Silvermines in north Tipperary is to be the location for a £1.67 million National Mining Heritage Centre.
Situated at the bottom of the Silvermines mountain range, it will be Ireland's first national mining interpretative centre and, subject to planning permission, Shannon Heritage hopes to have the project in operation for the 2000 tourism season.
In Silvermines yesterday the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, announced Exchequer funding of £1 million towards the project, proposed by Shannon Heritage, a subsidiary of Shannon Development.
The project received a further boost when two Irish mining companies, Ennex Exploration Plc and Silvermines Plc, the owners of the disused Shallee Mine, agreed to donate the 40-acre site, five miles from Nenagh.
Mr Smith revealed that besides Government support there is also a Shannon Development grant of £250,000 and an industry grant of another £250,000. This, he said, would be an all-weather visitor attraction for Tipperary, which has good road access, "a remarkable network" of underground mining features, a large and important collection of surface remains and a well-defined and manageable site.
A survey of Welsh mining attractions has shown that 40 per cent of visitors do not wish to go underground and visitors to Silvermines will also have an overground option called the Discovery Trail.
Mr Smith said that the development would be an opportunity for the mining and extractive industry to make a showcase of its major contribution to Ireland's economic success, and to display modern mining engineering techniques in an authentic setting.
Mr Paul Sheane, chief executive of Shannon Development, said the potential of the project was enormous and it would create a unique international visitor attraction.
Dr Graham Rees, chairman of the Irish Mining and Exploration Group, and Mr Sean Finlay, vice-chairman, in a statement, said they were particularly pleased that a heritage centre of this kind would help people understand the critical importance of mining in Ireland, not only today but for thousands of years past.
Those taking the underground trail will have a guide, and be equipped with hard hats, lamps and battery belts to enable them to descend almost 200 feet underground. Special sound and light effects will be used.