{"id":2738,"date":"2013-10-02T11:47:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-02T10:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/?p=2738"},"modified":"2013-10-02T11:47:06","modified_gmt":"2013-10-02T10:47:06","slug":"executive-to-discuss-exploris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/?p=2738","title":{"rendered":"Executive to discuss Exploris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release from Friends of Exploris, 2nd Oct 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE FUTURE OF OUR MUCH LOVED AQUARIUM IS THE HANDS OF THE EXECUTIVE TOMORROW <\/b><\/p>\n

In meetings with Friends of Exploris and others earlier this week, Minister for the Environment, Mark H Durkan, said that he would raise the issue of the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry with the Executive tomorrow,\u00a0 Thursday 3 October, \u00a0following a public outcry at Ards Borough Council\u2019s decision to close it; more than 27,000 people have liked the \u201cSave Exploris\u201d page in less than a week. Central government intervention is all that can prevent Ards Borough Council from putting the closed signs up on this flagship tourism, environmental, rural regeneration and education facility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr Julia Sigwart, Portaferry resident and Director of Queen\u2019s University Marine Laboratory points out \u00a0\u00a0\u201cExploris is the best possible place to showcase the exceptionally diverse marine life of Strangford Lough, \u00a0which has just become Northern Ireland\u2019s first Marine Conservation Zone and is one of the most important marine nature sites in Europe. Unlike most aquaria, Exploris draws water directly from the Lough, meaning the displays are as close as possible to the natural environment. The infrastructure is already in place, and with some investment the aquarium and its seal sanctuary are the perfect place for everyone to engage with the Lough and learn why it is so important.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Exploris could and should highlight Northern Ireland\u2019s contribution to marine renewable energy research and development with SeaGen and other experimental sea energy devices and EU funded research on seaweed biofuels in Strangford Lough. This work attracts interest from all over the world yet there is nothing on site to tell the story of Northern Ireland\u2019s role in this globally important work.<\/em><\/p>\n

Portaferry is in the 7th<\/sup> most deprived rural area in Northern Ireland. According to figures produced by Global Tourism Solutions in a report to Ards Borough Council in 2011, Exploris generates \u00a33m for the local economy annually and without it and the visitors it attracts, other rural development initiatives in the area will be cut off at their foundation.\u00a0 County Down Rural Community Network has just joined the support for the Friends of Exploris campaign. The loss of the aquarium\u2019s 100,000 visitors per year would also be a substantial loss for the DRD ferry service.\u00a0 Exploris is a leading, year round attraction and plays a key role within the Strangford Lough Tourism Destination and Mourne Coastal Route.<\/em><\/p>\n

10% of the attraction\u2019s visitors are school groups \u2013 there is hardly a child in Northern Ireland who has not at some time visited the Aquarium. The first generation of visitors is outraged that their own children may be deprived of the experiences and memories they were given.<\/em><\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of Friends of Exploris, Cathie McKimm says that at this time central and local government should be rushing to capitalise on the new opportunities for the facilities not rushing to close it down \u201cThe fundamental structure of a world class aquarium is in place, but is suffering from lack of vision and investment.\u00a0 Tens of thousands of people are astonished at the decision, as they make no business, social or moral sense. This should be the jewel in Ards Borough Council\u2019s crown, but instead it\u2019s about to become a festering sore in one of the most important and beautiful regions of the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Press release from Friends of Exploris, 2nd Oct 2013 THE FUTURE OF OUR MUCH LOVED AQUARIUM IS THE HANDS OF THE EXECUTIVE TOMORROW In meetings with Friends of Exploris and others earlier this week, Minister for the Environment, Mark H … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gala-2013"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2739,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738\/revisions\/2739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portaferrytown.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}