County Derry man pays up after £10 bypass bet with local councillor

When Dungiven man Seamus Doran bet Cathal Ó hOisín that neither of them would see a bypass around the town in their day, he never imagined he would lose.

During a conversation with fellow Dungiven man Cathal 13 years ago, Seamus was so confident that the bypass would never go ahead, he made the bet with the former Sinn Féin councillor.

However, at the weekend, as the newly constructed bypass temporarily opened to traffic, Seamus met up with Cathal to pay him his winnings.

Recalling how the bet came about, 90 year-old Seamus, an avid cyclist, who was a familar sight on the roads of County Derry and further afield up until recently, said: “Cathal walked up past my house one day when I was standing out at the door and I started talking to him about the new road as they had been talking about it at the time.

“I said to him 'something will crop up and throw a spanner in the works' and this new road will be postponed, or won't happen.

“Cathal disagreed with me and said 'it will happen' and so I put on a £10 bet with him that neither of us would see the new road in our day.”

About five years after their initial conversation on the proposed Dungiven bypass, Seamus brought up the bet again during another encounter with Cathal.

“I was walking on the Main Street and I noticed Seamus standing at his front door, as he always does, and he was waving money at me,” said Cathal.

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“He shouted 'are you not going to give me my winnings?' I laughed and said 'no, we'll wait to we get you riding your bike on the new bypass and I'll collect my money then.”

On Saturday, on what Cathal described as 'a very historic day locally', traffic was moved onto the Dungiven bypass.

He was there, at a footbridge close to the Old Priory, to observe traffic on the new stretch of the road.

Alongside him was Seamus, with his bike, and although he wasn't fit enough to ride it on the new road due to an operation he underwent, he said he was delighted to be able to witness vehicles driving on the bypass.

As he handed over the £10 he promised Cathal more than a decade ago, the former councillor pledged to match the money and donate it to local charity Glenshane Care Association.

Whilst he was a councillor on the former Limavady Borough Council, Cathal sat on the Department for Regional Development committee, which was responsible for making decisions on issues such as the preferred route the bypass would take.

On Saturday, he paid tribute to all of those who had campaigned for the bypass over the years, including the late Vincent Gallagher.

“I think the bypass will change Dungiven for the better,” he remarked.

“The campaigning for a bypass goes back to the late 1960s and although we have waited so long for it, it's here now and it's really good to see.

“It's a very historic day locally here in Dungiven and everyone is delighted with the new road. There is sure to be teething problems with traffic congestion and the bus services but it will eventually sort itself out,” he added.

Former barber Seamus admits that he never thought he would 'see the day that Dungiven got a bypass' but welcomed it.

“It's great altogether – you wouldn't recognise the area. I'm just very sad to have lost a tenner,” he laughed.

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Vincent Gallagher had been a long-term campaigner for the bypass.