Coronavirus: Millennium Forum to be lit red to highlight pandemic difficulties

THE Millennium Forum will be lit up red over the next few weeks to highlight the difficulties facing the industry caused by the pandemic.

The venue on Derry’s Newmarket Street, which attracts about 320,000 visitors each year, has been closed since March since lockdown was introduced.

Ninety staff are currently on furlough.

The forum’s chief executive, David McLaughlin, wants more clarity from the Stormont Executive on when they can re-open.

But he warns social distancing could make it impossible.

“One metre means we could possibly admit 240 patrons into an auditorium which seats over 1,000,” he says.

“If we are hamstrung in regards to reopening at a reasonable capacity then something needs to be done to address the sector in general.

“We would look at, for example, of some sort of extension of the furlough scheme,” he says.

Tags: