Accreditation

he Museums and Archives Committee of the Heritage Council has identified a need to raise standards within the Irish museum sector. The subjects of Collection Care and Public Service are two areas in particular requiring attention. Resulting from this, it has been proposed to establish a standards and accreditation scheme for Irish Museums. This would provide the public with a guaranteed system of quality assurance and help to raise museum standards.

An important feature of this scheme was the establishment of a pilot study to test the proposed accreditation model. Six museums were involved in Stage 1 of the pilot scheme. Muckross House and Traditional Farms volunteered and were fortunate enough to be accepted as participants in Stage 2. Since September 2001, a number of our staff have participated in the various seminars organised by the Heritage Council around the country. One of these seminars, dealing with the topic of Collections Care, actually took place in the kitchen of Quille's farmhouse, on Muckross Traditional Farms.

Ms Christine Lachelin, Conservator with the National Trust for Northern Ireland, recently conducted a seminar for Muckross staff members. This seminar was also organised as part of the pilot accreditation scheme and was entitled 'The Care of Historic Properties'. Ms Lachelin gave an excellent presentation on a subject of great relevance to us here at Muckross.

We have benefited enormously from our involvement in this pilot accreditation scheme. We look forward with confidence to the day when we can apply for full museum accreditation under an actual re cognised scheme.