Youghal has been honoured with becoming the first historic town from Ireland the UK(excluding England) to join the prestigious Historic Towns Forum – an association formed in England in 1987 to support professionals in the historic built environment. Photo: Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Sam Howes, Chairperson of the Historic Towns Forum expressed his delight at the expansion of the Forum: “Much of what the Forum does is of considerable interest to our colleagues in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  We see delegates from these countries at our Conferences and they regularly request copies of our publications. So we thought they may be interested in joining us and making the Forum a truly UK/Republic of Ireland organisation.  Membership is now open to local authorities, organisations and individuals in these countries”.
Mr. Howes emphasised that the widening of the Forum’s membership would enable them to call on support and experience from further afield.  “We are starting in July with a Conference in the Republic of Ireland and will build on this new arrangement in the coming years”.
This conference will take in a visit to Youghal, Co. Cork by over 30 delegates from the UK and is recognition of the initiative shown by Youghal Town Council in becoming the first town throughout the UK (excluding England) and Ireland to seek membership of the forum.  Speaking about Youghal’s membership of the Forum, Catherine Desmond of Youghal’s Municipal Heritage Committee stated:
“This is a great honour for Youghal, and shows once again that Youghal is at the forefront of Heritage Regeneration not only in Ireland, but across the UK. Our Heritage-Led Regeneration Plan for Youghal has received recognition from experts country-wide and is considered a blue-print for many similar-sized historic towns.
Youghal is also a leading member leader of the Irish Walled Towns Network – an association set up by the Heritage Council of Ireland to unite and co-ordinate the strategic efforts of Local Authorities involved in the Management, Conservation and enhancement of Historic Walled Town both in North and South.
Youghal Town Walls Conservation and Management Plan which was commissioned by Youghal’s Municipal Heritage Committee is set to be formally launched by Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government on 23rd April in St. Mary’s Collegiate Church, Youghal – again further recognition of Youghal’s status in the national heritage context.
Membership of the Forum is therefore only set to expand upon Youghal’s growing standing as a Heritage Town.  Benefits of joining the Forum will include: access to a network of practitioners with whom to share problems and good practice, election of a representative to the Executive Committee, opportunities to host conferences and seminars and involvement in a range of research projects to identify good practice in the management of historic towns.  For further information on the Historic Towns Forum log onto: www.historictownsforum.org
Issued by:
Youghal Heritage Municipal Committee
Contact: Aileen Ahern
E: tourism@youghal.ie
T: 086-1703128

Click on image to see who was at the event

John Gormley TD
00 Cllr. Liam Burke, Mayor Olly Casey, Catherine Desmond, DOE-HLG and Liam Ryan, Town Clerk
02 Una Whyte
03 Dermot Keogh, Michael Farrell and Eddie Irwin
4 5 Cliff Winser and Aileen Ahern
6 Cllr. Barbara Murray and Cliff Winser
7 Cllrs. Michelle Hennessy and Sandra McLellan
8 Nicolas Loughnan and Noel Mackey
10 11 Dan Noonan, Mary Kerins and Niamh Coulter
13 Mona Hallinan and Fiona Greene
14 15 David Kelly, Keay Burridge, John Kelly and Sheila Loughnan
16 17 John Griffin, Cliff Winser and Katrina Griffin
18 19 Mary O’Donnell, Paul Murray, Sean McLoughlin and Peter O’Donnell
20 21`Cllr. Michelle Hennessy and Sharon Flavin
22 23 Mayor Olly Casey with Frankie and Joan Keane
24 25 Cllr. Liam Burke and Patricia Power
27 28 Aileen Ahern, Lucy Heaphy and Catherine Desmond, DOE-HLG
29 30 Cliff Winser, Rose Ryall and Clare Cronin
31 32 Patricia Power, Cllr. Liam Burke, Mayor Olly Casey, John Gormley TD and Liam Ryan
34 John Gormley TD and Mayor Olly Casey
49 50 Mayor Olly Casey makes a presentation to John Gormley TD with Cllr. Liam Burke
53 Helen Mackessy, Cllr. Michael Beecher and Cllr. Liam Burke
54 Catherine Desmond, DOE-HLG, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley and Lucy Heaphy
58 John Gormley TD with Youghal Town councillors
60 Tim Robinson, Liam Ryan, Catherine Desmond, John Gormley TD, Sarah McCutcheon, Seamus Maher and Conor Brennan from the Irish Walled Towns Network
63 with the Youghal Heritage Committee
66 Sarah McCutcheon and Tim Robinson from Irish Walled Towns Network