Future of Tollymore outdoor activity centre ‘under review’

Sport NI has begun a “strategic review” into the future of Tollymore National Outdoor Centre, the only facility of its kind on the island of Ireland.

The Bryansford based activity centre has been closed since January following damage from Storm Éowyn, and it will remain closed while the review is undertaken.

Sport NI said the current operating model for the centre is no longer financially sustainable, with the centre only generating an income of around £250,000 last year, while it cost over £1.3m to run.

The body added the review process is expected to take up to a year and will result in “a small number of local redundancies”.

The centre, located on the outskirts of Tollymore Forest Park, provides a range of courses in rock-climbing, hillwalking, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, mountaineering and orienteering.

“In recent years, the running costs of the Tollymore National Outdoor Centre have steadily increased and its income has reduced,” according to Richard Archibald, interim chief executive of Sport NI.

He said that with an “extended closure of up to a year and having explored other options, very regrettably, we have now commenced redundancy consultations with some of the centre’s permanent staff”.

Archibald added that while the centre was never intended to be profit-making, Sport NI “have a duty to ensure value for money for the public purse and for the whole sports sector”.

Because of the damage caused by Storm Éowyn, he said a large re-investment would need to be made in order to re-open the centre.

“We cannot justify such investment when the facility is significantly under-utilised,” he said.

Sport NI said the review would look at a wide range of options aimed at reimagining the role and function of Tollymore National Outdoor Centre “in a financially sustainable way, and ensuring it continues to develop our outdoors sector in an impactful and effective way”.