Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

These cultural institutions do not have an independent means for raising money except through philanthropy. Often, there more is said in that regard than is actually delivered.

Recently, I had the benefit of making a comparative visit to the National Library, the National Archives and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast. I was quite shocked at the lack of protection against fire or flood in the National Library. Its collection is housed over five floors without a solid floor between them. If a fire started in the basement, the collection would be wiped out in less than one hour. In the Public Record Office in Belfast, the firebreak between storage facilities would delay a fire spreading for six hours. The 1922 fire in the Dublin Public Record Office wiped out 700 years of history. Have we not learned from that mistake? It is critical that there is a full understanding of the real risk posed to our valuable and irreplaceable national assets.

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