Professor John McCafferty:

There are two issues arising, one of which is conservation. I cannot speak to the whole issue. The reason the Book of Kells is in Trinity College is related to the terms of a 17th century will. The Chairman can make of that what he wills. There are several ways forward, including digital access. However, while digital access is fine, people do not only listen to CDs or to live streaming; they still go to live concerts. Some of these documents are very delicate and vulnerable and so on. The provision of high-quality facsimiles is possibly one way around the issue. For example, the original diary of the flight of the earls in 1607 is in UCD. The National Library wished to display it and so we made a facsimile. It was so indistinguishable I could not tell it was not the real document and I am an expert in the field. I would have had real trouble distinguishing between the two. There are creative solutions and partnership solutions to those kind of issues. The Chairman is correct that the early manuscripts in particular are tied to specific places. They are the work of the hands of those places. After all, to produce a manuscript such as the Book of Kells, one has to kill approximately 2,000 cattle and 2,000 cattle do not come cheap. A huge local investment went into these manuscripts in the past.