Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
569. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her views on artifacts and items that were removed from Ireland without consent and are currently on display or in storage overseas and the actions she intends to take on same. [40823/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn keeping with international best practice, the National Cultural Institutions have carefully developed policies in relation to the care and management of the national collections. Increasingly in recent decades, the NCIs' curatorial responsibilities require a consideration of the ethical implications and the evolving sensitivities regarding the acquisition and exhibition of historic artefacts. The exploitation of peoples abroad or the expropriation of their cultural artefacts is a profound concern, whether it occurred in the past or in more recent times, and it is a concern of which the National Cultural Institutions are acutely aware.
Regarding the export of Irish historic artefacts, the National Monuments Act 1930 to 2014 and the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 provide for the licensing of such activity. The National Museum of Ireland actively follows up on reports of unlicensed export of archaeological objects from the State, on behalf of the State, and has been involved in the successful retrieval of such material. Important collections of archaeological objects, recovered through unlicensed metal detecting and subsequently illicitly exported from the jurisdiction, have been retrieved by the NMI working in cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
Prior to the enactment of the relevant legislation, and as is the case in many countries, objects from Ireland were often legitimately acquired by antiquarian collectors and ultimately entered the collections of other museums through onward sale or donation. This type of activity dates from a time which predates the current legislation which regulates the discovery, possession and sale of archaeological objects.
Many Irish objects that belong to collections in overseas museums have been loaned to museums in Ireland for specific exhibitions. The NMI maintains close links with museums that hold Irish artefacts and has often borrowed such material for exhibitions. The institutions collaborate and share research and, in many cases, share the NMI's ethos, that is to care for, protect, and to research and disseminate knowledge in relation to collections that are in its care.
Two recent examples are objects on long-term renewable loan to the NMI, currently on display in the Treasury exhibition at the NMI in Kildare Street:
- the house-shaped shrine from the River Shannon at Keeloge Ford, in the Collection of the National Museums of Scotland
- the Aghadoe Crozier, found in Co. Kerry but in the collection of the Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
