Mr. Ian Lumley:

UNESCO sites overlap with other designations. The two UNESCO world heritage sites we have, Brú na Bóinne and Great Skellig, would come under archaeological protection. There is an obligation when signing the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which designates world heritage sites, that there be a periodically reviewed management plan for world heritage sites which meets certain standards. There was a consultation process for the Skelligs world heritage site process and we weighed a submission on that within the past year. Those standards are progressively being developed.

One of the big challenges in world heritage sites is managing visitor numbers. If one thinks of places such as Machu Picchu in Peru, the big challenge for world heritage sites is that the visitor pressure can have an adverse impact on the site and affect the integrity and wear and tear on the site. That is a major consideration for the management of world heritage sites. There is a parallel regime.

The real question we need to ask about world heritage sites in Ireland is why we have been such laggards in advancing additional designations. There is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and we have our two sites. Other European countries have been progressively advancing nominations. While there are many candidates and there have been consultation processes going on for the past 20 years that I can remember, there just does not seem to be the will to push them. World heritage sites have moved from the original concept of having a single, very clearly defined site, such as Stonehenge, to having groups of monuments of a particular type in a wider geographical area. It has been argued, for instance, that the key Irish early Christian monastic sites could be designated as a group. It has been very disappointing that we have not seen any advance in further world heritage site nominations by Ireland.