Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an bhfinné as sin. I have a number of questions to address to Mr. Allen. This is one of the most important wrecks off the coast of Ireland. It has massive archaeological importance and is also a war grave because well over 1,000 people went down with the ship and were lost with it. I understand that typically the process that existed until very recently was that a licence was provided with an input from the sub-aqua archaeological teams that exist and from the National Museum. It would have included methodologies and some level of supervision. We know from newspaper and other reports there was a significant break in that practice, which happened very recently at the last dive between August and October, and for some reason no methodology or archaeological supervision were provided. In addition, the telegraph, which was the subject of the dive, was damaged and lost. We will tease out the argument that could be made about why there was a significant break in the practice later. The telegraph is an important item in trying to understand the bearing, route and location and the orders from the captain to the engine house of the ship. The fact that it was lost probably gives a certain level of corroboration to the views of the people in the National Museum.

They believe that they should have had an input and that there should not have been a break with that practice. Why was there a significant change in the practice on these types of ships around the coast of Ireland?