Members of Irish Historic Houses Committee
Co-Chairs: Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Irish Historic Houses Association (IHHA)
Representatives from:
The Action Plan consists of nine actions under four thematic areas:
Action Points:
Action 1: (i) Develop with Local Authorities a more streamlined, partnership, approach to the Historic House and its engagement in the local economy, through local economic development programmes, county heritage plans and other initiatives.
(ii) Develop a targeted engagement with rural development programmes, to maximise the potential for interaction and cooperation between communities and the private owners of historic houses.
Action 2: Review, in collaboration with the Department of Finance, the provisions of Section 482 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
Action 3: (i) The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in collaboration with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government mapping project, will prepare a national resource map of Historic Houses, initially of current Section 482 properties;
(ii) Encourage the use of the conservation plan process as a means of identifying and prioritising works at Historic Houses. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will establish, in collaboration with local authorities and others as applicable, a sector specific building conservation advisory service for owners of Historic Houses and related structures.
Action 4: Develop the capacity of the State to provide co-ordinated and specific financial sectoral support that recognises the public benefits derived from Historic Houses.
Action 5: (i) Develop a specific visitor programme on the Irish historic houses and collections in private ownership.
(ii) Develop a Living Museum category to promote historic houses to a wide range of visitors, both local and international, in a variety of authentic and stimulating ways.
Action 6: (i) Fáilte Ireland to liaise with the IHHA and agree a methodology that will allow historic house owners to receive guests and visitors in a way that does not compromise the authenticity of the houses concerned.
(ii) Investigate, with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Fáilte Ireland new ways to include Historic Houses in existing local and national tourism initiatives. Liaise closely with the IHHA to achieve optimum results.
Action 7: Carry out a skills gap analysis of those involved in the Historic House sector, with associated staff, in order to develop and target capacity building training initiatives to address gaps identified.
Action 8: Develop a specific pilot programme focused primarily on a public - private approach to the management and promotion of a privately owned Irish Historic House and its assets.
Action 9: (i) Encourage the use of Historic Houses and their associated estates as centres for learning and educational and training initiatives.
(ii) Engage with the Department of Education and Skills in identifying useful links between the history and resources of Historic Houses and the formal first and second level curriculum.
(iii) In order to advance the aims and objectives of the strategy, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in collaboration with key stakeholders will assist in the provision of an independent representative survey of existing Irish Historic Houses in private ownership nationally.