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Portballintrae: a real ghost town this Hallowe'en
| Portballintrae, the village that is often referred to as a ghost town, celebrated Hallowe’en in great style with a two-day festival. On 31st October, the Portballintrae Residents’ Association, with a generous grant from Coleraine Borough Council, held a children’s fancy dress party at the Portballintrae Boat Club. Noted historian and storyteller Bob Curran kept more than 65 little ghosts and ghouls enthralled with stories about all things that go bump in the village. Little witches and goblins ate cakes and danced through the afternoon of delight. Ian Binnie, chairman of the Residents’ Association, said that he was very pleased to dispel the myth that Portballintrae was a place of no children or community life. “We have been striving through the years to rebuild a sense of community. As a result of overdevelopment and the loss of hotels with function rooms it has been difficult to arrange a place to hold community events, but we are hopeful that Coleraine Borough Council and the Rural Development Council plans to have a village hall and shop built and opened by the end of 2008 will enable us to live up to our RDC Vibrant Village designation.” The evening of 1st November started with a bang as hundreds of people lined Portballintrae Bay to enjoy the spectacular fireworks display that was generously sponsored by Trevor Kane of Sweeney’s Wine Bar. The party then moved to the Wine Bar where the Portballintrae Residents’ Association held a raffle with prizes from local businesses including Causeway Coast Self-catering, Distillers Arms, 1608, Bushmills Inn, Smugglers Inn, Bayview Hotel, Glass’s Greengrocer, Causeway Bait and Tackle, and Portcaman Bistro. More than £500 was raised with all proceeds going to the Portballintrae Regeneration project. The evening was a resounding success once again proving that Portballintrae is very much alive even on the evening of the dead! |
Click on the links to get more
information on the businesses
that supported the Hallowe'en
Raffle
information on the businesses
that supported the Hallowe'en
Raffle