Green Light For £50 Million Ballynahinch Bypass
REGIONAL Development Minister Danny Kennedy has announced the approved road line for the A24, Ballynahinch bypass scheme costing £50million, in the Assembly (Wednesday 25th January). Following a public consultation and exhibition Roads Service has considered the views of the public and approved the preferred line of the bypass which will include a junction at the B7 Crossgar Road.
Read more: Green Light For £50 Million Ballynahinch Bypass
Comber Spud Wins EU Protected Status
THE popular Comber spud has been awarded special EU status. Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA pictured with potato growers Robin McKee and his son Ivan are celebrating their new status. The popular Comber spud has gone up in the world as the new season Comber Potato has become the second product from Northern Ireland to have been granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status under EU law.
Read more: Comber Spud Wins EU Protected Status
Holiday World Show At King's Hall
TWENTY years on and the Holiday World Show that took place recently at the King’s Hall is still attracting a mass audience. The Show featured hundreds of destinations and attracted some thirty thousand visitors over the weekend. Thousands of visitors availed of it’s weekend ‘one stop shop’ offering travel and tourism expertise and advice from right across the globe,
Read more: Holiday World Show At King's Hall
DSD Minister Urges People Across Down To Have Their Say
SOCIAL Development Minister, Nelson McCausland, has urged just under 7200 people across Down District on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to help shape the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment which will soon replace DLA for working age customers.
Read more: DSD Minister Urges People Across Down To Have Their Say
Future of another Downpatrick retail store looks uncertain
“IT'S not looking good,” is how one member of staff at the Bon Marche store on Market Street, Downpatrick, described the situation as they waited to hear if their shop would be among those set to close, writes Anne O'Hare.
Staff based at the Market Street store are being told later this week if it is to be one of the 160 stores set for closure across the UK. These outlets are expected to shut in the near future. The company said it was too early to release a list of sites to be closed.
Read more: Future of another Downpatrick retail store looks uncertain
Recycling Centre Proposal For Cloonagh Road Site
A PROPOSAL to relocate the Civic Amenity recycling centre at Cloonagh Road in Downpatrick to the NI Water site next door, has been welcomed by Down District Councillor Cadogan Enright. The Downpatrick Councillor said: “This site has much more space and will allow us to enhance our approach to recycling. We are missing opportunities in Down District that other areas have already tackled."
Read more: Recycling Centre Proposal For Cloonagh Road Site
Johnston Condemns Downpatrick Fly Tippers
SINN Féin Councillor Liam Johnston has condemned those responsible for dumping household rubbish in a beauty spot on the outskirts of Downpatrick. He said: "Having been contacted by locals who walk along the Old Course Road, which is approximately 500 yards from the Cloonagh Road amenity site. I also found a variety of household waste when I went to investigate. Mattresses, chairs, old computer monitors, and other household waste were just dumped by the side of the road.
Read more:Johnston Condemns Downpatrick Fly Tippers
Downpatrick Man Fair Game For Rural Oscars
IN the world of country life one local name stands out from the crowd... local Downpatrick businessman and rural champion, Albert Titterington. Albert’s unfaltering allegiance to all countryside matters has recently received its due recognition, and he has been short-listed for the prestigious Countryside Alliance Ireland Awards.
Read more: Downpatrick Man Fair Game For Rural Oscars
O'Neill Updates Assembly On December Fisheries Summit
FISHERIES Minister Michelle O’Neill recently updated the Assembly on the outcome of the December Fisheries negotiations. Minister O’Neill said: “The Commission proposed a 19 per cent cut in Nephrops contrary to the robust scientific advice available. Working closely with my counterpart in the south, Simon Coveney TD, an alternative approach was presented to the Commission which took account of the scientific advice and demonstrated healthy stock levels and effectiveness of current management arrangements.
Read more: O'Neill Updates Assembly On December Fisheries Summit
Amnesty Mid Down Delighted With Burma Prisoner Release
HUMAN Rights campaigners in County Down celebrated recently as it has been confirmed three prisoners of conscience for whose release the group have been campaigning, are among the dissidents who have been released from jail in Burma.
Read more: Amnesty Mid Down Delighted With Burma Prisoner Release
Downpatrick Naiscoíl Performs Well In School Inpsection
FOR the past ten years the Náiscoil Dhún Pádraig has been providing pre-school education for children and it has continued to grow. This week it received a glowing accolade when the Department of Education inspectors made a snap inspection and it passed with flying colours.
Read more: Downpatrick Naiscoíl Performs Well In School Inpsection
Condemnation Of Murder In Comber
POLICE are investigating a murder on Wednesday 11 January in Comber and have made an appeal to the public for information. Following the incident, three men aged 54, 26 and 25 have been arrested. The three men were arrested in the County Down area and have been taken to Antrim Serious Crime Suite for questioning.
Read more: Condemnation Of Murder In Comber
Coney Island Folksinger Records In Nashville
Coney Island will never be the same again the next time I go for a quiet seaside walk along its potholed road enjoying it's off-the-beaten track ambience. I called down to meet Jayne Trimble alternate folk singer and songwriter and was seriously taken back by her great musical talent.
Read more: Coney Island Folksinger Records In Nashville
Spring Has Sprung For 2012
THE Woodland Trust is asking the public to report observations of the effects of the milder winter weather on native trees and flowers across the country. This follows a number of anecdotal reports of flowers blooming and tree buds bursting weeks ahead of schedule.
Read more: Spring Has Sprung For 2012
Downpatrick Railway Appeals For Old Photographs And Artefacts
ON the 62nd anniversary of the closure of the Old Belfast and County Down Railway line on the 15 January, the Downpatrick Down Railway is relaunching it's annual appeal for artefacts. Railway volunteer and photo archivist Robert Gardiner explained to Down News, it is important old items such as photographs are recorded and preserved to show what life on the railway was like before the line was closed in 1950.
Read more: Downpatrick Railway Appeals For Old Photographs And Artefacts
Heavy Fines For Dumping Waste On Farm
COUNTY Down farmer, Graham Furey, Comber Road, Downpatrick has been fined a total of £20,000 for four offences at Downpatrick Crown Court for permitting the illegal deposit of waste on his land at Ballyhornan Road near Downpatrick. The dumping took place between 2003 and 2008 and involved 1,900 tonnes of waste.
Read more: Heavy Fines For Dumping Waste On Farm
SDLP Councillor John Doris voiced his support for the Rates Relief Scheme, which will assist many small businesses across the District and further afield.
IT was good news for the Northern Ireland fishing industry this week as the value of all fish and shellfish landings into Northern Ireland has continued to increase significantly into 2011.
PROTECTING the delicate flora and fauna down at Strangford Lough became the topic of some heated debate at the Northern Ireland Assembly this week, writes Anne O'Hare.
BALLYNAHINCH town received a welcome visit from Minister of Regional Development, Danny Kennedy recently, writes Anne O'Hare.
TITANIC Honour & Glory, voted by The Times newspaper as one of the top five exhibitions in the UK, is set to dock at Down County Museum as part of it's Titanic centenary tour on the run up to the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. The exhibition, which will be open from Thursday 19 January until Sunday 15 April, has never been seen before in Ireland, and is sure to attract audiences from all over County Down and beyond. 2012 sees the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie has called for the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister to be in discussions with the UK Fisheries Minister and with Brussels to ensure that a mid-year increase to the Irish Sea herring quota is attained.
THE young cast of the Patrician Youth Centre have got off to another great year with a magnificent performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. But they performed not one, but three on the same day. On the morning and afternoon, pupils from local schools filled the Downshire Great Hall in Downpatrick and they all got into the atmosphere at the drop of a hat. In the evening another one began at 8pm. And on Sunday 15 January there will be a matinee peformance at 3pm.
THE Passionist Congregation yesterday formally re-opened it's Retreat and Conference Centre at Tobar Mhuire, Crossgar, as a centre for spiritual renewal and human development, after a £1.5 Million restoration. Fr John Friel CP, Superior at Tobar Mhuire said: “We would like people of faith and no faith who are in search of meaning, to come and use the centre. We have a solid commitment to working with groups who, either through life choices or circumstances have traditionally felt excluded from the church, and see Christianity as something of a cold house or irrelevant.”
SOUTH Down MP Margaret Ritchie has made a scathing attack on the decision to move health service administration jobs from Downpatrick and said there was a serious lack of recognition given to the town as a Health Service location.
As Spring approaches many people from County Down will be planning a day trip to Dublin. Rail passengers in Northern Ireland can now take advantage of “on the go” ticketing with the launch of mLink, Translink’s innovative new mobile ticket.
ULSTER Bank in Downpatrick opened it's doors on Saturday passed to hold the first in a series of Mortgage Information events for local people. The events have been organised to help anyone thinking of buying, selling, switching or remortgaging.
“SIMPLY impossible,” were the words from one South Eastern HSC Trust (SET) employee describing the latest proposal to move staff from Downe Hospital to Ballymena, writes Anne O'Hare. At a recent meeting, 34 accounts payable and human resource staff, were told by the SET they could be relocated to Braid Valley Hospital in Ballymena, as early as next September.
