Belfast's failed bid to be crowned European City of Culture 2008 is being investigated by the Northern Ireland Audit Office, it was revealed today.
Investigators are examining all invoices and documentation collected by the team who invested £1 million sterling of public money into the project.
Despite a major campaign backed by the Stormont administration, city councillors and the private sector, the Imagine Belfast team did not even makethe six-strong shortlist last October.With the inquiry into how Imagine Belfast ran its financial affairs just weeks old, Comptroller and Auditor General John Dowdall has not decided whether a report will be published.
Mr Tom Collins, the man who headed the bid, accepted an evaluation was needed tofind out what lessons can be learnt.But he stressed: "I have no concerns about how the money was spent and how the bid was put together and what the company delivered.
"Nothing in this life is perfect and what we said at the time was that this was a learning process," he said.
Details of the investigation emerged just 48 hours after Liverpool took the coveted title which can transform the winning city's economic fortunes.
PA
