Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a great believer that when somebody does one a turn then one should feel a sense of obligation to return something, and we must see philanthropy in this context as two-way. I am concerned about the approach being taken to The Gathering, which I know is more with regard to tourism. It has the potential to end up as a one dimensional and quite superficial event and we could do so much better. We cannot see opportunities like The Gathering as one-off superficial events. We must seek to give them a deeper and longer meaning. Wider opportunities for philanthropy exist in the areas of arts, heritage and culture than the narrow definition of paintings and literature, although these are incredibly important and very defining. Heritage, genealogy, our archives and records are part of this and rather than seeking to dip into the pockets or bank accounts of those who number themselves as part of the diaspora, we must offer them a real connection so they can reinforce their sense of belonging.

As has been stated previously, we have a very good record of charitable giving while other places have a culture of philanthropy such as Atlantic Philanthropies, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Music, the written word and the creativity we have brought to the stage have helped to showcase us and have shown what makes the Irish unique. Our sense of identity is wrapped up in this and millions around the world are proud of this heritage. However, we do not make it easy for them to take it a stage further and feel a sense of belonging by connecting to the actual place of origin. A real opportunity exists in this.

Those who left Ireland in the many waves of immigration predominantly did so between 1845 and today and approximately 70 million people throughout the world claim a level of Irish ancestry. One thing we collectively own is evidence of where we came from and this takes the form of records. It is a commonly held view that all of our 19th century records were destroyed when the Public Records Office was set on fire in 1922. We need to dispel this myth. A huge amount of resources and information remain but we present them in such a fragmented way that we make it difficult for people to search, make a connection and belong. Such a sense of belonging would produce many types of returns. The idea of the mother ship has been mulling around for some time but we must understand why people who have connections to Ireland might want to come here and feel a sense of belonging which is much more profound than just visiting. It is one thing for British, American or Australian people to say they have Irish roots, but it is quite another to make a direct connection which deepens this sense of belonging, and I believe this is what we must aim to achieve. This requires us to give something as well as get something in terms of donations, philanthropy or charity.

I have an interest in family history and have found reconnecting with my ancestors and understanding what made them make the decisions they did a very deep and enriching experience. Dublin families like mine often have a mixed Irish heritage and while I have one Dublin line I also have ancestors from the cities of Limerick and Belfast. Dublin and Belfast were the only two cities to increase their population in the latter part of the 19th century so families from there will have mixed ancestry. They are also important counties as many people left from them.

I have been back and forth on numerous occasions to both cities because I feel a sense of connection to them. Each time I go I buy whatever local histories have been written since my previous visit, so much so I have a small library which I know feeds into the local economies. Recently I was asked to nominate my favourite places in Ireland and Limerick city was one of them. People might raise an eyebrow at this but it is a city which is much maligned even though it has an extraordinary wealth of records which have been carefully gathered and preserved. It has a wonderful heritage of local historians and a wealth of historic buildings which have been carefully restored. My point is that my sense of belonging to the city makes me see it for what it really is. I can bypass the press image of it and see the city for itself. We can make this happen for tens of thousands if not millions of people who have connections to all parts of Ireland and not only to the traditional tourist destinations. If they come to these destinations, we will have an opportunity to showcase local histories, museums, art and culture, and it is important that they come so this dual vibrancy exists. We can do this by helping them with their paper trail, and philanthropy can play a role in this.

I have been to many repositories in my search for my ancestors, which I started in earnest approximately 15 years ago before it was possible to search digitally, and I have had an opportunity to watch other people who were doing the same. People are very helpful to each other in such situations and there is much interaction. I remember an elderly gentleman from United States who had just made a connection and found something on a microfilm, and he sat watching and waiting for the same thing to happen for someone else. One can be certain he kept returning here because of it.

I remember being in the old Civil Registration Office in Lombard Street when two Liverpool girls found their connections to the past. They demonstrated in a very loud way but it did not annoy those who were there because they understood the importance to them of making the connection. Given the connection this country has with Liverpool, it was a great irony that this was going in the other direction.

There are often queues in the new research room in the General Register Office in the Irish Life Centre. Records are rationed and one can see only a certain number a day. How crazy is this? Excellent work has been done in recent years on digitising the 1901 and 1911 census and the same will be done to the 1926 census. However, this work was done in Canada. The State has indexed the civil registration records and taxpayer's money was used to digitise the indexes. What is interesting is that they are not available online on an Irish website. They are free to view on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has done fantastic work on putting some of the records on microfilm. Ironically, one can buy from ancestry.co.uk the records we paid to produce, but none of them is available through an Irish website or online facility.

There is something very peculiar about that. We need to foster a culture of co-operation between the various projects. For example, the Irish Family History Foundation, with which Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú and others are involved, has done fantastic work. Something like 19 million records are available online through that website, but it is not complete because there seems to be parallel delivery with another organisation. We need to get to grips with those matters. What I am looking for is an overall project that eventually involves digitising all available data sets in order that we have one brand and go-to place.

This is a huge opportunity. For example, according to an article in the Sunday Independent some time ago, 90,000 overseas visitors came to Ireland last year to trace their roots and spent as much as €61 million. They went to all parts of Ireland, not just one. The figure of €61 million is twice the amount taken during the tall ships festival, which was a fantastic event. That puts it in context. One could have a virtual army of people employed digitising these records. We must think much bigger and think in a collective way. This may involve pay to view, while in some cases it may be free. It could employ a very large number of people for several years because there are many very good records.

There is ongoing academic work in understanding the importance of connection to geographical place. For example, research by UCD's institute for British-Irish studies suggests "that in increasingly geographically mobile and globalised societies like Ireland, a sense of place is still a strong marker of identity and central to people's knowledge and understanding of themselves and others". According to the authors of the research, which was part of an international social survey programme, "not only is identity with a place of living still very strong, but that it is deep and complex and enmeshed with a sense of belonging to the place where people grew up, the wider county and the nation". The clusters of Irish people who appear when Irish people go abroad demonstrates that this continues through the generations.

Our national archives, in addition to the census records, also hold records like the tithe applotment books, police recruitment records, some records on criminals and some landed estate records that are clues to tenant farmers. Some are in paper format whiles others are on microfilm and microfiche. Some can be searched online, including the Australian transportation records. Ledgers from the Probate Court can also be viewed despite the fact that the wills were destroyed. The civil registration digitisation project has been under way for many years. Again, I make the point that these data are not available online. I went into the Civil Registration Office, CRO, and asked why they are not available and why a poster was not put up stating they could be accessed online through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints genealogy service. I was told they could not do that because it was not the CRO's website. We are making it more difficult for people to find their connections. The National Library has a genealogy service and, obviously, that is important. The point I am making in respect of records such as those in the Valuation Office, employment records, a huge number of railway records, gravestones and cemeteries is that the situation is so fragmented that it is incredibly difficult to do a complete search. I did it myself and it took me years. We can make it much easier.

I am concerned about how the new privacy bill may exclude people doing genuine searches. One might get a list and not be able to see the names on it except for the name being searched for. We must not make it more difficult for people who have a genuine reason to do searches. It relates to the Data Protection Act. I would like to see something like an ISO 9000 arrangement because there is a lot of rubbish on websites and people can get conned into handing over money. We should think very big on this. Not only are there tourism opportunities, there are also serious job possibilities in the digitisation process. When people return, spend their money and keep going back to the same place, they will engage in things like cultural tourism. This in turn will generate income to reduce people's dependence on State support. There is an opportunity that is being lost here due to the fragmentation of our records.

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