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NOVEMBER TIME THIRTY years ago, the 23rd Government was coming to an end. The third General Election in the space of 18 months was about to take place. Haughey, Fitzgerald and Spring fought over differing policies and promises, with the latter two leaders ultimately offering a platform for five years of stable government. This was a turbulent time then. We live in similar times now, and I believe that those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. This is where I believe the National Archives and the 30-year rule have an important role to play.
The National Archives are set to make public previously unreleased State Papers from 1982. The 30-year rule on the release of State Papers allows for this. The documents will likely reveal a much greater insight into our past, into the turbulent times of 1982, and how our Government viewed events back then. As an advocate of transparent government, as someone who believes that our shared history informs our present circumstances, I think that 30 years is too long to wait. I know I am not alone in that view.
The general trend, with countries which have similar restrictions as Ireland, is to loosen the limitation periods. Indeed the UK is the most recent country to have done so. I do realise that a balance needs to be struck between the confidentiality that is needed for good governance and that of renouncing unnecessary secrecy. I do not think the 30-year rule strikes that balance appropriately.
With that in mind I introduced a Bill, the National Archives (Amendment) Bill 2012, with a view to reforming this archaic rule. The Bill seeks to halve the period of time, from 30 to 15, so that state records can be transferred sooner to the public domain. This time period was also the one recommended by an independent review body in the UK. The safeguards on maintaining confidentiality would still stand. These are already outlined in the National Archives Act 1986 and allow that records will not be released if they are; required or in regular use by a Department; would be contrary to the public interest; constitute a breach of statutory duty or breach of good faith; or if they cause distress or danger to living persons.
I think, then, that this move would be a positive step in the direction of transparent government. I think too that given the move by the UK to release its papers at an earlier date, it would be beneficial to do likewise, so that a fuller picture of Anglo-Irish relations can be presented. However, I am aware that the National Archives are struggling with the resources they have at present. I also visited the National Archives on Bishop Street and saw for myself the work that was being carried out to preserve records in varying states of disrepair. The amount of work that goes into ensuring the transfer into the public record of appropriate, and relevant State Papers to meet the 30-year rule is quite significant. I know that achieving this deadline every year requires resources that are being pushed to their limit.
I also know that there are concerns at the lack of an adequate digital repository to meet the needs of a modern society where increasingly less paper records are kept. I think the Department of Arts needs to do more to provide these adequate resources. The National Archives is under-staffed and struggles for space. I worry about the approach the Department is taking to our cultural bodies, I worry that the mandarins there have too much control, that power is too centralised. I am concerned that in a push to ‘gain efficiencies’ we’ll do lasting damage to our heritage.
At about this time, ninety years ago, an explosion and consuming fire destroyed much of our history when the Public Record Office was destroyed in the Battle of Dublin at the outset of the Civil War. As a nation we lost so much of our shared past, our society, as it then was. It is within the interest of the public that our past is documented, preserved and made accessible for future generations. We should adequately support the work that our cultural bodies carry out, including the National Archives – it is the responsible and right thing to do.
Anne Ferris is a Labour Party TD in Wicklow and East Carlow. Last month, Deputy Anne Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, that the number of State papers, older than 30 years, that have not been released as a result of exceptions to the 30 year rule, if he would provide a breakdown by year for department and agency. Deputy Deenihan said he does not have statutory responsibility for the withholding of official records over 30 years, and this lies with each Department under the National Archives Act 1986.
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What happened to parents providing a nice healthy lunch for the children and a dinner when they get home.
@Peter J H: I only got to the line ‘ transforming the toxic food environment that surrounds our children’
@Peter J H: Many don’t ask and some can’t, which is why nutritious school meals are a good idea.
@Peter J H: some can’t,the school dinner programme was running in the north when I went to school,some kids paid some couldn’t do the got it for free.
You would have a hot 2 course meal every day.
No chips ,
No ultra processed foods .
Just a good wholesome meal served by a very nice dinner lady :)
What we could do years ago we seem unable to do today .
@sean weir: the Irish program is very different to the one you had by the sound of it. There is no canteen, all the meals are brought in and hot held until given to the kids or brought in cold and reheated. Nothing is made on site.
Most schools dont have a decidecated eating space, so kids are eating at their desks.
They are trying to provide this service to schools which don’t have the facilities that your school did
@Peter J H: because some children out there probably don’t see a single decent dinner from one end of the week to the next as their parents don’t care. Should the child be blamed and punished for that. As a caring society, we are obligated to try and help these children to give them a chance to grow up and achieve something. Only people out to look after number one would have an issue with it.
@Colm O’ Shea: I know I live in Cork :)
just saying even with outside catering there is no reason for the menu to be so bad ,when they start this my smallie was in primary school,all chips and chicken nuggets,in the end she went back to pack lunches
@sean weir: think they have adjusted it so it’s not as bad as nuggets and chips but was talking to a teacher yesterday and she was saying that most of her kids get plain pasta or rice (the option for picky eaters) and a ketchup sachet. Still not good but a step up from nuggets.
Also was said that the amount of wastage is unreal, mainly because some parents are too lazy to opt out of the scheme if they don’t want it
@Peter J H: this was not parents idea this. Was the department s , when it first came into my childs school she didn’t want to order anything because if she didn’t like she wouldn’t have anything else .so when I supplies her with a lunch roll I was told by her teacher to encourage the hot meals . You see the teachers got tasters of all on menu but not kids parent order for kid kid dosent like so had to supply back up lunch as before. Before you jump on the wagon about eat what thei given only certain lunches can be picked on certain days .and some kids will eat anything where some don’t.
@Colm O’ Shea: and it’s utter crap most of the time so much so after bring implored to support the lunches by school principal ,now telling us not to order if childs not going to finish it.too much waste food going home . It’s the way it’s cooked re heated and dry
@Peter J H: what happened to parents feeding their kids a breakfast in morning .
On new s.friday evening. 2 dublin schools complaining loosing funds for breakfast club kids comming to school hungry the can’t operate says the Principal, what parent can’t provide their kids a bowl of cereal before school . Shop own brand s so cheap now no excuse
@Peter J H: exactly, cheese sandwiches did me just fine for 14 years of school, and other than the occasional dry heave at the very thought another poxy cheese sandwich to this day it did me no harm.
@Peter J H: like every other issue in modern society schools have to step in as usual.
@George Bowling: Judging by your daily drivel, I’d say 14 years of cheese sandwiches have irrevocably damaged your brain.
@Brian: But is he wrong?
Parents “claim” to not be able to feed their kids – let’s investigate\check why this is, and if this is the actual truth.
Google “Irish kids without breakfast” and you will find articles all the way back to the boom years talking about these issues. So, it cannot be a money problem, I would guess?
@MollyE: exactly stick to teaching and. Leave kids to eat what they enjoy and fills them up more importantly
We shoulf be inspired by the Japanese school meals with fresh fruit and veg. no processed foods and practically no obesity.
@john mounsey: these food companies are charging 2 euro an apple 2 euro a banana 1
50 a slice of pineapple 2 euro a yogurt day light robbery
Whingeing about this ? Cheesy Margherita Pizza Served with Carrots & Peas
Veggie Curry with Chickpeas & Fluffy Rice
Wednesday
Roast Turkey, Butternut Squash & Carrots, Mash & Gravy
Mixed Veggie Rice with Quorn Chicken
Chicken With Sweet Peppers & Tomato Sauce with Fusilli Pasta
Cajun Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges & Sweetcorn
Mexican Chicken Burrito Tortilla with Roasted Peppers
Roast Chicken, Peas & Sweetcorn, Mash
& Gravy
Beef Lasagne with Carrots & Peas
Italian Beef Bolognaise Carrots & Fusilli
Pasta
Mild Thai Red Chicken Curry with Fluffy Rice & Broccoli
Lentil and Sweet Potato Bolognaise with Fusilli Pasta
Friday
Roast Turkey, Sweetcorn & Carrots, Mash & Gravy
Mega Yummy Chicken Curry, Peppers & Fluffy Rice
Bombay Curry with Cauliflower, Butter Beans, Spinach & Potatoes
Remember when Israel would pretend they’d never bomb a hospital and would blame it on Hamas
@Eoin .h:
Do they not get school meals in Gaza.
@William Jennings: sounds like you are working for IDF war criminals
We all agree that healthy food is extremely important from a young age however even more important is to instill a healthy lifestyle into children from school going age all the way up into their teens PE should be part of the curriculum five days a week This in the long term would mean a healthier population in the future and an enormous knock on effect regarding pressure on hospitals GPS and other medical services and less reliance on medication,it would also help reduce financial pressure on the state.
Couldn’t the kids have something similar to the children’s lunch option on the dail bar menu.
Either that or the dail bar serves the hot meals program food ?
https://thedailbar.com/menu-pages/
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: we had a choice between corned beef or cheese sandwiches and a currant bun on Wednesday with a small carton of milk when I was a nipper and my secondary school eventually had a canteen with a small selection of food in the 90s, something that should be available today because alot of parents couldn’t be bothered or don’t have the time/money either way it shouldn’t even be a issue.
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: That Menu is not for bar in the actual Dáil, it’s for a place called The Dáil Bar in Galway
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: free meals for all!!
Teaching portion size is crucially important.
How can hot meals improve . Well if the government insist on implementing them. Stop using processed re heated crap. And have staff employed by dept who have food safety and experience background and
Choos 3 or 4 meal choices per day for parents to choose from and cook them on site in the school from.first thing in morning get prepping get cooking surely that’s the best way
My childs school is getting their lunches delivered in a van pr cooked and re heated that’s no way to feed kids well .
@Karen Marten: that’s all well and good if the school has a kitchen that meets food preparation standards. In reality we have around 3200 national schools, a lot of which are very small. For your suggestion to work we would need to build extensions on most schools then fit the kitchen out and then employ a chef and kitchen porter for each school, you would be looking at a cost of over 200 million per annum just on wages.
In an ideal world your idea would be the way to go however you would need to close all small schools (mostly rural based) and that won’t be a runner, one of the problems of having a low density population
The kids in school hand out lunches actually in oir school
And the dept. Supplied ovens already to.schools they already have staff for doing the re heating and the hot boxes .to.deliver to classes Extension not necessary if kitchen already in place if not. The dept if they insist on using hot meals need to support the schools to make proper food it’s not that hard when you consider what school fees are covering . So of they need a.cooking area. Make.it hapen for them to feed the kids
@The next small thing: or just dont use the school lunches
@Karen Marten: it’s not feasible to produce food on site in every school, space is one issue.
In terms of labour there is probably an hours work to regen for a school to prep and cook from scratch you are looking at around 4hours of higher skilled labour. Also the food isn’t magically going to get from the kitchen to the classes, so no labour saving there.
While sounds great it’s unfeasible in 99% of schools
75 ingredients in a chicken curry and rice? That’s insane.
This subject is getting boring now.
@Thomas O’Brien: What would you like to talk about? I’ve just read elsewhere that our marvellous government have spent 1.6 Million on cars for the Ukrainian community out of the taxpayers pockets, more unnecessary waste of money ffs.
@Maire Hicks:
Define elsewhere.
@Maire Hicks: Source? Link?
And please, not the drivel from some social media platform!
@Wolfgang Bonow: gript media, I read and listen to different news sources like rte, bbc, sky, gript, the journal etc, reuters and I don’t Use Facebook or twitter (x).
@Maire Hicks: 1.6 million would build a lot of cooking kitchens in our schools .
@Wolfgang Bonow: Per The Indo:
Kevin Galvin
Fri 11 Apr 2025 at 17:22
The Irish Government spent an approximate €1.6 million in 2023 as part of a scheme to buy and lease cars for Ukranian refugees.
In response to a parliamentary question from Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said that eight cars in total were purchased under the scheme, with the rest leased to those under Temporary Protection from Ukraine.
@Athena: Thank you.
I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes – I just haven’t heard of it.
@Wolfgang Bonow: Oh, I know. I suppose the mainstream media double fact check everything before they publish.
They have to be careful what/how they report if they want to keep their government support payments.
We all agree that healthy food is extremely important from a young age
@Deadman Walking: …and it’s the parents job to provide it.
@Wolfgang Bonow: a lot of parents nowadays don’t know how to cook unfortunately. Not all thankfully, but a lot.
How about using the money to fund the schools properly so they don’t have to ask for “voluntary” contributions every year.
You can do better by not having nasty chips, hash browns and poor quality sausages. Charging kids for that muck is a disgrace.
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