Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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104. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 22 of 22 October 2014 if she will provide Dáil Éireann with an update on whether contact has been made between her Department and Fingal County Council and the landowners of Drumanagh Promontory, with a view to securing this protected monument in public ownership. [46776/14]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The promontory fort at Drumanagh, Lusk, Co. Dublin, is privately owned and there are no proposals to take it into State ownership.

The site is, however, subject to a Preservation Order under section 8 of the National Monuments Act 1930, as amended. The effect of the Preservation Order is that any works affecting the site require my consent, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under section 14 of the Act. In that context, consent was recently given to the landowner for the replacement of the perimeter fence to facilitate agricultural activity and to protect the site from alleged incidences of anti-social behaviour. The monument is regularly inspected by my Department’s National Monuments Service.

The offer to provide advice or guidance to the landowners or to Fingal County Council on any matter relating to the protection of the national monument, as referred to by the Deputy, was made in the context of my Department’s understanding of contacts between the parties with regard to public access to the site. My Department has not received any communication from either party in the meantime.

I am generally supportive of all initiatives that may help to facilitate greater public access to our archaeological heritage. My Department’s National Monuments Service continues to be available to discuss any archaeological protection issues that might arise in that context with regard to this particular monument.