A beautiful and historic listed building, where the late Queen conferred city status on Armagh, sits today with a broken heating system, damp in the walls and within a public park viewed by many as a monumental mess.
Sometimes local councillors can be their own harshest critics when it comes to ABC Council’s active – or often inactive – approach to getting things done.
For as the state of the Primate’s Chapel, in the city’s sprawling Palace Demesne, was decried by successive supporters, one after another revealed that their own individual calls for intervention had gone either unheard or were simply ignored.
One local councillor went so far as saying Armagh itself had been essentially neglected since ABC Council sprang into being over a decade ago.
It was TUV Councillor Keith Ratcliffe who lit the fuse on a debate which, while at times verging into the jocular, had serious concerns at its heart.
Having recently visited the Primate’s Chapel for a tour after a reception, Councillor Ratcliffe was horrified by what he observed.
Hailing the “historical significance” of the building as part of an “important historic setting”, it was, he said, where the late Queen Elizabeth II had conferred city status back in the mid-1990s.
“The site has continued to hold significant civic and historical importance,” he added.
A rather large ‘but’, however, with ever-growing intensity and mounting impatience, was clearly circling and preparing to land in Councillor Ratcliffe’s reflections.
And then it did just that…
“ As a listed building, it should be maintained to the highest possible standards,” he added. “Unfortunately, I was deeply concerned by the condition of the building and the surrounding areas.
“I understand that the heating system has been out of operation from 2014, which is a matter of concern, given the importance of preserving an historical listed building.
“In addition, there are maintenance issues that require attention, including damp on the internal walls, which require treatment and repainting, repairs required to the flooring, the exterior of the Chapel and the Palace Grounds, requiring general improvement and tidying.
“The entrance leading up to the Palace and the council buildings is an absolute disgrace and needs resurfaced. For a government building, it is shocking.
“ Given the importance of this building to our city’s heritage and public image, I respectfully ask that a report is brought before full council to consider and address these issues, and to identify what steps can be taken to ensure the proper maintenance and preservation in this historical site is done.
“I believe it is most important that such an important building reflects the high standards expected of a city with such rich heritage and history.”
Floodgates well and truly opened, it emerged that Councillor Ratcliffe’s was no lone voice in the wilderness.
For Lord Mayor Stephen Moutray told him he had raised these very points with the council’s head of estates and other officers only a month ago.
“This is a diamond in the crown of this council,” he stated. “We’re so fortunate to have this building, dating back to 1770. And the Chapel to which you refer is where Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bestowed city status in Armagh in 1994, if I’m not mistaken.
“So I have raised the issues a few weeks ago. There has been some progress made and I’m hopeful and confident that, as a result of the comments that have been made by both you and myself, we will see progress in the days ahead, because we have to.
“One thing I learned in Armagh this year is – and I hadn’t spent much time in the surroundings of the Palace before – that Armagh has such great potential going forward as a centre of tourism and history within our borough.”
With his own contribution to share, Ulster Unionist Councillor Kyle Savage saw the Lord Mayor’s ‘few weeks ago’ and raised him, saying he had flagged these very same problems “perhaps six months to a year ago”.
Saying he was “disappointed” nothing had been done, Councillor Savage added: “I’d like to know why the work that I had complained about was not carried out. That’s not good. Some of the issues that Councillor Ratcliffe has said, I had reported them.
“Somebody’s dropped the ball here somewhere, so they need to pick it up and get this sorted as soon as possible. It is a jewel in the crown in this council so we need to look after it.”
Councillor Scott Armstrong travelled further back in time, saying he had reported problems “over a year ago” and was assured then that it would be “high priority, especially with the old Chapel”.
He warned how small issues became big issues and before they knew it they would lead to a bigger bill to fix!
“I was assured that the work would commence in the Chapel and the boiler would have been replaced,” said the DUP representative. “I’m disappointed to hear that it still has not been.
“And I think the bollard is still broken. I haven’t checked in a while. I was told it would be fixed and it would be high priority. It seems to be that that’s not the case.”
Rewind further and Ulster Unionist Councillor Julie Flaherty said the same complaints existed when she was Lord Mayor “40 million years ago”.
It may have been a slight exaggeration in terms of actual timeframe, but what she lacked in accuracy she made up for in effect and certainly got her point across.
For back in 2018/2019 – Councillor Flaherty’s actual year at the helm – there had been no heating back then too.
“You had to be judicious when you brought groups in,” she said. “So let’s just nail this down.”
Describing efforts to get a sensory garden up and running at the Palace, Councillor Flaherty said, in terms of maintenance, she is “still making sure and having to follow that up that that’s kept”.
She also hit out at the “horrendous” and “disrespectful” vandalism of the hard-fought for memorial garden on occasion and welcomed a light being shone on such issues.
“This is good to see this coming forward and we just can’t let these things roll on any longer,” said Councillor Flaherty. “It’s just not right.”
SDLP Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon took a broader swipe at the state of the Palace and Demesne as a whole and welcomed that others were now singing from the same hymnsheet.
“The road to Damascus has been a road that has been travelled by many,” he said, to peals of laughter.
“ I am glad to see so many of you now realise the importance of the Primatial City on this island and the proper place for this borough and beyond.
“Let’s face it. Nobody dropped the ball. They haven’t dropped the lawnmower! Not just in around the Chapel and the Palace itself, but the entire grounds.
“It’s unsightly, it’s terrible, and it hasn’t been properly maintained since this council came into being. It hasn’t been held in the same esteem, or respect, by this authority since the day and hour this organisation was formed. Be it the play park, be it the grass cutting, be it the road up to it, or anything.
“There used to be lovely roses and all around the Palace Lodge. You name it. It’s an eyesore. And not only that, wherever you go, anything that this council is responsible for, the grass is three feet high. The weeds are terrible. Can we please get it some attention?”
Councillor Ian Wilson seized the opportunity to join the chorus on the sorry state in Armagh, before taking a detour to his own locale.
Describing the road leading up to the Palace in Armagh as “horrendous”, he continued: “You come off the main road and it’s like a moonscape in parts of it trying to dodge the potholes. It just seems to be maintenance across the board.
“On a side issue, I was at the artisan market in Banbridge on Saturday, down at Solitude Park. The banks that lead up to where the flower market is, the grass was three feet high – at least three feet high!
“People coming over were saying look at the state of this place. Can we not even cut the grass? And our policy is not to lift grass, so see when that’s cut, it’ll be like a silage field! You could get somebody in to round bale it or something. It’s just going to be an absolute mess.
“We just need to be looking at these things to try and get the get the simple things right.”
It was the end of the evening so it was back to the Lord Mayor for the final word, as he presided over his last monthly meeting in charge.
“The comments made around Armagh and the Palace were all very good,” observed Alderman Moutray. “We’ve talked tonight about cemeteries in different places, and everybody’s very vocal about it and rightly so.
“But if we have staffing problems in this council, and we can’t get it, we bring in outside help to get it done. We outsource if we have to, only in the case when we haven’t got the staff.
“So I hope you’re all going to say ‘hear, hear’ to that, so that we keep the standards high for the ratepayer and for the constituents that elect us.”
