Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2010
1405 Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport her plans to review the outreach programmes of the National Archives to other exhibition centres; if she will complete an audit of exhibitions held in storage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32483/10]
View answerThe National Archives has three travelling exhibitions in store. These were prepared and exhibited extensively in the late 1990s, and have been exhibited more occasionally since then.
"A Nation and not a Rabble" — Ireland in the year July 1921 — June 1922
"The Calamitous Fire" — the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, June 1922
"Lovers of Liberty?" — 100 years of Local Government in Ireland
In recent years the limited resources available to the National Archives for outreach have been concentrated mainly on the development of its website and the digital publication of the 1901 and 1911 Census Returns. In addition to the Census Returns themselves, the website includes extensive contextual material, describing life in early 20th century Ireland, supported by many photographs illustrating life at the time. The inclusion of the contextual material is particularly helpful to teachers using this resource in the classroom, and the website is proving very popular in secondary school history classes. The resources available to the National Archives preclude an expansion of its outreach service for the present.
