The development of vibrant museums in every county in the State was highlighted as a priority by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands yesterday when she officially opened the new County Museum building in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Ms de Valera said the state-of-the-art museum was an example of what could be achieved through partnership between the State and local authorities. The opening was marked with an exhibition of vintage cars and Norman knights roamed the town to publicise the event.
The Government allocated £750,000 to the £1.4 million project, to which Tipperary County Council and Clonmel Corporation contributed the remainder.
"We want to see the development of a network of professionally based museums throughout this country. I would like to see a vibrant, busy and successful county museum in each county," said Ms de Valera.
Discussions continue between the new museum and the National Museum in Dublin on the possibility of the Derrynaflan Chalice, discovered in Co Tipperary, being temporarily displayed in the regional museum.
The curator of the Clonmel museum, Mr Pat Holland, said yesterday he was "more than confident" that a major treasure would be on display in the museum within 18 months.
The museum, in the town's civic centre, contains display galleries, a multi-purpose room for events and a conservation laboratory.
Current exhibitions include items with a link to Tipperary during the War of Independence and Civil War. A photographic exhibition details south Tipperary in the 1850s. Established in the 1940s, the museum has grown since 1983 when Mr Holland became full-time curator.