Cathedral restoration gets green light
It was a long time coming, but the letter the Dean of Derry has spent years waiting for has finally arrived. On Wednesday the Very Reverend Doctor William Morton received confirmation of £2m in government money to restore St Columb’s Cathedral. It is the culmination of years of campaigning for the Dean, his parishioners, and others across the city – and he knows exactly how the money will be spent. “We’re talking about the entire building. All the exterior stonework needs done, and in some cases that may mean replacing some of the stones. The interior of the walls need attention, because we have to dust down the pews nearly every day. About 80 years ago they decided to remove the plaster from the walls inside to expose the stone, but they then put in a mix that was too strong, so it means the building isn’t breathing.”
