Dúchas
Dúchas – The Heritage Service (Irish: ˈd̪ˠuːxasˠ, meaning "heritage") was Ireland's body responsible for:
- natural heritage (including responsibility for the management of national parks and wildlife)
- built heritage (including national monuments and historic properties).
It was an executive agency of the former Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (1997–2002), and was established under the Heritage Act 1995. It was abolished in 2003. Its status as an executive agency gave it no separate legal existence and it could be easily abolished without primary legislation, although the abolition was not without controversy.[1] Most of its functions were transferred to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2002–2011), where they became the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Some others, such as the protection of historic monuments, reverted to being Office of Public Works functions.
References
- ↑ Frank McDonald. "Break-up of Duchas 'may be unlawful'", The Irish Times. 2003. HighBeam Research (subscription required). 29 Dec. 2012 <http://www.highbeam.com>.