Museum will be ‘major legacy’ of UK City of Culture 2013

HRH Prince Michael of Kent joins invited guests in a minutes silence at the unveiling of the international sailor statue at Ebrington Square earlier this year.

According to Ilex’s “cultural broker,” Caoimhín Corrigan, the recent commitment of funding for the project by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has allowed the local regeneration company pencil in a putative completion date.

During a recent briefing before the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) Committee in Londonderry, Mr Corrigan revealed the scheme may be finished in three years time.

He told the Committee: “The maritime museum is a Derry City Council-led project and is proposed for completion in March or April of 2016.

“As things stand, that is a stage 1 pass from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) of £1.5 million and a stage 1 pass from the HLF of £3 million.

“Ilex has budgeted for an amount of up to £2 million, which sees in excess of £6 million earmarked already for this project with an amount of certainty.

“Obviously, it needs to be bottomed out with a final business case and environmental assessment (EA) approval.”

Back in February, the OFMDFM Ministers jointly said it was too early to provide an opening date.

They stated: “Funding requirements for the project are still being finalised and it is too early to predict an opening date for the museum given that a full funding package is not yet in place for the project.”

Following recent funding commitments, however, this no longer applies.

The £8.5m museum will chart Londonderry’s history from Colmcille’s establishment of the original Christian settlement on the Foyle, through the arrival of the Spanish Armada, the Flight of the Earls, the Plantation of Ulster and the Siege of Derry.

Emigration from the port of Londonderry and the rich military and naval history of the Ebrington Barracks site will also be featured.

This will take in the Battle of the Atlantic - during which HMS Ferret played such an important role - up to and including the surrender of the Kriegsmarine U-Boat fleet at Lisahally.

During the recent Battle of the Atlantic commemorations in Londonderry a new memorial to the ‘international sailor’ was unveiled on a granite plinth outside the proposed museum.

The local Royal Naval Association (RNA) installed the statue to mark the 70th anniversary of the ‘turning of the tide’ when U boats were withdrawn from the North Atlantic.

Back in 2012, DUP MLA Gregory Campbell called for a permanent memorial to mark the emigration of “some of the most famous luminaries in the founding of the American Nation” from the port of Londonderry in the 1700s.

The Tourism Minister Arlene Foster said the new maritime museum in Ebrington would fulfil this role.

Mr Campbell asked if she would investigate the possibility of establishing “a more visible and relevant tourism location at Londonderry Quay.”