By Reclaim The Enlightenment

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The Assembly Rooms Alliance heartily welcomes Belfast City Council’s unanimous decision at their meeting on Monday 1 September to proceed with the purchase for £2.7 million of the city’s historic Assembly Rooms and neighbouring properties.

Agreement has been reached with the owners, Castlebrooke, on the terms of the purchase, and following the Council decision all that remains to be done is the completion of the relevant legal documentation.

This is a vital step on the road to the restoration of the building and securing its future as a multi-faceted cultural icon for the citizens of Belfast and visitors from afar. It is one that the Alliance has campaigned for over the last four years.

We appreciate the challenges that the Council faced in coming to this decision in what are straightened financial times. All credit to councillors for recognising that their original reliance on Castlebrooke had proved misplaced and that they had to adopt an alternative and positive course of action.

It is immediately further good news that the Council, once it has taken possession of the building, will take steps to ensure that the building is properly secured, and will take interim remedial measures to prevent further deterioration of the fabric.

The council will undertake an options appraisal to determine the future use of the building, though we understand that their welcome intention is that it should be used exclusively for public and cultural purposes

In this context the Alliance has already made public its preferred options for the building.

The magnificent banking hall with an audience capacity of up to 250 can fulfil the original enlightenment role of the building as a multi-cultural venue for concerts, conferences, exhibitions, and theatre. Its limited use in this way between 2000 and 2012 demonstrated this potential.

The Enlightenment at the Assembly Rooms will explore the role of the building during the enlightenment era elaborating on key episodes such as the assembly of the blind harpers in 1792, the United Irishmen including the McCracken family, but also including enlightenment figures who opposed the 1798 rebellion.

The proposed Museum of the Troubles and Peace at the Assembly Rooms will occupy much of the rest of the building.

This will make use of the latest technology to explore all our experiences ‘without fear or favour’. The proposed siting of the Museum at the Assembly Rooms has the advantage that this is a central and neutral location. The objectives are to explore the period of the Troubles from a variety of viewpoints – there is no single narrative – and to celebrate the Irish Peace Process.

We are aware that there may be other proposals for the use of the building. We recognise that it is up to councillors to determine the appropriate process for going forward and to determine the outcome. We do believe that the planned options appraisal should provide for public scrutiny of all proposals rather than being one conducted simply behind closed doors.

We would also urge that the process should be undertaken as quickly as possible.

We and the public all wish to see the Assembly Rooms fulfilling its potential without any undue delay.