Downings Beach gets Blue Flag Status

Downings Beach gets Blue Flag Status

There was good news for the seaside village of Downings with confirmation that its beach has received blue flag status for the first time since 1999.

Downings is one of thirteen Donegal beaches to have been awarded blue flag status after An Taisce announced the International 25th Anniversary Blue Flag Awards for 2012.

The awards were presented by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D and Mr. Jan Eriksen, President of FEE at an awards ceremony held in The Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links on Thursday.

Downings Beach gets Blue Flag Status
The full list of blue flag beaches in Donegal is: Bundoran, Murvagh, Rossnowlagh, Naran, Carrickfinn, Killahoey, Marble Hill, Portsalon, Lisfannon, Culdaff, Stroove, Fintra and Downings. In Sligo, two beaches, Enniscrone and Rosses Point, have been awarded blue flags. Mullaghmore is not being awarded the Blue Flag as there is an ongoing issue with livestock roaming on the beach.

Meanwhile, Donegal has retained its seven Green Coast awards. These beaches include Dooey, Ballyhiernan, Drumnatinney, Ladies Bay, Magheraroarty, Port Aurthur, Rathmullan,

The Green Coast beaches in Sligo are Dunmoran Strand, Rosses Point, Streedagh, Enniscrone, and Mullaghmore.

Patricia Oliver, An Taisce, speaking at the awards said, “We are delighted in this, the 25th anniversary year of Blue Flag to announce a record 87 Irish Blue Flag sites.

“The continuing high standards of our beaches are testament to the hard work carried out by Local Authorities throughout the year to improve water quality and provide clean, safe beaches for everyone to enjoy.”

New Donegal Cycling Routes

New Donegal Cycling Routes
Good News.A grant of €497,000 has been approved to provide and upgrade rural roads based cycling routes, stretching from Donegal Town to Newtowncunningham, covering a distance of 195 kilometres.

This route goes through some of the County’s most attractive landscape and links a large number of Towns along the way.

Minister McGinley states “not alone will this be of tremendous assistance to the many Donegal people who have taken up cycling as a hobby and sport, but will also attract many cycling enthusiasts to County Donegal.”

“Cycling tourism is increasingly popular around Europe. The Great Western Greenway from Westport-Achill in Mayo, is generating an estimated 140,000 trips per annum, which hugely significant for Mayo’s local economy. Let us hope that the Newtowncunningham-Donegal Town route will be similarly important for our local economy in Donegal.

New Donegal Cycling Routes
This route has been selected for Government investment. It is one of 16 routes that were selected by the Department of Transport & Tourism, from a group of over 50 proposed projects nationwide.
Work will be commencing on the project as soon as possible.

Mark Higgins at Topaz Donegal International Rally

Former British champion turned film stunt driver Mark Higgins is planning to return to rally action on next weekend’s Topaz Donegal International.

A deal is being put together which will see the Wales-based Manxman driving a WRC Mini owned by Derek McGarrity on round four of the Irish Tarmac championship.

Higgins has been one of Britain’s most successful drivers for the past decade but in recent times has turned increasingly to film stunt work.

He was one of the drivers in the spectacular car scenes in Quantum of Solace and has just returned from Turkey where he was working on the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall.

Details for the Donegal appearance are still being worked out but it is planned that Higgins will team up with his old British championship-winning co-driver Rory Kennedy to drive a Prodrive Mini for the first time.

They finished second behind Andrew Nesbitt in a Mitsubishi one-two in 2006 and were second again the following year when Sebastien Loeb took his memorable victory ahead of Rally Ireland.

Indeed, Higgins led the World champion by nearly 40 seconds at the end of the first leg.

“You could say Mark and I still have some unfinished business in Donegal so it would be great to get another chance to set the record straight,” said Kennedy who was a three-time winner of his home international with Bertie Fisher.

McGarrity, meanwhile, will switch to last year’s Donegal winning car, the Tim McNulty S12C Subaru.

Reigning Tarmac champion McNulty, who trails leader Darren Gass by 46 points in this year’s series, is now expected to sit out the rest of the season.

Green Guide Ireland – Donegal and Northwest

Green Guide Ireland – Donegal and Northwest

Plan your holiday or short break based on our personal recommendations. Discover the unique beauty of Donegal and the North West. Experience the real Ireland, what to see, where to go. Explore hidden places, find local attractions, enjoy gorgeous 360˚ virtual tours with this free guide. Download the App now! Enjoy!

Brought to you by the Gysling family, this advert-free App is the result of a deep affection for this special corner of Ireland and a desire to share it with you. Each place has been personally selected on the basis that it highlights the best of the North West.

WHAT’S INCLUDED
Scenic drives, golf courses, walking trails, other activities, beaches, historical sites, restaurants. Packed with information and tips for your trip, it is easy to navigate and each location is pinpointed on a map so you always know how near the next great attraction is.

WORKS OFFLINE
There is no need for a live data connection while using this App, as everything is stored on your device after you do an initial update. This means you won’t be charged for expensive data roaming.

GPS-BASED
Most listings are GPS-based to guide you to a place once you select it.

EVENTS / PUSH ALERTS
We will keep you notified about what’s on in the region. These push alerts are free and non-intrusive and you will receive no more than 1 per month. You can also enable or disable the notification in the settings at any time.

MAKE HARVEY’S YOUR HOME!
You are welcome to use Harvey’s Point as the perfect hotel base from which to tour Donegal and the North West or simply as a destination to relax and enjoy palatial accommodation, exquisite cuisine and warm Donegal hospitality. Located just outside Donegal Town, Harvey’s Point enjoys a magical setting on the shores of Lough Eske and at the foot of the Bluestack Mountains.

CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE
We hope that you will enjoy using our Green Guide App, and it will be our pleasure to welcome you to the Hills of Donegal and beyond.

Download the App now! Enjoy!

The Gysling Family & Harvey’s Point Team.

Donegal Live 2012

Donegal Live 2012

A few highlights from Donegal Live Event held in Donegal Town May 25-27

Donegal town was turned into a tourism exhibition centre for three days as thousands thronged the streets of the historic south Donegal town to sample the delights offered by Donegal Live 2012.

Following on from events in Dublin and Glasgow, the decision to bring the ‘Live’ formula back home proved a resounding success and the remarkable weather over the three days gave the town a continental feel to it.

Open air concerts in The Diamond and a major exhibition area highlighting the best that Donegal has to offer.

Donegal Town Community Chamber in association with Fáilte Ireland, Donegal Tourism and the Donegal Association were selected to host this major tourism promotional event. It took place in Dublin’s Temple Bar, The Iveagh Gardens and Glasgow over the last two years and highlighted all that Donegal has to offer tourists from both home and abroad.

Last weekend Donegal Town has been transformed into a tourism exhibition centre, with live music concerts from national and international bands in the Diamond area. The tented village on the pier houses exhibitors showcasing all that the county has to offer the discerning visitor.

The best of Donegal style was also on display with lots of clothing and jewellery, along with designers, artists and manufacturers of great local crafts.

Inishowen Design Company

Inishowen Design Company

We’re a small business operating out of Carndonagh in the beautiful peninsula of Inishowen in Co. Donegal, right up the top of Ireland.

When we were a bit younger we did some travelling, our clothes drawer is an A-Z of where we’ve been. A few years ago we noticed that if a visitor came to Inishowen and wanted to take a momento home, specifically an item of clothing, you’d have to go for a knitted sweater or flat cap with a shamrock. Its not everyone’s cup of “tae”, its not ours for sure, we like to buy a t-shirt when we go away, or a silly pair of shorts, something like that, that’s just the way we are.

One idea led to another and we came up with a few designs, got them printed and people showed an interest. From there things have moved on, we now design everything ourselves, do our own printing and have gone from selling a few t-shirts a week to selling all over the world. It’s a geographically small place Inishowen but the people do get around and we’ve noticed they love to take a bit of home with them. That’s where we fit in.

The orders are coming in from everywhere, locally of course, but mostly abroad – Australia, New Zealand, America and Korea to name a few. It’s the times we live in that our own have to go away from home to experience a better life. When they are away, we like to be part of that feeling of being from Ireland. We’re finding our t-shirts in the box in the post along with the chocolate, Lyons teabags and Tayto crisps. We’re in good company!

More recently we’ve expanded a little, Pure Savage is the side of the business which designs and prints t-shirts and hoodies not specific to Inishowen. Pure Savage is more general, it can be anything from typical Irish humour to football t-shirts. It also designs and print t-shirts for hen/stag partys and birthdays and so on. Also, if there is a design you’d like printed, a one-off, we can do that for you. Basically we do a bit of everything. We think that’s the best way.

www.inishowendesignco.com

Amelia Earhart’s Legacy

Amelia Earhart’s Legacy

It is 80 years since Amelia Earhart touched down in a field at Ballyarnett on the Derry/Donegal border. She took off from Newfoundland in Canada in a bid to become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.

Hoping to land in Paris, bad weather and technical problems altered her course and she landed in Derry. A week long festival was held in the city to mark the event with a fly past planned for Monday afternoon. A Donegal based flying club will stage a fly past in Guildhall Square at 15:00 BST. Six planes from Finn Valley flying club from Convoy are expected to take part.

Festival Director Oliver Green said,

I’m delighted Derry City Council have designated today as Amelia Earhart Day. This 80th anniversary is a stepping stone for our city to look at the legacy of our connection to this historical achievement. This is an endorsement of the significant and lasting place that Amelia Earhart holds in the history of our community.

After completing her transatlantic challenge, Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly across the Pacific. After her transatlantic achievement, she continued to break records.

But in 1937 her challenge to be the first woman to fly around the world ended in tragedy when her plane disappeared in the middle of the Pacific. For 17 days rescue teams scoured more than 250,000 square miles of ocean, but she was never found.

The aviator is a household name in America and an airport in Kansas was named in her honour. In March 2012, a similar bid to rename City of Derry Airport after the pioneering aviator was rejected after local politicians could not agree. That decision was criticised by the former director of a small museum celebrating Amelia Earhart in Derry. John Thompson said the failure to capitalise on Amelia Earhart’s legacy was a “major mistake”.

Anchor Arts Moville

Anchor Arts Moville

Artists from across Inishowen have gathered together to promote and support each other. This opening event at our working gallery is themed ‘on the edge‘. Works will consist of a wide range of media across many artistic disciplines including spoken word, music and visual arts.

Anchor Arts Moville
Set on the water’s edge at the Pier in Moville, Anchor Arts provides a collaborative creative space for artists and writers in Inishowen to develop, celebrate and display their talent. With exhibition and studio space, Anchor Arts gives members of the public the chance to meet artists at work during weekday mornings. Anchor Arts also provides opportunities for members of the community and invites them to develop their own creativity through a programme of workshops and to experience a variety of events and performances across cultural forms. Opening times are seasonal. If you would like to visit, call in for a cuppa or for more information,

please contact us in advance on 00353 83 146 4696
info@anchorarts.ie
or through our website anchorarts.ie

We look forward to meeting you!

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Portsalon twins with Headforth

Portsalon twins with Headforth

Headfort and Portsalon join forces in twinning initiative

Headforth Golf Club in Kells, Co Meath and Portsalon in Co Donegal are to join forces this Friday in a “twinning” of the two golf courses.

Members from Portsalon are travelling down to the Headfort club where the official announcement will be made following a mixed competition.

The twinning of the clubs – which are 140 miles and three hours journey apart – will have benefits for members of both clubs.

Headfort boast two wonderful courses – Headfort New, rated as the best parkland in Leinster and one of the top 10 in Ireland, and Headfort Old an all-time gem, while Portsalon – which is being continually developed under the guidance of Paul McGinley – is a stunning links course which is rated number 27 in the top 100 courses in Ireland by Golf Digest.

Portsalon twins with Headforth
The link up between the clubs will allow members to enjoy the facilities of the other club free of charge should they visit, while members from both clubs can play their respective Open competitions at members’ rates.

Work on the deal between the clubs has been done over the past two years and Headfort marketing convenor John Griffin is delighted with the link-up.

It is a fantastic new benefit for Headfort members and a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a links experience in a beauty spot well known to many Headfort members

Related Link

Portsalon Golf Club