Minutes of Proceedings

In attendance for a presentation at 10:30am on Museums and Galleries for Northern Ireland's (MAGNI) proposals for a new Art Gallery: Mr Mike Houlihan, Mr John Gilmore, Dr Brian Kennedy, Ms Elizabeth McCrum and Mr Chris Davis.

In attendance for a briefing at 11:10am on Imagine Belfast's bid for City of Culture: Ms Shona McCarthy and Ms Michele Rusk.

The Chairperson opened the meeting, in public, at 10:20am.

1. Chairperson's business

1.1. The Chairperson reminded members that mobile phones should be completely switched off during the public session. Members agreed that the briefing session with Imagine Belfast would be held in private due to the confidentiality of the detail of the bid, prior to publication.

1.2. Members noted an invitation from the Sports Council to the media launch of the 'Golden Cow Youth Games' at 10:30am on Friday 22 March 2002 in the Long Gallery, andagreed to inform the Committee office, as soon as possible, of their availability to attend.

1.3. Members noted the seminar on Budget 2002, to be held in the Long Gallery from 9:30am to 12noon on Wednesday 20 March 2002, and agreed to advise the Committee office of their availability to attend.

1.4. Members noted the copy of MAGNI minutes for 18 December 2001. Members also noted that the minutes would soon be available on the MAGNI website and that subsequent minutes would be forwarded to the Committee.

1.5. Members noted correspondence from Dr Lloyd Daugherty from Tennessee asking for recognition of Mr Ed Hooper's involvement in the preservation of Tennessee's rich Scots-Irish heritage and for his work in the promotion of roots tourism to Northern Ireland. Members agreed to forward the correspondence to the Minister, seeking his comments on a suitable form of acknowledgement.

1.6. Members agreed to forward material, outlining plans to start a community scheme which will focus on football in the curriculum, with after-school clubs and eventual links to amateur clubs, received from Keystage 2000 in partnership with Lisburn Distillery football club, to the Minister in the context of the Soccer Strategy.

1.7. Members agreed that it would be useful to receive a presentation about plans for a Challenger Centre at the Armagh Planetarium, which were referred to in an article in the 7 March 2002 News Letter.

1.8. Members agreed to forward a letter from Castleward Opera, about its expectation that it would receive recognition as Northern Ireland's/Belfast's opera company once its Advancement Programme was completed, to the Minister for his comments.

2. Minutes of the meetings of 5 and 7 March 2002

2.1. The draft Minutes of Proceedings of 5 and 7 March 2002 were agreed.

3. Matters arising

3.1. Members agreed that the meeting with the Dáil and Seanad Joint Committee on Tourism, Sport and Recreation on 7 March 2002 had been valuable and recorded their thanks to the Committee office for making the necessary arrangements.

Mr Shannon attended the meeting at 10:39am.

Mr Agnew attended the meeting at 11:00am.

Dr Adamson attended the meeting at 11:05am.

4. Presentation by MAGNI

4.1. The MAGNI delegation gave a detailed presentation about the Board's proposals for a new Art Gallery in Northern Ireland. Members agreed that the Chairperson and the Clerk would meet with the Minister to make him aware of the Committee's views on this proposal.

Mr Shannon left the meeting at 11:25am.

The meeting moved into private session at 11:37am.

5. Briefing by Imagine Belfast

5.1. The Chairperson assured the Imagine Belfast delegation that all information would be treated in confidence.

5.2. The delegation briefed the Committee on the detail of its bid for City of Culture, which will be published on 28 March 2002.

Mr Agnew left the meeting at 12:30pm.

The meeting moved back into public session at 12:35pm.

6. Proposed Regional Transportation Strategy for Northern Ireland

6.1. The Committee agreed a response to the Committee for Regional Development on the proposed Regional Transportation Strategy for Northern Ireland.

7. Any other business

7.1. Foyle Cup Tournament

The Committee agreed that Mr McMenamin would seek information about District Council funding of this event and that the Committee office would seek information about criteria used by the Northern Ireland Events Company in considering funding for such events.

8. Date of next meeting

8.1. The next meeting of the Committee will take place at 10:15am on Thursday 21 March 2002 in Room 152.

The Chairperson brought the meeting to a close at 1:00pm.

E ONeill
Chairperson