Ms Shirley Clerkin:

I thank the Chairman and members of the joint committee for inviting the Local Authority Heritage Officer Network to make this presentation. I am heritage officer with Monaghan County Council and chairperson of the Local Authority Heritage Officer Network. I am joined by my heritage officer colleague from Donegal County Council, Dr. Joseph Gallagher.

Heritage is part and parcel of our identity. It is the thatched cottages in County Donegal and the special way the thatch is held down with ropes to stop it from lifting on a windy day. It is the Irish damselfly which is distinctively apple green on its thorax and only found on a small number of lakes and wetlands on this island. It is our legacy of townland names such as An Currach or Béal Átha an Chatha which are so rich in language and meaning, hiding within them old histories and land use. It is the dawn chorus; one will not hear the same birds in any other country. It is our cultural landscape which is dotted with monuments from past societies such as Dún Aengus or Loughcrew and large earthworks such as the Black Pig's Dyke. There are historical buildings such as Muckross House and Dublin's Henrietta Street, as well as courthouses and market houses dotted throughout towns. In their very construction, design and ornamentation they highlight the work of skilled craftspeople and play a vital role in towns and villages. It is our farming traditions, including the Burren winterage and upland farming practices which are in synch with their habitats and create high nature value. It is our music, language, instruments, songs, sports, stories and folklore which are so evocative of place and time.

The recent inscription of the uileann pipes on the international list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity underlines the uniqueness of Ireland’s culture and heritage as an enriching element of all humanity. All tangible and intangible elements weave together to form our heritage and connect people with it. Heritage is a public good which belongs to us all and is crucial for identity, as a cultural anchor and for social stability, especially in times of change. It is for well-being as it contributes to the maintenance of a healthy environment, cultural jobs, cultural tourism jobs, creativity and farming. The best people to conserve and protect our heritage are local communities which have been doing a stellar job with limited resources. Enabling and facilitating them to achieve this is the main role of the heritage officer programme which has been in existence for almost 20 years. The recently published European Cultural Heritage Strategy Century recognises that there is an urgent need to reposition cultural heritage policies to place them at the heart of an integrated approach which focuses on the conservation, protection and promotion of heritage by society as a whole - by both the national authorities and communities.

Established in 1999, the local authority heritage officer programme is one of the Heritage Council co-operative initiatives and allows the council to effectively reach local government and communities all over the country. Both parties contribute to the success of the programme. The Heritage Council funds the heritage officer programme at a rate of 25%. Out of the 31 local authorities, there are 25 heritage officers in place, with a number in the process of being recruited. The heritage officer role is a strategic one and must be a core service within a changing local government system which has oriented increasingly towards the community. The Heritage Council provides technical support for the heritage officer programme which is important, as heritage officers are, by and large, stand-alone heritage professionals in their organisations. Like arts officers, they are under a different Department from the local authority. We share similar goals and align local heritage plans with the Heritage Council's strategic plan. We bring innovative participatory practices into the heritage sphere, involving communities to de-bureaucratise heritage and, once again, engage people with it. We are living and working in communities. We help to create conditions where experts can meet communities to share with each other tangible and intangible knowledge of heritage. Advocacy, capacity building and such underpinning are essential to support the Government in achieving its departmental goals, including the national heritage plan and the national biodiversity plan, as well as implementation of other heritage protections and policies.

It can be challenging to deliver a heritage agenda when the importance of the heritage mandate is overlooked, as it sometimes can be. It can manifest itself in poor planning decisions and a failure to recognise and capitalise on heritage related economic activities and potential. Project Ireland 2040 recognises the importance of heritage and historical town cores and aims to bring historical buildings back into use. This has been supported by the new historical towns initiative such as one in Portlaoise and the town centre health checks throughout the country, including in Monaghan, organised by the Heritage Council and supported by the heritage officers.

Successful local heritage management requires a wide definition of heritage, capacity for heritage management, a planned strategic approach, commitment and support, leadership and heritage data. The development and implementation of local heritage plans, with heritage forums, contribute to this process. We link with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht through its services, particularly the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the National Monuments Service and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.

These relationships are crucial. We provide data through local survey work to those bodies, as well as to the National Biodiversity Data Centre. We also work with Creative Ireland through the local culture teams to embed culture and creativity at the heart of public policy. We welcome the recent announcement of the consultation for the new national heritage plan, Heritage Ireland 2030. The absence of recent Government policy in this area had created an unhelpful policy vacuum and gap in heritage leadership, which we hope can now be remedied. We have 20 years' experience building community and local involvement in heritage and are keen to share and work in partnership with the Department on the type of actions which could contribute to its objectives.

The heritage sector has grown through the heritage officer networks and includes communities and individuals throughout the country who are full of enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment. They represent a huge resource if supported to be involved and to contribute their ideas and vision for heritage. We are ready to assist the Department in this process to develop the new national heritage plan and to encourage communities to engage with the consultation process.

The Council of Europe has found that budgetary and human resources, both at the European level and at the level of some member states, are increasingly inadequate to ensure the conservation and the restoration of European heritage, and thus to ensure that it can be transmitted as a legacy to future generations. Despite the increase in the remit, reach and demand for heritage services from the public since the establishment of the heritage officer programme in 1999, heritage officers for the most part still operate as one-person heritage sections. The number of heritage officers has not materially changed since 2008. We believe there is potential to expand the local heritage services to meet current demands and future ambitions. We recently suggested to the Heritage Council board that an assistant heritage officer programme be established using a similar model as the original heritage officer programme. Heritage practice is more complex than ever before for heritage managers but a strategic framework of the attributes of a good local heritage service has not been developed in Ireland. An Australasian framework provides a potential model that may prove useful as the basis for such an examination, including a review of the existing barriers to such a service. Funding for heritage plan implementation is important for local authorities and there is a need for continued and increased investment in this area especially as the new national heritage plan will seek activity and implementation at a local level.

In tandem with this funding, there is a need to increase community heritage grants through the Heritage Council to allow local communities as heritage custodians to engage and invest in their heritage in order that they can continue to create better places for people to live. I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting the heritage officers to present our work to them. I wish to extend an invitation to the committee on behalf of our network to visit heritage initiatives that have been supported by the heritage officer programme to see first-hand the contribution heritage is making to our communities and society.