Omagh’s County Hall to be new civil service regional hub

CIVIL service workers from the Omagh area can soon base themselves at the County Hall in the town under the new Connect2 Hub scheme.

Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, last week confirmed that the facility, located at the junction of Sedan Avenue and the Mountjoy Road, is to be one of eight ‘regional hubs’ across the North.

Stormont has introduced the regional hubs in an attempt to help decentralise some services out of Belfast. The initiative was given added impetus during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Preparation work at the County Hall building has been ongoing and it is expected that the civil servants will move in this spring.

West Tyrone Sinn Fein MLA, Declan McAleer, welcomed progress on the scheme, and said discussions are ongoing between the council and the Department of Finance in preparation.

“I welcome this progress to -date, and have no doubt that it will be a great asset to Omagh town centre, helping increase footfall and substantially reduce travel times for civil service employees which promotes better work life balance while also reducing carbon emissions.”

West Tyrone MP, Orfhlaith Begley said the new hub is a ‘great’ news story for Omagh.

“The economic, social and environmental benefits of the hub concept should be used as a template for other public and private employers,” she added.

“I am continuing to press for additional similar hubs at other locations in West Tyrone.”