Office of the Minister for Arts Heritage Regional Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs at Kildare Street in Dublin

NEW RURAL DEPARTMENT SIGNS ON THE WAY

Bilingual nameplates will reflect new portfolio for Minister Humphreys

Michael Fisher  Northern Standard  Thursday 18th August 2016

Last month the new portfolio for Minister Heather Humphreys was confirmed by An Taoiseach. The Cavan/Monaghan Deputy is now in charge of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

This reflects her new responsibility for developing an action plan for rural Ireland including the roll-out of broadband to all rural areas. But several weeks after the announcement the signs at the various offices of the Department have still to be changed.
On July 5th An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD signed a Statutory Instrument order No. 357/2016 – Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister). Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in “Iris Oifigiúil” of 12th July 2016.
“The Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 6 (1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939 (No. 36 of 1939), hereby order as follows:
1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2016.
(2) This Order comes into operation on 7 July 2016.
2. The name of the Department of State, the present name of which is, in the Irish language, an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is altered, in the Irish language, to that of an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, to that of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
3. The title of the Minister having charge of the Department of State, whose present title is, in the Irish language, an tAire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is altered, in the Irish language, to that of an tAire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gnóthaí Réigiúnacha, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta and, in the English language, to that of the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
4. In any enactment or any instrument made under an enactment—
(a) references to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht shall be construed as references to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs;
(b) references to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht shall be construed as references to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.”
Six weeks later at the entrance to the Minister’s office at 23 Kildare Street near Leinster House you will still be greeted by signs in Irish and English proclaiming the ‘Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht”. It’s the same down at The Custom House, where the National Monuments Service is based along with the Built Heritage and Architectural Policy section.
These were once under the wing of the Department of Environment, based at the Custom House. That Department has also been changed and is now the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government headed by Minister Simon Coveney.
The signs for that Department are the old ones and some of them alongside the DAHG ones are in a poor condition with little maintenance of the surrounding area. So perhaps this will be attended to when the new signage is erected.
The matter is in hand. A spokesperson for Minister Humphreys told The Northern Standard that bilingual signage had been ordered for the Department’s buildings and should be in place shortly.

The other locations include offices in Ely Place (Dublin), Galway, Killarney and Wexford. The Department website has already been updated and can be accessed at: ahgrra.gov.ie.