Vol. 405 No. 4
4 Mr. Bell asked the Taoiseach the number of inquiries undertaken by tourists and others in the Genealogical Office in 1990; the numbers of grants of coats of arms undertaken there in 1990; the range of fees for the various services undertaken there; the amount received in income in 1990; the offices role in encouraging both tourist traffic and invisible earnings in 1991; and if he will make a statement on the potential of the office.
5 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the present position in relation to the development of the proposed network of genealogical centres; the relationship between such centres and those already providing services of this kind on a commercial basis; and the developments in these matters since his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 2 of 28 November 1989.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together.
I am circulating in the form of a statement information on the number of inquiries of various kinds undertaken by tourists and others in the Genealogical Office in 1990 and the income arising from them.
Arising from the work of the Task Force on Genealogy and Tourism which I established in 1988, the Irish Genealogical Project is progressing satisfactorily.
The project draws together all those with a legitimate interest in Genealogy in Ireland and, in particular, the work of some 35 local centres operating on an all-island basis across the 32 countries.
Supporting funds have been provided by the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the International Fund for Ireland which has contributed £1.5 million for computers.
The Irish Genealogical Project provides the vehicle for all concerned to contribute to developing genealogy coherently both in its own right and in its value for tourism. These centres will, also, provide a new valuable service to the professional and commercial genealogical interests who will supplement the work of the centres by their expert genealogical knowledge.
In the local centres, genealogical records will be computerised. There will be marketing campaigns both to attract people of Irish descent around the world to visit Ireland to find out about their family origins from these records and to attract Irish people at home to use the centres.
The computers are already in place in 22 county centres and will be in place in all 35 centres by the end of March.
I believe the time is now right publicly to launch the Irish Genealogical Project on a formal basis and I propose to do this in the week before Saint Patrick's Day.
I am satisfied that the project is now well organised to make a significant contribution to our national life and to tourism development. It is particularly gratifying that it is organised on an all-Ireland basis since our genealogical records and roots extend over the whole island.
The following is the statement:
National Library of Ireland
From June 1990 until January 1991 the number of readers' tickets issued by the National Library was 8,338. The number of long term tickets issued was 4,600 and of these a total of 852 were given to people doing genealogical research.
The remaining number of tickets were issued as day tickets, three days max., and of this number (3,738) a total of 1,518 were issued for genealogical research purposes. As expected the summer months produced the highest number of genealogical researchers.
National Library of Ireland Readers Tickets Issued
June 1990-January 1991
|
Long Term Tickets issued |
4,600 |
|
|
including for Genealogical Research |
852 |
|
|
Day Tickets issued |
||
|
June: |
||
|
Total |
400 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
201 |
|
|
July: |
||
|
Total |
740 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
370 |
|
|
August: |
||
|
Total |
800 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
340 |
|
|
September: |
||
|
Total |
623 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
313 |
|
|
October: |
||
|
Total |
568 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
204 |
|
|
December: |
||
|
Total |
235 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
38 |
|
|
January: |
||
|
Total |
372 |
|
|
Genealogical Res. |
52 |
|
|
3,738 |
1,518 |
The Genealogical Office
Facts and Statistics 1990
1. Genealogical Museum
8,000 (min.) visitors based on 4,000 recorded signatures in Visitors' Book including 15 conducted tours for cultural and schools' groups.
2. Genealogical Consultancy Service
1,400 visitors to service
509 personal consultations
203 postal consultations
£7,730 income.
3. Heritage Tours
Lectures provided for 10 visiting heritage groups c. 400 persons.
4. Lectures Hosted
5 (excluding above).
5. Postal Queries
4,500 (approx.) pieces of mail received.
6. Phone Queries
6,500 (estimated) phone queries handled.
7. Client Appointments
c. 150 potential clients personally received by Chief Herald and his assistant.
8. Heraldry
32 heraldic products including patents, certs. and paintings, fees £10,270.
9. Archive
8,000 archive files placed on computer.
10. Overseas Lectures
Lectures by members of staff at genealogical seminars delivered at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Toronto, Ontario, Arlington, USA.
11. Film
"Voices from the Past"— significant office input into this 30 minute feature on roots and tourism — on RTE commissioned Telegael Production.
12. Video
4 video interviews on office, genealogy, Dublin etc., accorded to US and Canada Producers.
13. Audio
GREAT IRISH FAMILIES Series (Hidden Ireland Productions) scripted by member of staff.
14. Publications
4 titles to appear in 91/92 centred on the Office and its work, viz.
(1) Irish Heraldry, Michael Cummins
(2) Guide to Heraldic Museum, Donal Begley
(3) Directory of Irish Genealogical Sources, John Grenham
(4) Araltas na hÉireann, Nicholas Williams.
15. 1991
The Office is committed to positive input in respect of the following events:
(1) 1st Irish Genealogical Congress, Dublin, September — Presidency and Lecture.
(2) The Newfoundland Irish, St. John's, March — lecture.
(3) Irish Origins Congress, Melbourne, May — Key note address and lecture.
(4) International Gathering of the Irish, New Brunswick, July — lecture.
(5) Address to Carroll Foundation, London, March 4.
(6) Text of lecture for 20th International Congress of Heraldry and Genealogy (Uppsala, August 1992)
(7) Text of lecture N.G.S. Conference, Jacksonville, April 1992.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I am very pleased that the matter is being met in a very positive way. Would the Taoiseach agree that this is a unique service in the sense that it is the only authenticated office of the sort in European terms and that it could be of tremendous value for tourism here if it was developed, particularly in the American market?
Yes, I agree with the Deputy. That is the whole purpose of the project. I am glad that it is coming along very well. It will fulfil the purposes which we have in mind for it.
Who will fund the day-to-day expenses of the centres? When will the information contained in the registry of births and deaths, available on gravestones and in records of land-holdings be finally entered into the computerised records which are now being established? What will be the relationship between those who are already providing a service of this kind on a commercial basis, and the new centres which presumably are to be supported by the State? Will there be clear areas of demarcation so that there will not be unfair competition?
The Deputy's latter point has been satisfactorily resolved. There will be co-operation. This project is a vehicle for all concerned to contribute to developing genealogy coherently in its own right, and for tourism. That involves those who are professionally involved in the genealogical service. With regard to the other aspect of Deputy Bruton's question, the funding of these centres will be a matter for my Department. We accept of course that we can secure other funds for that purpose and I am not in a position to give the Deputy a date in relation to the other aspect of his question.
Would the Taoiseach agree that the establishment of a centre would not solve the problem of providing the necessary information to a particular inquirer unless and until that centre had on computer the actual information which must be entered into the computer, having been drawn from gravestones, registries of land holding, births, marriages, deaths and so forth? Would the Taoiseach further agree that irrespective of opening the centres with a lot of fanfare, if the information is not available on computer at the time of opening it could lead to potential disappointment rather than the undoubted satisfaction which I have no doubt the Taoiseach wishes to achieve? I am asking this question simply to elicit information. I compliment the Taoiseach on his initiative in this matter.
The computers are already in place in 22 county centres and will soon be in place in all 35. Then it is necessary to keep adding to the value of the information available on the computers. I will convey Deputy Bruton's concern to the project authorities.
This is a very important matter. On the occassion of the Australian bicentennial celebrations, the Taoiseach made a very comprehensive gift to the Australian people in terms of information about emigrants and deportees from this country. In the context of the development of tourism in the American market, is it proposed to expand that in the context of those who had to emigrate to America?
Yes. There will be a major international dimension to this operation. We will have an international marketing campaign to draw the services of these centres to the attention of the Irish community around the world, especially in the United States.
