www.culturenorthernireland.org

Nerve Centre pivotal to online 'cultural atlas'

The Nerve Centre has played a pivotal role in creating a new website showcasing the North's cultural assets in the international arena.

NIO Minister, Angela Smith, officially launched the Culture Northern Ireland website on Monday 8 March at a ceremony in Belfast. The website is an initiative supported by the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure at a cost of £400,000.

Praising the partnership forged between the Nerve Centre and the Linen Hall Library, in Belfast, for making the venture possible, Mrs Smith said: "This very imaginative website has been described as a cultural atlas, which takes internet surfers into the very heart of Northern Ireland's rich cultural heritage.

"Although still in its infancy, it is designed to provide a wide range of information on topics such as the arts, sport, industry and commerce.

"It will give the browser a real insight into what over 300 of our villages, towns and cities can offer both the visitor and local people alike and supports my Department's aim of raising awareness of the province's many cultural treasures."

The Minister stressed that the success of the website would depend on the quality of its contents and appealed to those individuals and organisations around Northern Ireland, with local expertise, to help build up the store of information it held.

She said: "To give a fuller picture of the individual areas, I would urge people around the province to pay the website a visit, at http://www.culturenorthernireland.org and forward their local knowledge to the designers, so that as many details as possible can be included."

Angela Smith also pointed out that she also intended to explore the possibility of a similar launch in Washington DC to maximise the promotion of Northern Ireland's cultural assets in the United States.

She added: "I am confident that this website will project a positive image of Northern Ireland at home and abroad and that it has the potential to encourage more visitors to consider holidaying here."

For further details on the Culture Northern Ireland website contact: jp@nerve-centre.org.uk

www.culturenorthernireland.org