The Taoiseach's weekend promise of new legislation for a National Trust to safeguard the future of Ireland's remaining great houses must be welcomed.
It is long overdue. This State is one of only four in Europe without such an institution to look after significant elements of its architectural heritage. It must now be decided how a trust should be established - whether by setting up a new body or by giving statutory recognition to the property-owning wing of An Taisce.
An Taisce's vice-chairman, Mr John Ducie, argued forcefully yesterday that it was already accepted as "Ireland's legitimate National Trust". But the report by Dr Terence Dooley, A Future for Irish Historic Houses, says An Taisce had admitted that, as currently constituted, it is "not feasible for it to become a major property-owning trust on the scale of the National Trust in Britain". Unlike its counterpart across the Irish Sea, which does not involve itself in planning battles, An Taisce functions primarily as an environmental watchdog rather than an owner or manager of heritage properties.
Whatever course of action the Government adopts, it is abundantly clear there is a pressing need to establish a National Trust here. This State has lost far too many great houses since its foundation, not only through conflagrations in the early 1920s but also as a result of abandonment due to the prohibitive cost of maintenance and restoration. That is why the Gore-Booths recently disposed of Lissadell in Co Sligo. It would be a terrible pity if the surviving contents of this particular great house were not acquired by its new owners; otherwise, it would be no more than an empty shell, stripped of the furniture and fittings that give it such character.
Despite the Taoiseach's pledge to establish a National Trust, his Government's record on protecting Ireland's architectural heritage is hardly commendable. Slashing the conservation grants scheme to €2.88 million - less than half of what it was two years ago - is shameless, especially when so much restoration work remains to be done on historic buildings throughout the State. The purchase of Farmleigh and subsequent lavish spending on its refurbishment cannot atone for the Government's miserly approach to funding, when ministers barely bat an eyelid at massive cost overruns on major infrastructural projects such as Luas. Neither should a National Trust be confined to the great houses of Ireland's former landed class. Lesser, but no less important, historic buildings - and landscapes - deserve to be protected too.