Dean pays tribute to Cathedral’s supporters

“Looking back it really has been an absolutely huge project,” he said, sitting in the stunning new office space inside the historic church.

“I want to make the point that it was The Sentinel which brought the Cathedral to people’s attention, and highlighted that at the Cathedral we were in serious need of restoration. By bringing the whole matter up like that the Sentinel directed the focus of all sorts of political opinion to here in the city, and it was that which led to the City Council backing the project. That was most encouraging, and the support came from right across the community, with everyone rolling in behind us,” he said.

Confessing that the restoration process has been “an immensely exciting time” for him, the past four years have seen the largest body of work being undertaken at the Cathedral since the building of the new Chancel was erected in 1887, with the best part of £4 million spent in the process. It is money well spent in the view of many, given the building’s iconic status within the city and the fact that St Columb’s is the first Post-Reformation Cathedral to have been built.

A body of skilled people were required to make the restoration work, and among the first to be singled out for thanks and praise by the Dean were the management and staff of Woodvale Construction from Omagh, who undertook much of the restorative work. He also thanked the sub-contractors, McColgan electricians from Ardmore, as well as the plumbing and heating specialist engineers, Cogan and Shackleton, and the sound engineer Robert Andrews of Portglenone, and Johnston and McCrory the painters, from Strabane.

High on the list for thanks was McMonagle Stone from Mountcharles, and particularly the architects, Mullarkey Pedersen, and especially the late Tom Mullarkey, to whom the Dean paid a glowing tribute.

“Tom was not only an architect, he was a genius in terms of his ability to know what could be done in relation to the church building. He just had a real gift of knowing what was aesthetically pleasing and acceptable and in keeping with the character of the structure,” Dean Morton said.

The Dean said he was also delighted to have had the benefit of the work of the late Mr Joe Coyle, who sadly died in October last year. His hand can be seen in the stained glass of the refurbished Cathedral.

“Joe simply loved his work and it was always his greatest aim to work on the stained glass of the Cathedral building, and the work he has done really is of a superb quality,” he said, adding: “All of the people who have worked on this building have done a magnificent job, and I am delighted that all of the local politicians, MLAs and MPs have all given much welcome support.

“I also want to pay special tribute to all the Cathedral staff who have quietly gone about the day-to-day business of keeping the Church ticking over despite the building process no matter what was going on, the extent of the scaffolding, the closing of the aisles,” he said.

Dean Morton was quick to stress that the forthcoming religious service was not a ‘re-opening event’ but a service of thanksgiving.

“This is not an opening because we have never been closed. Rather, this will be a Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for all that has happened here in the past life of the Church and those who have gone to their eternal reward as well as for those who have loved and cared for that Church over the generations and handed it on to us. In our time here it has been our privilege to have been able to do this immense renovation task and that is why we are thanking God. This really is going to be a celebration of the Cathedral and a thanksgiving for what has been achieved,” the Dean said of the service planned for June 9.