Welcome
Mourne National Park Working Party has completed the work for which it was established. Its office closed on 2nd October 2007 and the Working Party no longer exists.
The web site will be maintained by Northern Ireland Environment Agency until March 2008 after which relevant material will be transferred to the NIEA website.
Who we are
The Mourne National Park Working Party was established in October 2004 by the Department of the Environment at the request of the Minister Angela Smith MP, to advise the Department on the creation of a national park in Mourne. It is an independent body, with members selected to bring both local and wider perspectives to proposals for a national park in Mourne.
The Chair of the Working Party, Harvey Bicker, was appointed following public advertisement. There are 22 other members, nominated from a range of organisations (see below) including the three district councils, farming organisations, community groups, conservation bodies and recreation and tourism interests. Members of the Working Party attend on a voluntary basis, in their own time and are unpaid. There are also 12 observers from a range of statutory and executive bodies.
The Working Party consists of representatives of the following organisations
- Banbridge District Council
- Down District Council
- Newry and Mourne District Council
- Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside
- Mourne Heritage Trust
- National Trust
- Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association
- Ulster Farmer's Union
- Mourne Trustees
- Northern Ireland Environment Link
- Northern Ireland Tourist Board
- Rural Community Network
- Federation of Small Businesses
- Sports Council
- Ulster Society for the Protection of the Countryside
What we do
In its first year of operation the Working Party has concentrated on gathering information. It has made a collective response to the Department’s discussion paper on National Parks and other Protected Landscape Areas. Research has been commissioned into the impact of National Parks in areas comparable to Northern Ireland and on the socio-economic profile of the Mourne area. In May 2005, the Working Party commissioned a study to determine a proposed boundary for the National Park. A final report on a boundary proposal was presented to the Working Party in October 2005.