asked the Minister for Education if, in view of the serious lack of space in the National Museum, Dublin, he will consider transferring the weapons collection to Adamson Castle, Athlone, County Westmeath and establishing there a branch of the National Museum specialising in weapons and armaments.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - National Museum Weapons Collection.
49.
The arms collection forms an important part of the historical collections and allied material on exhibition in the National Museum and it is considered that it should continue to be directly associated with those collections. In any event, the transfer of the arms collection to another centre would not relieve pressure on accommodation in the museum to an appreciable extent even if any gain in space could be held to justify such a step.
Would the Minister not agree that the site in Athlone, because of its antiquity and because it has been a military fortification for hundreds of years, would be an adequate setting for such a collection? I would ask the Minister to reconsider this.