Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 May 2017
53. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if she will consider a minor grant scheme for local authorities to administer to community projects aimed at preserving old photographs and video footage in their respective localities; her views on preserving such valuable historical records before they get lost or destroyed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20392/17]
View answerLocal authority arts and heritage officers, archivists and librarians have great experience in working with local communities on initiatives to archive old records in their locality. In this respect, they can use funding available from within their local authority including funds that may be available from the Arts Council or Heritage Council.
In this context Pillar 2 of the Creative Ireland Programme - Enabling creativity in every community, aims to empower local authorities to lead the engagement of citizens with our arts, culture and heritage. All local authorities now have Culture Teams in place and are developing their Culture and Creativity Plans for 2017.
Many of the Culture and Creativity plans which are currently being prepared contain objectives to preserve historical records and photographs For example, Donegal County Council is mounting a free exhibition on the Vanished World of the landed gentry of Donegal using never before seen documents, photo albums and letters from the collections of the Archives Service. South Dublin County Council will be digitising the Corkagh papers which relate to the Finlay and Colley families of Corkagh Demesne in Clondalkin while Wexford County Council are digitising the archives of a prominent shipping company in New Ross.
These are just some of the projects that are being included around the county to preserve historical photographs and records.
