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Landmark former home of Bank of Ireland 'damaged 'by demolition work

The alleged damage caused to the old Bank of Ireland building on the corner of North Street in Belfast Picture by Mal McCann
The alleged damage caused to the old Bank of Ireland building on the corner of North Street in Belfast Picture by Mal McCann The alleged damage caused to the old Bank of Ireland building on the corner of North Street in Belfast Picture by Mal McCann

A CONSERVATION group has said Belfast's built heritage is slowly being destroyed after a listed city centre landmark was damaged in demolition work.

Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS) has claimed damage was caused to the former home of the Bank of Ireland on the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street last Friday.

The heritage body has campaigned for decades for legislation to protect historical buildings in Northern Ireland and criticised a move last November which led to buildings in North Street, which date back more than 100 years, being demolished.

"There has been no indication that any regulatory or monitoring procedure has been activated to prevent ongoing loss and damage to Belfast's irreplaceable built heritage," a spokesman said.

He claimed that the city council had failing to respond to detailed UAHS questions regarding council actions before and following the November 2016 demolitions.

Belfast City Council has said it is investigating reports of damage to the building.

"The council was made aware of the alleged damage to the listed building at 92-100 Royal Avenue on Friday February 24 and an enforcement case was immediately opened, " a council spokesman said.

"Unauthorised works to a listed building is an offence under Section 85 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and may be the subject of enforcement action and subsequent court action," they added.

Construction on the landmark five storey structure began in 1928 and it features a distinctive tiered clock tower on the chamfered corner to North Street.

The building was awarded listed status in 1990, but has been derelict since 2005 when Bank of Ireland moved to new premises at Donegall Square South.

It was put on the market along with further properties at Kent Street and North Street in May 2015 and sold in October for an undisclosed sum.

Members of the Occupy Belfast movement famously took over the landmark building in 2012 for a 10 month period as part of their protests against economic and social inequality.