Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 619: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to seek designation of Clonmacnoise as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [17967/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I recently approved a detailed programme of work in my Department towards the inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List of those Irish heritage sites deemed to be of "Outstanding Universal Value".

In this context, I attach a high priority to the nomination of Clonmacnoise heritage site for inscription on the List. At the invitation of my Department, Dr. Jukka Jokilehto, an internationally recognised expert in the area of world heritage, visited Ireland in December 2007 to advise on the likelihood of inscription of some of the sites on our existing Tentative List, including Clonmacnoise. On foot of his advice, and having regard to the commitment in the Programme for Government, my Department has commenced work on the preparation of the nomination documents and site management plan for Clonmacnoise to meet UNESCO requirements. A Request for Tenders for elements of this work will shortly be published on the e-tenders website, www.e-tenders.gov.ie.