Debate contribution: Hospitality and Tourism: East Antrim

Debate contribution by Mr John Stewart on 11 June 2024.

MLA

Mr John Stewart

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

11 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Hospitality and Tourism: East Antrim

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496125

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for East Antrim for securing this important Adjournment debate. I declare an interest, as my family has owned and continues to own businesses in the shoe trade in Carrickfergus town centre for over 60 years and knows all too well the pressures that the Member referred to. I thank the Minister for coming along today. To be fair, it could have been one of four Ministers, given the litany of issues that affect tourism and hospitality. On the prohibitive rates system, his colleague could have come along. We have talked about dilapidation, and the Communities Minister could, no doubt, have played a role by looking at vesting powers and whatnot, which we have discussed before. The Infrastructure Minister could have spoken about the prohibitiveness of planning, as the Member mentioned in relation to the conservation area. I agree with her that a collaborative approach is needed. Such an approach is needed in cooperating with the council, which has also has a key role to play in this, whether in promoting the amazing tourist offering that we have in East Antrim or promoting East Antrim in general. The Member who spoke before me talked about the amazing tourist offering that we have — I remember referring to that in my maiden speech — whether that be Carrickfergus Castle, which is a phenomenal asset not just for East Antrim but for Northern Ireland; the Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Museum; the Gobbins; Carnfunnock Country Park; or the drive up to the gateway of the Causeway, which is just phenomenal. I think that Michael Palin described it as one of the most amazing in the world. It is quite sad, almost lamentable, that it took Timmy Mallett to come here to put East Antrim back on the map — he did it for the whole of Northern Ireland, let us be fair, in such an amazing way — and that the assets that we have are not promoted as regularly as they should be. Too often, we look outside Northern Ireland and our constituencies and forget just how good those assets are. As Ms Brownlee said, we live in really difficult times. It is about promoting not just our amazing tourist offerings but our amazing hospitality offerings. Some of those hospitality offerings are also our tourist offerings. The Fallis family in Carrickfergus, for example, have promoted Dobbins Inn in really tight circumstances. That listed building is 500 or 600 years old and is linked to the castle and the town's history. The Fallis family provides some of the limited number of bed-nights in Carrickfergus, and they do it so well. They and others who provide hospitality outlets — hotels, bars, restaurants or bed and breakfasts — across East Antrim and Northern Ireland do so under massive pressure. The reality is that, if our bars and hotels were in England and Wales, they would benefit from 75% rate relief up to £110,000 and 100% rate relief if they were defined as being in a rural area. Our bars and hotels do not benefit in that way, but they pay the same overheads, if not greater overheads. In fact, the rateable value of those properties is invariably more expensive per square foot in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the United Kingdom. I find that lamentable. We need to do all we can. This is outside the Minister's remit and is a matter for the Finance Minister, but we need to look at total reform of how the rates system burden is applied in Northern Ireland, because the system is no longer fit for purpose. It cannot be the case that an Amazon warehouse in a business park pays less per square foot than our vital hospitality and tourism industries do. If we truly want our town centres to grow and survive and for our key assets and businesses to continue to grow, offer amazing employment and help promote our great tourism assets, we need to give them all the support we can. That discussion has been going on in this place for years, and we are no further down the line. That needs to be looked at. Ms Brownlee referred to a dilapidation Bill, and I would firmly support that. That is needed not only in East Antrim but across the country. The reality is that some landlords, for whatever reason, do not uphold the principles of social responsibility, allowing their buildings to fall into disgusting and despicable disrepair and then to fall to the ground, and nothing can be done. Those buildings are usually in key asset areas where we want retail to thrive and tourists to visit. When other businesses in those areas are running to stand still, those landlords let their buildings fall to the ground. I am not sure which Department will bring legislation forward — again, there could be a collaborative approach — but I would love to see a legislative agenda that covers vesting powers similar to those in the Isle of Man, where a landlord or someone else who has allowed their building to fall into disrepair can be told, "You have six months or a year to do it up. If you do not, the state will take it off you and do it up. If you want to buy it back at full value, let's discuss it". That has to be done, because buildings are lying vacant. Ms Brownlee also referred to the number of hospitality businesses that have closed. One of those is the big Swift complex down at the harbour. It is a key asset in a conservation area, right beside Carrickfergus Castle, that has become derelict and is falling into the sea, and nothing can be done to ensure the upkeep of that building. Sadly, it is the first thing people see when they arrive in Carrickfergus. Again, if we could look at a dilapidation bill or vesting powers, that would be hugely beneficial. Although it is a reserved issue, we need to look at VAT reform. We need to push towards a rate of 5% or 7% for hospitality businesses. The businesses need that support. It would be a massive lifeline for them, given the pressures they face. I could talk about this for an hour — I am sure we all could — but I thank the Member for bringing the Adjournment debate, the Minister for coming along and the other Members for contributing to the debate.

1,084 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:44 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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