Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State will be aware, The Gathering is taking place this year as Ireland seeks to attract visitors from around the world, including in particular people with family connections to Ireland. Next year is the anniversary of another important event, namely, the Battle of Clontarf. I understand the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is organising various events to commemorate this anniversary. It will provide an opportunity to focus on our past and our military victories, although that is a matter which has gone out of fashion in modern Europe.

It also allows us to remember our connection with Scandinavia. Dublin is largely a Viking settlement and the Irish gene pool bears a remarkable similarity to Iceland. Either Irish people were very good swimmers or else they went to Iceland as slaves.

In any event, Brian Boru died immediately after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 and next year we will mark the passing of a millennium since that important event. This provides an opportunity to arrange international events and to increase co-operation with other countries. The Brian Boru project in Killaloe has submitted a request to the Central Bank that it issue a commemorative coin next year to mark the death of Brian Boru 1,000 years ago. The forthcoming millennium anniversary has energised the community of Killaloe, an old, medieval settlement which dates back to Brian Boru's time. When he was High King of Ireland Brian Boru had his capital at Kincora, a settlement at the top of the hill in Killaloe on which a Catholic church was built approximately 100 years ago. St. Flannan's Church of Ireland Cathedral, which is located at the bottom of the hill adjacent to the river, is an important archaeological site. It is a beautiful building similar to St. Mary's Cathedral in Limerick and both structures were commenced around the time of Brian Boru and built in the Romanesque style, of which Ireland has many important examples.

As the Minister will be aware, the Central Bank issued a commemorative coin featuring a line from James Joyce's Ulysses, which was unfortunately misquoted. There is, therefore, a facility to issue commemorative coins. The Central Bank acts as the agent for the Minister for Finance in respect of the issue of coins. Accordingly, any commemorative or collector coins issued by the bank require prior approval from the Minister. I urge him to consider approving the request to issue a coin commemorating Kincora and the anniversary of Brian Boru's death at the Battle of Clontarf 1,000 years ago.

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