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Minister announces £16million Cathedral Quarter contribution

25 March 2010

The Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey, today announced £16million support for a £250million development in the Cathedral Quarter.  

Speaking at the Belfast City of Quarters Conference, Sir Reg said:  “This planned major development by the University of Ulster in York Street will be the biggest development the city centre has seen since the iconic Victoria Square.  The development will bring many benefits beyond the university and will be a welcome boost for our currently beleaguered construction industry.”

“The new campus will also bring social benefits.  One of my Department’s key goals is to widen participation in Higher Education, especially among communities which traditionally have tended not to believe university is for them.  That principle of widening participation will be a key element in the University of Ulster’s development of its Belfast campus."

Sir Reg believes that the expansion of the university in this particular quarter demonstrates the University’s commitment to make a major contribution to the economic, social and cultural vitality of the city.

The Minister continued:  “This conference spotlights the vibrant, emerging neighbourhoods shaping the revitalised Belfast.  The Cathedral/Library Quarter, anchored by dramatic proposals for a new University of Ulster city-centre campus, the Gaeltacht Quarter cultural hub in west Belfast with the Irish language at its heart, and the Port-Titanic Quarter on the waterfront with one of the largest land banks in the city, all epitomise the new Belfast.”

The University of Ulster unveiled its plans for a major expansion of its Belfast campus last year which would mean the relocation of many courses from Jordanstown to Belfast.  The increased student numbers in the area will benefit Belfast economically and the expanded campus will play a role in the cultural life of the city, given its proximity to the Cathedral Quarter.  The overall development cost is in the region of £250million and the construction of the new campus in north Belfast should be complete by 2018.

Notes to editors:

  1. The Belfast City of Quarters Conference is a two day event being held on the evening of Thursday 25 March and all day on Friday 26 March at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, 216 Falls Road, Belfast.  
  2. This conference will explore these three flagship quarters (Cathedral/Library Quarter, Gaeltacht Quarter and the Port-Titanic Quarter), asking how they can be linked to each other to create more than the sum of their parts and what is required to ensure that their economic benefits are felt in the disadvantaged areas of Belfast.  The conference will also ask where the funding for these landmark developments will be found.  Speakers will represent political, business and community life and include both national and international contributors of note.
  3. All media enquiries should be directed to the Department for Employment and Learning Communications Branch on 028 9025 7872. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.