Polish vehicles attacked ahead of major sailing competition
By Julie Waters
A GOOD Samaritan Bangor business rushed to the rescue of a Polish sports team after ‘mindless vandals’ caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage in a tyre slashing spree.
The visitors are in the area to take part in one of the largest sporting events to ever take place in the borough – the EurlCA 6 Youth Sailing Championships being held at Ballyholme Yacht Club.
The Polish team arrived in Bangor at the weekend but on Monday evening all the tyres on their van and trailer were slashed when the vehicle was parked outside the Seacliffe Road club. This prompted a public appeal by the local sailing club for help from the local business community which was answered by the Bangor Tyre Company which replaced all the tyres on Wednesday morning.
Rob Milligan, commodore of Ballyholme Yacht Club, said local members were shocked by the ‘appalling’ attack and praised the local business for replacing the tyres free of charge.
He explained the visiting Polish competitors are among the 400 sailors from an array of European countries bound for Bangor to take part in the Championships between July 27 and August 3.
The event is set to be Northern Ireland’s largest ever sailing competition with hundreds of youth sailors aged 15 to 18 from 30 European and 14 non-European countries set to test their skills on Belfast Lough.
For many of the competitors, success at this event could be an important step towards representing their countries at major international events such as the Olympics.
Mr Mulligan explained the Polish sailors were amongst the ‘early birds’ who had arrived with their coaches and families to become familiar with the sailing conditions on the Belfast Lough.
Describing the attack as ‘mindless vandalism’, the commodore hit out at those responsible. “It is just appalling that someone has done this to people who are visiting the city for this event,” he said.
“This will be the biggest event that we will have ever held and it is massive for the city and the borough. It is mindless vandalism and doesn’t achieve anything at all. It is not what I would have expected in Bangor.”
With this major event bringing an influx of visitors and a welcome boost to the local economy, commodore Milligan believes the generosity of the Bangor Tyre Company, owned by the Fusco Group, reflected the true spirit of Bangor city.
Praising the Bangor business for replacing the tyres, Mr Mulligan said: “It is fantastic how they have stepped in and are doing this. There has been an awful lot of support for the event from across the business community and the council.”
Henry Hopps, Bangor Tyre Company manager, estimated the repair bill to replace the tyres would have cost ‘hundreds of pounds’.
“These are commercial tyres and hundreds of pounds worth of damage has been caused.
“Once we heard what had happened, we came out to assess the situation and saw that four tyres had been slashed on the van and three tyres had been slashed on the trailer. It looks like a Stanley knife has been used and you can see the substantial gash.
Stephen Mackie, head of marketing business and development with the Fusco Group, said the local family business was happy to help the visitors whose property had been damaged.
He said: “We are a local family business trying to help people arriving into Bangor for this fantastic event. We are always keen to support local businesses and the community.”
Newly elected North Down MP Alex Easton condemned those behind the attack and welcomed the generosity of the Bangor tyre firm.
“This was a dreadful experience for visitors to our city who have travelled to take part in the competition hosted by Ballyholme Yacht Club,” he said.
“I would like to praise Bangor Tyre Company for replacing the tyres free of charge and wish everyone well who is taking part in the competition over the coming weeks.”
