Causeway Coast and Glens Council to 'investigate the legality' of Ballycastle's Antrim Arms demolition

The hotel, in the town’s Diamond, was once a bustling coaching inn and was demolished over night on July 8.

The listed building, elements of which were over 400 years old, was declared a dangerous structure by Causeway Coast and Glens Council in 2025.

Following the dangerous structure notice, the building’s owners had put forward a planning application for demolition which was refused by Council’s Planning Department following consultation with the Department for Communities’ (DfC) Historic Environment Division.

In February this year, a Council committee was told: “The applicant has the statutory right to appeal to the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) within four months of the refusal decision but no appeal was submitted. And during that appeal period no further enforcement action could be taken, we had to wait until that period was completed.

“The court order required compliance with the dangerous structure notice, and that remains outstanding. To progress matters council will need to return to court, we’re currently liaising with our legal advisors."

In April this year, firefighters from all over Northern Ireland were tasked to tackle the blaze at the derelict hotel. At the height of the incident over 42 firefighters and personnel were involved in the operational response with NIFRS appliances from Ballycastle, Ballymoney, Portrush, Kilrea and Portstewart Fire Stations attending the scene.

The operation also included two aerial appliances from Northland and Springfield Fire Stations in Derry/Londonderry and Belfast respectively. A NIFRS Command Support Unit from Kilrea Fire Station also attended. Police later said they were treating the blaze as deliberate.

For many in Ballycastle, the demolition of the hotel represents the loss of an important piece of the town’s architectural and social history.

One of the lesser-known stories connected with the Antrim Arms is its association with Guglielmo Marconi.

During his pioneering wireless telegraph experiments on the north Antrim coast in 1898, Marconi and his engineers used Ballycastle as one of their operating bases while establishing the world’s first commercial wireless telegraph link across open water between Ballycastle and the East Lighthouse on Rathlin Island.

The Antrim Arms is understood to have accommodated members of Marconi’s team during these historic experiments, making the hotel part of one of the earliest chapters in global wireless communications.

In a statement on July 9, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council said: “Council is aware that Antrim Arms, Ballycastle, has been substantially demolished.

"Council officers will inspect the site today including investigating the legality of the demolition and liaising with the relevant organisations as appropriate. Council will also assess whether the substantial demolition was in line with proposals submitted by the owner.

"We have no further comment at this time.”