funded by the Donegal Peace 3 Partnership, It is one of three pilot programmes be run in the county by the  HSE.

The site, owed by Donegal County Council, for the Moville garden is located between St Finian’s Park, O’Gara Villas and Foyleview Crescent.   A group of local residents have worked closely with the HSE and the contractors Highland Landscapes to decide the work required to get the project “off the ground” or more appropriately “on the ground.”

Mary McKinney, of the Moville and District Family Resource Centre, said she hoped the community garden would be the first of a number of similar projects in the town.

She said: “This is building on the work already done in Moville through the Family Resource Centre in terms of healthy living, exercise and cooking.

 On a cold frosty morning it is hard to envisage our community garden in full swing.  The aim is to involve as many of the community as possible as well as groups who are interested in planting and growing in a relaxed and friendly environment.  We hope it will be start of something bigger in Moville, where more sites could be developed and more people from the community can become involved.  As the saying goes ‘mighty oaks from little acorns grow.’  We hope our community garden is the start of something big and green and beautiful in Moville.”

Once the site is cleared, fencing will be erected and work will begin on  making beds laying down paths and the erection of Poly tunnels.

Mary said: “These will help us develop our gardening skills and allow us to grow more exotic plants than would survive outdoors in Moville.  It hopefully will meet another very important need.  We can use the poly tunnel to have our tea.

The killing of Derry man Kieran Doherty by the Real IRA has led to increased security along the Inishowen-Derry border.

Speaking to the “Inish Times” last night, Garda Superintendent William Johnston confirmed security had been increased.

He said: “It is a result of increased tension in the North and the shooting of Kieran Doherty last week. His remains were found only three or four miles from the border. The increased Garda prsence is to counteract paramilitary activity as well as detecting road traffic offences.”

Hundreds of mourners yesterday attended Mr. Doherty’s funeral in St. Columba’s Church, Long Tower. The body of the 31-year-old father of one, who was due to be married in tthree months time, was found semi-naked and bound on the Braehead Road on the outskirts of the city,  several miles from Killea. He had been shot twice in the back of the head.

Mr.Doherty’s family have called for an inquiry into claims the British intelligence agency M15 had tried to recruit him as an informer prior to his death.

They also rejected suggestions Mr. Doherty was involved in criminal activity. In January, he denied involvement in a cannabis haul, worth 500,000 euro, found in a house at Carrigans. 

At the time, he said the house belonged to fellow republican inmate Seamus McGreevy whom he met in Portlaoise prison while serving a jail term for his part in  a robbery at the Redcastle Hotel in 2002. McGreevy (56) was earlier this month found dead at his home in Co Meath. Gardaí are not looking for anybody else in relation to the death.

Mr. Doherty’s killing has been widely condemned on both sides of the border.

Work on the vital new breakwater at Greencastle Harbour as part of a Ä36 million project could now be back on track, the “Inish Times” can reveal.

Last month, it emerged that the project could be halted with the Department of the Environment highlighting the fact that it was owed money by Donegal Co. Council regarding works already carried out.

However, following intensive negotiations between council officials and the Department, the matter could now be resolved.

Councillors have now backed a call from Co. Manager, Mr. Michael McLoone, to ensure that the council coughs-up its agreed share towards the total cost of the project.

The Council currently owes Ä900,000 to the Department, and has signed up to providing 12.5% (or around Ä4 million) of the total cost.

Speaking at a meeting of Donegal Co. Council in Lifford yesterday, Manager, Michael McLoone, revealed proposals have been made to the Department to pay off the outstanding amount, and the Council now intended to raise a loan towards the cost of meeting its share of the entire works.

Welcoming this breakthrough, Cllr. Martin Farren backed the request from Mr. McLoone to raise the money through a loan.

The Council will now seek Departmental approval to raise the loan.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Charlie McConalogue said that he was confident a formula had been achieved that would see the necessary funds secured over the next two to three years to ensure the breakwater can be completed.

 He said: “Following much negotiation and contact the Mayor, County Manager and myself and with the Minister for Marine Tony Killeen over recent days, I am confident that a proposal has been achieved that will see the way cleared for funds to be made available to finish the breakwater.  A proposal was put to a meeting of the County Council today setting out a mechanism by which Donegal County Council can pay their liability to the Department of Ä1.36m thereby clearing the way for the Department to follow through with the funding required to complete the project.” 

Cllr. McConalogue said the proposal would have to involve a substantial upfront payment of up to 45% of the council’s liabilities to the Department of Marine followed by a payment plan for the remainder to be paid in instalments over the following 18 months. 

He added: “The issue of the outstanding County Council debt has been raised repeatedly by the Minister for Marine Tony Killeen as an obstacle to the Department proceeding with funding the completion of the breakwater.  I feel that this agreement, if implemented by the County Council, will remove that obstacle and am very confident from contacts with the Minister for the Marine that it will lead to Greencastle being prioritised in next year’s Marine Capital Budget and necessary funds allocated to help bring the project towards completion.”

 Under the payment plan, the Council would be seeking for the council’s upfront payment to the Department to be allocated to the breakwater project this year to ensure work can continue on the project. 

Cllr. McConalogue concluded: “This is a very important project for Greencastle and indeed Inishowen and we all must do what we can to ensure it its completed.  I am more than happy to have been able to work in my capacity as Deputy Mayor to help ensure that the project is moved on and will do everything I can now to see it through to completion.”

The people of Inishowen have been furiously texting and Emailing in recent days to ensure their favourite community group tops the poll in the AIB Better Ireland Awards.

The annual funding sees the bank give each of its branches 10,000 euro to award to local projects. The community then decide how the funding is divided up between the three short-listed at each branch.

Six Inishowen community projects have been selected, with Greencastle Community Childcare, Craigtown National School and Tiernasligo National School selected from the Moville AIB branch and Buncrana Youth Club, Inishowen Children’s Autism Related Education (i.C.A.R.E) and St Oran’s National School in the running from the Buncrana branch.

Those with the highest votes will receive 5,000 euro, second place are awarded 3,000 euro and third place wins 2,000 euro.

The funding is hugely important to the local groups, as Jamie Wilson, chairperson of the Parent’s Association at Tiernasligo National School explained.

He said: “We were absolutely delighted to be short listed in the final three. It was the school secretary who told me about it and we decided to put the application in. We hoped that we would be chosen but there are so many worthwhile projects you just never know. 

“It’s a lot of money, especially in the times that are in it now. The main area we want to invest in is what’s called the Old Boys’ School. It has generally got run down over the years but we’re hoping to renovate it so it can be used by the children for different activities. As well as that, it used to be used by the community for numerous events and we’d like to get it all up and running again. 

‘We’ve only got 64 children in the school so every vote is a huge help. While you can text your support, you can also Email your vote as well on www.betterireland.ie and that’s absolutely free. You can only Email once a day but even one or two votes counts. We’d be delighted with any support and really appreciate all the help we get.”

To vote for Tiernasligo National School, either vote online or text Moville, followed by a space, followed by C to 51303.

The same method applies for the other two entrants, however submit A for Greencastle Community Childcare and B for Craigtown National School.

For the Buncrana branches, text BUNCRAN followed by a space and A for Buncrana Youth Club, B for i.C.A.R.E and C for St Oran’s NS to 51303.

Illies Golden Gloves boxers William McLaughlin and Tyrone McCullagh will bid to complete a memorable double for Inishowen boxing when they compete in the televised finals of the Irish Senior Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin this Friday.

Featherweight McCullagh got one over on his nemesis Ryan Lindberg, who he had lost to in the last three successive Ulster Finals to reach his first National Senior Final.

The 19 year old defeated Lindberg when it mattered most on a 7-6 countback. Lindberg was 2-1 ahead at the end of the first and 5-4 ahead at the end of the second, but Tyrone twice restored parity with body shots in the final frame.

Reigning welterweight champion McLaughlin continued his impeccable defense of his title with a 5-0 victory over Bray southpaw Adam Nolan in the semi-finals on Friday night to set up a mouthwatering final with Irish Olympian John Joe Joyce.

Joyce defeated his St Michael’s Athy clubmate Roy Sheahan in the other semi-final. The 22 year old, who is 7th in the AIBA’s World Rankings, will provide McLaughlin with his biggest test since his quarter finals defeat at the World Championships in Milan in September.

Inishowen group The Henry Girls are still on cloud nine after they were special guests at the country’s most glamorous and prestigious film and television awards on Saturday last.

The three sisters, Joleen, Lorna and Karen McLaughlin, rubbed shoulders with Irish, European and Hollywood stars at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) held in the Burlington Hotel, in Dublin after they received an acclaimed nomination for their original score in the Inishowen shot movie ‘A Shine Of Rainbows.’

The event was shown live on RTE and while the girls didn’t pick up an award, they told the Inish Times it was an honour to be nominated and they had “an absolutely brilliant time.”

Karen revealed she and her sisters weren’t nervous as they travelled to the event and said the event was “very exciting.”

“Lorna and Joleen got their hair done in the morning in Vixen Hair in Carn, who we’d really like to thank and then we headed down to Dublin. There weren’t too many nerves at that stage; we were just discussing what was ahead. We had no idea what to expect so it was so exciting. We were staying in the Burlington and when we arrived there we were taken to get out make up done, as the organisers had that all set up.

“After that everything just happened so fast you had no time to be nervous. It was an absolutely massive event and a whole lot bigger than we even expected. There must have been about eight or nine hundred people there.”

As most Inishowen people know, no matter where you go you tend to meet someone from the peninsula and this star studded event was no exception.

“We were at a table up at the front with everyone from the All Ireland Talent Show, such as Dana and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and they were so lovely,” revealed Karen.

“At the next table was none other than Keith McErlean, the actor from Carndonagh. He introduced a film on stage and was fantastic. It was great to see someone from home.

“We also met up again with Aidan Quinn, who was in A Shine Of Rainbows and who actually won the award for Actor in A Supporting Role for his part in The Eclipse. He’s fantastic in it and it was really deserved.  He congratulated us and we congratulated him. We were so delighted for him, he’s a really lovely, friendly man and it was great to catch up.

“For something so glamourous it was also really relaxed and good fun. From our table we could see [Hollywood actors] Josh Hartnett, Colin Farrell and [director] Neil Jordan. There was a really lively atmosphere and everyone was so nice to us and interested in the music and group.

The winner of the Henry Girls category was announced quite early in the evening and they weren’t upset their name wasn’t the one called out.

“We weren’t disappointed at all. It was really good to have a nomination and be there for a really good reason, we felt so proud. We were chatting to Neil Hannon, who was also in our category and he was really modest. We just felt the same, it was just really, really nice to be considered and its gives us great initiative to just keep doing what we’re doing. To be even sitting amongst it all was just so special. ”

She revealed the group had received huge support locally and from a number of individuals.

“Everyone was so supportive, it was like you were getting married. We got so many messages of support. We got lent  of jewellery from Susan McGrory Kelly, whose from Buncrana. She’s got a jewellery business and her pieces are stunning – everyone commented on them. We also got lent jewellery from Hannah McGuinness and they were also a big talking point. Mary Oliver Fullerton, who owns Mrs Hinchcliffe vintage clothes shop in Buncrana let us look at all her formal wear and her dresses are just stunning. We’d like to thank them all, as well as Vixen Hair and Lorcan Doherty who took our great new publicity shots.”

The group have a busy schedule ahead. They have a new CD available, ‘Dawn’ which features some of the music from the film ‘A Shine Of Rainbows’ and for which they received their nomination as well as many other traditional pieces. Their website www.thehenrygirls.com recently went live and you can now buy and download all of their music here. They are also playing on February 26 at the 4 corners festival in Antrim, March 3 at the University of Ulster in Coleraine and then they’re off to Manchester for the Irish festival for UK debut on March 12.

It’s a case of so far so good for the Illies Golden Gloves boxers at the National Senior Championships in Dublin as both William McLaughlin and Tyrone McCullagh advanced to the semi-finals of the competition on Saturday night.

The Illies boxers will bid to reach the National Senior Final in welterweight and featherweight respectively at the National Stadium this Friday.

Featherweight McCullagh put his disappointment at the Ulster Finals behind him with a 2-0 win over Sean Kilroy of Holy Family ABC in Drogheda and will now face familiar foe Ryan Lindberg in the last four of the competition.

McCullagh has finished runner up to Immaculata clubman Lindberg in the last three Ulster Finals but the gap between the boxers has narrowed each year. And at this year’s final earlier this month McCullagh lost on a controversial countback decision where the last two rounds were inexplicably cut short by the timekeeper.

Significantly, McCullagh has previously beaten the two boxers on the other side of the draw and a win on Friday would see him advance to his first national final as a slight favourite as Illies Golden Gloves coach Eamonn Duffy explained.

“James Fryers and Sean Kilroy are in the other semi final and Tyrone has beaten them both well,” he said. “In many ways this Friday is Tyrone’s final, there is nothing between him and Lindberg now and this would be the one to beat him in. The gap is closing,  if we get the nine minutes we didn’t get last time there’ll be no if or buts about the result.”

At Welterweight, reigning champion William McLaughlin continued his outstanding form with a 10-0 win over Arklow’s Fergal Redmond. William has now won his last four fights without conceding a point and has amassed 31 points but he believes his fight this Friday with Bray’s Adam Nolan will provide a stiffer test.

“Nolan is a 6 foot 1’ southpaw who’ll be awkward, I feel I’m boxing well and my defense has been good so hopefully I can keep that going,” said McLaughlin.

 On the other side of the welterweight draw former EU Champion Roy Sheahan fights his St Michael’s  clubmate John Joe Joyce who is ranked 7th in the world but William is keen to focus on his semi-final.

“A final against either of them would be a tough fight but I’m only focusing on Friday.”

While William will be favourite to advance this Friday, Duffy sounded a word of caution about his opponent.

“Nolan will be going all out to win, he has previously lost to Sheahan on a countback so he would fancy his chances in the final if he beat William and Sheahan won on Friday.”