Plans to establish an all-island network of local authority heritage officers were announced at the Heritage Council’s inaugural all-island conference in Monaghan in early September. The programme will bring together heritage officers from Ireland’s 31 local authorities and staff with heritage-related roles from Northern Ireland’s 11 local authorities.
Heritage professionals and senior local authority leaders gathered in Monaghan for the Heritage Council’s inaugural all-island conference, ‘Shared Island: Building Connections, Exchanging Knowledge’ to hear plans for the new all-island network.
The conference at Monaghan Peace Campus formed part of the Shared Island Heritage Networks Programme, to focus on the strategic role of local authorities in supporting and delivering heritage at local level, at a time when their responsibilities across built, natural and cultural heritage continue to grow.
The conference programme included a panel discussion with three local authority chief executives – Robert Burns, Monaghan County Council; Alison McCullagh, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council; and Lar Power, Kilkenny County Council – exploring how heritage is led, resourced and delivered by local authorities across the island, and the opportunities for greater collaboration and shared learning.
Monaghan’s Chief Executive, Robert Burns, said: “Local authorities have an important role to play in protecting, managing and celebrating the heritage of the places and communities we serve. Having dedicated heritage expertise within our organisations helps us to integrate heritage into wider priorities, from regeneration and placemaking to biodiversity, climate action and community development. Creating opportunities for local authority heritage professionals to share experience, learn from one another and build stronger connections across the island can only strengthen the work being delivered at local level.”
Delivering the conference’s keynote address, author and former BBC journalist Fergal Keane situated the work of local authority heritage professionals and opportunities for greater connection and collaboration within the wider Shared Island context.
The Shared Island Heritage Networks Programme is currently in development, and the Heritage Council will work collaboratively with local authority heritage professionals and other key stakeholders over the coming months to shape how the network will operate in practice. Other programme strands include funding for collaborative all-island heritage projects, the annual all-island conference and the development of a publicly accessible digital repository for local authority heritage material.
