'Permanent monument' to all-Ireland Fleadh outside treasured Belfast Assembly Rooms

A permanent statue marking this year’s all-Ireland Fleadh could be built outside Belfast’s treasured Assembly Rooms, under new nationalist plans.

Thanks to a move put forward by the SDLP, council officials are to draw up a report on building a statue of a harp outside one of the oldest surviving civic buildings in Northern Ireland’s capital city.

placeholder image — The Assembly Rooms on Belfast's Waring Street were bought by the city council last year, after more than two decades on the at-risk register.

The island-wide Fleadh is to be staged in Belfast this August, while in 1792 the Assembly Rooms hosted a harp festival that’s held to have been an early spark in the following century’s revival of Gaelic culture.

The SDLP’s move argues Belfast should follow a “legacy approach” seen in Wexford last year, which saw a “permanent Fleadh Harp monument” installed after the festival.

At a meeting this afternoon, Sinn Fein councillor Ciaran Beattie welcomed the idea, though stated: “The best legacy monument we could have from the Fleadh is to establish traditional music within the city.

“The legacy from the Fleadh should be to establish Belfast as a traditional music city.”

Bought by the council last year, the Assembly Rooms were listed for protection in the 1970s, but have been derelict for years and officially at-risk since 2003.

Around a year ago, the 18th century building was added to the World Monuments Fund watchlist, spotlighting both its importance to the heritage of Belfast but also the fact that they’re under threat.

Earlier this month they were announced as sharing in a £5.1m global cash pot from the Monuments Fund, which is to be spent on documentation and conservation to prepare the building for restoration and renewed public use.