Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 January 2014
95. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans for heritage week, particularly for involving the disadvantaged, Travellers, and new Irish communities over the week 23 to 31 August 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4433/14]
View answerThe annual Heritage Week, held each August, is co-ordinated by the Heritage Council. Heritage Week is designed to appeal to as broad an audience as possible and the promotional materials produced by the Council for the week aim to be inclusive of diversity. However, the programme of events depends largely on the choice of local communities.
I understand that the Council has reached out to involve new Irish communities during heritage week in the past, including by holding a number of events through the Polish language in Cork and by advertising in a Polish newspaper. Statistics produced for the Heritage Council regarding awareness of Heritage Week across demographic groups in 2013 show a broad level of awareness of the week across age, gender and socio-economic group.
