Gormley's broken promise

[OceanFrog]

I was just wondering what happened with this. Did Gormless nominate the Hill of Tara as a Unesco site at the world heritage committee meeting in Seville as he promised or not?

From the letter to the Tribune ... "The minister for the environment, John Gormley, who is supposed to be the leader of the supposedly Green Party, has broken his promise to nominate the Hill of Tara as a Unesco site at the world heritage committee meeting in Seville this week."

Link

[greengoose2]

The only thin we saw there in early June was a closed information center and several tonnes of sheep$hite. There was a chap painting some benches as he was delighted with our company as he was surely a very lonely chap...

The Greens just waffle and waffle and waffle and.........

Useless shower of frauds

[LittleMsLeftist]

Gormley deserves to be put to the sword

[joemomma]

I was just wondering what happened with this. Did Gormless nominate the Hill of Tara as a Unesco site at the world heritage committee meeting in Seville as he promised or not?

From the letter to the Tribune ... "The minister for the environment, John Gormley, who is supposed to be the leader of the supposedly Green Party, has broken his promise to nominate the Hill of Tara as a Unesco site at the world heritage committee meeting in Seville this week."

He never promised to nominate it as a UNESCO site at Seville for the simple reason that it would be impossible to do so under UNESCO's rules. A site can only be nominated once it has been on the state's tentative list for a number of years. Gormley has commissioned a review of this list with a view to including Tara on it. The letter writer objects to this review on the basis that it has involved spending a lot of taxpayer's money, obviously unaware that it is an essential prerequisite to the nomination she berates Gormley for failing to deliver.

I don't blame the letter-writer, she is probably a member of the diaspora who has had the misfortune to get her information from Vincent Salafia.

[OceanFrog]

Is it true that in December 2008, Gormley hired 15 experts to help draft a list of sites, including Tara, to nominate to Unesco for world heritage status at its annual meeting last Tuesday?

No list was delivered.

Why?

[ryano]

Is it true that in December 2008, Gormley hired 15 experts to help draft a list of sites, including Tara, to nominate to Unesco for world heritage status at its annual meeting last Tuesday?

No list was delivered.

Why?

John addressed this comprehensively in answer to PQs yesterday:

I am aware of some misleading information in the media recently concerning the process of nomination for UNESCO World Heritage status and am pleased to have the opportunity to put the facts on record.

Ireland’s Tentative List of potential sites for nomination for inscription on the World Heritage List was last updated in 1992, and does not include the Hill of Tara. Last year I directed my Department to review the 1992 list, and requested that the Tara complex, amongst other sites, be considered for inclusion on a revised list. In December 2007 & April 2008 I arranged for Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a world heritage UNESCO expert , to visit a number of these sites to advise on their suitability for inclusion.

In October 2008 I established an Expert Advisory Group to carry out the review of the Tentative List; consultants have not been engaged by my Department on the review process. Total expenditure by my Department to date on the Tentative List Review is approximately €42,700.

The Expert Advisory Group (EAG) has completed extensive analysis of the sites on the current Tentative List. Members of the public and interested groups were also invited to submit potential properties for inclusion on the new Tentative List. 31 such proposals were received and these were considered and assessed by the EAG.

On the basis of its own analysis, and consideration and assessment of the proposals received from the public and interested groups, the EAG has now finalised a draft new Tentative List which contains the details of the properties which the EAG considers are of outstanding universal value, meet the UNESCO World Heritage inscription criteria in terms of integrity and authenticity and have the best potential for future inscription on the World Heritage List. I expect to be in a position to publish this draft tentative list for public consultation before the end of the month, and I understand that the Hill of Tara is included in this list.

While it was initially envisaged that Ireland's new Tentative List would be submitted to UNESCO in advance of the June 2009 session of the World Heritage Committee, this has not been possible mainly because the review process and World Heritage Committee requirements for the tentative list process have been more complex than at first envisaged. It was also considered better to take more time in preparing a new Tentative List in keeping with UNESCO guidelines and best international practice. I will be forwarding the new Tentative List to UNESCO before the end of this year and it will then be presented at the 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee in 2010.

I am not currently in a position to process a nomination for the Hill of Tara for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List as the property was not included on the 1992 Tentative List. Only sites that have been on the State Party's Tentative List for a period of at least one year may be nominated for consideration by the World Heritage Committee for inscription on the World Heritage List. In order to adhere to the very stringent UNESCO requirements concerning management of sites and other matters, in practice it usually takes a number of years following inclusion on a Tentative List before a site is considered suitable for inscription.

That's the full shocking story.