Threats to cathedral repair after budget

VITAL conservation work on one of the country’s finest cathedrals could grind to a halt within weeks after savage cuts in heritage funding.

Rev Nigel Dunne, the Dean of historic St Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork, described the Government’s decision to cut by 77% the funding it gives to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s Heritage Unit, as “daft” and “short-sighted”.

The William Burges-designed cathedral, which was consecrated in 1870, is one of Cork’s most iconic structures.