News

Due to a series of mix-ups and lack of coordination that could only be described as incompetence the developers who demolished Bow Cochran's house in English Street walked from Armagh Magistrate's court having been given an absolute discharge.

Because the building's ground floor facade had been altered in the 1950's only the upper storeys enjoyed the protection of being listed. The different floors were divided into two shops which subsequently had been given separate street numbers (No. 32 was on the ground floor and No. 34 the more architecturally important part of the building was on the first floor).

However this fact seems to have eluded the authorities and when communicating with the owners who knocked the place down. They always referred to the premises simply as No. 32. This confusion was exacerbated by letters from the local authority which could be read as encouragement to demolish the property.

Despite a 17 month time period between the demolition and the case coming to court, the Department of the Environment left it until the outset of the hearing before amending the summons to include the upper storey (No. 34). Sympathy for the owners and the misleading information they had been given led the court to exonerate them from blame and they were given an absolute discharge.

Of course the premises was inside the Armagh conservation area and should have been protected in any case so there is no excuse for demolishing one of the last of Armagh's Georgian buildings.

The District Council and the Department of the Environment were encouraged by the magistrate to try and participate in "joined up thinking", in the future.