Hometown, Ballymoney

[@blazer1268]

Thank you so much for this small sequent of Ballymoney, I left there 47 years ago (reluctantly) and have traveled to world ever since. I have been back many times and love the wee toon and its ever friendly people, I was born there in 1947. God Bless

[@garymcarthur5206]

Thank you for this presentation, I was born in the town in 1961 and left at age 19, the best thing I ever did. Yes there was and still are some wonderful people and families there but to be honest its a dump with no opportunities, full of bigots and a police force full of drunks and bullies, teachers at the schools that were no better by the way, who themselves were under-educated, under-traveled cronies and bigots who would never have made anything of themselves in the world outside Cow Town . I have made a great life in Australia and have a wonderful family who thankfully will never have to go through what I did as a child, mum being Catholic and my deceased father a Protestant...... all the tea in China would not make me live there again, it shames me to see my family name used in the Town Hall to represent one of the achievements when little is said of the real indignities to children at the hands of authority in Ballymoney. Was the truth known about police officers such as Ronnie Miller back in the 80,s the town would hang its head in shame!

[@alastairmurray5225]

Gary McArthur I was also born in Ballymoney two years after you in 1963 and I too left it at 19 not to get out of the place but because of the career path I chose but I can assure you my experiences of “the toon” are very much different from yours . I found it a great place to grow up particularly on the Garryduff Road where I was born and reared . Like any school my schools had good teachers and bad teachers but the good ones far outnumbered the bad and as for bigotry what town in Northern Ireland doesn’t have bigots from either side ? I have lived all over Northern Ireland and believe me there are worse places to live than the Toon as far as bigotry goes , again I’m talking about both sides . What was your experience of the Police ? I’m guessing maybe you were caught doing something you shouldn’t because that’s usually the reason most people dislike the Police and hold a bitter grudge like you are . It’s distasteful that you mention someone by name on such a public platform and make snide insinuations about that person , maybe you have a genuine grievance against him I don’t know but if you have come outright and say It rather than insinuate . You are quite condescending and seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that having seen a bit of the world and settling in Australia somehow makes you a better person ,, it doesn’t, a better person would say nothing rather post the bitter self absorbed rant that you have .

[@garymcarthur5206]

Alastair, just read this now a year on as was cleaning up my mail, I think in fairness it deserves a reply to your comments. In no particular order, naming a Police Officer, well first mate I am Godfather to a Cheif Inspector of Police son here, and my own son is a serving Police Officer. Ronnie Miller was a bully, thug, and bigot, who picked without mercy on the two boys Barry and Gary from the Glebe and would often curb crawl and pick up friends of mine who were Catholics just for the fun of it. I could name them but won't, he was also instrumental in having young men do illegal jobs for him, I know of a friend now in England who was made (according to him, one of the main reasons he fled Ballymoney) to undertake a job for Miller and Miller kept most of the money, I have been told that story many times and the facts seem supported because the job was undertaken and I knew personally the young man who did it and I spoke once in a bar to a staff member where the money was taken. I personally saw Miller harras young men on the street and in bars, standing over them for information.....teenagers who he supposed could give him information, and I personally saw him stand over a young man in a pub in Ballymoney telling him that if he didn't get the information he wanted he would set him up for a crime....that was Ronnie Miller in a nutshell. As for the school, I recall well at the end of year dance when I was 16 my then headmaster pulled me aside and made me tell my Catholic friend to leave, while my protestant friends such as my stepbrother who did not attend my school were allowed to stay? Yes, I have seen a bit of the world as you say, well-traveled, here and in LA and Atlanta GA, but I do not think for one moment I am any better than the next. The fact I was the youngest elected Secretary of a Trade Union in Australia should attest to the fact I have a social conscious and see no one better than another. There is no bitterness in me making a comment and a comment I am within my right to make, irrespective if you like it or not. The fact is Ballymoney is a shit hole, that is my view, and as JFK said, "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight for your right to say it" that aside I have no desire to go near the place again, I am retired this past month, I own 5 homes, am retiring to do a year around Australia in my Motorhome and then retire to Coffs Harbor where I can spend my time fishing, shooting and doing my hobbies well away from Cow Town, the bigots, the marching bands celebrating a battle centuries ago where Irish killed Irish, a nation who cheered on the streets when young men starved themselves to death for what the believed in and a nation that made sure both the RUC and UDR retained protestant stronghold by discrimination against Catholics. A country where my Catholic grandfather came home from the war shell shocked and had to read signs above factory doors reading "Catholics need not apply" and listening to my protestant uncle who was a B Special boast about how they treated Catholics, FFS how is that for a rant mate. Ballymoney, not so bad if your are a Freemason, Orange man, and a good protestant. I have a mate here a Presbyterian minister who got the hell out of Ballymena after waking up to himself and seeing what was really happening, he now runs a Church in Canberra. Glad you had a good experience in Ballymoney, none of my family had and my cousin here agrees fully with me.