Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, for securing an additional €1.3 million for Longford County Council in 2024 to cover the loss in rates following the closure of Lough Ree power station. It means that we will not have to cut services. In future, though, I ask that the Department agree multi-annual funding for Longford County Council so that we do not have to look for money at the last minute every year. Multi-annual funding was proposed by the just transition commission a number of years ago. I ask that it be implemented.

On a slightly related matter, one that Senator Murphy will be well aware of, the stones of Inis Cloithreann in Lough Ree were stolen from the island and brought to America before being retrieved, but they have been in storage ever since. If I am not mistaken, they have been in a facility in Roscommon for the past 30 to 40 years and have not been seen by anyone in that time. I ask that they be put on display in the Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre in Keenagh, County Longford, which is owned by the Office of Public Works and is open all year round, and we let people see this part of our history. I believe they date back to 800 AD or maybe the time of St. Diarmaid. We need to preserve our past, but we also need people to be able to see it. I ask that correspondence be sent to the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage. I will table a Commencement matter calling for the people of Longford and the rest of the country to be able to see these famous stones and that they should not be locked away in a box.