The County Down Spectator assisted the Belfast Telegraph in printing an emergency edition after an IRA bomb exploded at the daily newspaper's premises in Belfast on September 15, 1976. The blast killed Joseph Paton, a 63-year-old grandfather from Lisburn, and injured nine other staff members.

The bomb was delivered in a van to the loading bay of the Belfast Telegraph's Royal Avenue building. A warning had been given, but it was brief and inadequate. The explosion caused substantial damage, including destroyed windows and doors, wrecked editorial offices, and extensive fires.

Two people were subsequently jailed over the bombing. One received a life sentence for murder, and the other was convicted of explosives and firearms offences.

With its printing presses out of action, the Belfast Telegraph sought help from the Spectator. Retired managing director David Alexander Snr recalled receiving the call and agreeing to print the paper. Belfast Telegraph staff, including typesetters and graphics personnel, travelled to the Spectator's Balloo factory in Bangor.

Around 20 or 30 Belfast Telegraph vans were stationed outside the factory to collect the printed papers. The emergency edition was a four-page broadsheet, reduced from the usual size, and sold for one penny instead of the standard seven pence. It became known as the 'Penny Marvel'.

Mr Alexander noted that at that time, Northern Ireland's newspapers had a close working relationship, with the Belfast Telegraph hosting an annual lunch for weekly papers. His son, David Alexander, who now manages the Spectator, said Spectator staff adjusted their working hours from day shifts to night shifts to accommodate the emergency printing.