City Deal cash still available, says MLA

City Deal cash still available, says MLA

8 October 2025

A LOCAL politician has welcomed confirmation that the £30m City Deal funding earmarked for the area can be invested in an agreed tourism or innovation project.

The confirmation was provided in the Assembly last week by Stormont Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald.

In May, the National Trust pulled the plug on plans for a controversial gondola ride into the Mournes when it refused to provide a lease for land critical to the success of the project which was to be funded by City Deal cash.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council was planning to create a new visitor centre at a disused quarry at Thomas’s mountain and ferry people to and from it via a cable car ride which would have a base station at then foot of the Mournes in Donard Park.

The balance of the £44m project was to be paid for the district’s ratepayers.

Within two weeks of the Mournes plan being scuppered, the local authority came up with a hastily cobbled together alternative cable car ride at Kilmorey Forest Park in Rostrevor but it was shot down by Stormont Environment Minister Andrew Muir.

Mr Muir said he had "serious concerns about the potential impact the project would have on environmentally sensitive areas”.

The local authority’s plans required the use of land controlled by Mr Muir’s department via the Forest Service.

Mr Muir said he "greatly values Rostrevor forest and its role within the wider landscape context” and it was confirmed that his Department was not in a position to support the council's proposal for the project to be constructed at the forest.

Council officials remain upset the National Trust pulled the plug on the Newcastle proposal before a local authority commissioned environmental impact study — which the conservation charity had asked for — had been published.

The local authority now has nine months to put forward an alternative solution in a bid to ensure e the £30m on offer is invested locally.

But the proposal must be approved by the Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) partners and if there is no agreement on the way forward, the cash will be lost to Newry, Mourne and Down and invested elsewhere.

While the £30m promised funding is currently ring-fenced, it won’t be invested locally unless the local authority comes up with a project that meets the parameters of the City Deal funding mechanism.

South Down MLA Andy McMurray has welcomed clarification that Ms Archibald will consider alternative City Deal projects that fall under either the tourism or the innovation pillars.

“I wrote to the minister to confirm whether her Department will, in principle, be open to exploring alternative City Deal proposals that fall outside the tourism pillar of the proposed investment,” he said.

“The minister confirmed that she would consider proposals that fall under either the innovation or the tourism pillar.

“It’s welcome she is now casting her net more widely, if it increases the chances of developing a successful proposal and securing this vital funding for South Down.”

Mr McMurray said the Belfast Region City Deal’s Executive Board required a new proposal to be submitted by early next summer.

He added: “Given the short timeframes involved, it is now imperative that all BRCD partners work together to develop a winning project that benefits the local economy without detriment to the environment and that has the support of the local community.”