Ava Maguire delves into the archives to bring you the news and images from yesteryear.
May 29, 1976
Election campaign gets into full swing
The Taoiseach, Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, former Ministers and nationally known political personalities are assembling in Donegal this weekend to become involved in a hectic bye-election campaign that is but a fateful 13 days away.
The 42,390 votes of North East Donegal will go to the polls on Thursday, June 10 to elect a successor to the late Deputy Liam Cunningham, the Fianna Fáil TD who died so unexpectedly as February ended. Only 102 days after his death the people will vote a man into his vacant seat in the Dáil.
The campaign will be a short one, but the returns from the polls could be vital for the groups involved.
A decisive win for Fianna Fáil could lead to a call for a General Election. A win for Fine Gael in this traditionally strong Fianna Fáil territory might encourage the coalition parties that this is the opportune time to place themselves before the people for a verdict on their management of the country.
A win for Neil Blaney’s Independent Fianna Fáil could lead to bewilderment and perhaps some false impressions on Donegal peoples’ views.
Fianna Fáil have nominated Hugh Conaghan of Newtowncunningham, a member of Donegal County Council and the North Western Health Board; Fine Gael standard-bearer is schoolteacher Joachim Loughrey of Kerrykeel also a Donegal County Councillor. Mr Blaney’s Independent Fianna Fáil selected co-op Manager, Patrick Keaveney of Moville, and also in the race is Tony Gill of Buncrana, who might be described as Independent Fine Gael. He is a brother of the defeated Seamus Gill, who sought the Fine Gael nomination.
Raphoe community want Garda Sergeant to stay
A Garda Sergeant who has helped considerably in the promotion of excellent community relations between the various denominations in the Raphoe district – and he has been deeply involved in various local social, cultural and community projects in his 41 years in the area- has been instructed to leave and accept transfer to Cloone station in Co Leitrim by June 8.
He is Coalisland, County Tyrone man Sgt Micheal McElkenny and practically all the people in Raphoe district don’t want him to leave.
They say that much of the very useful work he has been doing will falter and fade away without his guidance.
People of all denominations are perturbed at the news of his departure. And they are asking Garda authorities to think again and consider the local situation more closely, and the value that the sergeant is to the community in the Raphoe area.
Bank robbery in Ramelton
An undisclosed sum of money was taken from the Ramelton branch of the Northern Bank yesterday (Thursday) when a masked man with a cap pulled down over his eyes walked into the bank and brandished what appeared to be a double-barrelled sawn off shotgun.
He leaned over the bank counter and ordered the acting manager to hand over a sum of money.
He then took off through the back door and was seen to walk a short distance before disappearing into a wooded area nearby.
June 1, 2001
Relics of St Therese to attract thousands
Thousands of people are expected along the Derry to Letterkenny road today (Friday) to welcome the relics of St Therese of Lisieux due at Letterkenny’s Station Roundabout around 1.30pm.
A tangible sense of expectation was evident among people of all ages as the reliquary of the revered Saint’s visit to Donegal drew nearer, Fr Eamon Kelly, St Eunan’s Cathedral, said this week.
For the last two weeks he has been inundated with phone calls about St Therese’s reliquary visit to Letterkenny from a variety of people, some in England and Scotland.
They planned to travel to Letterkenny to see and touch the ornate casket that contains some of the bones of the saint who died a Carmelite nun in France at the age of 24.
Other conversations Fr. Kelly has had in recent weeks included a local man who experienced miraculous healing from terminal illness that he attributed to the intercession of St. Therese. There have been numerous documented cases, including one from Glenties of prayers to St Therese answered and accompanied by the very distinctive smell of roses.
The Port Road will be closed to traffic from just before 2pm to allow the procession to go up Church Lane.
More trouble brews at nervous Unifi
Management at the Unifi Textured Yarns Ltd. company in Letterkenny held talks with representatives of the trade union SIPTU last evening amid growing fears of further job losses.
Concern that the company is about to shed 14 jobs has been rife amongst workers in recent days at a plant which has already seen 70 redundancies in the past four months.
Yesterday (Thursday) SIPTU Branch Secretary Mr Sean Reilly confirmed that he was aware of the possibility that the company may seek to shed more jobs in the coming weeks.
“I would expect ongoing discussions with the company in relation to the most recent Labour Court pay recommendations to finish this evening (Thursday), but it would not be prudent to comment further at this stage”, Mr Reilly said.
While he stressed there was no need for panic, the SIPTU official did admit he would have a much clearer view after this afternoon’s crunch meeting with management. According to company sources, management had already identified the need to shed 14 jobs as part of the latest round of the national PPF pay agreement.
RP closes the shutters
Forty-seven years after he arrived in Letterkenny from a small town in the Punjab, well known businessman RP Mehan is to retire today.
When RP pulls the shutters on his shop at Lower Main Street for the last time, it will mark the end of an era in the town where he once ran two clothes shops, two newsagents and a dry cleaning business.
Now aged 71, RP is looking forward to a peaceful retirement and as he put the finishing touches to the shop across the road from Dunnes Stores this week, he reflected back on his time as a businessman in the town and the many changes he has seen over the years.
The second eldest in a family of six, he recalls how in April 1965 he drove his Austin 80 car over 3,600 miles in ten days from Letterkenny to India to see his parents.
As a 25 year old, he had arrived in Letterkenny where his second cousin BK Mehan had a clothes shop at 77 Lower Main Street. He rented a room at Ros Suilighe for 44 shillings per week.