Dr. Mark Clinton:

The cut and thrust of that would be, and what we are attempting to do is very important, checks and balances. We use the phrase "cultural ombudsman". I looked into it a little more. Currently, there are seven wings or divisions of the Ombudsman covering the Garda, Defence Forces, the press, financial services, etc. I noted that we have An Coimisinéir Teanga, which "enquires into complaints from the public where it is alleged that public bodies may have failed to comply with the Official Languages Act 2003." One option is to go down the road of an ombudsman, such as an teanga Gaelach has. In many ways, the culture and heritage of Ireland is built on two pillars. There is the language, which is for discourse, but also contains within it sagas, stories and legends and is the vehicle for the oral tradition. In respect of monuments, for the people who spoke this language and told these stories, etc., these are the buildings and places they lived in. These are the two pillars of Irish culture. As Dr. Greene said, Ireland is built on its cultural uniqueness. That is why we are a republic. As such, if there is a Coimisinéir Teanga, quite rightly looking after Gaeilge, where is its correlation? There should be a court of appeal of either an ombudsman or an advisory council. The neighbouring jurisdiction has a Historic Monuments Council in Northern Ireland, which is up, running and contributing very nicely.