Problems of museum storage flagged in 2006

PROBLEMS ABOUT the storage and management of archival material at the National Museum of Ireland were known before a recent critical report by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

In his report the comptroller, John Purcell, said there was an urgent need to improve the safeguarding of the collections and to devise policies covering acquisitions and disposals.

However, according to the Institute of Archaeologists in Ireland, difficult conditions at the museum had been well flagged since 2006 at least.

In a public statement yesterday, the institute said the need to provide improved staffing levels and facilities had been noted "in many reports and studies", including Archaeology 2020 (UCD/Heritage Council 2006); Archaeology in Ireland: A Vision for the Future (RIA 2007) and Rethinking Irish Archaeology: Old Ground, New Ideas (IAI 2008).

Under the National Monuments Act the national museum is the designated repository for all archaeological objects and artifacts, and the museum has a supervisory role in the licensing and management of archaeological excavations. These responsibilities are managed by the Irish antiquities division of the National Museum of Ireland.

However, the institute said in its statement yesterday that while the amount of artefacts had grown dramatically due to the boom in the construction industry - including motorway building - staffing levels in the antiquities division remained static during the period 1980 to 2006.