Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill has announced that the Executive has supported plans to relocate her Departmental headquarters to the Executive owned Shackleton Barracks site in Ballykelly. 
Speaking today, Minister O’Neill said : “Now that this approval has been received we will now press on with the necessary detailed design work with the intention of letting a contract to begin the building work by the end of 2015 for completion late 2017. The plan is to make the move in two phases- the first by the end of 2017 and the remainder by the end of 2020.”

“Consistent with the Executive’s commitment to relocate to a rural area, this move to Ballykelly forms part of a broader programme of relocations that is planning for Forest Service being headquartered in Fermanagh and Fisheries Division in Downpatrick by June 2015 and Rivers Agency headquartered in the Loughry Campus of the College of Agri Food and Rural Enterprise by March 2016.

“Not only does this decision facilitate meeting my Programme for Government target to advance the relocation of DARD’s Headquarters to a rural location but I also expect these moves to deliver real social and economic improvement in rural areas while enhancing the identification of the Department with the rural community,” added Mrs O'Neill. 

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