Culture, Arts and Leisure 04 February 2014

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Carál Ní Chuilín answered questions relating to the Links between the National Museums NI and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and funding for Irish league Football Grounds.  You can view the full list of questions on our website.

Kieran McCarthy and Michelle McIlveen wanted the Minister to outline the current links between National Museums NI and the Northern Ireland Tourism Board.

The Minister stated: Museums play a central role in helping to deliver on the objectives of the Tourist Board’s strategy to 2020.  The Tourist Board recognises the important role that museums play in our tourism offering here and the benefits of partnership working.  NITB has provided significant levels of financial support towards a number of museums-based projects.  These financial links include providing £482,000 of capital funding for the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster American Folk Park over the past five years.  Of this amount, £257,000 was for the discovery farm at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, and £225,000 funded the Rogan and McCallister houses at the folk park in Omagh.  In addition, NITB provided £40,000 of funding for the successful bluegrass festival at the Ulster American Folk Park over the past three years.

Tom Elliott and George Robinson wanted the Minister to outline what funding is currently available to upgrade facilities at Irish League football grounds and whether any delay in the statium development at Windsor Park will impact on the second tranche of money going to grass-roots football.

The Minister stated: The Executive previously endorsed the development of subregional stadia as a priority area of spend in the next comprehensive spending review (CSR), which is in 2015-16.  So, funding for the development of a subregional association football stadium has yet to be finalised, and no decision on or timescale for funding has yet been made on that basis.  However, in the meantime, I have commenced preparations, and the early planning phase on the delivery of the subregional programme, which will allow the necessary programmes to develop from one stage to another, will take place in advance of future funding being made available from 2015-16 and beyond.

The Minister also stated that 

....There is no delay in Windsor Park, and there will not be any delay in Windsor Park.  There will also be no delay in Ravenhill or Casement Park.  In advance of securing the funding for the subregional stadia, which I anticipate I will do, I will not sit and wait for that funding to drop into my Department; I am getting on with the plans.  I do not anticipate any delays at all.

During Topical Questions the Minister answered questions on Irish Language, Giro d'Italia and The Fish Ladder.
You can read the full transcript on our website.