Vol. 404 No. 9
2 Mr. Nealon asked the Taoiseach if it is intended that the Bronze Age gold collection recently purchased by the State from the Duke of Northumberland and now on exhibition in the National Museum will be retained at the National Museum on a permanent basis.
Items in the collection in question will, in the first instance, be considered for inclusion as part of the permanent, definitive gold exhibition which it is planned to display at the National Museum from August next. Such items can, however, be withdrawn for display at regional and/or county museums or exhibitions abroad subject to their appropriateness for inclusion in the particular exhibition in question. The suitability of proposed venues, as regards such matters as security, temperature and humidity controls must also be assured. Such operational matters are essentially matters for the professional judgment of the Museum's Director and his staff.
May I congratulate all those concerned in the purchase and return of this collection which I understand was achieved for a very reasonable price. Is the Taoiseach aware that many of the most important items in this collection were discovered originally in the north west, in Carraroe in County Sligo, along the banks of the Shannon in Leitrim and in County Donegal? In view of that fact and also the fact that the National Museum has probably one of the finest collections of gold of this period in Europe, would the Taoiseach consider giving this collection to Sligo for permanent exhibition there?
Yes, the Deputy is reasonably accurate in his description of where the artefacts were found but, of course, we cannot operate a National Museum on that basis. What I was saying in my reply was that we will now settle the definitive gold component of the National Museum — the gold collection — and, thereafter, the remaining golden objects we have can be considered as being available for other purposes. Of course, the Director of the National Museum will consider all reasonable applications made to him but he would have to be satisfied also about the conditions I mentioned. Unfortunately, I do not think Sligo is very well advanced in that regard at present. Perhaps the Deputy would use his influence locally, or perhaps I should leave it to Fianna Fáil Deputies in the area to do so.
They were not very successful in regard to An Post.
With regard to the last point made by the Taoiseach, would he agree that he could advance this enormously, as could his Minister for Education, by acceding to the request of Sligo County Council to give the school in The Mall to them for museum purposes.
