Letter To The Editor. Dear Sir, “The recent debacle regarding a patient being left on a trolley for more than 24 hours due to no beds being available in the Downe Hospital raises serious questions. “The fact that nine patients were also forced to wait overnight on trolleys in A and E due to bed shortages is clearly and unequivocally a direct consequence of the closure of a 15 bed ward at the Downe. “This is only the start of problems that the Downe Hospital could expect to be faced with in response to the SET’s downgrading of front line health care services in Downpatrick and centralisation plans. “The pathetic response issued by the SET in which it very much regretted that patients had to wait in the Downe Hospital’s A and E and admitting that the situation was ‘far from ideal’ is nothing more than a complete denial of the situation at hand. “The closing of a hospital ward was surely going to have dire ramifications and consequences when the Downe Hospital was put under pressure from an increase in patients being admitted. xa0The senior management and officials of the SET can shout from the rooftops that the Downe Hospital has a bright future, but the reality is that there is a Hospital in Downpatrick that will imminently xa0go onto a life support machine. “The closing of a hospital ward and the downgrading of A and E; two very basic elements of the Downe Hospital will result in further problems providing adequate and proper healthcare to patients. SET Chief Executive Hugh McCaughey can accuse the press of portraying the Downe Hospital in a negative light, but both he and the SET have been the main drivers in steering away front line health care services from Downpatrick onto the hard shoulder. “Unless the SET reverse their plans for Downpatrick and stop living in denial about stripping and downgrading services, then the people of Down and Mourne will be left with a Hospital that will eventually become what a recent cartoon depicted; a white elephant.” Yours, Patrick Clarke, Dundrum, Co. Down.]]>

WITH building work about to start in March on St Mary’s new primary school in Newcastle, SDLP councillor Carmel O’Boyle says that now is the time to plan for our long-awaited leisure centre. She said,xa0“Once the 15 month building programme on the primary school is complete, Down District Council needs to be in a position to put down a marker to obtain the site of the former girls’ school in Shanslieve Drive. This is a brown field site and would be ideal for a leisure centre and swimming pool for Newcastle. By building on this site there would be no need for us to use Donard Park at all and the playing fields would be secure. Once the Department of Education declares the site surplus to requirements, our local authority will be given first refusal, so in the coming 15 months we could undertake an Economic Appraisal and even apply for planning permission in order to be ready to submit an expression of interest to the Department of Education. “I have asked for this proposal to be discussed on Friday at Newcastle’s Steering Group so that we can invite pubic reaction to this idea. Already it is clear that the provision of a leisure centre and swimming pool is at last a viable proposition for Newcastle, but we have always been thinking along the lines of building one on Donard Park. I have always had reservations about that because it would entail the removal of pitches and would to all intents and purposes, make Donard Park unavailable for other events such as pipe band competitions and so on. “Now that we are about to build 130 new social houses on the Castlewellan Road, the argument that the school site in Shanslieve Drive should be used for that purpose is no longer an imperative. We could close off the entrance to the site in this street with access to the leisure centre being gained through Donard Park. This would result in minimum disruption to people living in that area. It would also allow us to build a stand for the football teams and the changing facilities in our leisure centre would negate the need for a new pavilion. All of these facilities are long overdue, in my opinion. The flood alleviation scheme that our council secured for Newcastle has freed up the land on the Castlewellan Road for new houses. The building of our new primary school will free up a wonderful brown-field site at Shanslieve Drive that I want our council to secure for the people of Newcastle, and we need to start to make plans now so that this will happen,” she added. ]]>

[/caption] “In the run-up to the budget, Sinn Féin proactively examined the deficiencies in present Departmental spending practices and indentified new revenue streams. In our deliberations, we put forward proposals that would secure £1.86 billion to alleviate thexa0effects of the Tory imposed cuts to the Executive’s Budget. “xa0By contrast, the SDLP only published its Economic paper the week before the Draft Budget was produced. It consisted mainly of regurgitated policies published a number of years ago and a few additional ideas that were discussed during the all-party Budget Review Groupxa0meetings to which they did not contribute one single proposal. ” Now in the mouth ofxa0an election they propose an amendment to the Draft Budget which they claim would generate £22.1million. As well as cosying up to the UUP/Tory party their spokespeople such as Conall McDevitt are now advocating the introduction of water charges. ” The SDLP state the obvious when they say the budget is not good enough butxa0Sinn Féin, rather than sit back and absorb the wounds inflicted by the British Exchequer went about identifying an additional £1.86 Billion of efficiencies and revenue raising opportunities in our document, ‘A Better Way’. ” The SDLP need to stop playing politics with people’s lives in advance of an election and their time would be better spent joining with us in working to ensure a better deal for all of us,” he added.]]>

[/caption] The scholarship is designed to assist Emma in her pursuit of a higher education qualification. Emma is a past student of South Eastern Regional College (SERC) Downpatrick Campus where she studied Art and Design. Emma was joined by another two past SERC students Dovydas Pliauga and Philip Starritt in receiving this awards. The All-Ireland Scholarships where first awarded to students in 2008 with the seeds being sown in May 2007 when JP McManus expressed a strong desire to provide funds for the establishment of a Third Level education scholarship scheme for the thirty-two counties of Ireland.xa0 He stated that the Celtic Tiger will not be around for ever and that education will be the key for success in more difficult times. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of the results of students final further education exams. Emma’s dream since she was very young was to become an artist. She studied for a National Diploma in Art and Design at SERC and this is where she discovered her interest in different aspects of art such as surrealism. Emma is thrilled to have won an All-Ireland Scholarship. Being aware of how tough the art world can be, she knows it will dramatically make a difference to achieving many more goals and making a success in her artistic career. Since completing her course at SERC Emma has progressed to Chelsea College of Art and Design where she is studying a Foundation Diploma.]]>

[/caption] Down District Councillor and the SDLP’s local spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Investment,Dermot Curran, has spoken out in support of local small businesses and companies. A recent all-island study by InterTradeIreland has found that almost a third of companies were not profitable last year. “Nine in ten businesses across the island of Ireland have been badly hit by the economic downturn with small leisure, hotel and catering firms being worst hit by a drop in sales along with hikes in energy and transport costs. Councillor Curran said, “We are now being told that we are no longer in a recession and the economy is showing signs of recovery. However this is certainly not being felt by traders in Downpatrick and across the District. “These businesses are now facing further inflationary cost pressures teamed with a negative and very difficult attitude from bank officials.” “These small businesses need help and need it quickly. It is imperative that banks work with these businesses and cease being arbitrary in their approach to lending and it’s the Government that needs to work towards this with the banks. “ If this recessionary period is to continue, I am fearful that we will see the closure of many businesses, businesses which are the backbone of our rural communities and town centres.”]]>

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