Wednesday, 20 January 2016

National Archives of Ireland's expansion underway

Redevelopment work starts this September at
the rear of the NAI in Bishop St, Dublin 7
The €8million expansion of the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) is finally underway!

The major revamp will see the Bishop Street site transformed into a state-of-the-art archival storage facility, capable of holding approximately four million files containing about 100 million pages.

Launching the design and construction phase of the redevelopment project, Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humprheys TD said: “The Government intends to gradually move to a 20-year rule for the release of State papers. Expanding and upgrading the National Archives is essential to cope with the increased demand that will come about as a result of this change.

"Investment in the future accessibility and preservation of public records is also timely given this decade of centenaries, as we turn to resources held by the National Archives and other institutions to reflect and remember on the events of 1916 and beyond as the Irish State emerged from the Rising, and the Civil War.”

The first phase of the works will require the decanting of over 1,900 pallets of archives from the existing warehouse building to the rear of the Bishop Street premises and its conversion into a works site for developing archival quality storage and ancillary facilities. Works are expected to commence in September 2016 and, once completed, will provide accommodation for 137,000 archival boxes.