Exploris aquarium to re-open on Monday

This Monday, August 15, will see the Exploris aquarium in Portaferry re-open to the public, following a two-year closure.

A £1.5m investment has transformed the popular tourist attraction, which now features more fish and new tropical and reptile areas; two otters and a Nile crocodile, which was rescued from a pond in Co. Carlow. The popular Viking story feature has been retained for visitors and NI’s only seal sanctuary, which is located at Exploris, is also still providing its vital service.

The aquarium, which opened in 1987, closed down in 2014 after the former Ards Borough Council – which ran the facility – gave it two months to find additional funding or face being sold off. A number of local representatives had been of the opinion that annual running costs of £600,000 were too much for ratepayers to bear.

However, that decision sparked a public outcry and supporters launched a campaign to keep the popular attraction open.

Earlier this year, the new Ards and North Down Borough Council approved a £1.5m package including almost £1m of funding from the Department of the Environment, to ensure that renovations were completed. An element of the funding also came from Exploris’s new operator, Crumlin Road Gaol Ltd.