The Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI), which started in 2006 with just 12 participants, now has 57 museums across the island of Ireland, participating in it. The programme recognises excellence in caring for collections, museum management, education, exhibition and visitor services.
Speaking at the event the Chairman of the Heritage Council, Mr. Michael Parsons, said, “What we see through this programme is that Ireland’s museums are exciting and vibrant places where the staff are working hard, often with very limited budgets and resources, to ensure that the collections in their care are protected and made available to the public. Not only is this important work from a cultural point of view, it also supports tourism in a locality and helps people feel proud of the place where they live”.
KERRY COUNTY MUSEUM: Awarded Maintenance of Full Accreditation in the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI)
In its journey through the accreditation process Kerry County Museum has consistently demonstrated the highest professional standards across every area of its work and this is in no small way reflected in its commitment to achieving and maintaining the requirements of MSPI accreditation.
During the first assessment visits the museum staff expressed clearly how the museum should develop to be a museum for the whole county and be recognised as a centre of excellence. The reorganisation of local government has helped to cement that vision and the museum is now, beyond doubt, The Kerry County Museum in name and nature.
Its Assessor commented, ‘Every time I visit the museum I am impressed by some new innovation or exhibition. The term ‘blockbuster’ is not inappropriate for some of the major temporary exhibitions which the museum has staged in recent years, and the current offer: “Casement in Kerry: A Revolutionary Journey” maintains that first class track record. Designed and produced by the museum staff, at relatively low cost, the exhibition is evidence of the museum’s ability to stage well-researched, topical exhibitions of international as well as local interest. It also illustrates well the efforts of the small but dedicated team in locating and borrowing rare and important items from individuals and major international institutions’.
The Assessor said, ‘I have no hesitation in recommending that this excellent museum be awarded recognition for maintaining all interim and full standards of the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland’.
