Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has reappointed five outgoing members of the Heritage Council for a further two years, including its chairman, Dr Tom O'Dwyer, who had clashed with former members over his alleged "autocratic" approach.
In reappointing Dr O'Dwyer and four other members, the Minister said the Heritage Council had "an important role to play in promoting best practice in protecting our national and local heritage" and had established itself as a recognised centre of excellence.
Three members of the council, a statutory agency which advises the Government on heritage policy, resigned in 2002 after sharp differences with Dr O'Dwyer.
They were Dr Pat Donlon, Ms Clare O'Grady Walsh and Ms Bride Rosney.
Dr Donlon, a former director of the National Library, had claimed the chairman had been "railroading the council . . . at breakneck speed" and that any attempt to raise contentious issues in relation to heritage protection was "regarded as extremely negative".
The other four outgoing members who will continue to serve on the council are Deirdre Ellis-King, Dublin city librarian; Maurice Hurley, Cork city archaeologist; Nioclás Ó Conchubhair, a former senator; and Virginia Teehan, director of the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
New members are Betty Coffey, former cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council; Billy Colfer, chairman of Wexford Historical Society; Prof Gabriel Cooney, former head of the UCD department of archaeology; Ted Creedon, broadcaster; Brendan Dunford, co-ordinator of the Life nature project, Burren, Co Clare; Donal Enright, principal officer at the Department of the Environment; Dr Carolynne Ferris, Countryside Access and Activities Network, Northern Ireland; Rhonwen Hayes, artist and musician; Mary Keenan, landscape horticulturist and past president of the Tree Council of Ireland; Noel Keyes, former cathaoirleach of Bray Town Council; Martina Maloney, Louth county manager; and Finola Reid, landscape and gardening consultant.
