Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Buncrana residents are still complaining about the mystery banging noise a week after the issue was first raised
A loud banging noise that has been keeping people in the Buncrana area awake at night over the last week is “a complete mystery”.
Residents are still complaining of the noise a week after the issue was first raised.
Donegal County Council has been investigating the source of the noise which has been disrupting sleep of residents in and close to the town.
It has been suspected that the source of the noise may be a bird scarer or crow banger, which are used to discourage birds from eating recently planted crops or seeds. It is also believed the noise is coming from the west side of the Swilly.
Buncrana councillor Jack Murray said he has been inundated with complaints about the banging noise over the last week which has “interrupted many people's sleep”.
While there was a lull in complaints over the weekend, he received more complaints on Monday night about the noise which is affecting residents mainly in coastal areas from Lisfannon to Porthaw.
The council’s environment section was going out again on Tuesday to try to determine the source of the noise, he said.
“The complaints are 24 hours a day - throughout the night. It’s a complete mystery and nobody has any idea - they can’t identify it.”
He said the noise is causing more than just annoyance to people.
“I’m being contacted by parents of young babies woken in the night, a woman who has an autistic son, people saying dogs are been startled by it.”
There are doubts whether the sound is being caused by a crow banger due to there being no tillage areas on the other side of the Swilly, he added.
Following the complaints, Donegal County Council has called on farmers to ensure that crow bangers are not impacting on their neighbours’ sleep.
The council is advising that crow bangers are not used near residential buildings, are not used between sunset and sun rise and bales or barriers should be used to screen them from houses. The use of electronic bird scarers should be considered as an alternative.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
