Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 October 2010
25 Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport her plans to review the outreach programmes of the National Archives to other exhibition centres throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36637/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs I have explained in response to a similar question on 29th September 2010, the position is that the National Archives has the three following travelling exhibitions in store:
"A Nation and not a Rabble" — Ireland in the year July 1921-June 1922;
"The Calamitous Fire" — the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, June 1922;
"Lovers of Liberty?" — 100 years of Local Government in Ireland.
These were prepared and exhibited extensively in the late 1990s, and have been exhibited more occasionally since then.
In recent years the limited resources available to the National Archives for outreach have been concentrated mainly on the development of its website and the digital publication of the 1901 and 1911 Census Returns. In addition to the Census Returns themselves, the website includes extensive contextual material, describing life in early 20th century Ireland, supported by many photographs illustrating life at the time. The inclusion of the contextual material is particularly helpful to teachers using this resource in the classroom, and the website is proving very popular in secondary school history classes. The resources available to the National Archives preclude an expansion of its outreach service for the present.
