From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 12, 1992

From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 12, 1992

10 August 2022

DOWNPATRICK – Three Downpatrick sisters have conceded they have finally been driven from their homes by petrol bombers but they have vowed they will never leave the town.

The women, and their families, were forced to flee the Flying Horse estate at the weekend after two nights of terror which left three injured and one house gutted by fire.

In a terrifying weekend of violence the women and their children had to cower under blankets beside basins of water as petrol bombers attacked their houses on a total of four occasions.

Eventually the RUC had to escort them away from the estate for their own safety and they are currently in emergency accommodation awaiting rehousing.

The police have condemned the “mindless thugs” who carried out “concerted petrol bomb attacks on houses containing only women and children.”

BALLYNAHINCH – Consideration is being given to carrying out a co-ordinated improvement package for the Antrim Road area of Ballynahinch, it has been revealed this week.

South Down MP, Mr Eddie McGrady, said investigations are continuing into the possibility of co-ordinating the provision of a footbridge from the Lisburn Street car park with other improvements in the Antrim Road.

“I have been informed that the Department of the Environment are currently undertaking preliminary land ownership enquiries about setting back the Plessey wall to provide the footpath and improve visibility on the Antrim Road,” said the SDLP MP.

“In relation to the turning area for lorries close to Church View, the Department has advised that in order to accommodate development in the area of the original site, it has had to investigate an alternative site in the vicinity of Church View.”

NEWCASTLE – Newcastle and Down District seems to be weathering the worst slump to hit the Irish tourist industry in twenty years.

Although official visitor figures are not yet available, the signs are that Newcastle’s reliance on the home market has saved it from the worst effects of the slump that has devastated the Republic and some parts of Northern Ireland.

While tourist facilities in other parts of the island are facing a crisis as the worldwide recession keeps foreign visitors away, Newcastle’s solid tourist base drawn from the home market is keeping the town’s head above deep financial waters.

But it is already clear that the 1992 summer season is a long way behind some of the resort’s best years. Down council’s Tourism Director Mr Bryan Coburn says that this year’s visitor figures seem to be similar to 1991, which experienced a poor July and August due to bad weather.

And the President of Newcastle Chamber of Commerce, Mr Peter Law, says that “July was a disaster as far as business was concerned.”

However, he added that the good June weather brought large numbers of people and boosted business in the town, and that so far August is proving to be a better month than July in commercial terms.

“Many business people in Newcastle are no longer regarding July as the premier month in the summer season,” he said.

DUNDRUM – Damage estimated at several thousand pounds was caused by an arson attack at a Dundrum church hall last week.

The kitchen and store of St Donard’s Church Hall was completely gutted on Thursday night in the latest of a series of malicious blazes which have plagued the village for over two years.

In the latest attack, petrol was poured over a rear door at the hall and the resulting fire engulfed the kitchen, although prompt action by local firemen prevented the blaze spreading to the main hall.

After the attack Church of Ireland minister, Rev Brian Russell, who lives beside St Donard’s Hall, said he hoped the police catch the arsonist before a more tragic attack takes place.

He said the attack on St Donard’s, the fourth arson attempt on the hall in just two years, hurts everybody in Dundrum because the hall was used by all sections of the community.

The blaze was spotted in the early hours of the morning by a passing police patrol.

The kitchen was well alight by the time the two appliances arrived at the Main Street hall, with flames already through the roof. The firemen were able to contain the fire in the kitchen and very little damage was caused to the main hall.

KILCOO – An SDLP councillor has claimed that soldiers caused considerable damage during a search of the Kilcoo area last week.

Religious pictures and a crucifix were broken, a plumbing system was destroyed and bales of silage were ripped apart during the army operation, claims Kilcoo councillor, Mr Peter Fitzpatrick.

Soldiers and policemen, totalling more than 200, spent over two days combing a 1 and a half mile area around Kilcoo and Cabra, setting up roadblocks and searching farms and buildings.

The RUC has said the operation was launched for “very sound reasons” but so far the police have declined to give any further details.

“Every effort will be made to ensure that the public are not unduly delayed and, for their part, the public are asked to be patient,” said a police spokesman.

ARDGLASS – The people of Ardglass have heard a Downpatrick gynaecologist describe Eastern Health Board managers as “the vagabonds of medical administration.”

The damning allegation was delivered by Dr Lawrence Erskine, of the Downpatrick Maternity Hospital, at a rally attended by more than 1,000 people on Friday night.

Calling for a sustained fight to save the Downpatrick hospitals, Dr Erskine accused the Board of self-interest and short-sightedness.

He spoke of a grim scenario if the maternity hospital were to close: “A pregnant woman threatened with a miscarriage or a haemorrhage would have to go to Belfast and wait for five hours in the outpatients of the Royal Victoria Hospital before someone came to see her.”

KILCLIEF – A long programme of repairs at Kilclief Castle has just been completed.

The castle, which is the oldest datable towerhouse in Ireland, has been restored and renovated by the historic monuments division of the Department of the Environment.

And as part of the repairs, a new large scale model of the building has been constructed.

Kilclief Castle was built in 1441 for a Bishop Sely, who lost his ecclesiastical position for consorting with a married lady.

The castle is now open to the public from 10am-7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and from 2-7pm on Sunday.

NEWCASTLE – A Newcastle man who flew anti-submarine aircraft during World War Two, has received a medal for his work, 47 years after the end of the war.

Retired Presbyterian minister, Rev Desmond Mock, was a Catalina flying boat captain which flew escort duties over the Russian convoys in 1943 and 1944.

Then just 21 years old, he flew out of Sullom Voe in the Shetlands on long anti-submarine patrols, and he was also based near Murmansk in the Soviet Union, for a short period.

Now the Russian authorities have decided to honour all foreign servicemen who helped in the defence of its country by presenting them with a special commemorative medal and Mr Mock’s arrived in the past several weeks ago.

“I was with 190 and 210 squadrons of the RAF between 11 March, 1943 and 31 June, 1944, during which time part of our duties involved flying escort patrols for the convoys,” he said this week.