Trust to meet councillors over fate of Causeway

The National Trust (NT) has rejected suggestions that it is not moving quickly enough to resolve the future of the Visitor's Centre at the Giant's Causeway and revealed that it will meet with Moyle councillors on Monday night.

The trust made their statement after unionist members of the executive's Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee – East Londonderry MLA David McClarty and Mid-Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong – called on the charity to rejoin talks after they said concerns had been raised about the timescale for progress.

The MLAs' joint statement read: “The ETI Committee membership is anxious that the matter is not delayed any further and we feel it is necessary to forge ahead in order to have a modern provision in place for tourists as soon as possible.”

An NT spokesman said that while it shared the concerns of the assembly members about the timescale for the provision of new world-class facilities, the charity, however, firmly rejected any suggestion that it has been holding up the process of securing new facilities for the Causeway.

The spokesperson said: “The Trust has committed thousands of hours of staff time and many thousands of pounds to ensure not only that state-of-the-art facilities are provided, but also that the world-famous natural heritage and scenic context of the Causeway is not compromised by development."

Moyle Council had been considering possible solutions through a study supported by the NITB. The results of this study have been released and the trust is set to meet with Moyle councillors on Monday.

“Any implication therefore that the National Trust is somehow dragging its heels is wholly unjustifiable – we have done and are continuing to do all in our power to progress the issue," the spokesperson added. “We have responded to the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee’s request for round table talks, and we welcome their interest in adding new impetus to the process.”

DUP assembly member Jim Wells, formerly a National Trust manager at the site, has also spoken out recently to mollify the three interested parties whose relationship, he said, had "deteriorated" of late.

"I now believe it is essential that a specific date is set for talks to start. The situation cannot be allowed to drift any further as this will cause yet more delays to the rebuilding of the visitors facilities at the Causeway," he said.

The Causeway, Ireland’s most visited tourist attraction, has been without a centre since a fire destroyed the original facility two years ago.

(GMcG)