North Down Ulster Unionist Leslie Cree MLA highlights Northern Ireland Tourist Board funding for North Down.

The MLA explained

“In a recent NITB ‘Financially Assisted Projects Report’ sent to me I am pleased to highlight that North Down has been successful on two accounts receiving just under £34,000 of funding for projects one in Bangor and another for North Down and Ards.” The Assemblyman explained

 “Through the Programme for Government the Northern Ireland Executive provided NITB with £60million of capital investment. This investment was used to financially support many projects and initiatives throughout the tourism industry such as the development of visitor attractions; activity tourism products; public realm schemes; the establishment of new creative industries and new technologies.”

 “I am pleased that North Down has gained financial assistance for two important projects. North Down Museum, Bangor was awarded £12,800 and a joint project for North Down and Ards was given £21,000.” In an overview of the work the report explains that North Down Museum and Bangor Abbey are two sites on the Saint Patrick’s Trail that are within 400 metres of each other and are linked by a pathway through Castle Park. This project involved connecting both sites by way of interpretation panels and benches. It also included landscaping improvements to the road surfacing at the lower Abbey Car Park area adjacent to Saint Malachy’s Wall and lower car park at North Down Museum. The second project, a feasibility study of the Ulster Scots Trail, allowed for the provision of a study into the generation of offline and online content to create a trail celebrating Ulster Scots Heritage in North Down and Ards. This also included the production of an Ulster Scots names project, offering a research tool for individuals to trace their names and the origin located in each borough.

Concluding Leslie said “It is through dedication of people at all levels both in local and central government who drive these projects forward for the benefit of the people that they represent right across Northern Ireland. In North Down we have many tourist attractions. It is through funding from bodies such as NITB that we are able to develop and promote our Borough. But is £34,000 a big enough share of the £60Million? We need to develop more projects for the area.”