From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 24, 1994

From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 24, 1994

21 August 2024

BALLYNAHINCH – A major investigation has been launched after two young men were injured in a weekend accident at a Ballynahinch funfair.

Health and safety officials have confirmed that they are examining a swingboat which plunged to the ground on Saturday in front of dozens of horrified spectators.

Two youths, who were on the swingboat when it collapsed at around 10pm, were helped from the wreckage by funfair attendants. They were taken to the Downe Hospital but were later released after treatment for bruising and shock.

It is believed the accident was caused when a bolt in one of the swingboats gave way.

The swingboat is part of a long-established family firm which had set up in Hillcrest Drive for the weekend and which is regularly seen at local festivals and fetes.

The accident is now being investigated by the Department of Economic Development’s Health and Safety Inspectorate which is responsible for the safety of fairground equipment.

NEWCASTLE – A four-month old baby was caught up in a UVF booby-trap bomb alert in Newcastle on Sunday evening.

The baby girl, who is an asthmatic, suffered an attack while the town was sealed off as army bomb experts dealt with a 2lb device in a trailer in the town centre.

Traffic came to a stand-still in the seaside resort, which was crowded with holiday-makers and day-trippers, and among those trapped in the long tail-backs was the doctor called in to treat the tiny baby.

On his advice the little girl’s mother rushed her to the Downe Hospital’s casualty department, before she was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast.

It took five hours before the improvised device was defused and Newcastle, where the one-way system had caused traffic to grind to a halt, returned to normal.

DOWNPATRICK – Police in Downpatrick have issued a warning to shopkeepers to be on their guard following the latest major burglary in the town.

Over 40,000 cigarettes and cigars were stolen from a Stream Street grocer’s shop last week, within days of another attack on a newsagency.

The Scotch Street newsagency had survived a burglary attempt, but was targeted a second time, and £1,000 of stock was stolen.

Senior police chiefs, who have admitted an upsurge in the crime levels in the Downpatrick area, have urged businesses to be vigilant and protect their property.

In the latest attack thieves forced their way through the roof of the grocer’s shop during the night raid last Tuesday and made off with cigarettes of various brands, as well as cigars and cigarette tobacco.

ARDGLASS – The controversial plan to build a £1m fish processing factory in Ardglass is back on the rails.

After a series of delays, including a judical review which quashed previous planning permission, Mr Kenneth Kennedy has finally been given the go-ahead to complete work on the Strangford Road project.

The Planning Service announced this week that it has reconsidered the application following the judicial review, and decided that the plant should still go ahead, albeit under strict conditions.

Senior planning officials from the service’s Headquarters Division have spent several weeks examining the proposal and have concluded dthat the factory is “not likely to have significant effects on the evnironment.”

CROSSGAR – Police investigating the murder of Crossgar butcher Trelford Withers have issued a fresh appeal.

They would like to speak to anyone who may have visited Ballydugan Lake, near Downpatrick, between 1pm and 3pm on August 8. The two IRA terrorists abandoned their motorbike at a nearby mill after murdering Mr Withers.

Detectives are also keen to speak to pedestrians who were in Crossgar between 2.15pm and 2.45pm on the day of the murder and who haven’t yet spoken to police.

LOUGHINISLAND – Catholics and Protestants from Loughinisland parish extended the hand of friendship on Sunday morning to pray for peace.

Exactly nine weeks after six men were massacred in O’Toole’s bar in the village by UVF gunmen, parishioners from St Macartan’s Church made the short journey to the nearby Church of Ireland church at Seaforde for a short service, which was broadcast on BBC radio.

Led by parish priest, Canon Bernard Magee, they came to join their Protestant neighbours who had offered sympathy and condolences on that dreadful night in June when terrorists opened up in the tiny bar, while customers watched the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup match against Italy.

Canon Brian Mayne, rector of Loughinisland Parish Church, stood outside to greet his Catholic counterpart on arrival. Both men shook hands before moving in to begin worship.

The church was full to overflowing and many hand to stand outside in the bright August morning sunshine.

NEWCASTLE – A six-year labour of love came to an end on Saturday when a giant crane pulled into the car park at Newcastle harbour.

The crane was needed to lift the 37 foot double masted yacht, Reality, into the water for the first time since local man Aiden Riley first bought it as a shell in 1988.

Visitors to the harbour will remember Reality as the green-hulled boat which sat propped at the rear of the car park, often with a ladder leaning against the side and the sound of work drifting from inside.

It is the boat with the beautiful, and intricate carving on the bow, with the immaculate cutter rigging and, as was first revealed on Saturday to those who had not climbed the ladder, with the breathtaking deck.

Everything about the craft oozes dedication. The dedication primarily of Aiden himself, but also of Vincent Murphy, who carried out a lot of the fine joinery work inside, and other local people, right down to many of Aiden’s friends who turned up on Friday night to help with last minute preparations.

DOWNPATRICK – Road chiefs in Downpatrick are looking at ways of making Edward Street a safer place.

Angry residents are up in arms about the number of parked cars on the street which, they claim, have been damaged by ‘hit and run’ motorists, and they have called on the DoE to introduce a one-way system to the area.

The campaign by the Edward Street Residents Association began 18 months ago after locals got together and signed a petition.

Although road officials agreed in May last year to set up an experimental one-way system for six months, it was rejected after there were “substantial objections”, including some from neighbouring Ardmore Avenue.

Residents are still angry that they were never told about the DoE’s ‘U-turn’ and are continuing to lobby for a one-way system.

BALLYNAHINCH – Down Council chairman Jim Cochrane has refused to publicly apologise for allegedly disrupting the launch of a £150m railway project last month.

Mr Cochrane took the unusual step of vacating the chair at last week’s monthly council meeting to answer claims from officials of the Ballynahinch and Co Down Railway Company that he caused a “rumpus” during the launch.

Amid unprecedented scenes, vice-chairman John Doris took the chair as Mr Cochrane replied to a letter from railway company chairman Bob Pue, claiming he was guilty of an “unforgiveable outburst” in the presence of press and television representatives.