Donegal County Council has been urged to pursue the recruitment of an Assistant Heritage Officer to ensure local projects reach their full potential.
A lack of staffing resources has been blamed for several initiatives not being completed in the county’s heritage plan.
Cllr Barry Sweeny highly praised the “fantastic work, passion and diligence” of the county’s current heritage officer, but said that the officer needs more support.
“When I talk about our heritage office, we are talking about one person,” Cllr Sweeny told a meeting of Donegal County Council on Monday.
“There is a very strong opinion that an assistant is very important to reach the full potential of what we are doing within the heritage plan. Unfortunately, it is the case over the last number of years, an increase in funding and increased projects has increased the burden on the officer and those around him to complete their workload and reach the full potential.
Cllr Sweeny said that several projects have had to be left behind due to the officer not having the resources, time or energy to do the work. Such projects include the historic towns initiative, the pocket guide for voluntary groups and the reprint of the archaeological survey of Donegal.
“These types of hold-ups and slowdowns are causing difficulty and strains in the relationship between the Heritage Forum and Donegal County Council,” Cllr Sweeny said.
Patsy Lafferty, Director of Housing, Corporate & Cultural Services said that the Council has already been in contact with the Heritage Council seeking additional funding to increase staff resourcing under the National Heritage Plan – Heritage Ireland 2030.
He added: “The recruitment of an Assistant Heritage Officer would be a priority in this regard. Where such funding is not forthcoming, the only alternative for the Council would be to consider inclusion of funding for such a post as part of the annual revenue budget process.”
