Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

In an Irish context, universities are independent entities. As a former Minister for further and higher education, I know they really take pride in their independence. I would encourage them to exercise their independence proportionately and to reflect on what they have in their archives and on display. Universities, including Irish ones, should ask themselves whether the items they have on display are in keeping with the process of repatriation. Ultimately, that will be a matter for the governing authorities of universities, in the same way the issue the Deputy raises is a matter for the governing authority or its equivalent in Cambridge University.

I am not sure if Deputy McGuinness is on the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, but I am a former member of it and it is a very good vehicle to get issues like this raised by him or one of the Deputy's party colleagues who is a member of that assembly. It might also form part of a topic of discussion because there may very well be items in Irish museums and universities that could find themselves being repatriated to somewhere in Wales, Scotland or England. As I say, it has to be a two-way street.

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