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The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has today (Wednesday) launched the new Local Authority Museums Network Strategy 2016 – 2019.

‘Preserving the Past – Shaping the Future’. The Local Authority Museums Network (LAMN) represents the 12 Local Authority Museums across Ireland, which play a vital role in the social, cultural and economic life of regions across Ireland.

Highlights of this strategy include:
· Examining ways to exploit the opportunities presented by technology to promote collections and reach out to new audiences;
· Working collectively to play a distinct role in the Decade of Centenaries;
· Exploring opportunities for collaboration through the new EU funding programme
· Continuing to strengthen and develop partnerships with key stakeholder in order to deliver on the LAMN’s key mission.

Speaking today Minister Humphreys said:
“Local authorities throughout Ireland play a vital and proactive role in promoting and preserving culture and heritage, ensuring the best possible quality of life for their communities. Through their museum services they strengthen local communities by underpinning a sense of identity and pride of place. In this way, these museums contribute to the development of sustainable economic activity in local areas.

“The 12 local authority museums serve a population of over 1.8 million people, attracting over half a million direct visitors each year. They work with local schools and other groups, and also play a significant role in driving local and regional tourism by supporting the cultural identity and image of Ireland to overseas visitors. The local museum network has shown great resilience in recent years. Now, through this strategy, the local museum sector is planning ahead for the future with confidence. This strategy will help to cement the local museum network as a vital component of growing local communities.”

Mr John Rattigan, Chairperson of the Local Authority Museums Network said:
“The local authority museums’ rich collections include some of the most inspiring and unique examples of Ireland’s archaeological and historic heritage all of which can be experienced in a diversity of ways. The wide and imaginative range of exhibitions and events provided by local authority museums nationwide demonstrates the catalytic impact of how local museums create social cohesion in their communities.“

“As a group of professional organisations, one of the unique strengths of the LAMN is the ability to continually pioneer new and imaginative programmes for engaging with communities of all ages and all backgrounds. Through this ambitious four year strategy we are charting a way forward as we strive to find new ways to deliver on our mission.”

Note to Editors:

The LAMN comprises Carlow County Museum; Cavan County Museum; Clare Museum, Cork Public Museum, County Museum, Dundalk; Donegal County Museum; Galway City Museum; Kerry County Museum; Limerick Museum; Monaghan County Museum; Tipperary County Museum and Waterford Museum of Treasures.

The members of the LAMN strive to achieve best standards across all areas of museum work. The Museum Standards Programme of Ireland operates under the auspices of the Heritage Council and sets out to raise standards of care across Irish museums and galleries. The programme aims to benchmark and promote professional standards in collections care and to recognise the achievement of those standards within the Irish museum sector. The Programme is fully supported by the LAMN and its members have variously achieved Maintenance of Accreditation, Full Accreditation and Interim Accreditation.

The LAMN plays a vital role in preserving archaeological heritage. The members of the LAMN are designated museums under Section 68 (2) of the National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997. Under this legislation each Museum is legally entitled to retain archaeological objects on behalf of the State. The National Museum of Ireland will only lend objects for display to designated museums.