Free Derry Museum rebuild gets green light

Artist's impression of what the expanded museum would look like

The Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) has signed off on funding for the Museum of Free Derry in the Bogside area of Londonderry.

There had been controversy over an apparent delay in the department confirming its funding, which, it was claimed, could have put the £2m revamp in doubt.

Funding was confirmed on 31 October but was made public by DETI on Thursday.

Conal McFeely, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said: "We are delighted".

Following the news, which was also broken on Twitter by two Sinn Fein MLA's, Conal McFeely said: "There is now no controversy between ourselves and DETI.

"I'm pleased that the £1.2m from the tourist board has been passed.

"We now have to enter other discussions with other funders, mainly the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department of Social development. This is a cocktail of funding.

"Once we have a read of the offer letter and are happy with the content, we will sign it off and then the project will proceed.

"Our concerns about delays and Arlene Foster has now been resolved and we now remain confident that this £2m investment will be a major initiative for this city."

A spokesperson for the Bloody Sunday Trust said there was a delay on funding of around eight months.