Office of Public Works Priorities and Progress: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel

I just want to advert to a couple of things that Senator McCarthy mentioned. I refer to the fast-disappearing traditional crafts that we have around the country. For instance, thatching, wheelwrighting, boatbuilding and steam-bending, the Minister of State knows them far better than I do. The list is long. It is the case that the people who can do them are disappearing or that it is very difficult to find places where the skills are being continued. Can the Minister of indicate if we are looking to the historic environment division in the North of Ireland to maybe enhance provision on both sides of the Border? Across the water, there is an extremely imaginative scheme that we could replicate here.
It involves what are called cathedral workshops. The cathedrals of Canterbury, Chichester and St. Albans are Anglican but I think both the Church of Ireland and the Catholic dioceses - God knows they are cash-strapped enough at this stage - would be happy to engage with the Minister of State on providing their buildings for apprenticeships and courses of that nature. Everybody would be winning out of it, both the participants and the churches, which have flagging numbers and diminishing resources. The Government would symbiotically get a great kickback from such things. Are those things thought about or in existence? I do not know about them if they are.
On a personal note, I thank the Minister of State for his great response to the recent flooding in Passage East. He came down on a Sunday morning and engaged with the people there and it was deeply appreciated. I thank him on their behalf.
We have in Waterford a beautiful house that was taken over by Waterford City and County Council called Mount Congreve House and Gardens. It does not run cheap. Is the Minister of State amenable to discussing this with the chief executive? Maybe there could be partnership and support. I do not think the council has the facility to continually bail it out every year. It takes a while for this to build up a head of steam and an acceptance among the population. Will the Minister of State contact the chief executive, Seán McKeown, in Waterford City and County Council and have a word about Mount Congreve House and Gardens?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-19