South Down MP and SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie MLA and DCDR chairman Michael Collins check the guage is right with the newly laid rails inside the Carriage Gallery

South Down MP and SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie MLA and DCDR chairman Michael Collins check the guage is right with the newly laid rails inside the Carriage Gallery

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie was given a guided tour of the new gallery under construction at the Downpatrick and County Railway last week.

The MP said she was delighted to visit the Lower Market Street facility to see at ?rst hand the ongoing work on the gallery project which is expected to open for business around Easter next year.

She said the Downpatrick project involves around half a million pounds of capital investment in what she described as an “important tourism project for the Lecale area.

The MP continued: “I hope other projects connected with the railway programme come to fruition such as the link to the St. Patrick Centre and the reinstatement of the bridge at Ballydugan Road

“These are important projects to this area in that tourism heritage is a major contributor to the local economy. It’s important this work is accompanied by the provision of additional bed spaces such as a replacement hotel.”

Miss Ritchie also commended members of the Downpatrick railway project board for their significant work” in bringing the history of the railway in Co. Down back into focus and in making a contribution to the tourism economy of St Patrick’s Country and the Mournes.