The Heritage Council Annual Report 2002

Message from Council
The second full year in my term as Chairperson of Council has been eventful,
rewarding and above all productive.
Our annual report for 2002 acknowledges at the very outset the significance of
Council's first meeting outside the jurisdiction, held in Armagh in June.
Holding the meeting in Armagh allowed us to build on the Ministerial initiative in
appointing Primrose Wilson as the first member of Council from Northern Ireland.
The time in Armagh extended our contacts and friendship in many areas of our
common heritage and included visits to both of the city's cathedrals. The co-operation
of Council with partners north and south of the border has been strengthened as a
result. This is highlighted particularly in work in the areas of architectural heritage,
landscape policy and the annual museum of the year award.
Contacts such as these are very rewarding and bring another dimension to the work of
Council. Heritage, both natural and cultural aspects can be made to have relevance
across frontiers whether real or imaginary. In its own work and structures Council
seeks to remove these 'frontiers', some of which can apply to the professions. Our own
committee structure, without the strategic and policy direction provided in the Plan
2001-2005 could operate in a professional vacuum. However the focus provided by
the Plan ensures a most productive contribution to the work of Council from its
Committees.
During the year a strategic review of staff resources and work programmes was
completed as part of the ongoing evaluation of the Plan2001-2005. This was
complemented by external review of a number of areas of Council's activities all of
which will help Council to ensure it operates in a most effective, efficient and
appropriate manner. I look forward in 2003 to reporting on the revision and
improvements in working practice which will result.
Council maintained its commitment to its work on policy development, seeking to
inform this work through enhancing its overall allocation to the grants programme in
a number of specific areas. This progress can only be maintained through the
commitment from Government to provide Council with the resources required to
deliver its agreed programme. Council's financial allocation for 2002 allowed
momentum to be maintained.
In concluding this message from Council for 2002, I must acknowledge how
positively Council views the changes in Departmental structure which followed the
general election in July. These saw Council come under the aegis of the Minister for
Environment and Local Government. So much of our work on natural and cultural
heritage is intrinsically linked with environment and Council itself identifies Local
Authorities as its key partners. We look forward to an eventful, rewarding and
productive 2003.