|
|
 |
|||||||
|
 |
 DúchasPrinciples agreed between the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Bord na Móna and the Department of Public Enterprise: 1. The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands has a responsibility to protect the archaeological heritage and to exercise powers under the National Monuments Acts 1930-1994 in that regard, including the placing of Preservation Orders, where necessary. 2. Bord na Móna is a commercial State body with a statutory mandate to develop the national peat resource and has entered into commercial contracts for the supply of peat products. 3. Peatlands are of major archaeological interest and potential, and the large scale peat extraction undertaken by Bord na Móna has considerable archaeological implications which must be addressed. 4. Bord na Móna has a responsibility to ensure that its activities are conducted so as to afford appropriate protection to the archaeological heritage. 5. Bord na Móna will establish a network of regional liaison officers in order to facilitate effective communications between Bord na Móna and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Dúchas, The Heritage Service and The National Museum of Ireland). 6. The Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands will provide workshops to assist Bord na Móna operational staff in the identification and treatment of archaeological finds. 7. A Code of Practice will be drawn up by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in agreement with Bord na Móna to complement the training of Bord na Móna operational staff. 8. The archaeological responses necessitated by Bord na Móna‘s operations include: i an appropriate level of archaeological assessment, survey and monitoring of production bogs, on the advice of Dúchas, The Heritage Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. ii an appropriate level of archaeological excavation of archaeological sites and objects identified as a result of surveying or in the course of peat extraction, on the advice of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Dúchas/NMI as appropriate). iii preservation in-situ of archaeological sites in those particular circumstances where required by Dúchas, The Heritage Service. 9. "Developer funding" is now an accepted principle established by custom and practice and this applies to archaeological responses necessitated by Bord na Móna‘s operations. 10. In the context of paragraphs 8 and 9 above, problems which arise resulting from potential conflicts of interest between peat production and conservation of the archaeological heritage will be addressed in partnership between the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands and Bord na Móna. This requires a properly structured joint approach to dealing with the archaeological implications of Bord na Móna‘s operations and to the resolution of problems. To this end a formal bi-lateral committee will be established between the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, (including The National Museum of Ireland) and Bord na Móna. |
