A provision of £1 million has been made in my Department's Estimates for the project, of which 75 per cent is to be funded from the European Union's Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-99. To date £91,000 has been expended.
The first phase of the project is a stand-alone scheme which involves development of the ground floor vaulted areas for exhibition purposes together with access to the first floor and provision of small scale guide and visitor facilities.
Detailed design for this work is nearing completion. This design is also being informed by the results of the current archaeological excavation programme which commenced on site on 20 September 1999. Advertisements were recently placed in the newspapers seeking suitably qualified building contractors who would be interested in tendering for the work. It is now expected that building work will commence within the next few months and be completed before the end of the year 2000.