asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if his attention has been drawn to the very interesting and valuable folk-life collection known as the Pig House collection in County Cavan; if he will, as a matter of urgency, explore the possibility of acquiring and preserving this for the State in the interests of tourism in the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pig House Collection, Cavan.
9.
My Department have no role in considering acquisition of cultural assets such as the Pig House Collection although Bord Fáilte have assisted in promoting the collection in their tourist literature. State acquisition would be a matter for the National Museum, which operates under the auspices of the Department of the Taoiseach. The ideal solution is the retention of the collection in Cavan. This is a matter for Cavan County Council.
Is the Minister aware that this collection has attracted international interest and that students from the Continent and elsewhere have visited it and are returning to study it and to take particulars of it? Does the Minister appreciate that tourism in Cavan would be greatly helped by the retention of this collection? While most of the tourists who visit Cavan are interested in fishing, there are many who content themselves with sightseeing and enjoying other pursuits.
In view of that, will the Minister agree that it would be good business for his Department to take steps to preserve this valuable collection for the region? Is the Minister aware that the collection was offered to Cavan County Council some years ago but because of lack of accommodation that body have not shown any interest in it? I appeal to the Minister to use his good offices as Minister for Tourism and Transport to see to it that the collection is not lost to the region. I am sure he will agree that it would be folly of the worst type to allow that to happen.
I should like to assure the Deputy and the House that I am fully aware of the exhibit which the Deputy has lauded, and rightly so. I am also aware that foreign students, particularly German students, have been doing some study on the contents and are engaged in cataloguing them. Through membership of the Breffni Historical Society I am acquainted with Mrs. Faris who is responsible, with her mother and grandmother, for putting this collection together and I am as committed as the Deputy to the retention of it in County Cavan. The Deputy referred to the type of tourism which we depend on in that region and I agree that as a back-up to the fishing element historic collections, such as Mrs. Faris' Pig House Collection, are very important as are the other historical and archaeological sites in the county. I am pleased to tell the House that we are committed to the preservation of that collection in the region. I am aware that some time ago the county council were offered the collection and that it was to go to Cootehill. However, there was a hitch in the arrangement for the accommodation there but I hope the county council will be able to make available in the town of Cavan a suitable location for it. The alternative is dispersal and that would be a serious blow to the collection, would reduce its impact and would mean that anybody who tried to put it together again would have to chase all over the country and abroad looking for the artefacts that are on display there.
I am grateful to the Minister for confirming that he appreciates, as I knew he did, the value of the collection. I note the Minister's good intentions but I should like to stress that there is an urgency about this matter. Delays are dangerous and Mrs. Faris' one anxiety is to see the collection preserved. She cannot see that being done other than through a State agency. I appeal to the Minister to treat this matter as urgent.
I agree that a delay could be dangerous. In my view the proper approach is through the Minister for the Environment. In recent years Deputy Fitzpatrick and I have been very anxious about the collection in that the county council have not been able to provide a home for it. I hope this will change.
I would like the Minister to know that I will table a question to the Taoiseach, as the person in charge of the Arts, and to the Minister for the Environment about this matter.
I will be pulling on the same rope.
That debate will fill half a page in the Anglo Celt.