The song came quite easy to me and I hope people really like it

The song came quite easy to me and I hope people really like it

17 June 2015

A NEW song about the Downe Hospital will be performed in public for the first time tonight. Downpatrick singer/songwriter Travis McVeigh will be performing ‘Stay Open’ at a meeting of the Down Community Health Committee in Denvir’s Coaching Inn.

The 17 year-old — who is studying music at the South Eastern Regional College — says he is passionate about his local hospital and the need for it to provide the range of services people across the district require.

Describing his composition as a folk tune, a video of Travis performing the melodic song has already been uploaded to YouTube, shot in a classic black and white genre.

Picking up the guitar when he was six, Travis had some help from his father but is mainly self-taught and once he completes his studies in Downpatrick he plans to continue his music career in the UK, with Manchester his favoured destination.

The teenager helped distribute campaign leaflets in Downpatrick during the Love the Downe rally on St Valentine’s Day and was also on board the Down Community Health Committee float during the St Patrick’s Day parade last March.

A member of the Patrician Youth Centre, Travis is very much aware of the Downe Hospital issue and the services which have been lost and downgraded over recent years.

He said people across the district rely on the Downe and need to have the hospital accessible when they need it. The teenager said he hopes the campaign to return services which have been stripped from the hospital will be successful.

“I know what the Downe means to my family and everyone else across the district,” he said. “The hospital is an important part of community life and must remain at its heart.”

Travis said it was during a chat with Patrician’s senior youth worker, Yvonne Maguire, about the Downe and the continuing community campaign that she suggested the talented musician should write a song about it.

“I told Yvonne how strongly I felt about the issue and she suggested that I should put pen to paper.

I agreed and a few weeks later the song was complete,” he continued.

“The song came relatively easy to me and I hope people really like it. I am looking forward to performing it in public for the first time tonight in front of the community health committee members. There are no nerves and I just can’t wait to perform it,” the teenager continued.

Travis hopes the song will be enjoyed by others and said the huge support for the Love the Downe rally was his inspiration for penning the song.

“I was really blown away by the 20,000 people who took part in the event in support of their hospital. The numbers were really inspirational and I hope people will like my song,” he said.

Travis also revealed plans to make a second video of the song featuring a choir comprising members of the Patrician Youth Centre which will also be uploaded to YouTube.