ARMAGH OBSERVATORY AND PLANETARIUPA
THE CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE COl•WROLLER AND AUtXTOR GENERAL TO
THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
Ow"nion on fw)ancial slaternents
I certfy that I have a￿lled the final￿￿1 statements of the Arrnagh Observatory and Planetariun
for the ￿ar en[￿d 31 March 2024 under IM¥ observat￿ and Plane￿riUM (Northem
Ireland} Ofder 1995. The finanual staiemerts comwse: state￿nI ol Financial Activities. the
Balance Shee( Ihe Cash Flow SLgtemenL' and the related mtes Induding signrfurrt accounts'ng
policies. The financ￿1 reFxyting framework that has been applied in th￿r weparation is a￿l￿ab￿A
law and Unrted King(k)m acccKmtsng staThlards including Finanaal Reportsry Starmlard {FRS) 102.
the Fina￿al Reportiry Starmlard applicable in the UK aThl Republr of Irelarmj {Unrted ￿'n￿)rn
Generally Accepted AccounDng Practicel.
I have also audited the inf0mal￿n in the Trustoes. Anrwl Report Ihat is dos<xb8d in Ihal rnport
as having been audited.
In my OPIn￿n the fina[￿la1 SlateM￿￿5..
give a twe and fair view of the state of Armagh ObseNatory arKI PkgTretarium's affairs
as at 31 March 2024 and of ts total wxnwmj resowces and expondrture of resowces
f￿ the year then end￿..
have been wopEYly ￿epa￿d in acc(￿danCe wrth the Fina￿la1 Repcxw Stsndard
appI￿able in Ihe UK and Rewkn1￿ of IrelarKI (FRS 102).. arKI
have been wopty wepared in acC(￿dar￿e with the Armagh ObseThat(ry and
Planetarnrn (Northem keland) Order 1995 a￿1 Depa[￿rt ft)r Communrties dwect￿n5
Ow"niM on rrylarity
In my (Pini(￿, in all material respects the expendrtwe and Incorne re￿￿ded In ￿ final￿￿1
stalements have been applied to the wrw>ses inlended by the As5embty and Ihe financ￿1
tran&ryctsc￿5 recorded in the financial 5taternents Conf￿ to the aLrttK)rths vthich ￿¥eM them.
Basis f(Y opiTh(
I C￿￿lucted my audr( in accordance Vlith International StarKlard5 on AudiiirwJ (ISA5) (UK).
applicable law and PradKe Note 10'Audit of Financial SLgtements and Regularity of Public Sector
Bodies in the United lfjngdom.. W respongbi1￿'eS under those 51andard5 are lurtr￿ (kncribed
in the Awjrtorfs responsibilibes for audit of the finanaal stalements section of my certfficate.
My Staff arKI l are ifKJependefrt (rf Armagh Ob5ervat(ry arml Planetanum in accordance 7Mth the
ethKal reqUIre￿￿nts thal are relevarrt to my a￿lIt of the financial slatemert5 in the UK, irKluding
the Financial Reportmg Coun(?I"s Elhul SlarKJard. and have fullilled OLf (ther ethical
re5ponsits"lrtie5 in accordance with these re(pJirements.
I believe that the a￿11( eviderKe obtained is Suff￿￿nI and apwoFThie Io a basis for my
opinirms.
Cor￿lusIOnS relating to ping cor
In audiling trtre finanaal staiements. I have conduded that Armagh Obser4atory and Ptanetarium.
Use of the g(Mng concem ba&s ol acc(xKtsrMJ in Ihe Wr*arats￿ (* the f￿ar￿￿1 state￿￿nts 15
apwowate.
Based on ihe Wa￿ I have ￿f{￿ed. I have rKrt identjfied matenal u[￿ellaintseS relating to
events or c(KKlrtI(￿S thaL indmdualty C￿ collectivety. may cag ￿nrf￿arrt doubt on Ihe Armagh
ObSe￿a10ry and Planclanum's abilrty to c(wth'nue as a concem a Peri￿ of ai least twelve
mo(*￿ frrxn vAben ts finarKial stalefflerts are aUth￿sed is￿.

The going concem basis of accoLmtirvJ f(w Arn￿h Obseriat(ry arKI Planetarium is adopied in
con5Kleratson ol the requirement5 Set (XA in the Govemmeni Financial ReportJrKJ Manual. vthKh
requre entrt￿5 to adopi the going c(￿effi basis of aCc￿r￿"n9 in the WeparatI(￿ of the fin￿￿la1
ststements where rt erticipated thal services whKh tr*y provide will cOrtir￿ lito the I￿re.
My resw151bililJe5 and the re5w)nsi￿.1rt￿5 ol the Tn￿ee5 and the AcC￿nt￿g Officer Ymlh respect
to going c(KKem are descnbed in the relevart seclK)ns d Ihis certthcate.
other Inf0M￿tIOn
The other information comprises the infofmation included in Ihe Trustees, annual report other
than the fina￿￿1 statements. the pans of Twstees. Report described in that report as having
been a￿llIed. and my audii cerirficate arKI rep(rt. The Trustees and the AccountitNJ Officer are
respOn￿bIe the (thr informatK)n Incl￿ In ts arnual rep(Nt. Opini￿ on Ihe finarKwl
statement5 1kn5 cover the other inf(rnticm and except to the extent (Aherwise explicrtly
stated in my certrficaie. I do not exwess any fonn of assLrance conClus￿n thereon.
14ty resp)nsi￿1rtY is lo read the other 1n1￿natK)n and. in dTh"ry so. C￿SIder whthr the olP%r
inlormaix)n is materially inconsisient with the financkryl statements (x my knowledge olxained in
the aLKlil otherwise appear5 to be matenally misstated. If l idenlrfy such material
inconsistencies (x apparent material misstaiements. l am required to deiefmine whether thts gtves
nse to a material misstatement In the finanual statements themselves. 11, based on the work I
have ￿￿rned. I c￿￿lude Ihat there ts a material misstatement ol tr¥'s other inlomalKn. l am
requwed to rewrt that facL
I have rK)thing to rep(wt in this regard.
In my Op￿￿)￿ based (m the work ￿dertaken in the c(XW5e d the audiL'
the parts of the Trustees. Report have been pn)pety prepared in accordancz *ith
DepartsTrent Cc*nmunrt*s drects'ons made urKler the Observatory arKI
Planetarium (Northem IrelarKI) C*(kn 1995: and
the infomwb-on given in the Trustees. Annual Report for the finan(ial year for ¥thich the
rmaJKial 5tatemenis are Fxepared wrth the financial staiemerrts.
Matt•rs on which I rep(￿1 by oxce
In Ihe liW of ts kr￿￿dge arKI uThJerslandiry Arrrwgh ObserVat￿Y and FlanetariLffn and
its enwronn*rn otknit*d in Ihe COU￿ of the audiL I have not ithnljfied material misslatemert5
in the Trustees, Annual Report.
I have rthirwJ io reP￿t in respect ￿ the fo11Tr￿ matters I reFXYt to rf, in rny O￿n￿n.
a(*quate acC￿nti￿j rec(xds have rKA been W c
the financial sLgtements and the parts of the Trustees, Report to be audited arn not in
cthain disck>sLres of rwnUrVati￿ specrfie(I by the Govemmert Fmancial Rep(
Marm￿1 are ncA made:
I have not receNed al of the 1￿ma￿l and explanations I for my a￿lIl, (
the GoVernar￿e Statemert (kJe5 n(A relkni C￿l￿)Ilar￿e vllth the Depart￿￿￿1 of
FinarKe's guidance.

Responsibilities of ts Board of G0vW￿ arKI Accowitiry Offic•r f(Y fmancial
statements
As explair￿d mNe fulty in Statery*nl cl Ihe Govemcxs and AcccAwlirwJ cyficer
Responsibilitses. the GoveYrK¥S arwj ￿ Accourming cxficer are respK)ngble fLY'
the Fryaratxx) d the fmartial slatement5 for bery sa(￿'ed that they give a true
arrfj fair ￿eW..
enswing such intemal cOntr(￿S are in [￿ace as (k￿ned rEcessary to enable tho
preparatK>n ol finarK￿l statement5 lo be tree frThn material misstaternert whether due
to fraud erK*:
ensuring the Tfust•es' Amual Repoo *thich indudes the RerWneraI￿n and Staff
Report. Is prepared in accordance with the Governmenl Final￿￿7 ReP￿ing mar￿￿1.,
assessing the Amiagh Obseprfatory aTrJ FlanetariLKn's abilty lo conb'nL* as a going
concern. disclo%nq. as applicable. rnatters related to (pinq concem arKI usiw the qoinq
concern basis ￿ accounts'w l￿leSS the Trustees arKI Accounti[￿ OItKer anlicipaie5
thal the service5 F￿0vKIed by knwjh Ob5ervaW and PlanetarRTh b%ryll rnt continue 10
be provided ￿ the futLWe.
Audltorfs r•sponslbiliti•s lor th• audit of th• financlal stat•m•rts
My reS￿nsi￿.1rtY is ￿ exanwne, cerknty arml rewi ￿ the financial statemerns in acCOrdar￿
the Armagh Cknervaw and Plarttarun (N¢ythem IrelaThd) Chder 1995.
My we to olxain reasonalAe asswance alNxrt whether the fiThgncial 51atemenls as a
¥hKJ￿ are free from rnaterial m￿5[alernerx. b%thether (kn lo fraud or eThor and io issue a certrficate
that ir￿lUdeS my OpinK￿. Reas￿able assurance is a level of assurarKe txrt is rM)t a
guarantee that an aLwJit C(XKJuciecl in acc(Kdance Y•lh ISAS (UK) will always detect a malenal
mr5Statemenl it exists. Vi'5slatements Ggn atise from fraud and are C(￿th[ed
matenal rf. Indpndualty in the aggregate. they could rea￿)nablY be expecied to infi￿nCe the
ecommK decisK>ns of users laken bas￿ ￿ these fInar￿￿1 staternents.
I desiw woce(lures in li￿ with my reSp￿s1b11rt1"es. fxrtlined aLK>ve. to dL%ecl matenal
misstatements in resF￿￿ ol Tm)n.cornpl￿nce wrth law5 arKI regulatK)n. inclLKlirwJ fraud.
My wocedures r￿lu(kid.
obtainiry an urKIWarKJry of the legal arKJ rewlatory frarne¥￿rk aw4icable to the
Armagh Observat(Ky arKI Planetarium ItrYwJh discussion with managemenl and
applKation of extensive public seclor acc￿nLibl1ity knovAedge. The key law5 aThl
[c￿u[ab0nS I Congder￿1 wKlude<l the Arrnagh ob￿￿¥a￿ PkneLqrKwn (Northern
Ireland) 1995.
makiry efNuires of management aTrJ Ilx)se charged gOVenNryn￿ cm
Obsetvatory arMJ Fyanetarium's ConW￿nce Yath Iw•VS and regulat￿n$.
makiry en￿1￿5 of iniemal a￿lIL management and ItK)5e char@ wth goVernar￿e
as to SU5ceptsbilrty to Wregularity and fraud. ther a55essmeN d the risk ol tnalenal
m￿stateMent (kne to fraud and irregulwty. arKI their knowle(h3e CA aciual. wed
anil alleged fraud and Irregularty..
completing risk asse55ment wocedLwes to assess the 5U5ceptitM'Ity of Armagh
Observatory and Pl￿etariUM'S fir￿nCIal statements to material misstatement,
including fraLKI might OCCLf. This incI￿led. bui was ncrt limrted to. an e￿Ja￿Men1
directrK led engagerT￿l ￿arn discuss￿ ￿ fraud to Kkntrfy partKular areas.
transacti(m streams and busine55 wacDce5 thal may be su5ce01i￿e to malerbal
mis5tawnent due to fraud. As part of this d15cussion. l Klentffied Po￿tial f(K traud
the folloM'rwJ areas: revenue recogiilKKI and postiry of ￿￿sUal ￿MalS.

engagernent directar oversigm lo efwe the engage1￿￿t team co1￿CtiVety had the
apwwte coM￿tenCe. C4)a￿1rtIes and sknlls to identty reC￿nISe mn-compliance
with the applicable legal a￿1 regulat(xy framew(xk thrwJK)Ut the audit.,
documffiting aThJ evaluats'ThJ the desi￿ and Implemerta￿l CA internal controls in
place to n¥￿ale n5k c4 material mts5ts1ema* ¢kn to fraLKJ a￿1 rnn.c0ny1￿nce with
laws aThJ reWlatic￿.
desiwirvj aLKlrt Prac￿l￿e5 io athress specfft laws and regulatK￿5 ￿lch the
en￿gerne￿ team c￿sKIered to have a direct material effect on the fina￿la1
siatefflents in le￿5 of misstatement and irregulanty. including fraud. These a￿lIt
pr(Kedures YKluded, bul were noi limited to. readirmj tx)ard ￿￿1 cornrnitiee minirtes,
and agreeiThJ finalK￿l slatemem disclosures to ￿KlerI￿ng supportsng docurnentation
and apwova15 as apwoFThtr.' and
ad¢knssirMJ the nsk of fraud as a result of management ovurKle d controls by:
perf(Thiing ana1￿￿al I￿(￿edureS to identrfy unusual unexpected relalK)nships
o tesw ￿￿rnal e￿S to Klertify wentsal an￿lIeS. 1napw0w￿te
o assessry WTr￿her Jxlgements (Xher assumptsms made n deiermiThng
accountsng estimates were ndThtive of pcrtentsal Ix'as: arml
o investyats'ng sKJnrficant ￿ unusual transact￿5 made outsMJe of the ￿￿Mal
course of txN'ness.
A further description (A my responSitM"lrt￿S f(￿ the a￿11 of the financ￿1 State￿￿ntS Is located
on the Finanoal Reporb"ng Counol's website www.frc.or
.Ukla￿iloTSreS
onsibilities. Th
descri￿1(￿} fcffiis pan of my certi'ficate.
In addrtion. l requred to oblain evicknce suffi"CiLYrt to glve reasonable aSS￿anCe that the
expcndiiure and inccvne recorded in Ihe finarKial statements have been applied to the purFX)5es
interKled by A55embty rinancial transacts'ons rec(Kded in ￿ financial State￿￿rts
conform ￿ the aulh(Yts wvem them.
I have rK> observatK)ns to make on these fnancial slatements.
Dorinnia CaThYlle
Comptroller and A￿lItar Genefal
N￿hern Ireland A￿rt OffKe
706 UThvef5ty Street
BELFAST
8T7 IEU
29 OLlotsr 2024