National Monuments Service move could damage Kells's tourism future

Any future meeting between the National Monuments Service of the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht and Kells Town Council and Meath County Council to discuss the future of all the national monuments in the town could present a double-edged sword for the council. The council, and the local Save our Cross Committee, has been campaigning for the restoration of the Market Cross to its original location at Cross Street. So far, they have not succeeded. The council has also failed so far to have any volumes of the Book of Kells located in the town, although some progress on co-operation was made during talks between Meath County Council and the Trinity College authorities last year. If the monument service's letter to the council last week is to be taken as a marker, the town could send up with, at best, a gathering of replica monuments dotted around its historic locations, to the detriment of the local tourist industry. Although the Market Cross is in the ownership of the county council, it doesn't have the authority to "excavate, dig, plough or otherwise disturb the ground within, around or in proximity to it", or "to demolish or remove it wholly or in part or to disfigure, deface, alter, or in any manner injure or interfere with it" unless done in accordance with a consent granted by the minister. In a manner of speaking, the National Monuments Service has set out its stall on the Market Cross. It has "serious concerns" about the relocation of the cross to its original site, a euphemism for "it won't happen". It can be taken that the NMS is operating to the highest possible motives. Its interest lies in the preservation of our national monuments, and few would argue with that. It points out the potential risks each time a monument might be moved and the last time the Market Cross was moved after it was struck by a vehicle in the congested centre of Kells (to its present location at the heritage centre), the shift was undertaken by experienced personnel in the Office of Public Works. Few would disagree with the NMS when it says there are doubts about the safety of the cross from damage arising from traffic or vandalism at Cross Street. It is a busy junction and the possibility of another collision with the monument could not be ruled out. However, the NMS appears to be veering into fantasy when it considers that "even if the street were pedestrianised, there would be an increased risk of damage at that location". They're joking, aren't they? The next line in the NMS letter to the Kells Town Council reveals the service's real thinking when it comes to the future of the national monuments in Kells. "Serious consideration should be given to moving the monument permanently indoors in order to ensure its protection and presentation of its carved images." "Indoors" could mean the National Museum in Kildare Street in Dublin and Kells would lose its cross permanently. Equally without validity is the NMS suggestion that "consideration could be given to locating the existing replica on Cross Street and, even then, the street would have to be pedestrianised as the replica is now an important record of the condition of the Market Cross at the time and should be protected". It wants all the monuments in Kells relating to the early monastery, and especially the carved crosses, to be considered as a group. "In time, consideration will need to be given to the protection of all the carved crosses in terms of the need to move them indoors in order to prevent further erosion and deterioration of their carved images," the NMS added. And it also advises the preparation of a conservation plan for the monuments of national importance at Kells and suggests a meeting to discuss this between NMS and Meath County Council. If that is to be taken as the Department's view on the monuments, the council and people of Kells should gear themselves up for quite a tussle. Separately, although related to the cross debate, Cllr Brian Collins has made an inspired suggestion about the proposed formation of an association of local authorities with ecclesiastical and monastic heritage. The councillor would have a long list if he included all the local authorities with such connections, but a good start is being made in inviting Derry City Council and Argyle and Bute Council in Scotland to Kells to formally establish the new body.