Collapse Of Take Over Deal Is Bad News For Exploris

Having recently featured a Northern Ireland tourist attraction that was seeking to be proactive, it appears that current news is not so positive relating to another top venue in the land of the six counties.

Uncertain times at Exploris

The owners of the SS Nomadic, the remaining ship of The White Star Line were seeking to ally themselves with the nearby Titanic exhibition in Belfast to offer possible dual ticketing. Economic conditions remain harsh, and such a move has more than a modicum of sense about it.

Different, and regrettably more downbeat news from Portaferry, County Down, where a council meeting has agreed to defer a decision relating to the future of the Exploris Aquarium. The decision that has been deferred is about possible closure, with this having come about because take over talks for the private firm Livingstone Leisure to be granted a 25 year lease on the centre and parkland have fallen through.

Last week, Ards Borough Council's development committee recommended that the aquarium should be shut and sold, although last night’s meeting has deferred this decision for two months. It currently costs ratepayers £600,000 per year to maintain the marine conservation facility on the shore of Strangford Lough. Suggestions are that questions relating to staff pension provision were at the heart of the breakdown with Livingstone.

The tourist attraction first opened in 1987, then being known as the Northern Ireland Aquarium. During its lifetime it has always been owned and operated by Ards Borough Council and it was extended and renamed Exploris in 1994. The seal sanctuary part which opened in 1999 seeks to help injured and orphaned seal pups.

Following yesterday’s meeting, a statement from Ards Borough Council said the closure "would be stayed for two months, to allow for firm proposals for alternative funding to come from central government departments - Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), Environment (DoE) and Education (DE)".

Deputy Mayor Philip Smith said: "While there has never been any indication of a subvention for Exploris from central government, there does now appear to be a possibility that funding could be made available.  Our decision allows time for that option to be explored. However, we do have to emphasise that the decision to close still stands if external funding is not forthcoming."

More than 100 people had gathered before the meeting, meeting outside the council's headquarters to protest at the proposed closure. The protest was supported by members of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) trade union, which had also called for the decision to be deferred. Eighteen people are currently employed on permanent contracts at Exploris.

David McNarry, the United Kingdom Independence Party MLA for Strangford, has described Exploris as "a fancy play thing for anoraks".  In a recent interview, Mr McNarry said: "Once seen is usually enough. It's in the back end of nowhere."

Harsh words maybe, but in a part of Britain that finds it as hard as any to support a quality tourism industry, it is to be hoped that the Exploris story will have a happy ending.


                                                         http://www.exploris.org.uk/