Concerns have been raised after it emerged that a £4m design contract for an interpretative centre dedicated to poet Seamus Heaney was awarded without being put out to public tender.
The Irish News can reveal that the firm appointed to design the high profile centre did not have to go through a bidding process to land the contract from Magherafelt District Council.
Building work on the centre began in Heaney’s hometown of Bellaghy, Co Derry, earlier this year.
It has also emerged that the same architects firm, Coleraine based W&M Given, has been directly awarded the design contracts for eight projects worth £22.75m by the same council between 1995 and 2014.
The projects ranged in value from a £107,000 renovation of the Old Courthouse in Draperstown in 1999, to the £9.6m refurbishment of the Greenvale Leisure Centre in Magherafelt in 2010.
Other contracts included the £2.2m construction of Maghera Leisure Centre in 2000
Assembly member John Dallat, who sits on the assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, said he was concerned.
"It is a matter of concern that contracts appear to have been issued without being put out to tender," he said.
"I believe this is an issue that the Northern Ireland Audit Office should look at."
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Audit Office said: "We are currently undertaking the 14/15 audit and procurement is one of the areas we will be considering."
Between 1995 and 2014 Magherafelt District Council issued contracts for 14 building projects.
Design work on five of the schemes was carried out by council staff while just one project, the £5.5m Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt in 2006, was awarded to a firm other than Given.
A £1.6m contract for synthetic pitches at the Meadowbank facility was awarded to the firm last year and a £2.2 million contract for an extension of Magherafelt's offices was given to Given in 2004.
Major council contracts normally require a tendering process to be carried out with the award usually going to the lowest bidder.
In April this year Magherafelt District Council merged with Cookstown and Dungannon councils to form the new Mid-Ulster District Council which is now headed up by former Derry GAA star Anthony Tohill.
A spokeswoman for that council said the new council authority would have put the Heaney contract out to public tender.
"The appointment of architects was undertaken by the former Magherafelt District Council, believing its procurement arrangements ensured a high quality service that offered best value for money and that costs compared favourably with equivalent services in the market generally," she said.
"In a similar situation, under its procurement procedures, Mid Ulster District Council would tender for this service."
The spokeswoman added that for "Mid Ulster District Council to undertake a complete assessment of a previous council’s procurement practices would require detailed research using resources which we believe at this time should be focussed on service delivery."
Mid Ulster independent councillor Barry Monteith last night said he intends to raise the issue with the council’s own audit committee.
"The audit committee needs to take this very seriously and I will be asking them to investigate this," he said.
Work on the Heaney centre began in January and is expected to be completed next year.
It is being built on the site of a former PSNI barracks which was bought by Magherafelt council in 2012 for £205,000.
It is expected the centre will attract up to 55,000 visitors each year and will include a library and a selection of the poet’s personal belongings.
It will also house a 160-seat theatre for poetry readings, art, drama and music performances.
Mr Heaney is buried just a short distance away from the centre at St Mary’s Cemetery.
It is believed the poet’s family paid a private visit to the centre last month.
W&M Given did not respond to requests for a comment.
