A special Heritage Council publication featuring stories from heritage officers in every county is being launched today to mark 25 years since the Heritage Officer Network was founded. The booklet, 'Opening the door to Ireland's heritage' details one key heritage project from each local authority from the last three years which collectively, highlight the enormous contribution the Network has made to the preservation of our heritage over the last quarter of a century. The 'Golden Way Communities - The Beauty in Our Places' project in Cavan brought artists and communities across the county together to work on enhancing established walking routes through the placement of artistic works along the route.
These artistic works were created by Cavan visual artist Jackie O'Neill and local poet Heather Brett who developed an artistic response to each Golden Way and subsequently developed into beautiful signage for the various Golden Ways. Anne-Marie Ward is the Heritage Officer for Cavan County Council. Speaking to Northern Sound about the launch of the booklet, Anne-Marie said; ""It is deeply satisfying to see documented in this publication the influence of the Heritage Officer Network in shaping our approach to heritage conservation and protection.
"Although we work as individuals at local authority level, what is clear from these pages is that the real strength of the Network is in the collective. These stories cover only a snapshot of recently completed projects from current heritage officers, so when we factor in the hundreds of past projects completed since 1999, it brings into the focus the enormous impact that the Local Authority Heritage Officer Programme has had."
