Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 July 2018
579. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding or financial support allocated to Sligo County Council for the conservation of Court Abbey, Mullinabreena, County Sligo; if it will be declared a national monument; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29239/18]
View answerCourt Abbey is a fifteenth-century Franciscan friary in the ownership of Sligo County Council and it has the primary responsibility for its care and conservation. It is included in the Record of Monuments and Places under the National Monuments Acts and is entitled to the statutory protections of those Acts.
I fully appreciate the extent of the local interest in the friary and the understandable desire to see the substantial works to safeguard it carried out as soon as possible. As far as the State's ability to assist is concerned though, the position is that there are already approximately 1,000 national monuments in its care which demand very extensive resource allocations, both in terms of funding and personnel.
The care, maintenance and presentation of each of these national monuments is undertaken by the Office of Public Works in consultation and with the advice of my Department’s National Monuments Service in every case. Against the background of the resources needed to service the extensive portfolio of monuments already in State care I regret that it is not possible at present to consider adding the local authority owned Court Abbey to that list.
My Department does, however, operate a number of schemes that provide financial support for the conservation and protection of historic buildings. These schemes are administered by local authorities and include the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and the Structures at Risk Fund. Details are available on the Department's and on local authority websites.
The closing date for the 2018 funding, under which 12 projects in Co. Sligo are being assisted, has now passed. My Department remains in contact with local authorities throughout the year to ensure the best possible use of allocations, including by redistributing monies when, for example, projects do not go ahead. I would encourage the local authority in this case to consider pursuing this alternative avenue of funding for Court Abbey.
In 2019, the Structures at Risk Scheme will be revamped and become the Historic Structures Fund and it is open to Sligo County Council to apply for support under that fund when it is rolled out later this year.
