Dunkineely
Co. Donegal • 11 stories • Since 22 Jan 2025 • Latest 17 Aug 2026
Latest updates for Dunkineely
Source cards as of 2026-09-16.
News
Jury begin deliberating in Sliabh Liag murder trial
Dangerous to act on Sliabh Liag accused's testimony, judge tells jury
Sliabh Liag murder accused a 'cynical liar', prosecution tell jury
Pensioner had previous 'aggressive' altercation with murder accused, Sliabh Liag trial hears
Planning
Planning new application: 2661522
BALLYMAGOWAN , DUNKINEELY , DONEGAL PO (1) RETENTION OF (A) 18 NO. 6M HIGH LIGHTING COLUMNS TO EXISTING WALKING TRACK, (B) SINGLE STOREY DETACHED STORE, (C) STORAGE CONTAINER USED FOR GENERAL STORAGE PURPOSES ASSOCIATED WITH MAINTAINING GAA FACILITIES, (D) SMALL CONTAINER CURRENTLY BEING USED AS A T
Planning application received: (1) RETENTION OF (A) 18 NO. 6M HIGH LIGHTING COLUMNS TO EXISTING WALKING TRACK, (B) SINGLE STOREY DE
Planning new application: 2661464
KILLULTAN ST JOHN'S POINT DUNKINEELY CO. DONEGAL (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING AND DOMESTIC SHED, (2) DECOMMISSION OF EXISTING SEPTIC TANK, (3)...
Planning application received: (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING AND DOMESTIC SHED, (2) DECOMMISSION OF EXISTING SEPTIC TANK, (3)
RENOVATION, REFURBISHMENT AND ERECTION OF NEW EXTENSION TO REAR OF EXISTING DERELICT
Latest by Date
17 Aug 2026 latest- planningPlanning application received: (1) RETENTION OF (A) 18 NO. 6M HIGH LIGHTING COLUMNS TO EXISTING WALKING...
- planningPlanning application received: (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING AND DOMESTIC SHED, (2) DECOMMISSION OF...
- planningRENOVATION, REFURBISHMENT AND ERECTION OF NEW EXTENSION TO REAR OF EXISTING DERELICT
- planningPlanning conditional: SELF-CONTAINED RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY FOR SHORT-TERM LETTING PURPOSES, ASSOCIATED...
- planningPlanning conditional: CONSTRUCTION OF A DWELLING HOUSE WITH CONNECTION TO EXISTING PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEM,...
- courtsPair guilty of murdering pensioner whose body was thrown off Donegal cliffs
- courtsJury begin deliberating in Sliabh Liag murder trial
- courtsDangerous to act on Sliabh Liag accused's testimony, judge tells jury
- courtsWoman (23) a ‘bystander’ in Sliabh Liag murder, defence tell jury
- courtsSliabh Liag murder accused a 'cynical liar', prosecution tell jury
- courtsPensioner had previous 'aggressive' altercation with murder accused, Sliabh Liag trial hears
Crime & Courts
6 stories
Pair guilty of murdering pensioner whose body was thrown off Donegal cliffs
Former lovers Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have both been found guilty of murdering 66-year-old Robert Robin' Wilkin, whose body was thrown over the cliffs at Sliabh Liag, one of Donegal's most popular tourist attractions. The jury of seven women and five men at the Central Criminal Court this afterno
Courts News Ireland report
06 Mar 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Jury begin deliberating in Sliabh Liag murder trial
If either of two former lovers is not guilty of murdering 66-year-old Robert Robin' Wilkin, whose body was put over Ireland's tallest cliffs, they could be found guilty of impeding the prosecution of their co-accused by helping to destroy evidence, a jury has been told. Mr Justice Paul McDermott fin
Courts News Ireland report
04 Mar 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Also covered in: Killybegs
Dangerous to act on Sliabh Liag accused's testimony, judge tells jury
(Pictured: Trial judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott. Photo: Collins) A jury has been warned that it could be dangerous to act on the testimony of a man who has blamed his former lover and co-accused for the murder of a 66-year-old man whose body was put over Ireland's tallest cliffs at Sliabh Liag. Mr
Courts News Ireland report
27 Feb 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Also covered in: Killybegs
Woman (23) a ‘bystander’ in Sliabh Liag murder, defence tell jury
A "smouldering resentment" exploded into violence in which a murder accused struck a 66-year-old man six or seven times on the head with a rock before putting him over Ireland's tallest cliffs, a barrister has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court. Eoin Lawlor SC, delivered his closing speech on
Courts News Ireland report
26 Feb 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Also covered in: Killybegs
Sliabh Liag murder accused a 'cynical liar', prosecution tell jury
A barrister has described a murder accused as a "cynical liar" who is attempting to make fools of a jury by claiming that he did not lay a finger on 66-year-old Robert Robin' Wilkin, whose head was beaten in with a rock before his body was "unceremoniously deposited into the Atlantic Ocean" at Irela
Courts News Ireland report
25 Feb 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Also covered in: Killybegs
Pensioner had previous 'aggressive' altercation with murder accused, Sliabh Liag trial hears
Three days before a pensioner was allegedly beaten with a rock and thrown off Ireland's highest cliffs, he had an aggressive altercation with the man accused of his murder, the defendant's brother has told the Central Criminal Court. Bruce Vial, the brother of the accused man Alan Vial (39), also to
Courts News Ireland report
22 Jan 2025 · Courts News Ireland
Also covered in: Killybegs Letterkenny
Planning
5 stories
Planning application received: (1) RETENTION OF (A) 18 NO. 6M HIGH LIGHTING COLUMNS TO EXISTING WALKING TRACK, (B) SINGLE STOREY DE
ALAN LYONS ON BEHALF OF NAOMH ULTAN GAA CLUB — BALLYMAGOWAN DUNKINEELY DONEGAL PO CO. DONEGAL. (1) RETENTION OF (A) 18 NO. 6M HIGH LIGHTING COLUMNS TO EXISTING WALKING TRACK, (B) SINGLE STOREY DE...
ALAN LYONS ON BEHALF OF NAOMH ULTAN GAA CLUB
File ref: 2661522 · Donegal County Council
17 Aug 2026 · Donegal County Council (Planning)
Planning application received: (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING AND DOMESTIC SHED, (2) DECOMMISSION OF EXISTING SEPTIC TANK, (3)
AISLING BYRNE — KILLULTAN ST JOHN'S POINT DUNKINEELY CO. DONEGAL. (1) DEMOLITION OF EXISTING DWELLING AND DOMESTIC SHED, (2) DECOMMISSION OF EXISTING SEPTIC TANK, (3)...
AISLING BYRNE
File ref: 2661464 · Donegal County Council
05 Aug 2026 · Donegal County Council (Planning)
RENOVATION, REFURBISHMENT AND ERECTION OF NEW EXTENSION TO REAR OF EXISTING DERELICT
ANDREW BLAIN is seeking permission RENOVATION, REFURBISHMENT AND ERECTION OF NEW EXTENSION TO REAR OF EXISTING DERELICT COTTAGE AND CONNECTION TO SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT at BALLYBODONNELL, DUNKINEELY, DONEGAL PO, CO. DONEGAL. New Application.
ANDREW BLAIN
File ref: 2660745 · Donegal County Council
18 Jun 2026 · Donegal County Council (Planning)
Planning conditional: SELF-CONTAINED RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY FOR SHORT-TERM LETTING PURPOSES, ASSOCIATED SIGNAGE AND SITE DEV
PETER & DEBORAH GALWAY — MAIN STREET DUNKINEELY DONEGAL PO CO. DONEGAL. SELF-CONTAINED RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY FOR SHORT-TERM LETTING PURPOSES, ASSOCIATED SIGNAGE AND SITE DEV...
PETER & DEBORAH GALWAY
File ref: 2660617 · Donegal County Council
05 Jun 2026 · Donegal County Council (Planning)
Planning conditional: CONSTRUCTION OF A DWELLING HOUSE WITH CONNECTION TO EXISTING PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEM, TOGETHER WITH ALL
KEVIN O'DONNELL — DUNKINEELY DONEGAL PO CO. DONEGAL. CONSTRUCTION OF A DWELLING HOUSE WITH CONNECTION TO EXISTING PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEM, TOGETHER WITH ALL...
KEVIN O'DONNELL
File ref: 2660679 · Donegal County Council
05 Jun 2026 · Donegal County Council (Planning)
Court Reports
Cases and rulings mentioning Dunkineely from local newspapers and Courts News Ireland.
Pair guilty of murdering pensioner whose body was thrown off Donegal cliffs
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been found guilty of murdering 66-year-old Robert Wilkin at the Central Criminal Court. The jury returned majority verdicts of ten to two against each accused. Wilkin's body was discovered in the sea below Sliabh Liag cliffs in County Donegal on...
'The Plan': how two lovers came to throw a pensioner's body off Ireland's tallest cliffs
At the Central Criminal Court, Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been convicted of the murder of Robert Wilkin, a 66-year-old man whose body was disposed of at Sliabh Liag in County Donegal in June 2023. Following an altercation on the Roshine Road near Killybegs, the accused...
Jury begin deliberating in Sliabh Liag murder trial
A jury has begun deliberations in the Central Criminal Court in the murder trial of two Co Donegal residents. Alan Vial, aged 39, from Drumanoo Head in Killybegs, and Nikita Burns, aged 23, from Carrick, have each pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin on 25...
Dangerous to act on Sliabh Liag accused's testimony, judge tells jury
At the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott has warned the jury that it would be dangerous to rely on the testimony of Alan Vial, who has implicated his co-accused Nikita Burns in the death of Robert Wilkin. Both deny murdering the 66-year-old man, whose body was...
Woman (23) a ‘bystander’ in Sliabh Liag murder, defence tell jury
At the Central Criminal Court, closing arguments concluded in the trial of two people charged with the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin near Sliabh Liag in County Donegal on 25 June 2023. Nikita Burns (23) of Carrick and Alan Vial (39) of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, have both...
Sliabh Liag murder accused a 'cynical liar', prosecution tell jury
At the Central Criminal Court, the prosecution has described Alan Vial, aged 39, of Killybegs, County Donegal, as a "cynical liar" who fabricated his account to evade responsibility for the death of 66-year-old Robert Robin' Wilkin. Bernard Condon SC, prosecuting, told the jury...
Sliabh Liag murder accused takes stand and describes pensioner's body rolling off cliffs
A 39-year-old man accused of murder has testified at the Central Criminal Court that his co-accused struck the alleged victim with a rock, causing the pensioner's death. Alan Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, told the court he was physically struggling with...
Sliabh Liag murder trial jury view CCTV montage
At the Central Criminal Court, a jury has viewed CCTV footage documenting the alleged movements of two defendants on the night of a pensioner's death in County Donegal. Nikita Burns, aged 22, of Carrick, and Alan Vial, aged 39, of Killybegs, have pleaded not guilty to the...
Pensioner had previous 'aggressive' altercation with murder accused, Sliabh Liag trial hears
A pensioner had engaged in an aggressive altercation with the man accused of his murder just three days before he was allegedly beaten with a rock and thrown from Ireland's highest cliffs, the Central Criminal Court heard today. Bruce Vial, brother of the accused Alan Vial,...
Unknown whether pensioner was dead when he was thrown off Sliabh Liag cliffs, jury hears
The Central Criminal Court trial has heard that it remains unknown whether a 66-year-old man was deceased when he was allegedly thrown from Sliabh Liag cliffs in Donegal in June 2023. Nikita Burns, aged 22, of Carrick, County Donegal, and Alan Vial, aged 39, of Drumanoo Head,...