Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

I agree with the Minister that it is a two-way street. In the case of any artefacts or items of cultural heritage held here that are vestiges of the colonial past of this country and its unhappy presence within the British Empire for far too long, they should of course be logged and dialogue should take place for those to be repatriated to their peoples.

I just want to give a very brief anecdote. Recently, a research group from Belfast was in Cambridge and when they visited the archives they were shocked to see the Irish collection in dusty shoeboxes. An astonishing number of Irish historical and cultural artefacts lay undisturbed. They had not been touched. They had never been looked at, but they were kept there. When one of the boxes was opened, an archivist there took out a wooden stick from Gougane Barra in west Cork and said it had obviously been used for counting sheep, such was the ignorance. Of course it was a bata scóir, the piece of wood that was tied around a child's neck when they went to school, on which it was recorded how often they spoke Irish. They were beaten in school and they could be beaten again when they went home. These are important artefacts that we should have in Ireland, our country, so our people can interpret them and access them rather than having them stored in dusty shoeboxes in archives in Cambridge University. I ask that that work take place and that the Minister publish the report and circulate it to Members. He might send me a copy.

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