MUSEUM IRELAND 2020
The Heritage Council: Redefining focus and a national policy for museums Virginia Teehan
Introduction
The Irish Museum Landscape
It was a pleasure for me to be invited to speak at
The majority of Irish national cultural institutions
the Irish Museum Association’s Conference held
have their origins in the nineteenth century. The
in Athlone in February 2020, and it is a double
growth of local authority, regional, independent,
pleasure to be asked to formulate my words into
and voluntary museums is a feature of the late
this paper. I confess that I am deviating away
twentieth century, and many of these have only
from my speech in Athlone as I want to use this
been established since the 1980s and 1990s. The
opportunity to reflect on the current, and possible
most recent Irish Museums Survey collated data
future role, of the Heritage Council to secure
from 2015, with the author of the report, Dr Emily
the centrality of the museum sector in national
Mark-Fitzgerald, recording the existence of 230
frameworks. This discussion is relevant and timely
museums across the island. This figure can be
as the Government continues to develop policies
broken down into centrally funded museums;
defining future national priorities.
local government funded museums; Office of Public Works museums; National Trust museums,
The Heritage Council is a policy advisory agency
university museums, and independent museums
and any articulation of our work with the museum
including voluntary museums, military museums,
sector should be contextualised within national
commercial museums, local museums and others.
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policy frameworks. Regrettably, museums appear to be almost invisible in current national policies,
The overall picture that emerges is that many
as the cursory review included in this paper
museums have been established within the last
demonstrates. This raises questions. Is it the case
twenty-five years and the numbers are growing.
that museums and the wider cultural heritage
This growth leads to identification of issues
sector are not considered relevant by policy
such as the need to safeguard the primary role
makers? Or is the voice of the sector not loud
of museums as repositories and stewards of our
enough to be heard above all the white noise that
national memory, to engender a respect for the
occupies the policy discourse space? I do not have
role of professionalism within the Irish museum
all the answers to these questions, but one answer
world, and to resource museums and other cultural
is clear: there is a requirement to have a national
heritage agencies appropriately.
policy for museums to ensure that there is a considered strategic framework which provides
The Heritage Council’s work with the Irish
clarity, leadership and direction, thus supporting
museum sector
the sector in realising its potential.
The Heritage Act 1995 established the Heritage Council and charged it with proposing policies
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