£3m lottery fund boost for Giant's Causeway heritage site

THE "breathtaking" Giant's Causeway has been awarded a £3 million grant to help create new facilities for visitors, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced yesterday.

The World Heritage Site, dubbed the "stepping stones to Scotland", boasts 40,000 interlinked basalt columns extending into the sea off Northern Ireland.

Legend has it that the giant Finn MacCool built the enormous "stepping stones" to do battle with a Scottish rival – though the more prosaic explanation is that they were formed by cooling lava 60 million years ago.

Northern Ireland's only World Heritage Site, which includes the Giant's Causeway and other geological features such as Finn MacCool's organ, chimney tops, and even his boot, is owned by the National Trust on behalf of the nation.

The funding announced yesterday will go towards an 18.5m project that includes a new visitor centre and improving existing paths, as well as new paths and further protection and conservation of the 3km stretch of coastline.

The project will also include an outreach scheme to recruit volunteers to help out at the Causeway and involve schools, universities and local communities in a series of education and environmental programmes.

The Heritage Lottery Fund also announced a 3.7m grant to Liverpool's Florence Institute for Boys, one of the oldest purpose-built youth clubs in the UK, for repair and conservation work.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, chairwoman of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: "This is heritage in all its kaleidoscopic glory. From Northern Ireland's breathtaking coastal landscape to Liverpool's first-ever youth club, these places have mass appeal."

The Heritage Lottery Fund also announced initial backing for other projects – including Roman Maryport on Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria.