Ireland has not always enjoyed a good reputation in the matter of the preservation or restoration of its built heritage. While the situation has been improving over the latter decades of the 20th century, there is still reason to welcome the initiative announced by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands to spend £100 million on notable heritage sites around the State as part of the National Development Plan. Clearly, there may be arguments put forward as to the priorities which inform the selection of the particular sites to be repaired or developed, but the principle of investing in our monuments, and the built evidence of our past, cannot be denied. A nation with no sense of its past - the good and the bad - lacks significant information to guide it into its future.
The provision of almost £10 million for architectural and archaeological surveys, for the agreement of a code of practice with the National Roads Authority, for the opening of discussions with the Irish Home Builders' Association, the Irish Ports Association and An Bord Gais, and for the recruitment of archaeologists to the planning authorities, represents some first steps towards the eventual creation of a national infrastructure of laws, codes and regulations which may have some hope of retaining what is left of the built heritage of the State. It is important to note (as the minister did) that, of an estimated total of some 120,000 extant national monuments, fewer than 800 are owned by the State.
Many will be aware of the attrition suffered all over the country by what might otherwise now be part of our architectural heritage. Some landmarks were lost to military actions, many to acts of destruction by factions determined that there be no trace of this invader or that. But perhaps the most telling losses from the fabric of monuments and landmarks resulted from the vandalism of neglect and misplaced development. A great portion of Dublin's unique Georgian architectural heritage disappeared, often with public permission, at the hands of "developers". The priceless inland waterways were very nearly destroyed just half a century ago by public engineers and councils who had not the imagination to realise the value of navigable inland waters.
The Minister, Ms de Valera, launching the new initiative at the weekend, stated that the emphasis from now until 2006 will be on the conservation of heritage properties rather than on the provision of facilities for visitors to heritage sites, although there will be an allocation of £3.5 million to enhance education and visitor services. That is an appropriate shift of emphasis given that there are now 67 sites in the State with visitor access facilities compared to mere two in 1969.
First, the fabric of our heritage must be conserved. But then it must also be drawn to the attention of citizens and tourists alike so that it may be sought out and enjoyed (and there is to be £1 million set aside for the provision of "information panels" at sites which have no local guide service). Our built heritage is, as they used to say, part of what we are. It is important that we know about it, mark it, learn from it, and protect it.