2008 in the headlines

Dec 26 2008 by Lorraine Howard, Irvine Herald

JANUARY

IRVINE celebrates as the company set up to revamp the town receives its funding to the tune of £6 million. The Irvine Bay Regeneration Company begins a campaign to find out what residents want to see the money spent on.

THERE’S a mole invasion at a posh Irvine estate. Milgarholm is invaded by the moles and special traps are set to catch them.

IRVINE and Kilwinning grind to a standstill as storm-force winds sweep through the towns. The winds reach 86 miles an hour and schools and petrol stations arevacuated.

LONG-TERM fryer Peter Edge says goodbye to Mamma’s in the High Street. After 25 years in the chip shop trade, he fries his last fritter.

FEBRUARY

EGLINTON Park’s historic Tournament Bridge is to be given a £550,000 makeover. The entire bridge will be replaced in the ambitious project at the country park.

BRAVE fundraisers get ready to hot-foot it for charity. Dreghorn fundraiser Ann Porter persuades 200 people to walk on hot coals to raise money for the Scottish Huntington’s Association.

IRVINE resident David Miller finds that he has cash in the garage. His amazing discovery, The Hunter, painting was valued at £9000.

THERE are three Leap Year babies in Irvine. The special deliveries bring joy to the front page of the Irvine Herald.

REPAIRS begin on Irvine’s Townhouse. North Ayrshire Council estimate it will need a staggering £6 million to finish all the repairs.

MARCH

SCOTLAND’S first live liver transplant couple, Dan and Jen Foster, of Kilwinning, are all smiles as the operation was a success. Devoted wife Jen, 28, gave her new husband Dan, also 28, part of her liver and after months of gruelling tests they have the operation.

THE Rivergate Shopping Centre announces plans to expand. There are big hopes for new retailers coming to town once the extension is complete.

NORTH Ayrshire Council take the unpopular decision of sacking wardens from area’s sheltered housing units. The decision was taken despite protests from pensioners and staff.

SCHOOLTEACHER Sharon McDowell got a home delivery when her policeman husband, Derek, delivered their son Aidan, at home.

KILWINNING is shown the first set of plans from the Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, who plan to invest £6 million in the town.

APRIL

THE residents of Springside pop the Champagne corks after saving their school from closure. After a long campaign, they convinced North Ayrshire Council to keep it open.

BUDDING gardeners in Castlepark decide to plant up a community garden at the community centre. The Pegasus Club, for disabled adults, get planting to boost the centre.

COMMUNITY minded Kilwinning resident, Matt Bell, takes up the mantle to save the Love Memorial Hall from certain closure. Proud Matt takes over as chairman of the hall to keep it open.

THERE’S panic buying at the petrol pumps as drivers queue up for hours to fill their tanks. Panic sets in as threats of national fuel shortages hit the headlines.

BRAVE 11-year-old Erin Geddes of Broomlands, Irvine, sees her dream of being a fashion designer come true. Erin, who battled a rare form of bone cancer, is also asked to model her creations as part of the Make A Wish charity.

MAY

TWO closure-threatened primary schools are saved from the axe after rebel Labour councillors break ranks to swing a crucial council vote. John Galt and Towerlands escape the chop as Labour’s Ian Clarkson, John Moffat and Tom Barr give their own party a bloody nose.

KILWINNING’S Cornerstone Church announces plans to flit to a empty factory in Irvine – to cope with soaring congregations.

NORTH Ayrshire Council faces an Ombudsman probe into the controversial axing of sheltered housing wardens.

PARAMEDIC pilot Craig Trott of Kilwinning treks Peru’s famous Inca Trail to raise cash for Bobath Scotland – the cerebral palsy charity who help his six-year-old son James.

KILWINNING braces itself for a summer of traffic chaos as work begins on a £1.2m upgrade of Dalry Road – the town’s busiest trunk road.

JUNE

IRVINE Royal Academy pupil KerriAnn Murdoch is unveiled as this year’s Marymass Queen-elect.

KILWINNING’S Mikey Hughes enters the Big Brother house as his friends and family mount a poster campaign in the town to boost his chances of winning the £100,000 top prize.

CAMPAIGNING schoolgirl Chloe Philips persuades council chiefs to cut the speed limit in her street – after rallying support from neighbours. Chloe, 10, knocked every door in Carson Drive, Irvine, to gather names for a petition.

LUCKY Anne Goldie of Irvine scoops a £250,000 jackpot for herself at the town’s Gala Bingo and an £1100 for everybody in the hall after winning the High Five game.

COUNCIL workers slap a boycott on Irvine shopping centre in retaliation for parking charges – then win a month-long reprieve after Mall bosses back down.