From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 10, 1994

From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 10, 1994

7 August 2024

CROSSGAR – The village of Crossgar, which has remained unscathed during 25 years of violence, is still in mourning today as it prepares to bury one of its most popular residents.

Father-of-five Thomas Trelford Withers (47), who was a part-time Royal Irish Regiment solider, died on Monday afternoon after an IRA gunman walked into his butcher’s shop and shot him at point-blank range. 

The gunman walked past a female nurse and asked the young assistant if “the boss was about”.

Mr Withers, who was at a fridge at the back of the shop, walked forward a few steps. The killer pushed the woman to the side and fired several shots.

Mr Withers slumped to the ground as the gunman fled the scene to a waiting motorcycle, which sped off in the direction of Kilmore.

Businessmen and neighbours rushed to the scene after hearing the shots and one of the first to arrive in the shop was a close friend of Mr Withers.

“I rushed to the shop and saw Trelford slumped on the floor. I put my arm around him and held him and noticed he was still alive, but was not able to speak.

“He had a wound to his head. Another man also rushed in and he cut Mr Withers’ apron and jacket to help the nurse administer first aid. Several minutes later Trelford gave a sigh and died in my arms.”

“We tried our best but we were not able to save his life,” he added.

Another man who was working a short distance away said:  “I turned around I saw a man running from the shop and jumping on to a motorbike, which was being ridden slowly towards the shop by another man.” 

SAINTFIELD – The RUC is believed to be in possession of the automatic rifle used to murder six men in a Loughinisland pub in June.

The discovery of the rifle, along with three hand guns, balaclavas, and gloves near Saintfield last week, has led the RUC to issue calls for increased public vigilance of the dangers of further Loyalist attacks.

These calls have been reinforced by the fact that police officers visited several Catholic-owned pubs in the Crossgar, Saintfield and Ballynahinch areas last week to warn them to increase their security.

The RUC has refused to comment on claims that the Ak-47 type rifle found in the Carsonstown Road cache was used in Loughinisland, saying that the force no longer reveals the history of weapons until inquests.

“We do not discuss security matters”, was the only comment an RUC spokesman was prepared to make when asked of the arms discovery and the threat to local pubs.

However, police sources are adamant that the discovery of the cache, found by Department of Environment workmen on Thursday, has saved lived in the Down area.

NEWCASTLE  – Bulldozers have moved in to begin work on the site of Newcastle’s new integrated college, which opens next year.

The first sod at the Lawnfield site was cut on Friday by peace campaigner Gordon Wilson, whose daughter, Marie, was killed in the Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb.

Mr Wilson, who was guest of honour at the ceremony, said the founding of Shimna Integrated College was a “positive step along the road to tolerance, reconciliation and understanding. It was  step on the road to peace.”

He said Shimna would provide an opportunity for children from all different traditions and different heritages to learn together, play together and to share in an atmosphere of trust, respect and love.

Although there would be ups and downs the reward would be enormous he added.

Most of Shimna’s pupils are drawn from a large catchment area including Downpatrick, Castlewellan and Newry.

DOWNPATRICK – Downpatrick Chamber of Commerce has voiced its concern at the sudden rise in vandalism in the town over the past few weeks.

Senior Chamber officials have met local police chiefs to express their worries at a trend which is affecting all areas of the town centre.

Windows have been broken in numerous business premises, burglaries have taken place and graffiti has been daubed on a number of buildings in a series of incidents which have led to calls for tougher police action.

Chamber secretary Michael Smyth said this week that his members are most concerned at the outbreak of vandalism which he warned was having a detrimental effect on the town.  

Mr Smyth highlighted a number of incidents which occurred towards the end of last week which included the double smashing of windows in telephone kiosks in Market Street, the breaking of windows in a nearby news agency, dry cleaners and Down Council’s Tourist Information Centre.

Another news agency in the town survived a burglary attempt last week only to have over £1,000 in stock stolen during a raid on Sunday, when bricks were removed from around the door to allow access.

There has also been an outbreak of graffiti writing in English Street, Church Avenue and Scotch Street, Mr Smyth added. 

ARDGLASS – Ardglass was the only one of Northern Ireland’s three main fishing ports to increase its fleet of trawlers and the value of the catch landed there in the last financial year.

In the 1993/94 financial year, the number of fishing boats based at Ardglass went up from 26 to 28, while the value of the annual catch went up by £500,000 to £2.7 million.

The tonnage of fish landed at Ardglass increased by two-thirds from 3,760 tonnes in 1992/93 to 6,243 tonnes in 1993/94, making the East Down port the home of the second biggest annual catch in Northern Ireland.

By contrast, Portavogie landed around 100 tonnes less fish in the last financial year – although the value of the fish caught was almost twice as much – while Kilkeel landed the most fish in Northern Ireland at over 7,800 tonnes worth £7 million.

Although Ardglass is ranked third among the ports in terms of the number of vessels based there, its fleet has been growing modestly while the Kilkeel and Portavogie fleets have been declining.

Commenting on operations in Ardglass, the authority’s chairman, Mr Ronan Fitzsimons, say that the massive 66 per cent rise in the tonnage of fish landed “must surely prove the worth of the South Pier project” at the village harbour.

CASTLEWARD – It was a night of surprises as  Northern Ireland’s answer to James Last, the multi-talented Phil Coulter, played before a crowd of thousands at an open-air concert at Castleward estate on Saturday.

Coulter and his 24-piece orchestra performed an immaculate set of songs and melodies from his hit albums, but there were also one or two unannounced items up his sleeve.

Surprise number one came when world-famous folk singer, Ralph McTell, ambled on staged to join Phil for a run through of some of his classic songs.

McTell’s appearance at Castleward was kept a secret right up until the last moment. He was helicoptered into the National Trust property just before the concert, and kept a low profile backstage until the time came for him to perform. Rapturous applause greeted his unscheduled appearance.

Surprise number 2 at Saturday’s show was provided by Coulter himself. He choose the local performance to give the first public airing of a wedding song he composed specially for the marriage of Hollywood superstars, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson.

Picnics, garden furniture and even linen tablecloths and candelabras were in evidence as a audience estimated somewhere around the 2,000 mark listened to Coulter and his note-perfect orchestra glide through melody after melody at the now annual fixture.