By Diarmaid Doherty
WHEN Letterkenny couple Kevin and Allison Doherty headed off for a walk close to Muckish Mountain recently, they hadn’t planned to be returning home with a collection of old newspapers, some of which date back over 40 years.
As it was, it proved an eventful day out for the Dohertys who also had a close up encounter with a badger on the walking trail.
Kevin said he was hoping to catch a glimpse of some deer – “but all of a sudden, a badger came running right at us. Thankfully he turned and ran away again.”
The old newspapers were found in an old shed along the walkway and Kevin reckons they were squeezed in under the roof to keep the rain out.
The papers go back several years and include a Sunday Post from 1987 and a News of the World from 1990.
“It’s hard to believe that the papers managed to last all these years, and all types of weather,” he said.
“And when you start to look through the pages, there are some brilliant stories.”
Among the collection was an edition of the Derry People Donegal News dating back to November 1987 and almost 40 years later, it remains in reasonable condition.
The paper offers a window into life in Donegal and judging by the selection of stories on the front page, the Troubles across the border was very much in people’s minds.
Interestingly, the lead story reports on how Gardaí and Army personnel had carried out an extensive search across the county in the hunt for IRA firearms and explosives.
During the operation there were swoops made on derelict buildings, wooded areas, bogland and selected dwellings.
In a separate story, a Garda detective and a civilian both suffered gunshot wounds when a scuffle broke out between the two men following a car chase in Letterkenny.
And just to keep the crime theme going on the front page, a third story told of how two bank-clerks were held at gun-point and their car hijacked during a robbery near Castlefinn.
Compared to today’s edition, the broadsheet paper of 40 years ago was very different in terms of style.
The adverts also give an insight into what life was like and among the businesses to feature were the La Scala and Ritz cinemas in Milford and Ballybofey where the film ‘Dirty Dancing’ was showing.
McElhinney’s in Ballybofey were celebrating the opening of their new Bedding Shop while Dillon’s Supermarket and Greene’s in Letterkenny were advertising ahead of the Christmas season.
And in sport, the paper reported on Donegal’s 1-06 to 0-08 win over Roscommon in Division Two of the National Football League in Dr. Hyde Park – a victory earned by virtue of a freak goal from Martin McHugh.
Donegal News editor Diarmaid Doherty pictured with Kevin Doherty who found an old Derry People Donegal News while out walking.
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