Member's statement: Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company
Member's statement by Mr Peter Martin on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter Martin
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 23 September 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4543588
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I would like to highlight the amazing work of the Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company in conserving and then building on the legacy of the Donaghadee lifeboat, Sir Samuel Kelly. In 1953, the Sir Samuel Kelly performed a historic rescue when, under extreme weather conditions, it saved 33 of the 44 survivors from the wreck of the Stranraer ferry, MV Princess Victoria. On its retirement in 1980, the lifeboat was acquired by the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, but the museum lacked the resources to care for the boat. Volunteers transported it back to its home in Donaghadee, where it is now looked after by the Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company. This new company had the objective of not just conserving the boat but building a heritage and visitor centre in Donaghadee, of which the Sir Samuel Kelly could be a focal point. A shelter over the lifeboat was put in place in 2019, paid for entirely by local subscriptions. The boat has since been repainted, but it remains in a temporary shelter. Last year, the company received a grant of £90,000 for two years from the National Lottery to build an exhibition room outside the boat and employ an outreach worker to bring the project to the attention of local schools and the local community.
The Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company is focused on its objective of finding a permanent home for the lifeboat. Ards and North Down Borough Council's master plan for the town included a visitors' centre, and the company is now pressing the council, which owns the boat, to come to a decision about where that centre should be. Increasing numbers of visitors, including schoolchildren and older people, mean that it is imperative that the Kelly site be provided with appropriate infrastructure. The company has only four years left on its lease, so there is, naturally, a time imperative. The project has enormous social, cultural and economic potential. It has a strong management board, which has been ably demonstrated by how it has raised financial support, and a team of amazing volunteers who staff the centre, act as tour guides and do minor restorations to the boat. I commend the project to colleagues, and I hope that the relevant Departments, which are Communities from the heritage perspective and Economy from the view of tourism and economic development, will lend their active support. I would welcome discussions with both Ministers.
400 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.80).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.80 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.81 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.09 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.07 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.02 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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