By - Conor Ryan.
Items at risk from "overcrowding, dirt and leaks"
FOUR million priceless artifacts in the care of the National Museum are at risk because of shoddy storage facilities, poor management and scant record keeping, a damning report has warned.
The report of Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell called for wholesale reform in how the National Museum of Ireland manages its collection. He looked at how the museum keeps its stock of four million items - which includes the Ardagh Chalice and Tara Brooch - and the structure of its four museums and four storage facilities. He found significant shortcomings, including:
The museum has no policy for managing collections. It buys objects without assessing how much it will cost to care for them.
It keeps objects with potentially no historical value and its policy lends itself to the expansion of a collection it may not be able to afford to keep.
Of 17 buildings used for storage, the report described 10 as poor enough to put artifacts at high level of risk.
Just 30% of objects which could be electronically recorded are catalogued. The museum does not carry out an inventory of its stock to check items are still in its possession.
In attempts to locate a random sample of items, supposed to be held by the museum, 19% of objects could not be found.
The museum only met nine out of 24 best practice criteria in management set down by the Heritage Council and a group set up to develop a long-term strategy for the museum has not met since September 2006 - shortly after it was established.
873,700 out of 905,000 objects suitable to be exhibited were not displayed.
But, because 85% of its resources are spent on presenting objects for display, the vast majority of its collection remains untouched.
Yesterday's report was the third in 20 years to highlight the damage being done from poor storage facilities.
"On-site inspections [of storage facilities] revealed a great disparity in the quality of the different stores. Problems encountered were overcrowding, dirt, dampness and leaks", it said.
The Department of Arts Sports and Tourism has proposed a €30 million central storage facility. Mr. Purcell's report revealed the museum is at odds with this and wants the development of smaller units.
Director of the museum Pat Wallace welcomed the report and said "huge changes were under way".
A spokesman for Arts Minister Seamus Brennan said he has spoken to representatives of the museum and expects significant progress on the report in the coming months. He has made funding available to develop services.
© Irish Examiner, 15th. March 2008.