Operation completed

In our August 24th issue, we wrote of a Sunderland Flying Boat that crashed about 6 miles north-west of Killybegs on the 14th March 1945 and how a man called Eirwyn Humphreys from Wales called to our office to see if we could help in a special mission. One of the crew who perished in the crash was David Twist of Llanfair, Wales, and Eirwyn’s task was to find a group or individual in town who would lay a wreath on the site of the collision on behalf of the British Legion. Michael McGonigle of the Bluestack Ramblers agreed to carry out the undertaking - above he is pictured laying the wreath at Cronarad near Fintra, the inscription on which reads ‘In memory of David John Thomas Twist’, Flight Sergeant on Sunderland 1113, died 14th March 1945 on coastal manoeuvres’.

Photo: Mick McGonigle laying the wreath on Cronarad on Sunday

Bank of Ireland car-park owner seeks retail/residential development permission

What’s happening to the Bank of Ireland’s car-park has become clear since a planning request appeared in a local paper this week. Michael McMenamin is seeking permission to build a commercial/residential mixed-use building on the site with retail units on the ground floor; office accomodation on first floor; five apartments on the decond and the same no of apartments on the third floor. There would be pedestrian access to the pulic car-park and pedestrian and service access to the Diamond.

Increased department inspections cause much angst in fishing port

There was a feeling of frustration and anger among the fish processing plant owners in Killybegs last week with the announcement that pelagic fish controllers would be placed in all factories at the owner’s consent. These would be responsible for the observation, recording, and reporting of the arrival, processing and dispatch of fish at the factories to which they are assigned.
The Irish Pelagic fish processors have been ordered to install approved, calibrated weighing systems into their factories by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources by January 2006. One factory owner told me he has three of these machines ordered at the cost of €50,000 each. Mr. Kinneen, Seafood Control Manager of the Department of Communications Marine, and Natural Resources, met with the plant owners last week and outlined the position:- “Ireland has a general obligation to have an effective system of control in place to ensure that the legal provisions of the European Common Fisheries Policy are being complied with” he told them. Mr Kinneen informed the factory owners that the present control system was being put in place for a transition period until the machines are installed.
Reports are that owners of all the factories but one have given consent for these controllers to enter their factories but the question they ask - are the fish officers already in Killybegs being undermined by these appointments?..... (Continued in print edition of Donegal Times)

Garda accused of assault

A Killybegs based Garda, Brian McSharry (35), has been arrested and appeared before Ballyshannon Court on Monday, following an assault on his 20 year old former partner and mother of his two-year-old daughter on Sunday morning.
Garda McSharry was arrested in Mountcharles on Sunday afternoon. He was taken to Letterkenny Garda Station where he was held overnight.
Appearing before Judge Anderson on Monday he was remanded on bail of €1,000 to appear before the same court on 6th January 2006. Garda McSharry has been suspended from the force since the time of his arrest.

Outrage at Church Vandalism

Mindless vandals were responsible for damage to valuable stained glass windows at three Churches in the Mountcharles/Inver area in the early hours of Thursday morning last. Considerable damage was done to the Church of Ireland and Methodist churches in Inver as well as the Church of Ireland, Mountcharles.One local from Mountcharles said: “As a Catholic, I’m appalled at this wanton destruction. Our Protestant neighbours have raised a lot of money for the renovations of our own chapel, as we have theirs. I can safely say that 99.9% of Catholics are angered and appalled at the idiots resposible for this. Those involved probably don’t go to any church”.
Gardaí have asked locals to be vigilant of all car movements especially in the early hours of the morning and, if suspicious, to write the registration down. “You’d be amazed at the amount of crimes solved by ordinary people keeping their eyes open”, a spokesperson for the Gardai said. Rev Ken McLaughlan, Rector in Inver Parish said he was “shocked and disappointed” and described the churches as being “soft targets” He went on to say that “an attack on a church is an attack on the community itself”... Continued in print edition

Donegal Town man rides into Guinness Book of Records on a Honda 50!

A world record was broken at the 16th Annual Culchie Festival in Summerhill, Meath, on Sunday 30th October. ‘The Great Honda 50 Run’, consisting of 541 Honda 50 bikes driven in a continuous line for 3.12 kilometers smashed the old record of 118 bikes which was set in Morocco in 1999.
While the 541 participants were assembled from every county in Ireland, Donegal was only represented by a lone biker. Riding Honda 50 number 403 was Brookfield man, Sean Gillespie.
Sean had heard about the attempt to break the world record on the Late Late Show and decided that it would be good fun to take part - the only problem was that he didn’t own a Honda 50!
But now that Sean had it on his mind to go, he started to look for a ‘50’ of his own to enter. Honda 50s were once a popular traditional vehicle used by farmers in rural Ireland but it’s not too easy to find one in good condition these days.
However, after much searching, a bike was sourced in Mountcharles, and, with the help of Joe & Michael McLaughlin and John Walls, Sean cleaned it up and got it into shape for the festival. They adapted a trailer to take the bike and headed off to Meath at 6am on the morning of the record attempt.
‘The roar and noise level was unbelievable’ said Sean as the bikes set off to break the record..... (Continued in print edition of Donegal Times)

Write to the Point

•More offices (I.D.A.) for Donegal Town. Just what the town needs.
•I couldn’t agree more with the comments about those nameless Lordy Lordy photos. The general reader has no interest when there’s no name.
•Sometimes I wonder if I’m living in Dalkey or Donegal with all these expensive Balls going on or am I just suffering from B.O. (Balls Overload)
•Can someone cry halt to the madness of weddings. The average cost is reckoned to be €20,000. For one day. For what?
•I’m all on for Martin McAllister as a Town Leader as suggested in a letter in the last issue. As long as he promises not to write letters.
•The proper way to say Lidl is Leedil, the way they say it in the TV advert
•The big ‘funded by the EU’ signs on every road/bridge/bypass are an eyesore and should be removed after the project is complete - but why is the one for the Water Street bridge about a half a mile past Clar Chapel and not at the bridge?
•I wonder what is the correct spellings for Leghowney and Laghey as going by the road signs around these areas you could find a few alternative spellings for them.
•The Lidl leaflet distributors should really push them fully into the letterboxes as they’re often left sticking out and could alert a would-be burgulars if a house isn’t occupied.
•With all the talk of nationwide retail stores coming to the vicinity - 50 years ago we had one - does anyone under 60 know where Easons was in town?
•Martin McAllister’s ponderous missives remind me of the person described in Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘The Mikado’
“The idiot who praises with enthusiastic tone.
All centuries but this, and every country but his own”
•When I read your fairy story ‘Once upon a time...” to my four year old grandchild, he said “That’s not a very good ending, Granny”.
•Can anyone do anything about the cars which drive around the Diamond backfiring & blowing their horns? These show-offs are a nusiance and are impressing nobody.
•A reader tells us that the spotlights that illuminate the Catholic church at night are now being turned off because of cars parking in front of them.

& MORE! ONLY IN PRINT EDITION