Securing Irish monastic sites on world list leads to sharp Seanad exchanges

There were sharp exchanges in the Seanad when Minister of State Joe McHugh said there was little prospect of getting Irish monastic sites on the Unesco world list without strong local enthusiasm and backing.

“This bottom-up approach is also Unesco’s favoured policy,’’ he said.

Mr McHugh said that as Kells, Co Meath, was a serial nomination with other sites and part of a representative sample of Irish monuments, there was much less scope for a nomination to proceed any further unless all the component parts enjoyed local support.

He said the representatives now most actively engaged with his department in pushing on their proposals on that basis were those from The Burren and the Royal Sites of Ireland.

Committed

Meath

Fianna Fáil

Senator

Thomas Byrne

said the Minister of State’s claim was “outrageous’’, adding he had never seen a town so committed to its heritage tourism as Kells.

“The people are working tirelessly and are engaging with the department,’’ Mr Byrne said.

“One group met with [Minister for Heritage] Heather Humphreys last June about protecting some of these sites but it has heard nothing back.’’

Tentative list

Mr Byrne said Kells and its monastic sites, among others, was part of a tentative list of properties for future nomination to the world heritage lists.

Brú na Bóinne, comprising Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth in Meath, was a world heritage site, he added.

He said Kells, or Ceanannas Mór, was where St Colmcille established a religious settlement in 550 AD and was one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland.

There were a number of buildings and places of interest in Kells, including St Colmcille’s house, the Kells monastic site, the Market Cross and the round tower. All of those symbols were synonymous with the town of Kells, Mr Byrne said.