Dr. Marie Bourke:

It is a privilege to be here to speak to members. Probably, if one were to fight for Irish heritage, one would be fighting for one's key national asset. If Irish heritage is one's key national asset, what could be a greater thing to be fighting for than everything that we are and everything that this nation is in terms of its landscape, natural heritage, rivers, culture and monuments? The main argument is that heritage is critical to the tourism industry. I use the analogy quite often of the museums standards programme, which is one of the great unsung success stories of the heritage programme. The Heritage Council have been up and running for ten years and it has single-handedly raised the standards of Irish museums around the country. The people who visit this country in the autumn, winter and spring who stay in lovely hotels want to go somewhere and do something. The majority of European visitors want to find out about our heritage. They normally go to a heritage centre and, preferably, a local museum. While they are in the museum they do not necessarily want to find out about connections with Europe, which is a nice counter-product. They want to know about the local people and what makes them tick, what they do and how they live. Local museums are critical because people go to them to connect with local people, to find out about Irish society and to understand us. That is a very small strand of our heritage. If one thinks of a programme that the Heritage Council has set up, with huge consultation, and that raises the standard of all of our museums slowly bit by bit, and in conjunction with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, then one has something that improves the quality of Irish life and that is part of Irish heritage.

Let us consider the work of the local authority heritage officer network. Across the country heritage officers promote heritage. If one is fighting for heritage, then one is fighting for something that is intrinsic to who we are and what we are going to leave for the future and for our young people.