Madam, – Paul Gorry (Letters, January 11th) is correct to advertise the sorry history of our documentary heritage and the irony of the current proposal to merge the National Archives of Ireland into the National Library. The loss of one national archive in 1922 was a misfortune. To lose a second looks, to coin a phrase, like carelessness.
But why should we care, given that so much was lost in 1922? In addition to accessions since the foundation of the State, the National Archives holds great riches on earlier periods of Irish history. The few original documents saved from the blaze are especially precious, but we are also well served with volume upon volume of antiquarian transcripts of records stretching back to the 13th century. These invaluable substitute sources should be the envy of historians across Europe, whose holdings are all too often impoverished after centuries of armed conflict and cultural atrocity.
Sadly, our State archive has been so underresourced since 1922 that they are little known, and only a fraction has been published.
A minister with a little imagination could decide to make Ireland a world leader in archival preservation and the reconstruction of records. The alternative, which should be unthinkable, is to brush the ashes under the carpet. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Genealogist Paul Gorry clearly states what the Government must do to secure the future of the National Archives, our unique national institution founded in 1867. But where are the Opposition parties on this issue?
It is high time they came out publicly and agreed with what Fintan O’Toole said in this newspaper (Opinion, November 1st, 2009) about budget proposals to merge the National Library, the National Archives and the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
He said the proposal had “all the hallmarks of a back-of-an-envelope exercise to which, in the most generous calculation, perhaps 10 minutes’ thought has been given”.
Would the relevant Opposition spokespeople speak up before it is too late? – Yours etc,
Prof PAUL CARMICHAEL,
School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy,
University of Ulster,
Jordanstown, Co Antrim.