IT is hoped that expressions of interest will be sought for Necarne Equestrian Centre in Irvinestown after it was vacated by the Department of Rural Development back in June.

DARD's decision to leave the Fermanagh District Council facility is because it has become 'surplus to requirements' according to a DARD spokesperson. Equine education provision is now being provided at the main Enniskillen Campus.

"From a business perspective DARD does not need the Necarne facility to deliver its equine education programmes from this academic year onwards. As this facility is surplus to our requirements, college management is currently working with Fermanagh District Council to dispose of it," added the spokesperson.

Robert Gibson, the director of leisure, tourism and arts at Fermanagh Council, has said DARD will not be allowed out of its 25 year lease until there is an alternative found for Necarne and confirmed that an agent has been appointed to test the market for expressions of interests. Mr Gibson says it is hoped this will be complete in the next couple of weeks.

"The department have declared they don't have a further use for it and the council is seeking expressions of interest to see if anyone else wishes to get involved in it either in leasing it or running it. Until the council gets an expression of interest that is acceptable from someone else and agrees to take on that responsibility it remains the responsibility of DARD. They have asked the council to release them from the lease," he said.

SDLP Councillor John O'Kane hopes a decision on the future of the facility will be made soon because Necarne is "the lungs of Irvinestown".

He added: "It was determined once that 400 people use Necarne every day for walking, jogging, walking dogs. The car park is closed but you can continue to walk around it. When it closed down it was an absolute nightmare. Our preferred option would be for someone to come in and make appropriate use of it, such as an equestrian centre, but all options are on the table." The facility has 16 bedrooms, a warden's flat, 100 stables and a walled garden.

"It's getting into a very rough condition, the place is deteriorating greatly," said a concerned local resident, "People are generally annoyed because there is no access to the premises. It is sitting there as a redundant building. There are facilities for all the other sports in the county but the horse people are totally forgotten about. There needs to be a duty of care to maintain the premises. The danger is that a private buyer will buy it. If it was closer to Enniskillen maybe it wouldn't be closed." And an Irvinestown businessman has said the closure of Necarne is having an impact on local business.

"Over the years a lot of people came to the events and used the facilities in the town. One of the biggest things was all the students based there; you had their families visiting, using the shops, even students working in the businesses. The whole thing is gone and I feel disgusted. If you compare it to Cavan Equestrian Centre which is packed every week there is no reason why Irvinestown can't be the same. It's a disgrace the way it has gone, especially when you think that the likes of Princess Anne and Zara Phillips and up to 10,000 people visited the events there over the years," he said.