MINISTER FOR Culture Mary Hanafin has acknowledged criticism of the lack of foresight of successive governments in providing proper accommodation for the National Archives.
She said she would prioritise spending in this area in the coming years. “I accept that there is a major responsibility on Government to preserve all of those documents and to do it properly.
“I can assure you that I will put it as one of my top priorities . . . that we not only improve the current conditions but try to move to a situation where we can have much more accessible accommodation and also much more top-quality accommodation.”
She was speaking at the launch last night of a special volume of the Irish Archivesjournal, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Irish Society for Archives.
A journal article, by former Dublin diocesan archivist David Sheehy, criticises the Government’s prevarication for nearly two decades in providing adequate accommodation for the archives.
