From the pages of the Down Recorder, March 31, 1993

From the pages of the Down Recorder, March 31, 1993

29 March 2023

DOWNPATRICK – It’s the kind of story Cilla Black’s Surprise Surprise team would have loved to have got their hands on.

A brother and sister who have not seen each other for the past 46 years, were once again reunited in a tearful meeting in Downpatrick last week.

Bob Leahy, who lives in Saul Street, last saw his sister, Amy, in 1947 when she returned from her home in Bedford to visit their father who was ill in hospital.

 Originally from Newcastle, 77 year-old Amy said goodbye to the Mountains of Mourne shortly after her 17th birthday and headed for a new life in England.

But she lost contact with Bob on two different occasions and many attempts to trace him failed. She sent numerous letters to her brother, but they were all returned stamped: “address unknown”.

Both were resigned to never seeing each other again, until that is, just over two weeks ago when Amy’s son, Wilfred, finally made contact with the Leahys in Downpatrick.

An excited Bob and Amy spoke at length on the telephone and fell into each other’s arms in a tearful embrace when they met last Friday.

“Amy and I met just once in the past 60 years and to be honest, I never thought I would see her again,” said 80 year-old Bob. “It is wonderful to have her home and the more we talk the more we remember our past.

“I thought we had lost contact for good and it was a real surprise when I received a telephone call from Amy’s son last week,” he added.

CROSSGAR – Fears that an outbreak of foot and mouth disease had broken out on a farm near Crossgar, have been discounted by the Department of Agriculture.

Department officials have confirmed that blood tests on a number of calves have proved negative and restrictions on the herd have now been lifted.

However, the farmer at the centre of the scare, Mr Sam Smith, of Magheracranmoney, has criticised the Department for “over-reacting” over the incident.

Concern mounted a week ago when suspicionus lesbians appeared on one of a large number of calves recently imported from Italy.

Department officials were put on standby for a slaughter of animals within a few miles radius of the location should the suspected outbreak have been confirmed.

Blood samples were taken by Department veterinary officers and sent to the only laboratory in England allowed to handle samples which may contain the foot and mouth virus.

It was not until late on Monday night that notice finally came through from the laboratory that the tests were negative.

Had the tests proved positive, a 10 kilometre restriction would have been placed on the 

movement of all livestock, and people and machinery moving in or out of the infected area would have required disinfection.

PORTAFERRY – A Portaferry man’s plan to unlock the undersea secrets of Strangford Lough has won him top marks in a competition for young business entrepreneurs.

Twenty six year-old Will Brown has won a £500 prize in the 1993 Livewire awards with an ambitious scheme to provide badly-needed guesthouse accommodation for water sport enthusiasts.

Will was one of nine finalists in a competition, organised by the Belfast-based Young Business Centre, which attracted more than 240 entrants.

Will plans to convert buildings in Portaferry into a multi-activity centre, catering for all forms of water-based leisure pursuits, including diving, sailing, canoeing and sailboarding.

Central to the plan is the provision of cheap, no-nonsense accommodation to cater for the growing number of water sport enthusiasts who come to Strangford Lough each year.

Will is working in partnership with his brother James. Their business plan was widely praised by the luges and they also carried out extensive market research.

“Our aim is to get going this summer, but the big push will be next year. The basic idea is for a seaside centre, using Strangford Lough as the main resource,” Will explained.

CASTLEWELLAN – During working hours Martin Bell is a familiar face at Downpatrick’s vehicle testing centre at Cloonagh Road.

But few drivers who pass through the centre will realise that Martin is on the verge of becoming only the second fully-qualified mountain rescue dog handler in Northern Ireland.

In just over two weeks time, Martin, and his young collie bitch, Judy, will be travelling to the Lake District for two days of intensive examination under the eyes of some of the UK’s top mountain rescue experts.

In the examinations, which will each last four hours, Martin and Judy will be required to locate several casualties which will be strategically placed over a wide stretch of mountain terrain.

The Lake District test will be the culmination of over two years of intensive training for the Castlewellan man and his faithful companion in a process which takes the relationship between man and dog to new heights.

Martin is a member of the Search and Rescue Dog Association of Ireland and on Saturday morning Association members put him through his paces on the isolated slopes of Slieve Muck, high in the Mourne Mountains.

SAINTFIELD – A young Saintfield racing driver has embarked upon an exciting new career and he hopes to be up there challenging the province’s top drivers over the coming months.

And, while Philip Adair will admit to being no Nigel Mansell, he possesses the former Formula One world champion’s dogged determination to succeed in a powerful sport where fortune favours the brave.

The 26 year-old car salesman, who runs his own business at the town’s Ballygowan Road, was involved in his first competitive race of the new season at Kirkistown last Saturday.

But everything didn’t go according to plan when his Mondale M888 was dogged by a nagging electrical fault throughout the day’s racing.

CROSSGAR – Crossgar fashion designer Lesley Martin has carried off third prize in the finals of the Smirnoff Northern Ireland Fashion Awards.

Eighteen year-old Lesley, who is a student at Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, pitted her innovative designs against the work of 15 other hopefuls at a gala ceremony in the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Thursday night.

Her stunning combination of natural fibres with plants caught the eye of the judges who were searching for the province’s representative at the world finals in Brazil.

And although the unusual designs weren’t enough to win Lesley the overall title, they were still sufficient to ensure that she clinched a coveted third place and a cash prize of £200.

It was Lesley’s imaginative use of flowers, grasses and even vegetables with materials such as linen and cotton that helped her to success at Thursday night’s ceremony.

Also competing in the final was 19 year-old Downpatrick student Diane Rea.

DOWNPATRICK – The proposed development of a £5m St Patrick’s Heritage Centre in Downpatrick will act as a catalyst for other major tourist projects in the area, the town’s traders have been told.

But they have been warned that the centre must be located at The Grove area of Lower Market Street, close to Down Cathedral, even though some local businessmen are in favour of an alternate location.

The warning has been delivered by Down Council’s tourism chief, Mr Bryan Coburn, who said the development of such an exciting project would help firmly establish Down District on the tourism map.