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Aontú Newry representative Roisin Mulgrew has welcomed planning approval for Newry City Park, and has called on Council to set out a clear delivery timeline for the project. Mulgrew said years of delays and repeated promises had left many people in Newry sceptical about when the park will actually be built.
Ms Mulgrew paid tribute to those who had campaigned for the park over a number of years. "Planning approval for Newry City Park is welcome. Newry needs and deserves a first-class public park, and the people who have campaigned for it over many years deserve enormous credit for keeping this project on the agenda."
She said the reaction to the announcement had been mixed. "But nobody in the Council should be surprised that this latest announcement has been met with as much scepticism as celebration."
Ms Mulgrew said people were asking straightforward questions about the project's future. "The questions people are asking are very simple: when will the park actually be built? And how can we trust what you say when you've made false promises before?"
She said this was part of a wider pattern, pointing to delays affecting other major projects in Northern Ireland, including Casement Park, the A5 and the expansion of Magee campus in Derry. "These are different projects but there is a common lesson running through them: a promise is not delivery, an announcement is not delivery, a lovely computer generated image is not delivery and planning permission is not delivery."
Ms Mulgrew said newly published images of the proposed park looked impressive, but called for clarity on how the project would progress from planning approval to completion. "The Council is now publicly talking about the park being completed in 2028. That is important, because we finally have a date against which progress can be measured."
She asked Council to outline its construction timetable, including when a contract would go to tender, when a contractor would be appointed and when work would begin on site. Ms Mulgrew also called for transparency on funding, asking what had been committed and spent to date, and what any cost increases during the delay would mean for ratepayers.
She said questions had also been raised about how the park would be maintained and protected once built, citing concerns around antisocial behaviour, security, litter and dog fouling. Ms Mulgrew said the public reaction showed many people wanted to see progress before believing the project would be delivered. "Public reaction tells its own story. People are saying they will 'believe it when they see it' and asking why a project they thought was settled years ago is only now reaching this stage."
She said planning approval should now be followed by action. "Planning permission must now mark the end of the excuses and the beginning of delivery. Start the work and deliver it."
