The Natural History Museum is a somewhat neglected constituent of the broader National Museum family which includes Dublin locations on Kildare Street and Collins Barracks and the new Turlough Park museum in Co Mayo.
The Natural History Museum on Merrion Street remains a national treasure however, housing an irreplaceable collection of international significance.
A Royal Irish Academy report presented this week to the Minister responsible for the museum, John O'Donoghue, highlights how this venerable institution, opened in 1857, has suffered decades of underfunding both before and in particular after the founding of the State. The same report also outlines the changes needed to help to put the museum on a par with the best natural history museums in the world.
The chairman of the reporting group, Dr Christopher Moriarty, acknowledges the document represents an uncosted "wish list". Yet its recommendations are only in keeping with best international practice as sampled at similar museums in Denmark, Northern Ireland, Norway and Belgium. The RIA report argues for a doubling of specialist staff and a quadrupling of overall numbers at the museum. It suggests that more space could be found by building an annex to the south of the existing building adjacent to Government Buildings. Such a development would provide more display space, room for a restaurant and shop and, importantly, offer lift access allowing people with disabilities to reach all levels of the existing museum building.
Dr Moriarty and indeed Mr O'Donoghue at the launch both argued that the existing museum must be preserved as is - a "museum of a museum". Built in Victorian times, when Darwin's theory of evolution was new and radical thinking, it reflected mid-19th century best practice of how to display biological specimens. The lack of funding meant, however, that while other natural history museums ripped out the old wood and glass cabinets in favour of "hands on" displays and multimedia presentations, Dublin's museum retained its original character.
The quality of the museum lies in its outstanding two million-specimen collection. Despite affectionate references as Dublin's "Dead Zoo", its collection has everything to do with life and our changing environment. It represents an invaluable resource for scientists studying biological diversity of insects, birds, fish and mammals today. It provides information about how species distribution is changing and yields information about past climate. It is a resource worth protecting and preserving with substantial support from Government.