Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 March 2014
9. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an update on progressing any sites included in the tentative list to nomination under the world heritage list for UNESCO status; his plans to add additional sites to the tentative list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10740/14]
View answer165. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the sites that have been selected as potentially suitable to apply for recognition as UNESCO world heritage sites from his Departments tentative list; and following the recent seminar held by his Departmental officials with local authorities, if the Howth Peninsula, Baldoyle Bay and the Velvet Strand will be added to the Irish list of potential sites. [10556/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 165 together.
UNESCO sets out a formal process for State signatories to the World Heritage Convention to nominate properties for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The nomination process is initiated by the State authorities drawing up a Tentative List of what they consider to be the most important heritage sites within their national boundaries. A particular criterion is that a site must be considered to be of outstanding universal value, defined by UNESCO as meaning of “cultural and or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.”
Following a public consultation process and consideration by an expert advisory group, a new Tentative List for Ireland was approved and submitted to UNESCO in March 2010 containing the following sites:
- The Burren;
- The Céide Fields and the North West Mayo Boglands;
- The Monastic City of Clonmacnoise and its Cultural Landscape;
- The Historic City of Dublin;
- Early Medieval Monastic Sites;
- The Royal Sites of Ireland, including potentially Navan Fort in Armagh; and
- The Western Stone Forts.
The nomination of a property to the World Heritage List is a significant undertaking that requires the development of comprehensive nomination documentation, including a management plan for the property. Following submission of a nomination to UNESCO, it is evaluated by three advisory bodies:
- the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS);
- the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and
- the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property(ICCROM).
Once the site has been evaluated, the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee makes the final decision regarding the site’s inclusion on the World Heritage List.
In order to further progress the nomination process, I hosted a seminar in September 2013 to consider the extent of local interest in pursuing World Heritage nomination for the sites on the current Tentative List and to clarify all the elements involved in applying for and retaining such status. On foot of the seminar, my Department has been in ongoing contact with relevant local authorities and community representatives to further clarify the significant research and other requirements involved in preparing nomination documentation. I am confident that this process will create a substantive basis for advancing one or more sites from the current Tentative List towards inscription on the World Heritage list.
Against that background, my immediate priority will be to achieve progress with UNESCO inscriptions from the current Tentative List and it would be premature at this point to speculate as to when the next review of the Tentative List might take place.
