The purchase of the favourite haunt of the lesser horseshoe bat and the development of "pilgrim paths" to mark the millennium are some of the main achievements listed by the Heritage Council in its latest annual report.
The council also paid out almost £1.6 million to local communities participating in its heritage grant scheme last year.
The report, which was presented yesterday to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, says 49 projects were approved for £318,706 in funding, while about £680,000 was spent to assist in the protection of 23 heritage buildings known to be at risk.
The lesser horseshoe bat haunt is at a building near Dromore in Co Clare, which hosts the largest-known summer colony of the species. The building was bought to safeguard the internationally important roost and to restore the structure.
A small management committee has been established to advise on the conservation of the bats and to develop a management plan for the site.
During the year, the council continued to develop a pilgrim paths millennium project, and it also published an archaeological guide to Sligo. A feasibility study on a county museum for Westmeath was also initiated.
Partnership projects with the Irish National Teachers Organisation on raising environmental awareness in schools were sponsored. A national register of buildings at risk has been initiated, and the council is surveying courthouses throughout the State, supported by the Department of Justice.
The council also advised the Minister on several specific projects and policy issues, including the proposed land-swap at Derrygimlagh, Roundstone Bog, Co Galway - which it opposed - and the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive.
Receiving the report yesterday the Minister praised the council's work and said she had increased its funding by almost 70 per cent, to just over £5 million, since she took office.
