More than two-thirds of taxpayers are willing to pay an average €47 extra per year to protect national heritage sites and amenities, while 92 per cent of people believe it is important to protect our heritage, according to research published yesterday.
However, the number who said heritage protection should not interfere with the provision of necessary public infrastructure rose from 52 per cent in 2005 to 58 per cent in this year's survey.
Overall, the Heritage Council study reveals that safeguarding and improving access to the nation's heritage ranks fifth in the public's list of priorities for additional Government funding.
This places it ahead of considerations such as improvements to the road network and increased support for the visual and performance arts, but far behind spending on improving services in hospital A&E departments.
Some 82 per cent of respondents identified the latter as their main priority for any additional Government spending, followed by spending on refurbishing primary schools (4per cent). Some 2.5 per cent said safeguarding and improving the national heritage should be a priority.
The survey was carried out over the past year by Lansdowne Market Research among a representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 15-65 years. It builds on previous surveys of public opinion conducted on behalf of the council from 1999 to 2004.
An interesting feature of the research is the public's desire to provide additional funding to preserve natural or "green" heritage sites and amenities, with personal health a key concern.
For example, three out of 10 of those surveyed said they would like to have "ringfenced" public funding spent on canals and piers, while 22 per cent wished to see it spent on the coastal landscape.
This compares to 9 per cent who wished to see such money spent improving sites and monuments, and just 1.7 per cent who wished it to be spent on museums.
Elsewhere, the survey reveals that 68 per cent indicated that they supported additional public spending on heritage protection, with an estimated overall willingness to pay €47 extra per person per year. This would equate to €90 million extra per year.
Commenting at the launch of the survey yesterday, Michael Starrett, chief executive of the Heritage Council, said there was an "inexorable" upward trend in support from members of the public for measures aimed at protecting and safeguarding our heritage. This was in part due to the emergence of recent high-profile campaigns in the media.
"Heritage is about much more than preserving old things....People are actually beginning to connect with heritage again."
Mr Starrett acknowledged that the rise in the percentage of respondents who said heritage protection should not interfere with the provision of necessary public infrastructure presented "a real challenge".
However, he said the two issues need not be "mutually exclusive". One problem was that individuals were being "polarised" in their viewpoints when controversies arise. This was something which the proposed new national landscape strategy could help to address.