Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be clear, I am not talking about materials relating to the time before and after their being in presidential office. In the case of Mrs. Robinson, there does happen to be a lot of such material. The Minister will be aware of the proposal which was put forward that there be a presidential room in the museum where artefacts of the various Presidents would be stored and available for viewing. Many people who visit this country know something about our current and past Presidents. Some of the holders of the office have been quite iconic. Douglas Hyde, for example, was a chief author of the vision that led to the setting up of the Gaelic League and which ultimately led to the 1916 Rising, although he had no part in that event. Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was one of our premier jurists. Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and the current President have many achievements to their names. The proposal to have a dedicated museum space for storing all presidential materials is a good one and worthy of consideration. One former President left all the artefacts to the museum but not the papers.