Across the board, conservation has been handled much better in Northern Ireland than in the Republic. But the North's creditable record in relation to historic buildings in particular, is becoming somewhat tarnished by meanness and misdirected policies.

In the North, a listed building has statutory protection. In the Republic, 35 years after the 1963 Planning Act and nearly two years after an inter-departmental working group reported on the issue, we're still waiting for the text of long-promised legislation to protect important historic buildings.

North of the Border, owners of listed buildings are entitled to grant-aid for repairs and maintenance. The overall sum may not be very large, at around £2 million this year, but one can be sure the Historic Buildings Council will see that the work is carried out to the highest standards.

Castle Street, in Armagh, is an outstanding example. A fine terrace of 18th-century houses, built of rubble stone, it was rescued from dereliction and superbly restored by the Hearth Revolving Fund, with grant-aid from the budget for historic buildings and the International Fund for Ireland. Marcus Patton, who runs Hearth, says it has restored more than 100 historic buildings over the past 20 years, with grant-aid from the Department of the Environment. It is currently doing a scheme in College Square North, near Queen's University, with help from the Lottery and the Housing Association fund.

Regular bulletins called "Buildings at Risk" are published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, which plays a very important role in protecting historic buildings. Each of the bulletins contains some good news, but there are also horror stories about buildings which have been lost forever through demolition.

The National Trust for Northern Ireland has also been very active both in saving and maintaining major historic buildings. Among its biggest projects was the restoration of Castle Coole, in Enniskillen, again with substantial grant-aid from the government. An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society are its poor relations.

In the Republic, not only is there is no entitlement to grant-aid, but the Heritage Council had to stop taking new applications last year because it ran out of money. Only an emergency injection of £500,000 from the Minister for Arts and Culture, Sile de Valera, helped the council to clear its backlog of needy cases.

An allocation of almost £4 million has been promised for next year, which is proportionately similar to what the North is currently spending - though it has been giving out money on a consistent basis for many years. This year, however, conservationists had to lobby against cuts in the budget.

There are also moves afoot to de-list buildings, which would effectively mean writing them off. And there is continuing controversy over the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's replacement grant scheme, which has led to hundreds of vernacular houses in rural areas being supplanted by bungalows.

In general, however, the North's planning system is more advanced, notably in protecting Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty such as the Mourne Mountains and the Glens of Antrim. The scope and detail of these AONB designations is quite breathtaking and leaves the Republic in the ha'penny place.

Within an AONB, farmers can even get grants to repair gate piers which are characteristic of the area. But though the designations have been vital in protecting wildlife habitats, they have not proved so effective in saving the built heritage or guarding against brash new houses in the countryside.

Like listed buildings, conservation areas in the North have the force of law, whereas they are merely aspirational south of the Border, and there is a separate budget for them which, unfortunately, has been halved in the past year. The only aspirational designation is "areas of townscape character".

But the North has no equivalent of such ill-advised schemes as the tax incentives for "traditional seaside resorts", which has encouraged a great deal of inappropriate development. Nor would it dream of showering incentives on an area such as the Upper Shannon without having any plan in place.

One of the major planning achievements in the North, apart from the Belfast Stop Line, has been the creation of the Lagan Valley Country Park, covering 4,500 acres of countryside. And contrary to the notion in the South that such parks must be in public ownership, much of it remains in private hands.