Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh as ucht an cheist seo a chur síos sa Seanad. Ba mhaith liom freisin mo bhuíochas a ghlacadh don Seanadóir as ucht an cuireadh dul ar chuairt don láthair seo. Mar is eol dó, táim féin i mo chónaí níos gaire do Chois Fharraige ná do Chathair na Gaillimhe féin agus tá eolas maith agam ar an gceantar. Ní amháin go bhfuil spéis agamsa sa cheantar, tá spéis ag an Aire féin ann.
I am pleased to have the opportunity afforded by this motion to outline the current position regarding the Turlough Park House project. As Members will be aware, the Government has approved plans to develop Turlough Park House and surroundings to establish a new facility for the folklife collection of the National Museum of Ireland in co-operation with Mayo County Council.
The total capital cost of this facility is estimated at £8.53 million. Of this sum, the Government agreed that £5 million will be provided by the Exchequer through the Vote of the Office of Public Works. This will be eligible for co-financing at a 75 per cent aid rate under the EU Structural Funds Operational Programme for Tourism Development, 1994-1999 from funds allocated to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. The balance of the cost comprises the Mayo County Council input, including the provision of the site itself, associated siteworks, plus a financial contribution, together with architectural and project services management provided in-house by the Office of Public Works.
The decision to locate this collection to a specific home was not a spontaneous or sudden idea. It has long been acknowledged that the facilities for the National Museum of Ireland, including the Folklife collection, were seriously under-resourced. Much of the National Museum's Folklife collection, comprising approximately 45,000 artefacts, had remained in storage at the former Daingean Reformatory in County Offaly as well as at other locations such as the museum's premises at Merrion Row, Dublin, for many years due to a severe shortage of exhibition space. Most of this material has remained uncatalogued and unseen to date by the general public. This important material contains numerous artifacts exemplifying rural life and traditions, including many professions and trades. As such they will be of enormous interest to students, historians and the general public as well as visiting tourists when they are finally put on display in an appropriate setting by the National Museum.
The proposal for a National Museum Folklife Facility at Turlough Park House arose therefore in the context of the search for a suitable location for the Folklife collection over a number of years. In 1992 a museum working group had recommended that priority should be given to building a National Folklife Museum, a recommendation that predated the Collins Barracks development. A total of five non-Dublin sites were considered by the group, which recommended that Turlough Park House should be the location for such a facility. Mayo County Council had expressed a very earnest interest in the idea of the development of a folklife facility at this site for the National Museum of Ireland. When the county council signalled its commitment to support the project, approval was given by the Department of Finance in the latter part of 1997 to proceed.
A steering group has been established, chaired by my Department, and comprising representatives of the Office of Public Works, the National Museum, Mayo County Council, and the Department of Finance to supervise the progress of the project. The Office of Public Works, as agent for my Department and the National Museum, is responsible for the management of the project, including the necessary legal, property and construction aspects of the development. In this regard I understand that negotiations are proceeding satisfactorily with the county council regarding the terms of a lease to be executed relating to part of the Turlough Park House demesne.
The functional brief and exhibition documents for the proposed new Museum are being prepared by a firm of prestigious international museum consultants, Messrs. Sears and Russell of Toronto, Canada. These are at an advanced stage of preparation and will inform the overall strategy to be adopted for this facility. As part of this process, an outline design has already been approved by the Museum. The Office of Public Works is now preparing the necessary documentation in order to apply for planning permission for the proposed works. Some pre-planning discussions have taken place already between the relevant parties. It is envisaged the planning application will be lodged within the next three months. Providing this permission is obtained, the schedule should see work commence on site at the beginning of 1999 and be completed by the end of that year. The facility will then be fitted out for exhibition purposes and should be open to the public in the first half of the year 2000.
The recent approval of the appointment of a project manager to oversee the work on behalf of the National Museum is an indication of the level of commitment and seriousness with which the Government views this project. Applications for this post will be invited shortly in the National Museum.
The provision of this facility will without doubt require extra resources in staffing and financial terms. These issues are being addressed in the context of the normal multi-annual budgetary and annual estimates exercises and the museum will be making provision for them in their estimates request.
It is appropriate that we discuss this topic today. I am sure many Members would have been interested in the recent television series broadcast by RTÉ entitled Hidden Treasures, produced in association with the National Museum, which dealt specifically with many of the artifacts contained in this collection. These programmes demonstrated once again, as if it were necessary, the inseparable nature of our heritage, and reminded us of the heritage which must be preserved. What we have to remember is that many of the trades and practices shown on these films, based on material in the collection are in a large degree still within living memory, but that for the next generation they will be consigned to history. It is therefore essential that we secure them for our future.
The plans which the National Museum of Ireland have for this facility will be the starting point of this preservation. To have it located in a western rural setting serves to underpin its connections with its origins, much of the collection being rooted in the agricultural sphere. However, there are other benefits to be gained for this location in addition to the preservation of the valuable national asset encompassed in the collection. There will be an enhanced access to cultural heritage and obvious educational benefits. More significantly, economic and regional developments will accrue, principally through the attractiveness of the new facility to tourists.
The project is expected to generate significant economic benefits primarily by providing a flagship visitor location. The strategic position of Turlough Park House will facilitate the development of links with many existing cultural and heritage attractions within the county and will help increase the tourism impact in the west of Ireland. The significant capital and current funding which Mayo County Council is prepared to provide is demonstrable evidence of the tangible economic benefits expected to be provided for the area.
I express my appreciation on behalf of my Department and the National Museum for the high level of commitment and generosity which has been shown by the elected members of Mayo County Council in helping to bring this idea to fruition and for their continuing support for the project. This development should not be seen in isolation. Exciting things are happening elsewhere for the National Museum of Ireland. In the past few weeks we have seen the opening of two new exhibitions by the museum — one commemorating the expeditions of Tim Severn to the Spice Islands, held in the museum's Kildare Street premises and the second in Collins Barracks prepared jointly with the National Library, commemorating 1798. The provision of the major new facilities at Collins Barracks has been a significant milestone in the history of the museum.
Phase 1 of this £30 million development has been opened since last September and has received much deserved praise. This project, which is also being co-funded from the EU Operational Programme for Tourism, involves the conversion of Europe's oldest continually occupied military facility into a flagship development for the National Museum of Ireland. When completed, approximately 25,000 square metres in additional floor space will become available thus allowing the museum to provide new vitally needed exhibition spaces, visitor and conservation services as well as proper storage facilities.
Progress is at an advanced stage of planning for phase two with the recent finalisation of functional and exhibition briefs for the site. Using the many lessons learned from the implementation of phase one, the museum, together with the Office of Public Works, will now move forward confidently to complete the next phases. Interesting and innovative features are planned for this site which will produce a cultural entity of which all Irish people will be proud.
Naturally with the provision of these extra spaces, the museum's premises in Kildare Street will also be able to exploit in a new and real way the potential for displaying its range of antiquities material, much of which has had to be hidden from public display for many years. I look forward to the revitalisation of this building in the coming months.
I know that the museum wishes to fulfil its mission of educating, conserving and informing to the best of its abilities and with these new major programmes and with the assistance of the EU funds now available, these aspirations will be on the way to being met. I know that I speak for all Members when I wish the museum well in its future endeavours on the east and west coasts.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh as ucht an deis freagra a thabhairt ag an gceist a ardaíodh. Tá sé go deas a bheith ar ais sa Seanad.
