Council reveal number of fines issued for dog fouling 💩
Plus, it's a case of déjà vu as we look back to May 1982 when hospital beds and ambulance services were on the brink
Good morning and welcome to this Friday morning edition of the newsletter! It was only last Friday we asked you to guess how many fines for dog fouling has been handed out in the ABC Borough over the last 12 months. In went the FOI and well, less than one week later, we got our response – which is impressive in itself.
Despite well over half of you (52%) guessing it was a big fat zero, it was the 11% who guessed 11-20 who take home the honours, for it was exactly 11 fines issued in the last 12 months.
Headlines…
♟️Long-vacant Armagh site to become mini city centre park – with seats and outdoor chess board!
🚴 Killylea Orangemen cycling to Newcastle and climbing Donard in aid of leukaemia charity
🚒 Watch: Car catches on fire in Armagh
💯 Set in stone! Council confirm all 15 locations for new NI Centenary stones
👎 Minister rules out safety works despite repeated collisions outside Gosford Forest Park
⚖️ Man arrested in shooting probe after properties searched Mullaghbawn and Banbridge
🏡 New homes and apartment blocks feature in major new housing proposal at Craigavon
🏠 Armagh care home worker who dragged elderly amputee patient across floor struck off
👮 Man makes suspicious approach to female jogger in Armagh
🥊 Success at Armagh ABC as three young boxers bring home All-Ireland Titles
🎟️ Reduced price for second car pass at Gosford and Loughgall parks ‘sensible decision’
Members-Only
As some of you have noticed, we’ve introduced members-only content...the horror of it all but unfortunately, it’s the way the industry is leading and while we’ve proven an outlier for so long, it’s a time to fight back against Facebook and Google who have slowly been eating into the news industry and have effectively promised to ban in the not-so-distant future…
For now, much of our court coverage will now be members-only, like these articles below. Please consider subscribing to help support independent, local journalism. 😁
⚖️ Lurgan man caught with cocaine and driving without licence handed community service
⚖️ Man with 20 previous theft convictions jailed for stealing Yankee Candle gift sets at Tesco
Look back to May 1982: Déjà vu as hospital beds and ambulance services on the brink
By Scott Mann
The 1980s were an eventful decade, filled with big changes and seismic world events - and 1982 fit that bill well.
The year saw the release of the popular film, 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial', Michael Jackson's album 'Thriller' and the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina.
While these events might seem like an age ago to those of us who didn't experience them (and like yesterday to those who did) - the pages of local newspapers in Armagh weren't all that different to what you'd read today.
In the Portadown News and Craigavon Times on May 14, 1982, the lead story was as follows: "Beds crisis at hospital," written by Victor Gordon. A sign that not much has changed in the 41 years since...
The conversation at play was the issue of the size of Craigavon Area Hospital, with the article stating that "Craigavon Area Hospital is too small - and there is little prospect of extending the building for at least ten years".
It also predicted that the growing waiting lists for acute beds would "get worse" before the government built a promised phase two of the hospital - a plan that would provide 144 more beds.
The story continued: "But with the Government purse strings tightened to breaking point, the chances of seeing the expansion within the next decade are zero."
If you didn't know any better, you'd think the story was penned in 2024!
Another health issue reported on by the paper was the issue of a stretched ambulance service, something we still struggle with to this day.
At the time, the health services committee stated that local ambulance services were being abused by people who had no need for ambulances, leading to the service becoming "thin on the ground".
In May 1982, the cost of a permanent ambulance crew was estimated at £40,000 a year, with the paper adding, "under the present financial cuts, the board is unwilling to provide additional crews".
The week also saw hospital services grind to a halt with a 24-hour strike over pay.
The strikers argued that the pay increase for nurses on offer at the time bore "no resemblance to the rises in the cost of living".
The next week's edition (May 21) reported that the strike lasted from 7am on the Wednesday until early on the Thursday morning.
Another familiar issue of the day was that of delays to roads maintenance and improvements, as it was reported on May 21 that residents of Clonavon Avenue and Jervis Street in Portadown were fed up of heavy traffic past their doors.
Much like today, officials back then claimed that Government cutbacks meant there was uncertainty around the beginning of works to divert traffic from the streets.