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How do we approach the past, the present and the future of Ireland's heritage? What, we might even ask, is Ireland's heritage? In different and often fuzzy ways more and more people in Ireland are asking these questions, in different ways and from different perspectives. That great beast, the so-called Celtic Tiger has roamed this island for a decade now, and the effects on Irish society and on how Irish people view Irishness has been profound. Certainly, in its early stages the Tiger could do no wrong - prosperity, jobs and hope for the future seemed increasingly available to anyone who wanted them. But inevitably there have been costs and too often the costs have been paid in the form of lost heritage.
While the ability to afford the luxury of heritage preservation has lain in our laps, the delight of - for the first time - stretching out and testing the nation's limits has distracted the Irish mind. Meanwhile, the cost has mounted quietly in the background. Not simple costs, but strange, complex costs, bitter but seemingly necessary pills. What on earth am I on about? Superdumps and incinerators to deal with the detritus of a consumer society in overdrive, archaeological artefacts illegally removed from their contexts using metal detectors to feed a ready market on the internet, the bizarre tangle of official corruption, bad planning, commuter needs, high court actions and near-vigilante style protest that was the Carrickmines Castle affair, natural woodlands felled without licence to make way for commercial plantations of exotic species, a coastal promontory fort bulldozed to facilitate farming, and now even Tara is caught up in the conflict.
As if that wasn't enough, we have bogs becoming landslides, a gas pipeline threatening the safety of a rural community, political threats to the Irish language, and on and on it goes…
Underlying all of this is an assumption that the objective of a 'good' life in Ireland today is money, and the opportunities to spend it - what is referred to as 'choice'. Because the costs of this Tiger society are framed in terms the Tiger chooses, that is, financial terms, the true costs have lain unnoticed for years simply because they have not been taken into account. While reading our features and articles in this issue of Insight, it is perhaps worth considering what riches they describe, how much of our heritage we have lost, how much more lies uncared for.
We are now in what is called the Christmas Season, a time, we are confidently told, when we get all cuddly and sentimental, when our families get together, share happy times and gifts. It is unlikely that any person on this island is unaware, however, that the Christmas Season is little more than a period of marketing overdrive, consumer frenzy, stress and alcohol. For those of us who can afford it, at least.
Maybe it is time to ask some questions: Is this making me happy? Are my children missing out on something special? Why am I doing this anyway? Wouldn't it be great if…?
Maybe it is time, in the midst of a world of money, to look at what is there all around us, available for free. Our native woodlands (if you can still find one), our extraordinary archaeological heritage (where the roads have not exterminated it), the wealth of treasures stored in our museums and libraries, the pleasure of actually doing and making things with your own hands, of breathing rainy hilltop air, smelling the salt on a sea breeze. Come to think of it, Insight is free too.
Maybe it is time to ask if you actually care about Ireland's heritage, and whether it is time to turn off the DVD player and play a part in protecting and enhancing your heritage. This issue of Insight is sponsored by AYIA, the Association of Young Irish Archaeologists. Perhaps more than any other group in Ireland, they are training to deal with Ireland's heritage. They are the future caretakers, recorders and managers of a huge section of Ireland's heritage. Their chosen profession places them in a very unusual position, dealing with issues at the heart of what Ireland and Irishness means, yet also subject to the usual commercial pressures of modern society and its demands for development. Who will they take their lead from? Business and governmental interests will be forced on them daily for their entire working lives. Unless the voice of communities, of individuals, are heard, unless priorities other than project deadlines and development budgets are presented to them, the role they play will increasingly be to oversee the dismantling of much of what makes Ireland Ireland, and the Irish people Irish.
When our grandchildren ask us "why didn't anyone do anything?" it will be too late. What more noble task is there than to strive to be the first generation to be able to say "When I was a kid, things were worse". Time to break the cycle. It is in our hands, and the TV won't do it for us. Editorial Team
Editor - Stiof
MacAmhalghaidh
Technical Editor - John
Alexander
Associate Editor - Raimund
Karl Ray studied Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Vienna. He is Lecturer in Heritage and Archaeology at the Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Bangor.
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