From the pages of the Down Recorder, July 12, 1995

From the pages of the Down Recorder, July 12, 1995

9 July 2025

DOWNPATRICK –  The drugs issue is no greater in the Downpatrick area than any other in Northern Ireland, according to the area’s RUC sub-divisional commander.

Superintendent Ronnie Hawthorne has revealed that although the local police are aware of the public’s concerns, their perceptions of the problem are sometimes formed by media attention.

“Rumour, gossip and assumption do not compensate for real evidence is available appropriate action is taken,” he said.

However, last year 38 people were charged with drugs related offences and almost £100,000 worth of drugs were recovered, which was proof that the U is committed to dealing with drugs issue with the law, he added.

Superintendent Hawthorne’s comments were made in the recently released local Policing Information pack, which was presented to Down Council’s community and police liaison committee last week, along with a similar brochure from the Newcastle sub-division.

The packs are being issued as a supplement to the Chief Constable’s annual report and concentrate on local policing issues, including crime rates, community affairs, traffic, maintaining the peace and the RUC charter.

COMBER – Comber is the venue for this year’s Twelfth of July demonstration and thousands of Orangemen and their families are expected to flock to the North Down venue.

The town is expected to be a hive of activity for the 305th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne and the finishing touches are being put into place for the event to make sure it goes off without a hitch. 

Over 66 lodges comprising Orangemen from the surrounding districts of Lecale, Ballynahinch, Saintfield and Castlewellan will join up with  brethren from the host district to step out in style next Wednesday.

As usual, the platform proceedings will take the form of a religious service which is expected to get underway at 2 pm.

KILLYLEAGH – Ambitious plans to take Killyleagh into the next millennium have been unveiled to the public with the town set to undergo a major facelift over the next two years and beyond.

The town’s Community Tourism Development Scheme which is the only second one of its kind in the Province, was unveiled during a reception at the Dufferin Arms last Wednesday.

The scheme has received the backing of local politicians, the International Fund of Ireland and the Department of Environment with enhanced grants now available to property owners within the town’s conservation area.

Central to the plans to regenerate the town and help boost the economy is the plan to revitalise the Hamilton Arms to bring it back into life and remove one of the town’s eyesores.

The plans are currently on show in the town’s library and can be viewed during opening hours as the group behind the project, the Killyleagh Development Association, aims to encourage the local community to take an active par in the way forward.

However, details of the draft feasibility study into the major waterfront development will not now be unveiled until September, but in the meantime, the Association is confident the work to restore the town’s core will proceed at pace.

NEWCASTLE – A Newcastle Citizens’ Campaign representative has rejected claims that the group is misleading the public.

Mr Patrick O’Hagan said jester that M Coburn has a “cheek trying to impune the questionnaire when the council only consulted with 34 people over the survey, a reference to the number of people who met with consultants in Newcastle Centre last year. 

“We do not want the existing playing fields removed and relocated anywhere else because they are in a most wonderful place which has provided a service to the townspeople for many years,” he said.

“There is absolutely no double that some trees will go if theses proposal are pushed through, indeed the Mournes Advisory Committee is actually seeking a tree preservation order for the established woodland which borders the park,” added Mr O’Hagan. 

DOWNPATRICK – The shutters are set to come down on one of Downpatrick’s oldest pubs this weekend, before bulldozers move in to flatten the well-known landmark.

The Avenue Bar, which was badly damage almost a year ago during a botched IRA mortar bomb attack on the town’s RUC base, is to be demolished to make way for new and enlarged premises.

The decision to demolish the pub was taken by its owner, Mr Malachy Doran, after much soul-searching and the examination of a range of options with his architect.

Reflecting on his time in the popular watering hole, he said a number of options were put under the microscope. Mr Doran is confident his regulars 

will be more than happed with the new pub when it opens. 

Drinks were flowing less than two weeks after the pub was damaged in last year’s August bomb blast and when the bulldozers move in on Monday morning, alternative arrangements have been made to cater for the needs of the regulars.

The decision to demolish the bar was eventually taken six weeks ago and Mr Doran says he will have mixed emotions when the diggers arrive on Monday morning.

BINS – Down Council’s expenditure on collecting refuse from commercial premises in the area is the second highest in Northern Ireland, according to an audit of local government. 

Despite the fact that 12 out of the province’s 26 councils break even on their commercial refuse collection service, Down Council is spending an average of £112 per business to maintain the service locally.

The 12 councils, which include Belfast, Lisburn and Banbridge, recover the cost of collecting commercial waste through their charges to businesses, but in Down, the fees paid by shops, firms and other outlets are not enough to meet the expenses of lifting their waste each week.

According to a survey of the district council performance indicators by the Chief Local Government Auditor of Northern Ireland, Down Council’s expenditure of £112 per business is almost twice the provincial average of £58.

BALLYNAHINCH – Around £2,000 worth of damage was caused to a Ballynahinch school which was targeted by petrol bombers at the weekend.

Furniture and fittings is a classroom were destroyed after a petrol bomb was thrown through a window at the Assumption Grammar School on Saturday night.

 A water cistern was also destroyed, causing a water leak which flooded the classroom.

Two devices were also thrown into the staff room of the Belfast Road complex, damaging the floor, walls and seats.

CASTLE ESPIE – Some of the myths about bats will be dispelled at a fascinating evening devoted to these creatures fo the night at Castle Espie Wildfowl and Wetland Centre near Comber tomorrow night.

Participants in the bat and moth evening, which takes place from 7.30 pm will learn that bats are not blinds, they don’t live in belfries and they won’t much your blood.

But bats are the only mammals with true flight, and they make up almost a quarter of all known manual species. And their numbers are declining rapidly – 

in some cases colony numbers have fallen by 50 per cent because of loss of roost, loss of feeding habitats and pollution.

SAINTFIELD – A local contractor is among the winners of 1995 National House Building Council’s ‘Pride in the Job’ Awards for his work on a Saintfield development.

Mr William Jebb, of WW Jebb (Contracts) earned the award for work on the Rowallane Manor housing scheme.