From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 31, 1978

From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 31, 1978

31 October 2018

BISHOPSCOURT — Bishopscourt’s role as the nerve centre for air traffic control over Northern Ireland ceased at midnight last night when the Ulster Radar set-up was scrapped in favour of Prestwick in Scotland.

Forty-five key radar personnel based at the station have been transferred to other locations as part of a new centralisation plan for whole of the UK.

Bishopscourt is one seven bases throughout the UK to be downgraded in favour of central points in London and Scotland. Although the RAF will retain a strong presence at Bishopscourt the joint civil and military air traffic control which operated from the Killard Point complex will disappear.

The Ulster Radar unit was set up at Killard in 1960 as a joint operation between the RAF and the Civil Aviation Authority as one of nine centres to cover the whole of the UK. Its responsibility took in all of Northern Ireland and part of Scotland, and involved the tracking of all planes flying above 25,000 feet to ensure there were no collisions.

Throughout its 18-year history the unit has controlled some 800,000 flights without mishap. However, the decision to scrap follows a Government report in the late 1960s which plumped for a more centralised air traffic monitoring system.

STRANGFORD — Strangford police have warned parents to keep inflammable material out of reach of children after an incident at the weekend in which a young boy caused a fire scare when playing with petrol.

The incident happened on Sunday evening when a nine year-old boy was playing in the garage at his home. He was dipping bulrushes into a can 

of petrol and then setting them alight. But the incident got out of control, causing minor damage.

The fire brigade was called but when they arrived the fire had been controlled and fortunately the boy was not injured.

“A police spokesman said: “ We cannot stress hard enough the importance of keeping inflammable material away from children. If they play with fire the consequences can be terrible.”

DUNDRUM — A full-scale air and sea rescue operation was launched off the coast at Dundrum in the early hours of Saturday morning when a distress flare was spotted in the area.

Nothing was found after a detailed search of the vicinity and the main theory of coastguards is that the alarm was created by hoaxer who got his hands on a distress flare.

Coxswain Michael Lenaghan and his six-man crew on the Newcastle lifeboat were out for nearly six hours and later on an RAF helicopter set out to search Strangford Lough.

The search was eventually called off at breakfast time. While Newcastle lifeboat searched the sea, coastguards from Killough and Kilkeel checked the coast.

One of them said after the operation: “It wasn’t the sort of weather you would expect to contribute to people getting into trouble, but then the weather is not always to blame.

“The flare could have been fired by someone along the coastline. It was probably a hoax, but these warnings always have to be investigated.

“While rescuers are engaged on a hoax call something else could have been happening in another area and this time for real.”

DOWNPATRICK — Nineteen year-old Michael McNamara from Downpatrick is aiming for the sky — literally. The former St Patrick’s High School pupil has been selected as a trainee pilot with Aer Lingus and leaves this weekend to begin an intensive 20-month training course.

For Michael, who lives at Lecale Park, his selection marks the achievement of a long-yield ambition. “For the past few years I have been determined to make flying a career,” he said.

“I applied to several airline companies and was also considering the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm. I am delighted to have got the Aer Lingus job and I am really looking forward to starting.”

When the training period is over Michael starts work as a second officer on one of the European routes and after that he must take further training exams before becoming a fully-fledged pilot.

ARDGLASS — A 12 year-old Ardglass boy escaped death by minutes on Sunday after he was trapped in a bed of thick slime near his home in the Seaview estate.

The accident occurred at a disused reservoir where the silt from the dredging scheme at Ardglass harbour is being dumped — and it has brought an angry reaction from local residents.

People on the estate claim that the reservoir is a potential death trap and they have demanded the erection of a safety barrier.

However, their appeal received little support from the Department of the Environment who say that the cost would be prohibitive.

Local councillor Dermot Curran has taken up the plight of the frustrated residents. “It would make the dredging of the harbour a very costly exercise if a life was lost in the process,” he said.

“While I appreciate that the harbour scheme is of the utmost importance, I do take issue with the lack of safety precautions surrounding the dumping pit immediately behind the Seaview estate.”

One Seaview resident, Mr Willie McMahon, said that the whole dumping exercise was a total disgrace.

“Lorry loads full of slime come straight through the estate and naturally there is a certain amount of spillage,” he said. “The roads are littered with much and this in turn is tramped into people’s homes.”

SAINTFIELD — Men at the McCleery & L’Amie textile factory in Saintfield continued their protest over bonus payments this week with a one-day stoppage.

Over 200 production workers are involved in the dispute. They have imposed a complete overtime ban and have threatened to stage further one-day strikes. Last week the factory was paralysed for 24 hours by a similar stoppage and at a meeting on Friday they decided to continue their action.

KINAHALLA — Members of a local action group are out to crush the Department of the Environment’s scheme to build a dam at Kinahalla in the Mournes.

The Kinahalla Action Group is totally against the extraction of water from local rivers and is currently printing more than 1,000 posters for display throughout the province warning of the danger to the rivers, the environment and the tourist trade.

“We intend to fight this to the bitter end,” a spokesman for the group said last night. “There is too much at stake here, including the heritage of our natural environment.”

NEWCASTLE — Builders are working hard to ensure that the former Homa factory in Newcastle opens its doors on schedule to a new youth opportunities scheme.

The factory, situated on the Castlewellan Road, has been closed down for the last six years, but this latest scheme under the auspices of the town’s technical college, offers a new lease of life.

The college has taken over half of the factory and the other half is being retained by the Department of Commerce for possible future lease to industrialists.

KILLYLEAGH — A Killyleagh man who plays a baritone horn in a band and sings bass in an operatic company has decided to o organise a charity concert in the local high school where he a music teacher.

Twenty-three year-old Richard Lowry joined the staff at Killyleagh High School this year and soon noticed that the area lacked something in music — 

so he decided to put on a charity concert with the special guests being his silver band and his operatic company.

Mr Lowry had no difficulty persuading the 1st Old Boys Silver Band the Belfast Operatic Company to come to Killyleagh for the concert, which takes place on Monday night. All proceeds will go to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

SPA — Spa Young Farmers’ annual mystery tour took them to Bangor recently where they visited Bangor Dairies.

They were given a conducted tour of the establishment, during which they saw how milk is bottled and how yoghurt, cottage cheese, ice-cream and other dairy products are made.