Martin Heydon
Question:10. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the interaction planned with county heritage officers as part of Heritage Ireland 2030. [47428/18]
View answerThursday, 15 November 2018
Questions (10)
Oral answers (7 contributions)
In accordance with Standing Order 41A, approval has been given to Deputy Deering to take Question No. 10 on behalf of his colleague.
The Minister recently launched a public consultation process into Heritage Ireland 2030. What plans has she to interact with the heritage officers right around the country, as I believe they have an important role to play?
Our heritage is a priceless and irreplaceable national asset which belongs to all of us. The natural and built heritage around us enriches our lives, inspires our achievements and gives life to our communities. It underpins our culture, our economy and our society. We want everyone to be able to enjoy this heritage, to have a sense of pride in it, and to keep it safe for the future.
The four-month public consultation process, which I announced on 1 November and which is open until the end of February 2019, is a critical phase of the development of the new national heritage plan for Ireland, Heritage Ireland 2030. This consultation offers us a unique opportunity to rethink how we care for our habitats, landscapes, wildlife, historic buildings and monuments so they can be celebrated and enjoyed long into the future.
The Heritage Council is a key partner of the Department in the consultation process and the heritage officers, as the Deputy correctly mentioned, in every county will have a significant role to play in engaging with communities and heritage partners at a local and county level to ensure that everyone in our communities across the country who wishes to do so has the opportunity to contribute and help shape the plan. My Department is in contact with the Heritage Council about this engagement and details will be announced shortly. It will more than likely involve a series of workshops and town-hall-type meetings, all feeding into the final document. The Heritage Officers' Network is in a unique position to bring their particular expertise into the consultation process and I look forward very much to their input as key partners. As heritage officers, they are closer to communities and have an instinctive feel for what those communities want in a national plan and for what will deliver real and tangible heritage returns.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
In developing the public consultation document guiding this public consultation, my Department met the Heritage Council and other key stakeholders. Written submissions were also sought and received from various other stakeholders, including the heritage officers. This engagement was critical to developing the broad themes of Heritage Ireland 2030.
Our vision for heritage is simple - that heritage is valued and protected. Heritage Ireland 2030 is built around that vision: that the way in which we identify and protect our heritage is the best it can be. Heritage Ireland 2030 is built around three emerging themes: national leadership, stronger heritage partnerships and communities and heritage. It is intended to draw up an action plan under each theme with full, open and regular review of objectives over the lifetime of the plan to 2030. We now look forward to the public and all other stakeholders expressing their views on these central themes, draft objectives and actions so we can all deliver on our central vision for heritage so it will be valued and protected.
I am grateful to all those key stakeholders, including the heritage officers around the country, who have engaged with us in shaping the consultation strategy for Heritage Ireland 2030.
I thank the Minister for her response. I concur with her sentiments as regards our heritage and the importance of it. I also agree with the importance of local community involvement and the heritage officers having a key role to play in that regard.
I suppose I speak from a parochial point of view. There are 27 heritage officers around the country. Unfortunately, Carlow does not have a heritage officer. Carlow is at a significant disadvantage in this consultation process in that it will not be able to provide input directly to it. Are there any plans to rectify that? Carlow is one of the only such counties. Even though it is a small county, it is a proud county and has its own heritage like every other county. It is essential that the heritage officers provide input directly. The heritage officers are the ones who have expert knowledge of what is happening, the local connections etc. Has the Minister any plans to rectify the situation? In the event that it will not be rectified, how does the Minister foresee counties, which do not have a heritage officer, such as Carlow, having the same input into the proposal?
The heritage officer programme is co-ordinated and funded by the Heritage Council and the heritage officers are local authority employees. Our primary channel of communication with the heritage officers is through the Heritage Council. The Deputy may well be disposed to let the Heritage Council know of the gap in Carlow in heritage officer provision which I am sure is badly needed. It may be something the Heritage Council might be interested in addressing.
My Department has been in close contact with the Heritage Council through the development of the consultation process and we have been in direct contact with the Heritage Officers' Network as well.
A meeting is happening tomorrow, the purpose of which is to discuss the practical arrangements for the consultation. There are major monuments in Carlow such as Carlow Castle, the high cross at Nurney and the prehistoric portal tomb at Brown's Hill. There are also monuments that span the prehistoric period, from the fourth millennium BC through the high point of early Christian art in the ninth and tenth centuries and into the key historical events of the Norman invasion of Ireland. There is a lot of heritage in Carlow that will be worth considering.
I thank the Minister for recognising the fact there are a number of key heritage sites in Carlow. The dolmen she mentioned is one of the biggest in Europe and the site needs to be developed even further.
The Minister mentioned the idea of workshops throughout the country, which could be beneficial. In the event that there is no heritage officer in Carlow, is there a plan to have a similar type of workshop involving the Kilkenny officer, who services Carlow on a reasonably regular basis? Will that type of workshop proposal be available in Carlow to take on board all of these suggestions in order that the county can get equal representation?
It is important that Carlow is represented, whether by Kilkenny, as the Deputy said, or perhaps through talking to the Heritage Council directly. The regional workshops will be rolled out in the coming weeks and will continue throughout the consultation period. The locations and dates will be set following our meetings with the County Heritage Officers Network, the Royal Irish Academy and other partners who are going to be involved in the workshops. These discussions will, of course, include the heritage officers for the Deputy's area, if they are available, or somebody representing them, who will have an opportunity to offer to host a workshop in that area. The final workshop will take place in Dublin as a national discussion day on heritage which will mark the end of the public consultation and will draw together all of the strands from the earlier local and regional meetings.