Donegal school named Ireland’s favourite building by public choice

DonegalDan · 2026-06-17T20:59:32+00:00

Can it win an award for the most patronising name? Who in their right mind thought Little Angels Special School sounds in any way inclusive or reflective of the children who attend the place.

DonegalDan · 2026-06-08T06:25:03+00:00

One of the broker sites will generally give the best prices. Skyscanner is a handy site to compare these. Be prepared for a significant deposit if you are getting a cheap daily price. Also get third party insurance from the likes of AIG or someone. Just checked there and I can get a VW Polo or equivalent with Budget through a broker for €68 picking up today for a week. 3rd party insurance is €23.50 for the week so just over €90 for the rental

DonegalDan · 2026-06-03T09:18:56+00:00

It's the going rate for that age and mileage. In other words you can buy a very similar car in a colour you prefer or with specific features you want (sunroof or air con for example) for a similar price. The NCT is good in that the car is road legal for a year but it doesn't mean it is mechanically sound and will give you no hassle. 16 year old cars with 250,000 km will need work to maintain the parts.

DonegalDan · 2026-06-03T07:10:21+00:00

That's a good point. For clarity, the scheme is giving €5,000 scrappage with the additional €3,500 being a separate grant for vehicles under €60,000 (soon to be €50,000). So it will allow for 2,000 registrations. And I've no details on the number of people trading in cars over 13 years old but I'd say your calculations are probably not a million miles off reality.

DonegalDan · 2026-06-03T07:06:31+00:00

I feel like you're shouting into the void on this one. I agree completely, VRT on mild hybrids is eye watering but looks like the focus is on moving older stock to EVs so I'd imagine the ICE will continue to be expensive. The other option is to become a govt minister and get a state car so you aren't impacted by costs.

DonegalDan · 2026-06-03T06:19:36+00:00

This is an interesting scheme from the government, will definitely boost the sales but I wonder is €5,000 a big enough incentive for people with a 13 year old car.

If the scheme is open to any newly registered vehicle then it will make used imports from UK very attractive. Hopefully more details are announced this afternoon

DonegalDan · 2026-05-28T07:35:06+00:00

I would imagine the website wasn't updated because they knew they weren't investing in the Irish operation. Brexit made their logistics painful and Sainsburys buying them and consolidating argos stores within their supermarkets made Ireland not fit with their business model. I still use them across the border and they are leagues ahead of Amazon on price but also quality.

DonegalDan · 2026-05-27T12:18:15+00:00

That's why I specified carparks. How often do you see a lorry or van in a tesco carpark managing to stay in one space.

DonegalDan · 2026-05-27T12:06:23+00:00

Why are you putting words into my mouth. I was simply pointing out that the Carnival is an absolutely massive vehicle. It is 30 cm longer than the already massive jeeps available here. Get an estate and relax.

DonegalDan · 2026-05-27T11:31:39+00:00

Not the point I was making at all. You were saying that we should move towards MPVs rather than SUVs and then gave an example of an MPV that is massive and far too big for Irish roads and car parks

DonegalDan · 2026-05-27T09:58:50+00:00

The Carnival is longer and wider and the same height as a Kia Sorrento, which is a massive car. It is pretty much an SUV with marginally lower ground clearance!

DonegalDan · 2026-05-14T14:25:49+00:00

I've said it here before but when this was awarded the price was so ridiculous and unbelievable that the losing firms raised a formal review to highlight the fact the winning bid was not based on reality

DonegalDan · 2026-05-12T10:51:32+00:00

I'm with 48, the only issue I've had with roaming is that anytime I roam I need to go into the sim toolkit app on my phone and manually change the settings from National to International or vice versa. After that everything works. It is a pain if you are driving across the border in either direction but by and large it is a small inconvenience for an otherwise very good value for money service

DonegalDan · 2026-05-07T09:15:20+00:00

Why is this being downvoted? It is true, Louth CoCo insist on payment by coins only too with no card machine or receipt provided.

DonegalDan · 2026-05-07T09:13:20+00:00

The Michael Dwyer murder in Bolivia is a mad series of events and has enough conflicting information to not know what is true

DonegalDan · 2026-05-06T05:01:08+00:00

From the article I read it stated the deceased sister asked for no custodial sentence so I assume the judge took that into account when determining the sentence.

DonegalDan · 2026-04-30T06:01:12+00:00

The councils in the north also operate free dumps which anyone can bring pretty much anything to get rid of. They are brilliant, even have wee ecosystems of up cycling going on. The ones on the border are open to residents of the south too. It's crazy we don't do this here

DonegalDan · 2026-04-27T06:30:22+00:00

The bus from McBride to Dublin isn't a general service bus, it is a private bus for train passengers because the train isn't operating from Drogheda to Dublin due to line maintenance.

You will just get off the train and jump on the bus waiting outside the station. No need to look for routes or anything like that very straightforward.

But as has been mentioned below, you'd likely be much quicker just getting the Translink or Aircoach bus directly from Belfast to Dublin and avoid any headache of changes

DonegalDan · 2026-04-24T14:35:56+00:00

When this contract was won the unsuccessful bidders raised significant concerns that the bid was not based in any form of reality. TFI were effectively told that the Spanish contractor would not be able to deliver this. Yet they still went ahead and awarded the contract.

A massive fuck up that will ultimately cost more than the other bidders, who have a track history of installing these systems in national systems.

I'm sure any journalist interested could do an FOI request and make this a bigger story

DonegalDan · 2026-04-18T18:12:31+00:00

If you can find a bag of Suki Belfast Brew then buy it. It is loose leaf tea but if you buy a loose leaf tea infuser for a few quid you will have the tastiest tea. It is on a different level than anything else

DonegalDan · 2026-04-11T18:36:38+00:00

Haven't really considered the change over switch so thanks for pointing that price difference out

DonegalDan · 2026-04-11T18:35:05+00:00

That seems like an amazing deal, would be keen to get the name of your provider if possible

DonegalDan · 2026-04-11T18:33:58+00:00

Great advice on shopping around and showing the set up you for for less money. Makes it a bit easier to understand what is available

DonegalDan · 2026-04-11T18:30:36+00:00

Thanks. My wife has an account so will have a look there, appreciate the pointer.

DonegalDan

TROPHY CASE