Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 222: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will work with the authorities in Northern Ireland to extend the battlefields research project on an all-island basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8111/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The study of key Irish battlefields is a new research project being undertaken by the National Monuments Service of my Department which will ultimately assist in identifying the appropriate statutory protection for relevant battlefield sites under the national monuments legislative code. The National Monuments Service will be assisted by a panel of recognised external experts in the fields of military history, archaeology and mapping. I have invited nominees to the panel who will provide the best expertise available and who are academically and geographically representative of various national and educational institutions.

Given the historic resonance and relevance of this area of research in an all-island context I have invited a nominee to the panel from the Directorate of Built Heritage in the Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland. I understand that the Environment and Heritage Service is currently inputting data on battlefields into its Sites and Monuments Record and in this regard there are synergies with the battlefields research project being undertaken by my Department. It is intended to seek opportunities to maximise those synergies in the course of the battlefields research project. In addition, the inaugural meeting of the panel of experts to be held next month will be addressed by experts from England and Scotland on their experiences in the area of battlefield research and the compilation of relevant battlefield registers and inventories in those countries.