From the pages of the Down Recorder, April 19, 1995

From the pages of the Down Recorder, April 19, 1995

16 April 2025

DOWNPATRICK – Health Union bosses have this week threatened a mass walk-out at the Downpatrick hospitals as staff “fight to save their jobs” in the wake of the market testing initiative.

And union officials have also unveiled plans to seek a judicial review in the High Court next Monday into the controversial decision by the Down and Lisburn Trust to privatise hospital services, which it claims it is legally obliged to tender for.

The strike warning has been issued by Unison and GMB officials after the Trust refused to ditch its plans to market test a range of services and stop bonus payments to catering staff.

Both Unison and GMB officials say they want to see senior managers quizzed in court and lawyers are currently preparing a case against the Trust and it is expected to be heard next Monday.

The review is to be heard in the High Court and it is understood lawyers are concentrating their attention on the fact that the market testing initiative discriminates against low-paid men and women across the Trust’s area.

CASTLEWELLAN – A Castlewellan councillor has strongly criticised Sinn Fein supporters who erected an Irish tricolour outside the town’s Presbyterian Church on Easter Sunday.

Mr Eamonn O’Neill described the incident as “provocative coat-trailing” and said the act was insulting to a flag which stands for peace and unity.

The tricolour was one of a number which were nailed to poles throughout the town on Sunday morning prior to a parade to commemorate the Easter Rising.

The RUC removed one flag from outside the church but it was replaced a short time later.

Cllr O’Neill said he was concerned about the way in which Castlewellan was defaced by the flags, bunting and posters on Sunday.

“I am particularly angry about the erection of these outside Castlewellan Presbyterian Church as people were going to an Easter Sunday service. This is as provocative a piece of coat-trailing as so-called ‘kick-the-Pope’ bands playing their drums outside a church where Mass is going on inside,” he said.

KILLOUGH – Down councillors are tonight expected to pull the plug on an ambitious £8m marina project for Killough. Plans to create a 270-berth facility were proposed over 12 years ago and it was originally thought the boat park could rival those already in operation at Carrickfergus and Bangor.

According to a Belfast newspaper, an in-depth report claims the project is uneconomic and would prove to be an intolerable burden on ratepayers.

The findings of the study have already been discussed by the council’s Economic Development Committee and when the 13-page report is discussed by all politicans tonight, they will be asked to torpedo the project.

ARDGLASS – Young people in the Ardglass area have this week been urged not to deface parts of the village with “unsightly graffiti” which a local politician says is painting the wrong image of the popular fishing port.

The plea has been issued by local councillor Dermot Curran, who has been lobbying senior officials with the Department of Environment and Down Council to have several key locations cleaned.

Recently, graffiti at the Greenfield Steps, close to the town’s Presbyterian Church was removed, along with other slogans painted close to the site of the village’s proposed marina development.

Special paint was used during the expensive clean-up operation and Mr Curran says he hopes the vandals will not strike again to deface parts of a village which is gearing itself for the busy summer season.

BALLYKINLAR – Firefighters from Downpatrick, Newcastle, Ballynahinch and Kilkeel, joined forces to tackle three separate major holiday weekend gorse fires in the Mourne Mountains and at Ballykinlar.

And local fire chiefs, who are investigating the blazes, believe two of them were started maliciously.

Investigations are still continuing into the cause of the most serious incident at Annalong, where over 100 acres of woodland were devastated by fire, which raged for more than 24 hours.

In what is believed to be one of the worst forest fires in Northern Ireland, over 100 fireman and 19 appliances fought to extinguish the blaze after it began in the Dinnywater area on Sunday afternoon.

During the drama five firefighters went missing for over an hour in the burning woods, but they managed to escape to an untouched section of forest and along a river.

The series of bush fires started on Saturday afternoon when Newcastle firemen were called to Murlough reserve around 1pm, after local golfers noticed a gorse fire near the golf course.

It was quickly brought under control, but within an hour crews were joined by their Downpatrick colleagues to fight a 50 acre gorse fire at Ballykinlar army camp, which is believed to have started accidentally.

NEWCASTLE – A Newcastle student, who is taking part in a pioneering journey across the Sahara Desert later this year, could find himself in the history books.

Garth Miller is the only person from Ireland on the expedition team planning to cover 4,400 miles over previously unexplored territory.

If all goes well the team of young people, from all over the United Kingdom, will be the first to make the journey, which crosses six countries, including Senegal, Mali, Libya and Egypt.

A second year mathematics student at Queen’s University, Belfast, Garth is more used to the stiff breezes found at the seaside resort, but is gearing himself up for the searing heat of the world’s largest desert.

During the day temperatures are expected to soar to 120 degrees and in an effort to help team members cope, training sessions have been lined up in the picturesque Lake District.

CASTLEWELLAN – A young Castlewellan woman, with a passion for the equestrian life, has got a stake in one of the world’s most famous horses.

Having bought her first pony at the age of 11, after saving for five years, Penny McClean has a large variety of horses at her Dundrine Road home.

But last year she went one better and decided to buy a Lipizzaner, making it the first one to come to Ireland.

The dappled six-year gelding, Siglavy Monterosa, who is more commonly known as Alderman, has now settled into his new home and Penny plans to compete in dressage and show jumping events when he is fully trained.

The Lipizzaner white horses, trained at the Spanish Riding School at Vienna, have pure blood lines and are known for their outstanding acrobatic skills. Born black, their coats become lighter as they mature until they are completely white.

Penny, who has just turned 18, explained that Alderman’s father, Siglavy Alda, was fully trained in Vienna, and Alderman’s papers, which give his pedigree, can be traced back 300 years.

DOWNPATRICK – Work on the proposed St Patrick Visitor Centre could start as early as next spring and create up to 20 new jobs in Downpatrick, according to regeneration chiefs.

They say the contract will take around 30 months to complete, with the funding provided by the International Fund for Ireland, the European Regional Development Fund, the Millennium Fund and Down Council, which is providing the site.

Officials also claim the state-of-the-art centre will attract a large number of visitors during its first year of operation, despite claims that it could become a white elephant and a millstone around the necks of ratepayers.