THE ARMAGH OBSERVATORY AND PLANETARIUM
THE CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE CONWROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL TO
THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
o￿nIon on financial statemerts
I certity that I have audrted the financial statements of the Arrn￿ Obsefvatory and
Planetarium for the year ended 31 March 2023 uThJer the Arn￿gh Observatcry
Planetarium (Northem Ireland) Order 1995. The financial stateTh￿nIS comwse.. the
Statement of FinatKlal ActNities, the BalarKe Sheet. the Cash Fkm Statement." and the
related notes irKludiw signif￿an( accountsrNJ pohcies. The fina￿la1 reporting framewcKk
that has been applied in Iheir weparation is aPpI￿able law and Unrted Kingdom
accountsrNJ standards indLKling Financial Reporting StarNJard (FRS) 102, the Financial
RetxxtirKJ stsndard applicable in the UK and Republic of IrelarKJ (Unrted King
Generally Accepted AccountsrNJ Practice).
I have also audited the infonnation In the Trustees. Annual Report that is desuibed in that
report as having b￿n audited.
In my opinion the financial statements..
give a true and fair view ol the state of Armagh Observatory and Planetanum's
affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its t￿al incoming resources and expendrture
ol resoLrces lor the year then erKJed:
have been woperty wepared in acuxdarKe with the Fnancial Reporting
StarKJard applcable In the UK arKI Republlc of IielarKJ (FRS 102): and
have been prO[￿ty prepared in accordarKe wrth the Amiagh Observatcxy
Planetarium (Northem Irela1￿ Order 1995 arKI Department lor Communrtles
directsons is5ue(I thereun(ler.
Oplnlon on regul
In my opinion. in all material respects the expenditure arKI i￿0￿￿ recorded in the financial
statements have been atvlied lo the puitx)ses interKled by Ihe Assembly and the financial
transactions recorded in the fina￿￿1 Staterne￿s cOnfC￿ to the autI￿l[leS which govern
Basis lor opinion
I conducted my audit in aCCordar￿e with Irrtemational Standards on Auditing (ISAS) (UK).
applicable law and Pract.￿ Nole 10 'Audit of Financial Statements and Regularity of
Public Secknr Bodies in the United TrQ'ngdom'. My ￿sponSibl11t1eS under those stsndards
are further described in the ALKlrtorfs responSi￿.11￿.eS for the aLMlit of the finanaal
statements Secti￿ of this Cernr￿ate.
My staff arKJ l are kndependent of Armagh Observatory Planetarium In acciKdance wrth
the eihical requiremeni5 that are relevant to my aLKlrt of financial Statements in the U K.
ind￿ing the Financial Reportsng Counal's Ethical Standard, and have fulfilled our other
ethical responsibil￿'e5 in accordan￿ wrth Ihese requirements.
I believe that Ihe audit eV￿der￿e obtained is sufficient and apwowiate to wovide a basis
foK ffly OFMnions.

Conclusions relating to wlng concern
In auditing the financial siatements, I have concI￿le￿ that Armagh ObservattNy
Planetarium's use of the going concem basis of accountsng in preparatson of the
financial statements is appropriaie.
Based on the work I have perf(Th￿l. I have not identffie(l any material uncertainties
relatiThJ to events or condrtions thaL individually C￿ collectivety. may cast signif￿an1 doubt
on Ihe Amiagh ObservatcKy Planetarium's atm.lty to contirbue as a goirMJ concem for a
peri(xJ of at least twefve monlhs from when the financial statements are aUth￿Ised for
issue.
The goirrfJ concem tsa￿.5 of aCC￿nting for Arn￿gh Observat(ry PlanetsrKJm is adopted
in consmleration of the requirements set in the Govemment Financial Repc￿ts"ng
Manual, which require entrties to adopt the going concern basis of aCc￿nting in the
preparation of the financial staiements where rt antscipated thai the serV￿eS which they
provide will conts.nue into the future.
My responskn"lrties and the resFM)nsibilrties of the T￿￿teeS ar￿ the Accounting Officer wrth
respect to going concem are described in the relevant sectk)ns of this reporL
Ottw Inl(xmatlon
The other Infomats'on comprises the information induded in the Trustees, annual report
other than the finarKial statements. the parts of the Trustees, described in that rep￿ as
having been audited. arNJ my audrt certfficate arKI repMNt. The Trusiees and the Accouniing
oirKer are responsible fc￿ the other Info￿a￿"On irKluded ii the annual repcKt. My opinion
the financial staterTEnts (k)es ￿ cover the other infO￿￿'0n arKI except to Ihe exlent
otherwise explicitty stated in my repcrt l th) not exwess any fcKm of asswance CO￿lUSion
thereon.
My resFNJnsibilrty is lo read the other In[(￿atK￿ and, in doing so. consider whether the
other informats'on is matetially inconsistent wilh finarKial statements. or my knowledge
obLiined in Ihe audrt c￿ otherwise appear5 to be materially misstated. If l identify such
material inconsister￿leS or apparent material misstatements. l am required to determine
whether this gives rise to a maierial misstateffEnt in the financial statements themselves.
If, based on the work I have perf(xmed. I conclude that there is a material misstatement
of this other information, l am required to rep￿ that fact.
I have ncthiig to reFKKt in Ihis regard.
OFxnlon on other matters
In my opinion based on the y￿￿k un(Jertaken in the cowse of the audrt:
the parts of the Trustees, to be audited have been Pfoperfy prePa￿d in
accordance wrth Department for Communities directions made undet the
Amiagh Observatory Planetarium (Northern IrelaThY) Order 1995: and
the infonmats'on given in the Trustees, Annual Report the finanaal year for wthich
the financial statements are wepared is C￿siS￿nt wrth the financial statements.
Matters on which I rep(xt by exceptiihi
In the light of the knowledge and und￿StarKling of the Armagh Observatcry Planetarnim
and rts environment obtained in the c￿r5e of the audiL I have ncA identified material
misstatements in the TNstees' Annual Rewt.

I have n(thlng to rep(xt in respect of the follo￿"[¥j matters ￿lch I reFKXt to you If, in my
opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kepL' c
the financial statements and the parts of the Trustees Repcrt to be audited are
t in ageement ffth the accounts'ng reC[￿d5.
• certain disclowres of remuneration specffied by the Govemment Financial
ReFX)rt MarKJal are not made: (
I have not received all of the Infixmation arKJ explanatlons I require for my audiL'
the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with the Department of
Finance's guidance.
Responsibilities of the Board of Govemors and Accounling Officer for the financial
ststements
As explained rn(￿e fully ￿ the Slatemenl of the ResponsitM"lib'es ol the Govemors arKI
Acc(xJntlng Officer Ihe Gover1K￿s arKI the AccountirNJ Off￿er are resFK)nsible for:
the weparatM)n of the fina￿al statements and f(K b￿"ng satisfHI that they gNe
a true and faIrv￿.
such internal controls as the Trustees Accounting oificer determines is
necessary to enable the weparats.on of financial ststements that are free troffl
material mi5ststemenL whether due to fraud of ￿0[.
ensunng the Trustees, Annual Rep￿t, Ithich includes the Remuneration and
Staff Rep(rt is wepared in acc(￿dan￿ wrth ￿ Govemment Financial
Rew)rting Manual:
assessirKJ the Amiagh Observatory Planelanum's ability to continue as a going
concern, disc105ing, as apFAicable, matters ielated to going corKern and usi
the ping C￿CeM basis crf acc￿nting unless the Trustees arKI Accounb"rvJ
Officer antKipates Ihat the services provided by AM￿gh Observat
Planetan'um's wll not conts'nue to be wovided in the future.
Audltorfs rtspOn￿bllltles for the audlt of the flnanclal statements
My responsi￿.1￿ is to examine, cffj aThJ rep(wt IM the financial statements in
accordarKe Wilh the Amiagh Observatory Planetarium (Northem IreIar￿ Order 1995.
My oty"ectives are to obtain reasonable asSUrar￿e atx)ut whether the Tinar￿la1 statements
as a wtK)le are free frixn material misstatemenL Ythether due lo fra￿1 ￿ error and to issue
Certif￿ate that indudes my opinlon. ReasOr￿b1e assurance Is a h￿h level of assurance
but is rKII a guaiantee that an audrt corKlucted in aCCordar￿e with ISAS (UK) will always
delect a material mi55tatefflent when rt exisls. MlsStateff￿nts can arise from fraud or err
and are considered material if. iThJNidually or in Ihe aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the ecOr￿￿1C deu'sons of users taken the basis of these finanual
sta￿rnents.
I design prC￿edureS in line with my responsft)ilities. (xrtlined above. to detect material
mi'sstatements in respect of non-compliance laws arKI regulatson, ir￿￿dIng fraud.

My pr(￿e(lureS included:
otAainirNJ an urKJerstandlng of the legal arKJ regulat(Ky framework appllcable
to the Armagh Ob%¥valCry Planetarium through discussion with
management and appI￿allOn of e￿enSWe public sector acc￿niabIlIty
knowledge. The key laws and regulations I considered Included Artnagh
Observatory Planetarium (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.
making enquffes of managemert and those charged ￿￿th governa￿E on
Annagh Observatory Planetarium's compliance with laws and regulations,
making erbquiries of intemal audit, management arKI those charged with
govemance as to susceptibilty to irtegulanty arKI traud, their assessment of
Ihe risk of material misslatement due 10 fraud aThJ irregularity, and their
knowledge of acttlal, suspected. and alleged fraud arKI irregularty:
completing risk assessment priKedures to as5e55 the suscepts"bilty of
Amagh Observatory Planetarium's finanoal statements to matenal
misstatemenL ir￿￿ld11¥j how fraud might (Kcur. This inckjded. txn was not
limited to. an engagement directLK led erNJagement team discuss1c￿ on fraud
to identity partKular areas. transaction streams and business pracb.ces thai
may be susceptible to material misstatement due to fra￿1. As part of this
dI￿Us510n, l Klentified FxAenlial for fraud in the followng areas: revenue
reC(￿n￿On. experMJrture reCOgnit￿n. and postsng of unusual joumals:
erKJagement diiect(K oversight to enswe the ermjagement leam collectively
had the apwopriate comwence. Capabil￿"e5, and skills to K1entity LY
recc*Jnise non-compliarKe Wilh aFyKable legal and regulatory framewc
throughout the audl.
(locumenting arKI evaluatiThJ the design and implementation of internal
controls in place to M￿gate risk of material misstatement due 10 fraud and
n(￿-COmpliance wrth laws and [ewlatK￿S.
designing audit wocedures 10 address specific law5 arKI regulations which
the engagement team C[￿sIdered to have a direct material effeci on the
financial statements in terms of misstatement and i￿egUlarty. including fraud.
These audrt procedures included, but were N)t limited 10. reading board arKI
committee minutes. arKI agr￿lI¥j financial statement discbsuies to
urKlertying supp(Yts"ng thXumenta￿.0n a￿1 apw)vals as apwowate: and
addressirNJ the risk of fraud as a resull of management override of controls
by:
[￿rfCmlng anatyts.cal to identrfy uwsual unexpected
relats"onships IK rrK)vements,'
teSti￿ji0[lnal entries to Klents"ty FK)tents"al anomalies, arKI inapwopriate
Unauthor￿ed adjustments,.
o assesslng whether J￿ernents arKI (ther assumpt.ions made in
deienniniThJ accounts.ng ests"mates were indicabve of F*xeniial bias: and
InvestigatirKJ signifKanl ot urMJsual transacti(￿5 made outside of the
rmjttnal course of ￿SIness.

A further descripts.on of my responsi￿.1111es f(Y the audit of the fina￿la1 statements Is
located on the Finanaal Reporting c￿n￿l'S Web￿te WwW.frc.￿ .uklauditrKyes
nsI￿1rtIes.
This desuiption fcffiis part of my certifKaie.
In addition. l am required to otAain evidence sufficient to give reasonable aSSUra￿e thal
the experKliture arKI income recorded in the finarKial slater￿tt5 have been applied to the
rposes intended by the Assembly and the financial transactions recorded in the financial
statements C￿(orM to the authorthes whKh g)vem them.
Report
I have obsefvats.ons to make on these financial Stateme￿5.
t)orinnia CaTrille
Commroller and A￿trt(￿ General
Northem IrelarKI A￿111 Ottice
106 Universrty streei
BELFAST
BT7 1EU
11 Octotw 2023