By Ryan Sands
THE council is to pursue an ‘immersive tourism trail’ across the district as an alternative to the defunct £44m Mourne Mountains Gateway Project (MMGP).
On Thursday, the local authority’s Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee unanimously agreed to appoint a multidisciplinary team to deliver an outline business case (OBC) for the trail proposal, which aims to retain the £29.2m of Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) funding allocated to the controversial gondola scheme.
Whilst this recommendation still has to be tabled for ratification by all councillors in early May, the council released a statement just after the meeting, in which it said that it is to develop an OBC for the project, which would feature ‘world-class visitor amenities stretching from Carlingford Lough to Strangford Lough, as part of a major investment proposal under the BRCD’.
‘A new concept plan aims to connect Kilbroney Forest Park in Rostrevor with Slieve Gullion Forest Park in south Armagh and Delamont Country Park on the outskirts of Killyleagh, with significant investment planned at each to transform them into international standard tourist facilities that will appeal to global visitors and provide a boost for towns, villages and businesses across the region,’ it read.
There will ‘also be a focus on harnessing the huge potential of the UNESCO Mourne Gullion Strangford Global Geopark and Castlewellan Forest Park, where Northern Ireland’s first treetop walk is proposed’.
‘The concept plan aims to harness the spectacular beauty of the district’s stunning landscape as part of a unique tourism journey delivering sustainable growth through investment in world-class tourism attractions,’ the statement continued.
‘The focus is on enhancing family-based tourism facilities and enriching already outstanding attractions.’
It highlighted that ‘approval for the council to progress the plan to the OBC stage has been agreed by the BRCD’s Executive Board, supported by BRCD partners, including the Department for the Economy, Department of Finance and Tourism Northern Ireland’.
The original Mourne Mountains Gateway Project proposal for Slieve Donard – the council formally agreed to progress an outline business case for this in September 2019 – was killed off in May 2025 when the National Trust confirmed that it ‘will not be considering a lease at Thomas’s Quarry’ to facilitate a visitor centre there.
Three months later, Environment Minister Andrew Muir said that he would not support an alternative proposal to relocate the project to Rostrevor’s Kilbroney Forest Park.
A report presented at Thursday’s committee meeting stated that the new proposals had generated ‘a positive response’ from all BRCD partners and that an outline business case should be ‘presented by the end of 2026’.
In the full article read how the local councillors responded including some of their concerns.
