Kells artefacts will be relocated to town hall in near future

The principal artefacts on display in the Kells Heritage Centre will be temporarily relocated to the town hall shortly, where a tourist information point will also be provided. The heritage centre is set to remain closed over the next 12 months and, according to Kells Town Council, the relocation of the artefacts is an interim arrangement and they will be returned to the centre once the roof is repaired and the building is ready to reopen to the public. Meanwhile, a new heritage walk at the Tower of Loyd will be launched in 2010 at a cost in excess of €30,000. At the recent council budget meeting, while the decision was taken not to reopen the heritage centre in 2010, councillors and officials all expressed a desire to have the centre open throughout the year in the future, providing an important visitor attraction and a tourist information point for Kells and its wider hinterland. A sum of €20,000 was provided in the budget to fund tourism visitor and information services in Kells in 2010 and the centre will remain closed until further notice due to a combination of the difficult budgetary situation and problems with the roof of the heritage centre. According to Kells Town Clerk, Jarlath Flanagan, the town council had to make some difficult decisions when adopting its budget for 2010. "Against a background of an opening budget deficit, the town council had to agree a balanced budget to run all of its services for next year by ensuring that the town will remain competitive for the business community and attractive for shoppers and visitors alike," he said. He said the council had achieved a fine balance between these pressing needs and the necessity to ensure that business rates will not increase during 2010. "The town council, despite the difficulty of its budget, has also made funds available to provide a new canopy at the Cross of Kells, which is presently located outside the heritage centre as part of some improvement works in the vicinity. "The budget also contains funds to facilitate the reopening to visitors of the Tower of Loyd early in 2010 through the provision of emergency lighting and other necessary services to facilitate safe access by the public," he said. Another feature of the town council budget was match funding for a new tourist walking signage route in the town at a cost of €25,000. Separate funding is also likely to be secured for the Kells Heritage Art Trail aimed at addressing privately-owned derelict property in the town. Two further facsimile copies of the Book of Kells will also be provided at two other locations within the town in 2010 so as to ensure visitors to Kells will be able to see a copy of the book practically at any time during their visit over a seven-day period. Mr Flanagan said the council had been working to secure funding to undertake the urgent repairs to the roof of the heritage centre, which are estimated to cost €200,000 and a re-branding of the centre will also take place. He said the council was optimistic that, through co-operation with Meath County Council and other agencies, it could secure the required money to repair the roof and to effect a re-branding and new visitor focus for the Kells Heritage Centre. "The interim arrangements that will be put in place for visitor services in Kells will provide a very effective visitor and tourism information service during 2010. The council will continue to proactively work with a range of agencies in relation to an early reopening of Kells Heritage Centre," he added.