Dream Came True By Accident
By Paul O Sullivan
Curtain Call - Fr Michael McCullough, Susie, Francis and Megan Davitt, with Nicky Byrne from Westlife
For any 12 year old, going to see a world famous Boy Band in concert would be the highlight of your life. That V.I.P. invitations to a Westlife concert would arrive one morning for yourself and your parents would be the stuff of dreams.
But dreams do come true - sometimes, and for Megan Davitt, Mountcharles, it all came about by an accidental meeting (literally) with the priest who married Westlife’s Nicky Byrne and Bertie’s daughter Georgina Ahern two years ago in France.
Megan and her father Francis were on the Derrylin road one morning last year when a car driven by Dungloe native, Fr Michael McCullough ploughed into the side of their van causing substantial damage to both vehicles. Fortunately there was no one injured and the only concern of the priest was for the welfare of father and daughter. Contemplating what could have so easily happened, the accident had a profound effect on the Dublin based Vincentian Father who has since become a good friend of the family.
Every dark cloud........
Good fortune, bad luck and chance encounters happen randomly. Or do they? Little did Megan, Francis or indeed Fr Michael think setting out that morning that they would end up in a traffic accident and that it would result in all three meeting Westlife at the Point Depot a year later.
What goes around comes around and as Francis said “With all the awful accidents on the roads these days, we were just glad no one was injured or killed. The van was fixed and we left it at that”.
That generosity was more than repaid by Fr Michael as he arranged for Megan, her Mum Susie and father Francis to be special guests of Westlife with Access All Areas passes to the concert in Dublin on Feb 12th last. “It was the best day of my life and I’ll never forget it for as long as I live”, Megan said.
Her sister Leona was in the Abbey the same night and got a phone call from Megan. “Hang on a minute I’ve Nicky Byrne here and he wants to talk with you”. “Yeah right” Leona said (as you would to your wee sister!). Then 5 times millionaire Nicky from Westlife came on the line and asked the stunned brunette “What’s the crack in the Abbey”. She couldn’t answer!
Security cameras and equipment taken in raid
Gardai in Donegal Town are investigating a burglary last weekend in which five apartments in the new Mill Park complex at Doonan were robbed of kitchen equipment worth at least €15,000. The thieves also made off with three security cameras and their control unit. The raid is believed to have taken place late on Saturday evening. A large white transit van was spotted in the vicinity of the apartments at around 10 pm and gardai are working on the assumption that this was the vehicle used to carry away the goods.
In a separate incident, a small amount of jewellery and cash was taken from the home of an elderly lady who lives alone at Tullycullion, Donegal Town. On Sunday morning the raiders entered the house through a window at the rear, which was forced.
Mellys Café closed by Health Authority
One of the best known restaurants in the South of the county has been served with a closure order by the health inspectorate. Melly’s café, in the centre of Killybegs, was issued with the order on April 15th. A spokesperson for the food safety authority said they could not give out specific reasons why the closure order was served. The café will remain closed until the Environmental Health Service is satisfied that all issues raised by them are dealt with.
The Kitchen expands
Well done to Jon and Linda Geary who, by relocating food prep upstairs, have extended the service area of their Krusty Kitchen in the car park. Cheery and colourful, try it for breakfast, lunch specials, afternoon snacks, or a la carte.
Spic and Span
Fair play to new town mayor, Ciaran Twomey. Realising that the town is no longer being cleaned at weekends, the indomitable first citizen donned the rubber gloves, grabbed a sack, and started picking up rubbish around The Diamond last Sunday morning. Spotted from the Times window, we thought it a opportunist photo too good to miss!
Photo: Jason McGarrigle
Library to be sited on Old Cow Market
Reports suggest that Donegal County Council has decided on a location for the new town library. Pending finance, it is to be sited at the old Fire Station on Upper Main Street, thus ending a search for a suitable building that has lasted at least two years.
The Anatomy of an Exclusive
The great scoop by Margaret Gallagher on the sale of the Magee factory made our last issue the fastest selling in the history of Donegal Times. Within a couple of days, people were scouring shops for a copy - and, failing to find any, calling the office to find out if we supply one. No chance - the potential disappearance of such a landmark institution in the town ensured a sell-out.
The path to this exclusive was also intriguing. We were aware that a deal could be pending from the previous week and sweated that it would break early. At 11am on Monday 11th April, we were informed that the transaction was on and that Lynn Temple was going it to announce it to his staff at 4pm that day. Trouble was - we were not due to go to press till Tuesday night, with delivery on Wednesday.
A call to the Derry Journal revealed just one thirty minute printing slot available on the Monday - at 5pm, with all the pages having to be with the printers at 4.30pm.
What to do - wait till Wednesday when the story would be old news - or go all out to finish a not nearly completed paper - and have an exclusive on the streets that evening. We decided to go for it!
But where to start? We had no story, no statements, no pictures - in words - a virgin-white front page.
It was now well after mid-day.
Then came a lucky break. We learned that a meeting between the principals of Magee and Keeney was to take place in a private location at 1.30pm. Realising that this was our only opportunity to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together, our reporter, Margaret Gallagher, taking a deep breath, headed, uninvited, for the venue.
Bingo! - after a short wait, she was invited into the meeting room where, over the next hour, she gathered together the material for a scoop that was to astound the people of Donegal Town when it broke later that evening.
Meanwhile, back at the office, Jason and myself worked feverishly to finish the rest of the paper to leave ourselves clear when Margaret arrived back with her copy.
At 3.30pm, an hour before the deadline, we started on the front page. Along with writing, proofing, designing and laying-down, Jason had to keep sending the completed pages through to Derry, so that when our printing slot came round, all the pages would be in place.
We made it - just a few minutes past the deadline - in what was a great effort by the small Times team - sourcing and producing one of the biggest news items to hit the streets of Donegal Town for a long time.
At 7.15pm that evening, the paper was on sale in the shops - and, for the next few days, little else was discussed but the coup Keeney had pulled off in acquiring the Magee complex in the heart of town.
Denis O’Gorman is moving his barber business next door to the Central Hotel while Jim White and Co. build their new extension on Quay Street. Room 150 is the new location for the Mountcharles man and it will be business as usual there from May 2nd for three months at which stage Denis will take up residence in a larger state-of-art barber shop just a bit further down the street from his existing business.
Development at Quay Street
The last old building on the west side of Quay Street, which houses Denis O’Gorman’s barber-shop, is due to be knocked down in the first week of May. Jim White is building again. Indeed great praise must go to the hotelier who has invested so much in the town centre. He plans to develop 2,200 sq feet of retail, an 800 sq ft barber-shop and nine executive hotel suites, extending from the existing hotel down to Pier 1. “We hope to have the barber-shop completed in 3 months and, as the other development is a taxbreak scheme, our deadline is July, 2006.” When asked if he had any trouble with planning. “There was not one objection to my application. I myself have never objected to planning in any town. I think that development is great - it helps everybody” Jim commented.
Coffee Morning Presentation
Paddy Keaney and Joan McCrea, Donegal Town, presenting a cheque for €900 to Colm McIvor, Chairman of the NW fundraising committee for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association. Paddy and Joan raised this money by having a coffee morning in their homes. They also had a draw for spot prizes and the winners were: Audrey Irwin, Pat Ward, Karen Garvey, Geraldine Leahy, Mary Byrne and Nan McCrea.
The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association provides excellent support, information and assistance to Motor Neurone Disease sufferers, their families and carers. Thanks to all who supported this worthy cause.
Few people would have taken notice of newspaper reports on the tragic death in a house fire in Castlebar of Regina McHugh.
However Regina lived in Mountcharles for a number of years with her husband Michael, who was a skipper on the Veronica, and her four sons, Michael, Jamie, Pauric and Dara. She kept in regular contact with a few friends in the area and stayed two nights in the town last summer. POS
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