Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023
Full Transcript: For many of us, where we come from has been stitched into us, even from the perspective of placenames. I am from Butlerstown. It is no great surprise that Butlerstown Castle is one of the heritage sites that would sit in my mind’s eye. Knockeen Dolmen is less than a mile from my house. Going there, it is not possible to escape a realisation of being in a landscape that has had humans in it for 5,000 years and more. Where I am living now, the probably more prosaically named trá mór, is the big beach. At the end of the big beach, though, we have our sand hills. In among them is a shell midden dating back to Mesolithic times, before people even knew how to farm on this island. It is quite humbling to see that shell midden there and realise we are part of a history that has been unfolding on this island over the course of 10,000 years. Much like Deputy Alan Farrell looking out over Lambay Island, when I look over the back of Tramore Bay, I think about the lives people lived at that time in the past and the landscape they inhabited.
This legislation is significant. I commend the Minister of State, the other Ministers of State and the Minister in his Department, and the team of civil servants. It has been ten years in the making. In some sense, indeed, it has been over a century in the making. It is an historical artefact in itself, or at least seeking to update many pieces of heritage legislation, which are coming together in this Bill. There is much here that I welcome. The record of prescribed monuments is important. As I referred to, I am from Tramore, which is sometimes known as “the bay of wrecks”. Having the record of shipwrecks in this context is important as well. This is an important part of our heritage. These wrecks may not be as readily accessed or viewed in the same way as other parts of our built heritage, but this aspect is equally important in many ways. Having this facility to allow the OPW to engage in the interpretation of its heritage sites is also very welcome.
To talk more broadly about this Government’s commitment in the area of heritage, small little pots of money have been created in this regard. When I say “small pots”, they are not inconsiderable either. Regarding the National Monuments Service, there has been a 300% increase in that funding stream since 2020. The community monuments fund is a new one, but it is now going to back 140 projects across the country to the tune of €8 million. This might not be one of these large-scale infrastructural projects we all like to turn up to in the hi-vis vests and the hard hats, but this fund does provide the €10,000 that will stop the church roof leaking, or the €15,000 allowing the restoration of whatever it might, perhaps the local statue. This is the type of money spent wisely in communities. It keeps heritage skills alive. This might be rethatching a roof. If we do not pay to have thatchers, then we will lose that skill and no longer have thatchers, no matter how much money we decide to throw at it. This fund preserves this craft base and keeps these traditional skill sets alive. It is also money that is generally spent within the community. These might, then, be small pots of money, but this is money that travels a very long way in communities.
Speaking of things that make a big impact in communities, I join with my colleague from Waterford, Deputy Shanahan, who earlier paid a warm tribute to Mr. Eamonn McEneaney, who has been the driving force behind “Waterford Treasures”. Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city and we have, in my view, the best museum and heritage offering. We have a range of five museums as part of this “Waterford Treasures” conglomeration. It tells the story of a city that is more than 1,000 years old. This exists in no small part due to the work of Mr. Eamonn McEneaney, supported by others in the city and the community. Anybody involved in these museums would happily acknowledge, though, that without Mr. McEneaney at the centre and as the driving force that this would not have happened. I just wanted to use the remainder of my time to warmly acknowledge the huge contribution Mr. McEneaney has made to my city and to wish him the best in his retirement.
