by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
NEW Buncrana Town Council plans are set to see
Ardaravan Square renamed Dr. Denis McLaughlin Road,
in honour of the late doctor who served Inishowen’s
largest town for decades.
Officially known as New Street, from Main Street to
McCarters Road, but often referred to locally as
Ardaravan Square, the busy street will also become a
‘pay and display’ zone later this summer after
Buncrana Town Council officially took it over this
week.
Welcoming the news, local councillor Nicholas
Crossan said Dr. McLaughlin was an extremely well
respected figure in Buncrana.
“I only really got to know Dr. Denis in his later
years but I found him to be a great character, a
great doctor and a great friend. Leaving politics
aside, what this man did for Buncrana was absolutely
immense.
“Dr. McLaughlin was much more than a GP and not one
family here would have been untouched by him. He
knew the family health history of almost everyone in
the area. He was one of those men who would have
succeeded at anything he did.”
Cllr. Crossan said it was important to remember
local heroes like Dr. McLaughlin.
“It is right and fitting that we should name new
roads and housing developments after people who have
made a great contribution to the town of Buncrana,”
he added.
The longest-serving general practitioner in the
country, Dr McLaughlin died at the age of 85 in
February last year.
Dr. Denis McLaughlin Road will now fall under the
Buncrana ‘pay and display’ scheme - a move also
endorsed by Crossan.
“I think ‘pay and display’ has been a good thing
because the money raised here is spent entirely on
Buncrana; much of it is ring-fenced to provide
better car parking facilities in the town. I think
the majority of Buncrana residents are happy to pay
a few euro to park if it helps improve our area,” he
added. |
