Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 March 2022
257. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if consideration will be given as part of the Decade of Centenaries project to erecting a memorial to the persons who lost their lives fighting the War of Independence in Headford, County Kerry (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12202/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy role as Minister with responsibility for leading the co-ordination of the Decade of Centenaries Programme (2012-2023) is to help ensure that the challenging events of this important and formative period in our history and related themes, are meaningfully, proportionately and sensitively remembered. In December, I announced funding of €2 million for local authorities in 2022, to support their leading role in developing community-led commemorative activities, for the final phase of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.
The provision or maintenance of memorials, erection of monuments, plaques, busts or statues and the production of commemorative medals or pins are not currently supported under my Department's funding allocation. My Department has developed comprehensive guidance for the allocation of funding to assist local authorities. However, it is, of course, within the discretion of individual local authorities to provide support from within their own resources to local communities who wish to erect and maintain monuments, where this is deemed the appropriate approach.
It is anticipated that local authorities will receive a number of requests from commemorative committees and community groups seeking support for the erection of monuments and other memorials as we navigate through the sensitive forthcoming period of commemorations.
While it is recognised that these incidents and actions are undoubtedly of great local significance in the narrative of the part played by individual counties during the Struggle for Independence and Civil War, this is just one element within the Community Strand of the overall Decade of Centenaries programme. Our approach is aligned with the guidance of the Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations, which advocates that initiatives which will serve as ‘living legacies’ for the Decade of Centenaries would be particularly beneficial, such as those that highlight the importance of original research and scholarship at national and local level, promoting free, public access to authentic historical sources.
The Expert Advisory Group advises that local commemorative endeavours could helpfully focus on acknowledging the significance of the event or action, rather than on the individual personalities involved, which would be a matter for personal commemoration and personal remembrance. The Group advocates that the emphasis must always be on remembrance and commemoration of locally significant historical events and the avoidance of any sense of celebration.
