Ebrington Square: Stormont department criticised over £280K payments

As custodians of the site, only the Executive Office can give permission for events to take place at Ebrington Square

The Executive Office (TEO) has been criticised after issuing payments amounting to £280,000 relating to the use of Ebrington Square in Londonderry.

The payments were made to three parties by the Stormont department.

Foyle assembly member Sinead McLaughlin described the three payments made by TEO as "a waste of public money".

A TEO spokesperson said that "due to threatened legal action by various parties", the government department had been placed in a "difficult position".

In a statement to BBC News NI, the department confirmed that Cullen's Funfair, Connected Festival and the Ebrington Hotel all received payments.

It said it had to "balance the risks posed to the public purse" and "the resultant likelihood of all events being cancelled versus seeking to mediate with all affected parties".

The spokesperson added that this was all done within "a very short timescale" in an attempt to facilitate the events taking place.

As custodian of the site, only the Executive Office can give permission for events to take place at Ebrington Square and reserve the right to withdraw that permission at any time.

Previously, four concerts scheduled for Ebrington Square in August had their permission withdrawn by TEO following a threat of legal action by the Ebrington Hotel.

The gigs were then given the green light after the hotel, which opened in July, dropped its objection following a public backlash.

Sinéad McLaughlin condemned the payments, describing it as the worst of all worlds

SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin said that it was "incomprehensible that clear legal agreements were not in place to resolve the use of Ebrington Square".

"We now have the absurd situation of significant payments being made, when contracts should have been in place that provided complete and binding legal clarity over use of Ebrington Square," she added.

"The result is both a waste of public money and the Derry public potentially being deprived of events in a public space. I condemn this situation, which is the worst of all worlds."

Ms McLaughlin added that a lack of government is "no excuse for what appears to be incompetence".

Pete Tong pictured performing at Ebrington Square as part of Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2013

DUP MLA Gary Middleton said that there are "better uses for public money than finding ourselves in this position".

Describing the situation as "unfortunate", he said that the executive office was in a position where the alternative to making the payments was "some sort of legal battle which I don't think was in anybody's interests which would prevent events from happening this year at all".

"I've been assured by the executive office that a new process will be in place preventing this happening again," he added.

Concerts and large events have been held in Ebrington Square since the former parade ground was regenerated and opened to the public in 2012.

The site has hosted some of the biggest music events ever held in Derry, including the Radio 1 Big Weekend in 2013.

The Beach Boys played there in 2014 and in 2016 Ebrington Square hosted Dutch DJ Afrojack, the rapper Professor Green and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter MNEK during an MTV Crashes event.

How much was paid?

The Executive Office stated that Cullen's Funfair was paid a settlement of £50K for what the department said was "in part to compensate for their events in 2023 and 2024 taking place on a smaller space".

It stated that the funfair was located in the rear car park of the site and the payment was "reflecting their reduced income".

Connected Festival also received a settlement of £80k to "compensate for the loss of sales and reinstating services within a short timeframe".

The department said the reason for the payment "resulted in increased costs and in respect of their agreement to withdraw their application to hold events on Ebrington Square in 2024".

The Ebrington Hotel also received "an ex-gratia payment of £150k (inclusive of legal costs) in full and a final settlement of any claim howsoever arising between themselves and TEO in respect of the events and licensing process for 5-6 August and 24-27 August 2023".

In a statement, the owners of Ebrington Hotel said they looked forward to playing "a positive role in the future planning of all events at Ebrington Square".

They said this would be done as part of the "co-design process", involving all stakeholders, and overseen by The Executive Office.

BBC News NI has also approached Cullen's Funfair and Connected Festival for comment.