From the pages of the Down Recorder, January 13, 1993

From the pages of the Down Recorder, January 13, 1993

11 January 2023

DOWNPATRICK – The police authority has chosen the Downe Hospital as its preferred site for a new Downpatrick police station.

Plans to construct a new base on the Ballydugan Road have been put on hold until the Eastern Health Board makes a decision on the future of hospital provision in Downpatrick.

If the Board decides the current hospital site is surplus to its needs then the Police Authority is believed to be keen to purchase the complex as the ideal site for a new station.

This week a spokeswoman for the Authority confirmed that does have “an interest” in acquiring the extensive site if the Eastern Board decides to put it on the market.

“In the meantime, the current plan remains to build on the Ballydugan Road, but it is unlikely that a final decision will be taken until the Eastern Board makes a decision about the Downe Hospital site,” said the spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman stressed that while the Authority has expressed an interest in the site, it is entirely a matter for the Eastern Board whether the hospital site is put up for sale.

NEWCASTLE – A 17 year-old Newcastle lad has driven himself into the record books by passing two driving tests – on the same day!

John Small, from Flush Road, passed his driving test last Tuesday morning, just six days after his 17th birthday. But little did he know that just a couple of hours later, he would be a fully fledged advanced driver as well.

It is thought that John, an A-Level student at St Patrick’s High School in Downpatrick, has created motoring history by becoming the first 17 year-old from Northern Ireland to pass both tests on the same day.

Remarkably, it took him just five hours of formal tuition with Newcastle driving instructor Sean Boden before he was able to tear down his L-plates.

Sean was so confident in his star pupil’s ability that while John was going through the rigours of the ordinary test, he was frantically making arrangements to book him for the advanced test – without John’s knowledge.

Within minutes of passing the first test, John was being given a further three hours’ tuition on motorway driving. Then it was onto Lurgan where an advanced examiner was waiting for him.

DOWNPATRICK – In a dark and derelict house off Downpatrick’s Saul Street up to 20 young people have been taking part in a disturbing craze.

Teenagers as young as 13, many of them girls, have been gathering at the house to sniff solvents, including Tippex fluid which they have bought in local shops or stolen from a teacher’s desk at school.

The derelict house is not the only place where groups of young people are gathering, armed with the solvent sniffer’s regulation plastic bag. Local woods on the outskirts of the town, bus shelters and local beauty spots have all been bases for this distressing social problem which, although not at alarming levels, is rising at a steady rate.

The solvent sniffing craze is not a new one on the streets of Northern Ireland but the extent of its popularity in Downpatrick has only recently been determined, mainly because of a local youth worker’s own investigations.

It was only when Henry Robinson saw a group of teenagers sniffing solvents behind an electricity installation near his Model Farm home that he decided to carry out a survey of the problem.

COMBER – The RUC has appealed for information after a malicious attack on a Comber Roman Catholic church on Saturday.

Around 60 families were forced to worship at another church after the arson attack on the Our Lady of the Visitation Church in the early hours of the morning.

It is the second attack on the 120 year-old church in the past six months and comes only weeks after the completion of a £20,000 restoration which included replacing the roof.

Extensive smoke damage was caused throughout the Killinchy Street building, with vestments, pews and interior walls all affected.

Six pews, an area of flooring and a leaded window were totally destroyed.

It is thought that restoration work may take up to two months and the church is likely to be closed throughout.

The blaze was discovered around 4am by a police patrol which was responding to the church’s firm alarm.

It is thought the arsonists smashed the window in order to lower in a container of flammable liquid and an explosive device.

DOWNPATRICK – Angry traders are demanding a showdown meeting with senior DoE officials over plans to close Irish Street in Downpatrick for two months to allow a new waterman to be laid.

They are furious that the work was not carried out when the street was closed for almost 18 months for security reasons and to allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to complete work on a number of new homes opposite the RUC base.

Traders have also accused the DoE of “mishandling the situation” and are still seething following last week’s revelation that the DoE was planning to close the street to carry out the work.

A number of the businessmen who would be affected by the closure have held a crisis meeting and are expected to unveil the contents of a detailed action plan shortly.

They are demanding that if the work is to proceed, traffic should be allowed to continue to flow via a one-way system to ensure passing trade is not starved.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said the Roads and Water Service officials will be meeting this week to discuss the best way of carrying out the work.

CASTLE ESPIE – A female Whooper Swan, which collided with an overhead power cable, survived because of prompt action by staff from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre at Castle.

The adult swan was injured last month and could have died before Christmas had it not been cared for by the centre staff who introduced her to the main lake at Castle Espie recently.

This is the third injured Whooper Swan to have been given shelter at Castle Espies so far this winter.

Whoopers migrate from Iceland to Ireland in October and fly around between wetlands such as Strangford Lough and Lough Foyle feeding and roosting until Spring when they make their return journey to the Arctic.

In bad weather conditions many different accidents can happen and the Trust is keen to gather information about dangers to swans.

DOWNPATRICK – Debut boy Colin Wilkinson believes his Irish team-mates will celebrate his international call-up by beating Scotland in the opening round of rugby’s Five Nations Championship on Saturday.

The Downpatrick solicitor is confident Ireland can prove the pundits wrong by shocking the Scots in the cauldron of Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby.

But win or lose, ‘Wilkie’ is determined to enjoy every minute of the biggest day in his rugby career.

“It will be an incredible occasion. There will be 60,000 screaming people packed into the stadium. When the team walk onto the pitch, the roar will be tremendous,” he said.

And in the crowd cheering him on will be his family, team-mates from Malone and some of his work colleagues.

Whatever happens, the full back has already created his own small piece of history. At 31, he’s the oldest back to make his debut in an Irish jersey.

Colin only knew he was in the starting line-up when he arrived for a squad training session in Dublin on Sunday morning.

The selectors’ decision ended weeks of speculation. First choice full back Jim Staples had been ruled out through injury, leaving Colin and Leinster 

man Conor O’Shea favourites to pull on the No 15 jersey.

When O’Shea was carried off with a leg injury in a club match on Saturday, Wilkinson’s chances were greatly enhanced.