Written answers

Thursday, 29 September 2022

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

National Cultural Institutions

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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32. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans, if any, to expand the mobility-of-collections scheme to support loans from the national collections for display in public buildings across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47123/22]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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50. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will request the institutions with responsibility for State exhibits that are currently held in storage to consider offering them on loan for display in public buildings across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47124/22]

Photo of Catherine MartinCatherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 50 together.

The National Cultural Institutions (NCIs) play a valuable role as custodians of Ireland’s history and culture. This work encompasses not only the collection, preservation and display of heritage objects and artworks, but also educational activities that facilitate the public’s understanding of items in the collections and the broader context in which they were produced.

Conscious that it is not possible for the NCIs to display their full collection at any one time, I welcome and support initiatives that provide greater regional and local access to material held in the national collections.  Of course, in facilitating wider access to cultural artefacts, I acknowledge the importance of safeguarding these precious objects by ensuring that they are displayed in sites that are sufficiently secure and have appropriate environmental controls.

Within these parameters, I am particularly keen to facilitate the display of cultural artefacts with specific local and regional interest in appropriate publicly-accessible settings, outside the main urban centres, where they can be more easily seen and enjoyed by the local community.  Accordingly, my Department operates a Mobility of Collections Scheme, which is designed to fund transport, insurance and exhibition-related costs associated with moving pieces from the national collections for display in appropriate institutions around the country.

Separately, I know that the NCIs are equally committed to increasing broader access to the national collections through bilateral arrangements with local exhibitions and also through various innovative online programmes, which became particularly important during the recent COVID pandemic and related restrictions.  In this regard, although the NCIs under the aegis of my Department are operationally independent, the lending and dissemination of items from the national collection under their care is actively encouraged.

I welcome the commitment of the NCIs to increase access to the national collections through enhanced online exhibitions and the lending of artefacts for regional and local exhibitions.  For its part, my Department will continue to encourage and provide support for the mobility of national collections.

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