Billy Bell, chair of Stormont’s watchdog public accounts committee, has welcomed the Northern Ireland Audit Office’s (NIAO) findings on the £20m Navan Centre project.

The historical centre, just outside Armagh, was forced to close in 2001, having received £5.2m in public funding during eight years of operation.

In a report published last week, the NIAO concluded that visitor estimates were unfounded and too optimistic and said the government had falsely assumed the centre would become commercially viable.

The report went on to say: “We found that the absence of formal, clearly defined lines of departmental responsibility created confusion.

“The financial viability of the centre depended on revenue generated by visitors through admission fees and also profits from the shop and café. The forecast numbers for visitors were unsound from the outset,” it said.

The centre averaged around 30,000 visitors a year, well below the estimated annual figure of 160,000.

Mr Bell told the Belfast Telegraph: “Instead of pulling the plug on the project, I found the public sector continued to pump millions of taxpayers’ money into it.

“Alarms bells should have been sounded within government at an early stage over the commercial viability of Navan,” he said.

Navan Centre was opened in July 1993 as a visitor and interpretive centre. It is still the premier archaeological earthwork in Northern Ireland. Details: www.niauditoffice.gov.uk