Jobs to go at Tollymore Outdoor Centre as owners rethink future: Mountaineering and canoeing hub made £1m loss and still shut from January storm damage
Jobs are to go at Tollymore Outdoor Centre at the foot of the Mourne mountains, as its owners say it’s “not sustainable” after going heavily into the red.
Northern Ireland’s provincewide centre for mountaineering and canoeing, the facility still hasn’t reopened after its trails suffered serious damage from Storm Eowyn in January.
Public body Sport NI now says it wants to spend up to a year rethinking both the future of Tollymore and its own involvement in the outdoors sector generally – and jobs at the centre will go while that happens.
The body says Tollymore has been losing money for a while and went around £1m into the red last year. Although it was never meant to be a profit-making enterprise, a senior Sport NI figure says the way the centre usually operates “is no longer financially sustainable”.
However South Down MLA Andrew McMurray has decried the move. Pointing out that three other publicly-run outdoor education centres in his constituency have been axed within the last 10 years, he said it would be “shameful” for children to miss out on “all the benefits of outdoor pursuits at a time when they’re needed more than ever”.
Tollymore, which has operated on the same site close to Newcastle for well over 50 years, was completely rebuilt in 2010 to become a state of the art facility, but hasn’t been open since late January after suffering heavy storm damage.
Sport NI say they’d have to spend a great deal of money on repairs to get it up and running again. The body is now to carry out a year-long strategic review of both the centre and its overall involvement in outdoor sports; the move will, say officials, “explore all options for the future operating model of the centre” – and it will mean “a small number of local redundancies”.
Its interim chief executive, Richard Archibald, revealed that Tollymore last year cost £1.3m to run but only brought in £250,000, adding that with those figures the body can’t justify the hefty repair costs.
“With the 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,” he said.
“Sport NI remains fully committed to the outdoors sector. The Tollymore Centre has facilities which are unique on the island of Ireland, and it is an important part of Northern Ireland’s outdoor activity offering.
“This review will look at a wide range of options aimed at reimagining the role and function of Tollymore in a financially sustainable way, and ensuring it continues to develop our outdoors sector in an impactful and effective way.”
But the news rankles with Mr McMurray. A former trainee at Tollymore, he met his wife there, held their wedding reception at the centre, and used it to introduce their children to outdoor sports. “I share the hurt and frustration many will be feeling as a result of Sport NI’s decision,” he said.
“Residents of South Down, and Northern Ireland in general, deserve access to high-quality, properly funded facilities that make the most of the natural environment we’re so lucky to have.
“I am currently engaging with Sport NI about the need to guarantee the centre is made operational and reopened as soon as possible.”