Ms Lynn Scarff:

To support that point on the national strategy, at the moment we have a situation where the national cultural institutions are under the remit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. However, the local museums within local authorities are under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

While many opportunities come with that, it presents a need for structures that allow collaborative work, particularly around policy and strategy which is something we are perhaps missing at the moment. The points of intersection between culture and heritage can sometimes be lost. It is the duty of all of us to emphasis how intricately they are linked. Our chair mentioned how everybody who comes to the National Museum of Ireland can find something from their own town and their own place, and how important that is in terms of our identity. Looking at that policy and strategy structure and how it sits in a cross-departmental element would be important.