Poor storage puts museum's priceless treasures at risk
Saturday March 15 2008
THE National Museum has "no comprehensive record" of its priceless collection of artefacts, according to a damning report.
It is also storing many of the artefacts in "poor or very poor" conditions which means they are at risk of damage or destruction from increases in temperature or air humidity.
The State's spending watchdog, Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell, found there were major differences in storage quality in the museum's eight storage locations.
"Problems encountered were overcrowding, dirt, dampness and leaks. There was also a general lack of environmental controls throughout," the report said.
The National Museum, which has three museums in Dublin and one in Mayo, has a 3.8 million collectionof items, including priceless artefacts such as the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch and ancient Irish bog bodies.
The report said the absence of a central record of objects poses a "significant risk" to the museum's collections.
This was despite the fact that a review of the museum's recording practices in 2001 had found the situation to be highly unsatisfactory. In his report, Mr Purcell said the management response to this review was limited.
During a test search for 59 random artefacts stored in the museums, the investigation team could only locate 68pc of them, with 19pc of them undiscoverable and another 13pc incorrectly recorded.
There were also alarming results from his survey of 17 storage areas in the various buildings. It found that 10 storage areas were rated as "poor" (meaning that objects were stable but at a high level of risk) and one was "very poor" (objects not stable and at a high level of risk).
There is disagreement between the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and the National Museum on how best to store the collections. The department wants to build a €30m storage facility on a greenfield site, but the museum wants to retain the collections in new facilities in Collins Barracks and the Museum of Country Life in Mayo.
Punches
Labour arts spokeswoman Mary Upton said the report pulled no punches about the issues facing the management of the National Museum. She also highlighted the report's finding that the National Museum's opening hours (38 per week) are "relatively low".
However, National Museum director Dr Pat Wallace blamed the problems highlighted in the report on a shortage of staff.
"The Director regretted that it was not possible for the report either to give credit to how far the museum had come or to adequately contextualise deficiencies which are due to shortages of resources," he said.
Arts, Sports and Tourism Minister Seamus Brennan has instructed the National Museum to extend its opening hours.
A spokesman said that he expected significant progress to be made in the coming months on the issues highlighted in the report due to the €70m being made available the National Development Plan.
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
