Dr. Mark Clinton:

That is why our related point is that we are advocating for monument destruction prevention rather than, as the Deputy said, when the deed is done. As we know, technology has made leaps and bounds and the data allows us to look up who owns what field.

It would be a laborious but one-off operation to work out where the known monuments are. As the register is to be updated, let us start with the updated register and seek to identify where the monuments are and on whose land they are situated. The Land Registry Office could then issue to the landowners a short and concise note informing them that they have a ringfort or a megalithic tomb on their land, telling them a little about it, that it is a legally protected structure and what they should do if they propose to sell the land. There have been examples of where land was sold and the new owner has pleaded that he or she did not know anything about the structure. Everybody who has a monument on his or her land needs to be notified of its existence and given information about it. Where a ringfort is demolished, there are subterranean features and objects within the trenches that enjoy their own legal protection under the National Monuments Acts. A preservation order placed on the land where the monument once stood removes the motivation, people are aware of its existence, they know what it is, that it may not be damaged and that if damaged there will be no gain in it. In doing this, the destruction of monuments would reduce to such a level we would never have to discuss the issue again.