Mr. Michael Merrigan:

As general secretary of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, I would like, on behalf of my board and on behalf of our members at home and overseas, to thank the Chairperson and the members of the Oireachtas joint committee for inviting the society to make a submission and to address this meeting. I would like to introduce my colleagues - to my left Tom Conlon, director of Internet services and Aiden Feerick, a member of the society.

For the information of the committee, while the society itself does not engage in commercial genealogical research assignments for individuals, Aiden Feerick is also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland, APGI, and a director of Ancestor Network Limited. It may be useful, in the interests of openness and transparency, that any person appearing before the committee for and on behalf of a voluntary genealogical organisation, declares if they are personally also members of APGI or engage in commercial genealogical research. The Irish genealogical community is relatively small and cross-membership among organisations is not uncommon.

On page 4 of the society's submission, we have included information on the society and its unique approach to these matters as it operates quite differently to other voluntary genealogical organisations in Ireland. The society has a long record stretching back over 23 years of campaigning on genealogical and heritage matters at local, national and international levels. Further clarification on our position is on page 5 of the submission. The society was established in 1990 to promote an awareness, appreciation and knowledge of our genealogical and heraldic heritage in Ireland and among her diaspora. The society is an independent not-for-profit voluntary heritage organisation with an Irish and international membership and it is an incorporated body in Ireland with charitable status. It is also a nominating body for Seanad Éireann.

The society is devoted to the promotion of the study of genealogy and related subjects as educational leisure pursuits available to all in the community irrespective of age, prior learning, background, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation or socioeconomic circumstances and we do so by organising two open meetings each month throughout the year, holding lectures, workshops, publishing genealogical material, group projects, exhibiting at major events and the provision of an archive and research centre, An Daonchartlann, at the Carlisle Pier in Dún Laoghaire.

The principle of public ownership and right of access to our genealogical heritage is the cornerstone of the society’s policies on heritage, genealogy and archival matters. The society is precluded from affiliating with any organisation or group failing to endorse this fundamental principle. Over the past 23 years, the society has encouraged the tabling of parliamentary questions in Dáil Éireann; raising matters on the Order of Business in Seanad Éireann; advocating amendments to Bills in both Houses; it has drafted Bills for presentation to Teachtaí Dála and Seanadóirí; made numerous submissions to State agencies, Departments and local government; and formulated and published detailed proposals on many heritage issues.

The society has always been to the fore in the development and promotion of genealogical and heraldic services in Ireland. Legislative reform has been a core objective of this endeavour and therefore, amendments were sought and secured in many pieces of legislation as outlined in the written submission. In addressing the issue, developing a plan to capture the full value of our genealogical heritage, it is easy to see the matter from a purely economic perspective relating specifically to tourism or as a straightforward archival access problem to be resolved by more State investment, increased staffing levels, improved technology and, of course, the hope of philanthropy. Capturing the full value of our genealogical heritage is as much an intriguing objective as it is a complex, multifaceted and, in some respects, a very contentious and ambitious endeavour involving many different stakeholders across a number of sectors including the State, commercial interests, voluntary organisations, institutional and private custodians of records and others.

As members can see from the submission, the Genealogical Society of Ireland has taken a holistic approach to this important national issue by assessing our genealogical heritage in its many and varied aspects including whether it is a product or a resource. This is an essential question as it impacts greatly on the manner in which other aspects of our genealogical heritage can be assessed in the context of the development of a plan as proposed. As members can see on page 2 of the submission, the society has considered each of the various areas it believes have a significant contribution to make to the promotion of an awareness, appreciation and knowledge of our genealogical heritage or to the further development of genealogy in education, scientific research, roots tourism and other important sectors. Given that individual members may have a particular interest in specific areas, each topic is explored in a separate chapter under the headings: Commercial Genealogy; Genetic Genealogy; Genealogy and Ethnic or Cultural Diversity - this chapter is important in view of the fact that this is International Human Rights Day and, in light of recent European Unions endeavours, it relates to the Traveller and Roma communities; Heraldry; Roots Tourism; Volunteerism; Philanthropy; and Legislation. Each chapter provides some background information on the area considered followed by the society’s recommendations.

The society’s recommendations - approximately 70 in all - cover public policy issues, Government or State agency actions, legislative proposals, product development, funding and the involvement of the genealogical community, both voluntary and commercial. The recommendations proffer suggestions for consideration in the formulation and implementation of a national policy on genealogy. While the society could have concentrated on the various archival resources that should be publicly accessible or in need of digitisation at our various repositories, we fully appreciate that, as legislators, the members of this committee must concentrate on those matters within the scope of legislation or public policy or on those areas for which the various line Ministers have responsibility. However, it is important to restate two points from the programme for Government which directly concern the matter at hand, namely:

We will promote genealogical tourism by updating the National Cultural Institutions Act in relation to the Genealogical office to put it on a proper statutory footing, modernise its operations and to enable publication of the 1926 census to stimulate genealogy tourism.
We will also explore philanthropic opportunities for the development of a national archives and genealogy quarter, providing easy access to archives and tapping into an area of cultural tourism which is of huge interest to the vast Irish Diaspora.

The society has - as the submission indicates - been very active in both of these areas for a great number of years starting in 1993 when the then Statistics Bill was going through Seanad Éireann, we almost succeeded, with the help of then Senator Maurice Manning, of reducing the 100 year to 70 years in respect of public access to census records. We were the only genealogical organisation involved in that process at the time but, alas, the Bill passed into law in July 1993 with the 100-year rule intact. We have been campaigning ever since on this issue, as members see by reference to chapter 16, page 36, of our submission. The society has been very proactive in respect of the Genealogical Office ever since what became the National Cultural Institutions Act was going through Seanad Éireann where, with the assistance of Senator Paschal Mooney, we achieved 28 amendments to the legislation and a further three in Dáil Éireann. We have also kept up the pressure in respect of the need to rectify certain aspects of the fundamentally flawed section 13 of the 1997 Act, as members can see in chapters 11 and 16 of our submission.

The recommendations in the society's submission present the committee with a set of comprehensive measures aimed at providing the framework for the development of a meaningful and structured consultative environment facilitating the formulation of specific objectives covering many aspects of our genealogical heritage. The recommendations envisage the establishment of a priority list of actions and consultations from which specific and targeted measures can be put in place to enable the formulation and implementation of a sustainable development plan. The society strongly believes that the formulation and development of a plan must be an inclusive, transparent and meaningful consultative process whereby all stakeholders will have an important contribution to make towards achieving the worthy objective of developing a plan to capture the full value of our genealogical heritage.

I should bring the committee's attention to the fact that there are some typographical errors in the text of the submission on pages 14, 15 and 26. References to chapter 14 in the text on these pages should read chapter 16. Mea culpa.