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<\/p>\nVandals have caused \u201cwanton damage\u201d to the historical home of Northern Ireland\u2019s first prime minister.<\/p>\n
Craigavon House in east Belfast was the home of Sir James Craig and dates back to 1880.<\/p>\n
Sir James was the director of Dunville and Company, a company that blended pure pot still whiskey as well as importing tea to Belfast, and first became an MP in 1903 before becoming one of the leaders of the campaign against home rule, and the region\u2019s first prime minister in 1921.<\/p>\n
Anti-home rule rallies were held in the grounds of Craigavon House, which also hosted meetings of the first provisional government of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
It went on to be a hospital for the Ulster Volunteers returning from the First World War and later used as a nursing home.<\/p>\n
It is currently owned by the charity the Somme Association.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Somme Association director Carol Walker said there has been a running battle guarding against anti social behaviour at the house all summer, but things escalated with an incident thought to have happened last weekend.<\/p>\n
Damage was caused to hand-carved spindles on the staircase, and a part of the original ornate cornice was also torn down and used as a weight for a Union Flag to be erected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely disappointing because they got in and caused wanton damage, the double return stair case is absolutely exquisite, it\u2019s 150 years old,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house was built in 1880, it\u2019s unique, it\u2019s beautiful, and each one of those spindles are hand carved and individual, and has a different motif on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have damaged nine of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house is full of history, and it\u2019s a shared history. When it was the UVF hospital and then the Somme Hospital, it looked after all soldiers who returned from the First World War.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely annoying for us as a charity because it costs us money and time, looking after it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it has been very hard to find funding to restore Craigavon House.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have tried.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had every political leader, we\u2019ve had Secretary of States and all political parties, and still Craigavon House hasn\u2019t been able to secure the funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some ways the history of the house itself is a bit of a millstone around its neck,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a push to try and safeguard Craigavon House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the home of the first prime minister of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was in any other country, it would be fully restored and a visitors\u2019 attraction.\u201d<\/p>\n
TUV councillor Matthew Warwick said he was \u201cextremely disappointed\u201d by the vandalism.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
He said \u201cCraigavon House played a pivotal role in the history of Northern Ireland, and is a building that speaks to sacrifice, service, and statehood.<\/p>\n
He praised the Somme Association for their work for the house, but said it had been neglected\u201d by politicians, and that despite being included in the 2020 New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) deal as a site earmarked for restoration, nothing has been done.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo plan, no political urgency.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy contrast, Republican cultural demands have not only been heard \u2014 they have been delivered: an Irish Language Act has been enacted and an Irish Language Commissioner is in the process of being recruited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSignificant public resources have been dedicated to advancing that cultural agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, Craigavon House continues to decay \u2014 unguarded, unrestored, and now vandalised.<\/p>\n
\u201cStormont\u2019s Programme for Government includes a commitment to redevelop Casement Park, yet Craigavon House \u2014 which was specifically mentioned in the New Decade, New Approach agreement \u2014 doesn\u2019t merit a mention, four years after that promise was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public will be rightly unimpressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI commend the Somme Association and Somme Museum for their tireless efforts to preserve the legacy of Craigavon House but without political action, their work is undermined.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraigavon House is not just a building.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a symbol of Ulster\u2019s contribution to history, and it deserves better than this \u2014 better than vandalism, and better than neglect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vandals have caused \u201cwanton damage\u201d to the historical home of Northern Ireland\u2019s first prime minister. Craigavon House in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[118184,1144,118185,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-328129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-craigavon-house","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-sir-james-craig","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114993715352518697","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}