Northern Ireland

Dark sky observatory in Co Tyrone gets £500,000 boost

 A computer image of a planned dark sky observatory at Davagh Forest near Cookstown in Co Tyrone
A computer image of a planned dark sky observatory at Davagh Forest near Cookstown in Co Tyrone A computer image of a planned dark sky observatory at Davagh Forest near Cookstown in Co Tyrone

PLANS for the north’s first 'dark sky observatory' have been given a £500,000 funding boost.

Work at Davagh Forest, in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains near Cookstown, Co Tyrone, is due to begin this month.

The £1 million project is being developed by Mid Ulster District Council and will include a visitor centre, virtual reality exhibition and telescope.

The centre will be located close to the ancient Beaghmore Stone Circles, away from the lights of built up areas, and is scheduled to open next year.

A £500,000 investment has been made by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) rural tourism scheme.

Council chair Kim Ashton said the observatory and visitor centre, along with other attractions, will “create an unrivalled visitor experience”.

“This is one of the most exciting, innovative and progressive tourism development projects of recent times and it is at the core of our work to showcase this part of the country as the heart of ancient Ulster,” she said.

“Visitors will not only look up and be mesmerised by the clear views of star constellations, in exactly the same way as our ancestors living in those hills did, but also look around them at a rich landscape of substantial archaeological and cultural significance and a history which spans not just centuries, but millennia.”