Issue 245 - East Down BT24 • BT30 • BT31 • BT33
Road infrastructure projects for 2024 Members of the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council received an update from the Department for Infrastructure regarding road maintenance and improvement works in the council area, for the years 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Ricky Watts (back left) and John Baxter from KP Snacks (NI) joined Downpatrick Cricket Club Chairman Jack McIlheron (centre) and youth players Ellie Ringland and Sam MaGowan to congratulate them and hand over the all-important cheque for £1,000 which will go towards new equipment, delivering after-school cricket programmes, developing ladies cricket and running sessions for ethnic communities in the area.
Delight for Downpatrick Cricket Club
County Down club experiences remarkable turnaround in fortune with unique ‘treble’
D O W N PAT R I C K Cricket Club in County Down is celebrating a unique ’treble’ after a remarkable turnaround that has seen the club rise from the brink of extinction to the top flight of Northern Ireland cricket in just a few years. Not only did Downpatrick’s first team win promotion to the NCU Senior League Section 1
in August, but its second team finished the season as Junior League Section 7 champions and will play in Section 6 next season. If that wasn’t enough, Downpatrick completed the ‘treble’ by running away with a £1,000 grant towards muchneeded equipment in an exclusive Northern Ireland competition, run by KP Snacks (NI) as part
of a campaign to mark its sponsorship of this summer’s blockbuster cricket tournament The Hundred. Not bad for a club that only three seasons ago didn’t even own a cricket ball, as Downpatrick Cricket Club Chairman Jack McIlheron explains. “Downpatrick is one of the oldest cricket clubs in Ireland, in fact we’re now
in our 175th year,” said Jack, “but following the Covid-19 pandemic, we lost most of our playing staff for various reasons. So much so that when sport resumed, we were unable to field even one team to play regular cricket in the Northern Cricket Union league structure.
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During a meeting recently, Divisional Roads Manager Mr Mark McPeak addressed the council, stating “The Department’s 2024/25 opening Capital budget for structural maintenance is £89 million which falls significantly short of our funding requirements to allow for the most effective delivery of our priority resurfacing projects, roadside stability, and drainage projects. The Department has operated within a constrained Resource budget for many years which has meant the continuation of a Limited-Service policy for routine road maintenance activities such as defect repair, grass cutting, and gully emptying.” Mr McPeak acknowledged the challenges posed by the 2024-25 budget but affirmed the Department’s
commitment to advancing local transport, safety schemes, and maintenance programs aimed at improving road safety. “Over the next year, in the Newry, Mourne and Down area, we plan to take forward the upgrade of traffic light signals at the Market Street / Church Street junction in Downpatrick, a traffic signal junction upgrade incorporating Puffin facilities at the Belfast Road / Main Street / Todds Hill junction in Saintfield, and a dual toucan upgrade at William Street in Newry. In conclusion, Mr McPeak said: “These projects the Department is delivering will bring significant benefits to both the local community and commuters throughout the Newry Mourne and Down District Council area.”