From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 5, 1976

From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 5, 1976

5 October 2016

DOWNPATRICK — A group of Downpatrick youth leaders have threatened to picket Down Council offices with 600 youngsters in a bid to win more facilities for the town.

Since August problems have been mounting for the Downpatrick Youth Football League, the second biggest organisation of its kind in the Province, and unless they find an answer shortly the league will go bust.

The league draws teams from Hillsborough, Comber, Killyleagh, Strangford, Portaferry, Ardglass, Killough, Dundrum, Drumaness, Drumaroad and Newcastle.

Things came to a head several weeks ago when the league lost two of its pitches when vandals wrecked goalposts at St Dillon’s Avenue playing fields and they were left with one council-owned pitch at Dunleath Park.

The league, with a membership of over 600, has 36 teams which are supposed to be given an average of 30 minutes football each Saturday morning. Not unnaturally, many games are postponed.

The league secretary, Mr Charles McStay, said this week that the organisation is getting to the end of the line — but he is confident the council’s recreation department will honour a promise to provide additional facilities by mid October.

Mr McStay warned that if measures are not taken then his committee will have no option but to draw the matter to the attention of the public. 

“If that means staging a demonstration in the streets of Downpatrick and picketing council offices, then we will have no alternative,” he said.

“Many parents are spending a lot of money on togging out their sons especially to take part in our league and it is grossly unfair if we have to send these youngsters home each week.”

DROMORE — The frantic efforts of firemen to rescue three members of a Dromore family, trapped after an incendiary device exploded in their shop, were praised by a coroner at an inquest in Banbridge.

William Herron (64), his wife Elizabeth (58) and daughter Noleen (27) were the first people in the province to die as a result of a firebomb attack. Detectives are still trying to track down those responsible.The three were trapped in the living quarters above their drapery shop in the Square last April.

Open verdicts were returned on the Herrons, who, according to a pathologist’s report, died from carbon monoxide poisoning when smoke and fumes filled the premises.

The Coroner described the planting of the firebomb as an act of cold-blooded murder on three innocent people by those could only be described as monsters.

The 28 year-old twin sons of Mr and Mrs Herron told of seeing “strange girls” in the shop on April 6, the day before the tragedy.

An RUC scenes of crime officer told the inquest that the incendiary device had been placed under a rack of suits in a fitting room. The device had been placed where it would cause maximum damage.

PORTAFERRY — Plans for a new sewage treatment plant at Portaferry were put under the microscope by a shock report published at the weekend.

The report shows that a sewage concentration along the town’s shorefront is up to five-and-a-half times the maximum tolerance level. Already one local councillor, who has been a leading figure in the fight for a new sewage plant, has described the report’s findings as “distressing.”

Mr J B MacPolin claims Portaferry’s problems stemmed from the present, much criticised, method of sewage disposal which utilised a retention tank sited only a few feet away from houses facing the seafront and an effluent pipe emerging from the end of the ferry slipway.

“Originally it had been intended that the tank would discharge only at ebb tide, but it now continuously discharges clearly visible raw sewage at all tides — with unfortunate results,” Mr MacPolin said.

The new sewage treatment project had fallen victim to Government economy cuts.

BALLYNOE — A ten-year ambition was fulfilled last week when Mr and Mrs John McLeigh, the proprietors of the Corner Inn, Ballynoe, opened a new extension.

The new 250-seat extension has been their dream since they bought the bar on September 15, 1966. They used to have a small lounge on the side of the pub, but the crowds became so big that Mrs McLeigh said they were almost “hanging from the lights.”

However, the warm, friendly atmosphere which drew those customers to the Corner Inn will not disappear, for the proprietors have made every effort to ensure that it will be carried into their new premises.

The lounge has a high ceiling as a special feature. This will allow cigarette smoke — the bane of the non-smoking drinker’s life — to gather in the ceiling instead of forming the sort of acrid fog which is common in many bars.

NEWTOWNARDS — Development of Ards Shopping Centre is well ahead of expectation with only five of the 54 units left for rental.

The arrival of Penny’s and Stewarts are providing eye-openers for customers. Other new attractions are the opening of additional restaurants, an art gallery, a wine shop and a specialised candy store. The centre is now approaching 75 per cent of its planned retail capacity.

DUNDRUM — A new billiards and snooker club at Dundrum was officially opened at an exhibition match on Tuesday night. The club will be run in conjunction with Dundrum Youth Club.

The table was donated by local businessman Vincent Murphy, who declared the club open by playing the first shot. Exhibition games were given by three billiards stalwarts, John Weston, Eugene Casement and Harry Gribben.

The club will be open five nights a week and all day Saturday and Sunday. They hope to join the Downpatrick and District Billiards League this year.

SAINTFIELD — Saintfield Apprentice Boys, Mitchelburne Club, held their 40th anniversary dinner dance in the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch, on Thursday night.

More than 140 people attended the function. The anniversary cake was cut by one of the club’s foundation members, Bro S Yeats, and its youngest member, Bro Raymond McCaughtry. Music was provided by the Trevor Hill Band.

DRUMAROAD — Philomena Begley, ‘Ireland’s Queen of Country Music,’ made what must be one of her final performances this year at Drumaroad Community Centre on Sunday.

Philomena is expecting her first baby in December and has said she will be retiring soon. But fans need have no worries because her retirement will be a temporary one.

She told a Recorder reporter that she intends to come back to singing after she has had the baby. She said that after years on the road she is now at the height of her career and is not going to give it up.

Fans in Downpatrick will have another chance to see her this month when she appears in Owenbeg Bowling Club on October 14.

NEWCASTLE — Ireland’s introduction to sand yacht racing at Newcastle on Sunday is expected to draw big public interest.

Representatives of the Sports Council and noted national sporting personalities will be there to see the performance of nearly a dozen keen types, who call themselves the Sandpipers — a local club formed only a fortnight ago.

The yachts are about eight feet long, are powered by a dinghy mainsail and cost about £300. A good blow should give them speeds of up to 50mph, but a leisurely force 3 or 4 breeze should allow them to jog along at a more sedate 30mph.

The Sandpipers’ motto is ‘we do it lying down,’ which will be self-explanatory to the spectators.