From the Archives

1997

25 years ago

New upbeat focus in Belturbet

THE promised arrival of the new Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) at the Ulster Bank, the upgrading of the bank with further refurbishment and facilities,the imminent appointment of a new manager, together with Belturbet man, Jason Reilly scoring the winning goal for Cavan in the Ulster final gave the Erneside town of Belturbet a great lift.

That was according to the chairman of Belturbet Town Commissioners, Cllr Anthony Vesey speaking at a meeting of the local authority this week 25 years ago.

Cllr Vesey said, if the bank honoured its commitments, Ulster Bank will have shown renewed good faith in the town and he was confident that the people of the area and the business people would respond by using the banking facilities on offer in the bank.

He revealed that the new ATM machine will be able to take a number of different cards and it was a landmark in the bank’s then 210 years in the town.

Cllr John Scott said he was glad the saga was over in relation to the provision of an ATM machine.

Road programme on a roll

CAVAN County Council experienced great interest in its Joint Venture Road Repair Scheme with it received 160 applications for the programme. The local authority reported it was receiving new applications on a daily basis.

The scheme enabled the county council to spend £500,000 per annum on minor roads of low priority. Local people make a contribution of 15% of the cost and undertake some of the roadwork.

The County Engineer, Mr J. Tiernan told The Anglo-Celt that the scheme was viewed by other local authorities and by Central Government as a very effective programme. The Cavan people's spirit of self help was related to the scheme.

Roads repaired under the scheme had been most successful because, when people contributed to the cost of repair, they were more careful of the road afterwards.

The County Council approved a motion from Cllr P. Conaty asking the Department of Finance to amend the relevant Finance Acts to allow contributions under the Joint Venture Community Scheme to be deductible for tax purposes.

County Manager, Brian Johnston, said that if the Minister agreed to the proposition, it would make the scheme very attractive to taxpayers.

1972

50 years ago

Two Fermanagh explosions

NEWTOWNBUTLER was the target for two bomb attacks this week 50 years ago. In one of the attacks two members of the RUC were slightly injured and, in another, extensive damage was caused to property in the town.

In the morning four armed men entered the supermarket of Mr W. Coulter at Main Street, Newtownbutler and left a bomb, believed to contain 25 lbs of gelignite, on the counter. They told members of staff that they had 20 minutes to get out. The British army and police were alerted and the area was evacuated.

British military experts tried unsuccessfully to defuse the bomb and, at 11.45pm, it went off with a tremendous bang, which was heard in Clones six miles away.

The bomb partly wrecked the supermarket and also the adjoining post office premises. Several other business premises and private dwellings on both sides of the wide street were extensively damaged.

Just before midnight on the same date two members of the RUC, stationed at Lisnaskea, were travelling in a jeep from Newtownbutler to Lisnaskea when a claymore mine went off at Mullinhorn as the police vehicle was passing. The two policemen were slightly injured and were suffering from shock but they were able to send up flares and assistance soon arrived from Lisnaskea.

Maths lesson for Department of Education

The Department of Education cut Cavan Vocational Education Committee’s proposed expenditure for 1972-73 by £23,332, out of a total of £160,000.

The CEO, Mr P. Fleming, told the monthly meeting of the Committee that the cut was so drastic it would not allow them to pay the number of teachers authorised, even at present rates, not to mention the pay increases that were being negotiated.

The Very Rev P. Canon O’Reilly, chairman, presided over the meeting.

The Committee decided to send the scheme back to the Department pointing out that they could not operate it if they accepted the cuts.

Mr J. McGovern said it was most unsatisfactory to be told that they could employ more teachers and then have the expenditure reduced by £23,000.

1922

100 years ago

Metal skull and ribs of gold

A remarkable story of a young man, a locksmith’s apprentice, with a metal plate in his skull and artificial ribs and other bones, was told in a Breslau message published in Berlin.

The man fell from the roof of a house and was taken to the hospital, where the doctors found that his skull was fractures and all his ribs but one broken.

He was in the hospital for four and a half years, and finally the surgeons decided to repair or replace his “shattered” ribs. A metal plate was inserted into his skull and the fractured bones were replaced with ribs of gold and platinum.

Two and a half years later he was able to leave the hospital and, since then, had been working in a cigarette factory.