Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad we are having this debate. I want to welcome the Minister of State. I can say from the bottom of my heart that he has a huge interest in our heritage, history and archaeological finds. We have a very proud record in County Roscommon of a lot of heritage and a lot of buildings. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of Rathcroghan which is one of the best sites in Europe but virtually unknown. It could probably become a UNESCO site. We are very proud of that. In the village of Tulsk, close to Rathcroghan, we have an interpretative centre. I want to pay tribute to the local people and local farmers in an agricultural area who have been so understanding through the years.

It needs to be said here that the people of Ireland are very proud of their heritage and their archaeology. They do not like to see it destroyed or tampered with. In that regard, we should be putting a much stronger emphasis on this type of material in our schools, even our national schools. I must acknowledge the role of teachers, because they do a lot regarding local archaeology and local heritage in bringing children to sites.

I am very lucky. I come from near Strokestown where we have the National Famine Museum, which is now renowned not alone in Ireland, but throughout Europe. It brings between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors to that town. It illustrates the whole story of the Famine and the suffering of the people. People now come on the Famine walk from Strokestown to Dublin and can see the Famine sculptures on the docks. They are a reminder to us all of what people went through.

The people of our town, despite the unpleasant memories, are very proud that a local businessman, Mr. Jim Callery, who was the first man to bring Scania trucks into Ireland, purchased the site years ago and got help from the Scania company. We are now really so thankful that he did so. The State has been giving good support to Strokestown Park House. I would encourage everybody, those in the Gallery and those in the Chamber to come. We were to organise a visit for our Senators and we will do that in time. That is all part of what we are.

No country in the world has anything if it does not have its heritage and archaeology. It is so important in defining people and in what we are. Moore Street means an awful lot to the people of rural Ireland. They loved going to Moore Street and they would love to see it being properly looked after. It was a national treasure for Irish people and I remember as a young lad being brought there by my parents. I loved going there, listening to the local people who were part of it. I would be very passionate about places like that even though I am a culchie.

What we are doing here is very important and I thank the Minister of State for bringing the Bill forward. I looked through many of the other listings of important places in my own county of Roscommon and the adjoining county of Galway, and part of that I would know. For example, in Roscommon town, Loughnaneane Park and the O'Connor Dunne family. We have Ballintubber Abbey. Now do not go astray here. We are not talking about Ballintubber Abbey in Mayo. We are talking about Ballintubber Abbey in County Roscommon. There is a local committee doing fabulous work on it.We also have the Castlestrange stone, the Drummin fort and Holy Trinity Abbey in Lough Key. There is a great deal of heritage in Lough Key Forest Park, which is located near Boyle in County Roscommon. It is fantastic, as many Members know. I have mentioned Rathcroghan Visitor Centre. There is also Rinn Dúin Castle in south Roscommon and Leecarrow. There is a huge amount of history there, which I do not have time to relate today. We also have Roscommon Abbey in Roscommon town. These are but a few of the aspects of our beautiful and rich heritage in County Roscommon.

The same is true of County Galway. I was talking on the telephone today to a woman who contacted me about Eglish Abbey in Ahascragh near Galway city. It is a fantastic historical place. An issue this woman raised is one that is a problem for a lot of our national monuments, namely, the inadequate road structure around them. I hope the Bill will include provision for improving some of that road infrastructure, which is terrible. When people want to go these sites and find out about their history, they are blocked by roads that are flooded or that have not been developed. It would be helpful if local authorities would liaise with the Minister of State on this issue. There is a lot of money available currently for active travel initiatives. We should be able to find the funding to improve the short roadways into these sites. I am not talking about people going onto the sites and doing damage. It is about enabling visitors to have a look, read the plaques and find out about the sites. That is something we need to do.

This is a good day and we have had a great and important debate. Across the House, we see the importance of this issue. We are all very careful about our heritage and we want it looked after and minded. As I said, we have nothing if we do not have our heritage and culture.