Debate contribution: Sports Museum

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 2 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

2 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Sports Museum

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5356994

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the proposer of the motion and everybody who contributed to the debate. Members will know that I am a very strong advocate for sport in Northern Ireland. During my time as Minister, I think that I have engaged with almost every single sport in Northern Ireland at some level and have tried to understand their development needs. We have made progress. We have advanced work on the Executive's much-stalled flagship programmes. We have secured much-needed additional investment to support grassroots sport, which has been delivered through Sport NI. Why have I done that? I have done so because I fully recognise the positive and lasting impact that sport has on our communities. The achievements of sportsmen and sportswomen from Northern Ireland continue to inspire our young people, but they are also a source of immense pride for all of us. I was very proud to host a reception for our Olympians and Paralympians at the SSE Arena to celebrate their unprecedented haul of seven medals: four golds, a silver and two bronze. It was a fitting occasion, attended by close to 4,500 people, on which to recognise not only our six Paris Olympic medallists but all those who achieved the honour of representing Northern Ireland on the world stage. I was pleased to build on that success by establishing the Olympic medallist fund, which will allow our medallists to give back to their community by supporting grassroots projects. Last September, I was also pleased to launch the Olympic legacy fund, which will provide equipment and enhanced local supporting facilities to drive increased participation. I have been privileged to be able to recognise achievements across a broad range of sports by hosting various receptions, including ones for Michael Dunlop, the Belfast Giants, the Special Olympics team, the World Transplant Games team and even a Northern Ireland tug of war team. I therefore recognise the role that sports play, and I do not doubt that a sports museum could play a positive role in our society. It could increase participation in sport, particularly among our young people. The merits of the proposed museum align closely with the objectives of my Department's sport and physical activity strategy for Northern Ireland, 'Active Living'. By celebrating the achievements of our athletes and presenting their powerful role-model stories, there is an opportunity to provide an accessible and inclusive space in which to inspire and motivate, as well as to foster community pride. A sports museum would emphasise participation, shared spaces and the importance of recognising excellence and achievement. A museum of that kind would complement our wider ambition to support lifelong involvement in sport and physical activity, thus helping more people to become more active more of the time. There is no museum in the UK that brings together all sports in a single institution. That is largely because of the way in which sporting heritage has evolved through having distinct, independent sporting cultures rather than their being under a unified national framework. Instead of a single museum for all sports, the UK has a wide range of dedicated museums for major sports such as football, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf and motor sport, to mention but a few. Each focuses on its own rich history, traditions and supporter base. As a result, the UK has a highly specialised museum landscape, with many sport-specific institutions, but it has no multi-sports museum that brings all sports together under one roof.

In order to explore the proposals in the motion further, detailed engagement with governing bodies across the sports sector will be essential to ensure that the new museum concept does not displace existing facilities or undermine their established revenue models. I am aware that there are already sporting elements to a number of museums here, including the Ulster Transport Museum and the Ballymoney Museum, which has the motorcycling display. I acknowledge that the Member's motion for a sports —.

I have had the pleasure of being there many times and seeing that for myself. It is absolutely right that those are things that could be included. I will come to that a little more in a second. I acknowledge that a sports museum could add to our sporting legacy, encourage increased participation in sport and generate economic benefits for Northern Ireland through anticipated growth in tourism. The proposer of the motion asks that I work with the Minister for the Economy to establish a working group. However, as the expected benefits are likely to include increased sporting participation, enhanced heritage and museum value, positive health outcomes and tourism growth, it is my view that the motion spans even wider cross-departmental priorities. The sport and physical activity strategy was developed on behalf of all Departments, and, at present, my Department does not have an allocated budget to explore or develop such a proposal. A new sports museum delivering such a broad range of outcomes may therefore be better positioned as an Executive programme, requiring collaborative design together with funding and oversight. That approach may provide a stronger opportunity to fully collaborate with multiple partners, including Departments, Sport NI, district councils, Museums NI, sporting governing bodies, UK-wide capital programmes, such as DCMS- and lottery-supported schemes, and potential partners while ring-fencing an appropriate budget. If a group or organisation were to bring forward a project for a sports museum, it may be possible for the Northern Ireland Museums Council, as the lead body for supporting local museums on behalf of my Department, to provide advice and expertise, particularly in areas such as museum standards, accreditation, education and outreach. I want to address some of the comments that have been made this evening and are broadly supportive of the motion. The proposer of the motion said a couple of times: build it, and they will come. Those are powerful words but perhaps not entirely in keeping with the standards and requirements of 'Managing Public Money NI', which sets out the rules and the framework for how we spend public funds. It is certainly an argument that I will put anyway. I appreciate the Member's enthusiasm. He also mentioned the Bangor development, so I hope that he can acknowledge the work that has been done on that and how it is being taken forward. Perhaps that is still a location for the museum that he has in mind. I am grateful to Maurice Bradley for his comments. He told us that he had been playing football from age 15 to 54, so I am sure that his club is missing him since he gave that up last year. I am grateful for his insight and expertise on that. Colm Gildernew rightly mentioned some of the stories and history that could be included. That is certainly worth exploring. Sian Mulholland mentioned nearly every sporting club in North Antrim and every potential sports star from there. She also made an important point about grassroots sports funding. I hope that she can acknowledge that that is exactly what I am trying to deal with, particularly through the Olympic legacy fund and the grants that will soon go to those clubs. They will make a difference, and I hope that that programme continues. Justin McNulty has, in his mind, already been scavenging and pilfering objects from all our sports stars. I do not think that there is anything left to put on his list. He might want to first ask the permission of some of those people, before he grabs all of those objects.

However, he illustrated our sporting history and what could bring people into a museum, including the displays that we currently have. Pádraig Delargy spoke about the economic benefit. That, of course, should be part of our discussions, not just in the initial phases of the project but as regards what income can be brought in. I hope that he, too, recognises the work that is being done to support grassroots sports through the Olympic legacy fund. I am happy to confirm that I am fully supportive of anything that promotes sport. Our superstars have indeed created memories. Any opportunity to relive those magic moments and offer the next generation the chance to learn about our proud sporting tradition is positive. Therefore, I will ask officials to engage with colleagues in the Department for the Economy and National Museums NI to explore what is possible. I thank Members for tabling the motion and for their contributions to the debate.

1,414 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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