Downpatrick Candidates Will Test The Electorate

… and the electorate will test the candidates! Of all the elections in recent years, the electorate in the Downpatrick District Electoral Area will be significantly confronted by having to make stark choices in their selection at the ballot box on Thursday 2 May 2019 as ten candidates will be…

A New Downpatrick FC Soccer Pitch Still On Track

Following discussions at the Active and Healthy Communities committee
 meeting on Monday 18 February of  Newry Mourne and Down District Council, the members 
agreed to support Downpatrick FC going forward after their bid to the EU
 Social Investment Fund collapsed. The Downpatrick FC proposal aimed to build a fit-for-purpose 3G…

Help Create A New Medieval Heritage Trail

People are being invited to help create a new medieval heritage trail in County Down as part of Beyond Westeros, a European Year of Culture and Heritage project. The trail will include many of the film locations used in the television series Game of Thrones and its Kingdom of Westeros, but will tell the true, blood soaked and…

First Novel For Killough Writer Chrissie Walsh

‘The Girl From The Mill‘ by Chrissie Walsh. Chrissie Walsh was born and raised in West Yorkshire, and after teaching there and in Jersey she married her trawler skipper husband who brought her to Killough in County Down where she has lived for more than forty years. Chrissie was a…

Looking Sideways At Brexit

Does it matter whether we are in the EU or out of it, or even half-in-half-out? What is important is the journey more than how we arrive there. I’m a political rationalist (I think) and I’m prepared to listen to all arguments and weigh up the pro’s and cons of…

Check Out Downpatrick FM105 Radio Station

The changing face of the local media just lit up with a smile this week as Colm McAlarney of FM105 community radio interviewed Jim Masson of Down News at his office based at the Down Business Centre in Downpatrick. Down News is an innovative digital news platform, still evolving, and…

Why Big Towns Need A Chamber Of Commerce

… including Downpatrick. For a number of years, I have watched the business community in the Downpatrick area struggle against a wide range of adverse circumstances with at times little comfort as they turn the keys in their front doors each morning. Downpatrick as the County Town of Down is…

Old Commercial Bar Celebrates 150th Anniversary

The Old Commercial Bar in Ardglass has just celebrated its first year with new landlord Barry Gilliland. The bar dates back to the nineteenth century when the Magee family first worked there when it was a small hotel and then eventually took it over. And more recently in the early…

Cabinet Calls Snap General Election For 8 June

British PM Theresa May has called a snap general election for the 8 June. She came out of Number 10 Downing Street late this morning and stood at the lectern and delivered her notice of election, ‘reluctantly’. Opening her announcement she said: “Reluctantly, I have chaired a meeting of the…

Complaints Fly As Recycling Centre Jams Up Due To Broken Down Skip Lorry

Irate drivers queuing in their to leave waste items off at the Cloonagh Road recycling centre in Downpatrick had a two hour wait this week on Wednesday 24 when a skip lorry broke down blocking access to the site. However, every cloud has a silver lining, and a spokesperson for…

Chairperson Celebrates St Patrick’s Primary School In Drumgreenagh Winning Choir of the Year

Newry Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Mickey Ruane, hosted a reception to celebrate the achievements of St Patrick’s Primary School, Drumgreenagh who were recently crowned winners of the highly prestigious title, ‘BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year’. On Tuesday 17 May, the first stop for the…

Sister Cities Group From US Visits Newry Mourne And Down Area

Sister Cities partners from North Carolina in the USA visited Warrenpoint last Friday and were welcomed by the Chairman of Newry Mourne and Down District Council, Cllr Mickey Ruane. The Council was delighted to welcome the partners for the first time since signing a new agreement as part of the…

Ardglass And Drumaness Mills Settle For 1-1 Draw

NAFL League Match Premier Division  Tuesday 19th April 2016 Ardglass 1 Drumaness Mills 1 Ardglass faced a daunting challenge at home with Drumaness Mills following their 0-7 thrashing from Immaculata last Saturday. But the sea-siders showed better form from the start and were much more settled and consistent in their…

Downpatrick Beat Lisburn rangers For Place In Clarence Cup Final

NAFL Clarence Cup Semi-Final Wednesday 20th April 2016 at Seaview, Belfast.  Downpatrick FC 2  Lisburn Rangers 0 Downpatrick progressed to this year’s Clarence Cup final at the expense of Lisburn Rangers on a sun-swept Seaview pitch. Having saw three of their league games called off recently, Downpatrick started the game…

Official Opening Of Downpatrick Police Station

A major £11 million state-of-the-art investment in a new police station in Downpatrick has been officially opened by  PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton and Anne Connolly, Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The station first opened its doors to the public on Monday, 30 November 2015, following a 26 month build…