Progress on TwinTowns by-pass
CONSTRUCTION on the proposed Ballybofey/Stranorlar by-pass will start towards the end of 2008, subject to An Bord Pleanála approval, Cllr JJ Reid has been informed.
The Environmental Impact Statement for the scheme is currently being updated following NRA approval to proceed earlier this year.
According to Mr John McLaughlin, Director of Roads, it is expected that the Compulsory Purchase Order and Environmental Impact Statement will be published in November.
Developer subject of portrait
ONE of Donegal's best known property developers is having his portrait painted by one of the world's best known portrait artists.
Buncrana born Pat Doherty has done some 90 sittings to date for Lucian Freud, the artist who painted controversial portraits of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Kate Moss.
The painting of the "Man from Donegal" is due to be unveiled at an exhibition of the artist's work in the United States on November 2.
Doherty, who owns the Lough Swilly Bus Company, Letterkenny Shopping Centre and a string of other properties in Ireland and abroad, did not commission the painting.
He met Freud through their mutual friend Andrew Parker Bowles, ex-husband of Camilla, now wife of Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall.
Andrew Parker Bowles is a director of Doherty's company Harcourt Developments.
According to a spokesperson for Freud's international agents Acquavella Galleries.
"Lucian often paints his friends".
Doherty has not agreed to purchase the finished work, although the average ¤3 million price tag of Freud's portraits, is unlikely to make a dent in the property developers considerable fortune.
Freud's portraits have been described as "merciless", often portraying his subjects as fat, ugly or indolent.
The 83 year old artist's painting of Queen Elizabeth came in for considerable criticism and he painted supermodel Kate Moss as an "animal" rather than a fashion icon.
A spokesperson for Pat Doherty this week confirmed he was sitting for the well known artist.
She acknowledged that it was unlikely that Doherty would buy the finished portrait.
Lucian Freud is a grandson of the late Sigmund Freud who is recognised as the father of modern psychoanalysis.
