Now's the time for a full-time national transport museum, argues Tim O'Brien
A visit to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Belfast is a real eye-opener. There sit in splendid restoration, the motors of our childhoods. The Minis, the Wolseleys, the motorbike side-cars, the fire engines, delivery vans, even aeroplanes. In purpose-built exhibition halls you can see the evolution of private and public transport on the island - one of the biggest exhibitions is about Iarnrod Éireann's past and present, and the biggest engine on display was used on the Dublin to Cork line between the late 1930s and the mid-1960s.
Tellingly, the museum and its next-door-neighbour the Ulster Folk Museum, attract 170,000 visitors a year.
Down south, the situation is altogether different. This year in Killarney Co Kerry, a private museum has closed with the loss of many heritage vehicles to Ireland. A fine 1907 Irish-made Silver Stream motor car which was housed there - an Irish Rolls-Royce if you like - was sold at auction in the UK. Only through the dedication and commitment of a private, Irish buyer, was it brought back to Co Kildare.
In fact the Republic would hardly have a screed of motoring heritage were it not for the dedication of such enthusiasts. The Royal Irish Automobile Club (RIAC), the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club IVVCC, and a host of volunteer-led museums across the State such as the privately-run National Transport Museum in Howth, are left to do what they can.
The National Transport Museum in Howth contains commercial transport vehicles, trams, buses, fire engines in various stages of restoration, and the museum's long-time pioneer Liam Kelly is among the first to call for the establishment of a State-run and funded national transport museum.
A range of private museums in places as diverse as Kilgarvan, Co Kerry, Buncrana, Co Donegal, Clonmel, Co Tipperary and Athlone, Co Westmeath operate with the aid of seasonal opening hours, voluntary labour and personal initiative. In Drumod in Co Leitrim the imagination of transport museum owner Patrick Kennedy has resulted in a mile of the former narrow gauge railway line being used for excursions, including Hallowe'en ghost trains and Santa specials.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has done more than most in progressing the establishment of a transport museum in the sheds and grounds of Cabinteely House, in south Co Dublin. Negotiations with the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club (IVVCC) are said to be "ongoing" but it is understood that the difficulty is not in providing a site, but ongoing operating costs in terms of insurance, electricity, staff etc.
So what is to be done? Robin McCullagh, president of the IVVCC, said the IVVCC has pursued the dream, coming close "many, many times" but has always floundered on the issue of running costs. He is convinced that bringing together a number of events at one venue, with exhibition space, and the staging of a major rally or race, would be "an ideal situation".
Such a possibility exists. The Phoenix Park races attract up to 100,000 visitors over its two-day activities each August. This is one of the very few places in these islands where racing can take place on roads just as they were in the 1920s - so why not a festival of racing revival, such as that held at Goodwood in the UK to celebrate the 1948-1956 'golden era' of motorsport.
Goodwood and its owner Lord March have made a good living out of using his country estate for sporting events, notably the Goodwood Revival and the Goodwood Festival of speed, which was first held in 1993 in the picturesque parkland surrounding Goodwood House.
Why not the Phoenix Park? The annual races there are now being supported, if somewhat tenuously by the activists themselves and Motorsport Ireland - the motorsport arm of the RIAC. The IVVCC 'Picnic' run to Farmleigh saw in excess of 160 cars take part. Similar picnics to Powerscourt in Co Wicklow saw similar levels of entry.
Then there is the Gordon Bennett Rally held around counties Carlow, Kildare and Laois, every June. Already the IVVCC are organising these events for consecutive weekends in June to allow those who come for the Gordon Bennett to remain for the picnic making a week-long motors themed holiday.
And this year Ireland is attracting an international rallying competition to the Border region to be held in November with up to 150,000 foreign visitors coming to view the spectacle.
Would it not be possible to start a section of the Gordon Bennett races and the international rally in the Phoenix Park? Perhaps the Government could see its way to develop our own Goodwood? Surely the critical mass would then be there to set aside a few acres for a permanent celebration of Ireland's motoring heritage?
It only needs initiative. We have the need, the space and the money. A good project for the forthcoming Heritage week, perhaps.