Ulster Folk Museum to be ‘reawakened’ with £50m investment

The Ulster Folk Museum is to receive a £50 million investment to improve facilities and enhance access to collections.

The funding is made up of £40 million through the Department for Communities and £10 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund – their biggest grant in Northern Ireland in a decade.

The investment comes as National Museums NI deemed that some of the Ulster Folk Museum’s facilities are “no longer fit for purpose” due to a lack of investment in recent decades.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said the funding will strengthen the museum’s role in helping people connect with their heritage.

He said: “For more than 60 years, the Ulster Folk Museum has preserved, shared and celebrated the traditions, skills and ways of life of the people of Ulster, past and present, and this investment is vital to ensure our heritage is retained for future generations.”

The funding is for the “Reawakening Project” and is described as a “profound shift in the museums positioning”.

National Museums NI is also working with a number of funding trusts and philanthropists to explore other sources of funding.

Kathryn Thomson, chief executive of National Museums NI, said: “The Ulster Folk Museum’s collection is a people’s collection.

“It has never been more relevant to our lives than today.

These objects and stories reflect shared experiences and different traditions from across Ulster and help people better understand who we all are.”