Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The one thing that is never in dispute is that there is a North-South unanimity and logic about the records. It was possible for people in Northern Ireland to get records from the census in the South about the North before they were available. There are many of these anomalies and I am sure the reverse is the case in some of the peripheral areas to the Six Counties. In that context, has the Ireland Fund been considered as a source of funding? The issue is something that unites in terms of records and cultural heritage.

There is a notion that once the records are found, then that is it. However, the reverse is the case.

When I find a location, I have to be there and have to buy every history book and everything else I can bring back, including bits of stones from the ground or whatever. I am no different to anybody else. We must put this notion, that it is not a one-off, in our report because it becomes an ongoing exercise once one has made that connection, which is the ultimate connection. I am not just talking about the paper connection, but also the physical connection to a place.

My next point is about partnering local groups, particularly for church yards and graveyards, as stone records can be quite important. Can any initiatives be undertaken from that point of view? Bits and pieces are being done and it is also a very useful record in some locations.

Records were not digitised for 1922 or before the blitz, when so many military and other records were lost in places like London. There is nothing to substitute those records but having a copy is incredibly important simply from the point of view of preservation. To avoid risk, it would seem the most logical thing to get as much as possible copied into a source that provides the best insurance against the disappearance of a record or the copy of a record.