REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OPENING OF HEADQUARTERS OF THE HERITAGE COUNCIL BISHOP’S PALACE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OPENING OF HEADQUARTERS OF THE HERITAGE COUNCIL BISHOP’S PALACE, KILKENNY
Dia Daoibh a chairde.
Minister,
Chairman,
Chief Executive,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is good to be here this afternoon for the official opening of the Heritage Council’s new headquarters here in the beautifully refurbished and appropriately historic Bishop’s Palace. I am very grateful to the Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Starrett and Tom O’Dwyer, Chairman of the Heritage Council for the invitation to perform the opening ceremony and very grateful to all those whose planning and hard work have seen the completion of this project and given us this important landmark day and a new life for this landmark building.
It is a day of rightful pride for both the Heritage Council and the Office of Public Works whose Minister of State, Noel Ahern I am delighted to see here. Both the Council and the OPW have between them accomplished a beautifully sensitive restoration giving Kilkenny another jewel in its already well adorned crown.
The Heritage Council’s new logo is a very simple fingerprint. It reminds us that each generation takes sacred custody of our national heritage. Each leaves its own unique imprint, its own mark. We can be either careless or careful in making that mark and, to the extent that we are careful, future generations will benefit, to the extent that we are careless, they will be deprived of their birthright. We are among the luckiest people on the planet for we have been bequeathed an exquisite landscape with magnificent seascapes, rivers and mountains, a temperate climate and a superb array of flora and fauna. To these, the lived lives of our ancestors in every generation have added layer upon layer of the evidence of their stories, giving us a wealth of treasures that are of huge importance and span many spheres archaeological, architectural, genealogical, industrial, aesthetical and historical...
At the base of a statue outside the National Archives in Washington, a plaque reminds us that “[t]he heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future”. It could so easily all be trampled on by a thoughtless or selfish generation and that is why we need champions who care for our heritage, champions like the Heritage Council whose work nurtures and deepens our appreciation of this complex and rich phenomenon we call our heritage. You educate us, you open up to us many points of access to our heritage, you develop and encourage the partnerships that are necessary to maintain the integrity of our heritage.
Among the key partnerships is that between the Heritage Council, local authorities and voluntary groups for no one group or agency on its own can protect our heritage. It demands commitment and care from the broadest base within the community. That is the truest source of the vitality that sustains thriving networks of endeavour all over Ireland. The appointment of Heritage Officers has helped cultivate that vitality and the recent appointment of Biodiversity Officers has placed sustainability high on our shared agenda as a society. We are fortunate to have a thriving family of museums showcasing and caring for our material heritage. Some are major, national institutions, others are small but effective local endeavours run entirely by volunteers. It is good to see increasing cross-border cooperation in this field with the development of initiatives like the all-island Irish Walled Towns Network which unites the efforts of local authorities, North and South, in the conservation and management of our historic walled towns. Whether it is gardens or waterways, monuments or documents, whatever the realm of heritage in question there are active citizens who make it their business to see that we tread carefully, and care generously.
I see here today many of those people - key figures in the preservation of our culture and heritage, driving forces in making it more inclusive, more accessible and important, teachers and preachers of shared responsibility. To each of you I say a heartfelt thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do to ensure we are fastidious in our care for Ireland’s heritage and that it passes safely through our care to that of the next generation.
Congratulations to you all, the board members of the Council, Tom O’Dwyer, Michael Starrett and the Heritage Council staff for your work and commitment. I wish you well in your beautiful new surroundings. Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh anseo. Gurb fada buan sibh’s go raibh míle maith agaibh