�50k donation over cable project

The Hibernia North Transatlantic cable is located 22 miles off the north coast

A businessman has donated �50,000 to a possible legal review of a decision to build a telehouse station at Coleraine rather than Londonderry.

A cable linking NI to the Hibernia North Transatlantic cable is to come ashore in Portrush, as part of what is known as Project Kelvin.

The telehouse will interconnect with NI's existing telecoms infrastructure as well as that of the Irish Republic.

Phillip O'Doherty said a judicial review was the only way forward.

However, the mayor of Derry, Gerard Diver, said no decision had been taken on what would happen next.

"We need a very close examination of the process and to shine a light on where it was changed," he said.

"I'm not ruling out any action, but I'm underlining the point that as public representatives, and where public money is concerned as there may well be in this, we have to be extremely carful about any action that we take."

'Miss out'

Politicians in Derry have claimed that the telehouse was originally to have been built in the city and that it could miss out on associated investment if it was not.

The project to connect Northern Ireland with the Hibernia North Transatlantic cable, located 22 miles off the north coast, will improve the speed and extent to which firms can trade information with the rest of the world.

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