UUP have a ‘Cunningplan’ to boost finances…
AT the end of last month, when the Electoral Commission published the bigger parties’ annual accounts, Davy Gordon noted that the Ulster Unionists’ £400k+ deficit dwarfed the other local parties’, but that finances had been ‘boosted by an increased valuation for its Cunningham House headquarters in east Belfast’. A revaluation had pushed the value of ‘Cunningplan’ House up by £800,000 and the party has now announced that its HQ is up for rent. With the party having been in decline for a number of years, and presumably more use being made of Stormont’s office space, the move seems to make sense, although a little face may be lost if operating out of more humble premises like the other NI parties (with the possible exception of Sinn Fein). The Irish News reckons it won’t be long before Cunningham House will be put on the property market, and values it at around £2.5m.
They should never have left Glengall Street.
Maybe Billy Armstrong could bail them out by giving the rent for his portacabin to the party instead of his wife.Or change Cunningham House to apartments without the need for planning permission after all Billy knows how to bypass planning laws.
What the UUP wants to do is put Cunningham House up for public auction and use the Stormont offices, moving Party HQ to Sackville St, Lisburn where it would be more accessible to the whole party.