[CPProt.net] Ireland's historic thatched cottages under threat

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Ireland's historic thatched cottages under threat
Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:25 PM GMT

By Kevin Smith

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's thatched cottages, a key feature of the
landscape for centuries and the subject of countless picture postcards, are
vanishing rapidly and could soon be confined to folk museums, a report said
on Friday.

The loss of traditional know-how as a generation of thatchers dies out and a
preference for modern materials means crisis is looming for the white-washed
cottage with its brush-like roof of golden reeds or straw, for many a
timeless image of Irishness.

"The thatched roof is an important part of our built heritage and all too
fast coming under greater threat," Environment Minister Dick Roche said.

"We must find ways to ensure the survival of this building form, seen
nationally and internationally as being part of what we are."

A government report published on Friday estimated the number of surviving
thatched cottages on the island of Ireland at between 1,300 and 1,500 --
less than 0.1 percent of the total building stock.

In Northern Ireland, the report said, only 150 thatched cottages survive out
of around 40,000 in the 1950s.

"It is clear there is a real crisis in the survival of historic thatch in
Ireland and without action it is possible to say that outside of folk
museums, very little historic thatch will be soon be left," the report said.

Centuries of cultural tradition were under threat, it added. People in
Ireland have put roofs made of straw or reeds on their homes for thousands
of years.

The report recommended putting all remaining thatched buildings on a
protected status list, training a new generation of thatchers, and offering
grants to encourage the use of traditional materials.

It noted Ireland could currently satisfy just 30 percent of the demand for
materials used in thatching, with the remainder being imported -- mostly
from Turkey and Poland -- and called on the government to take steps to
boost local production.

The report also raised concerns that Ireland's distinctive styles of
thatching were being eroded because a shortage of local craftsmen meant
thatchers were being hired from abroad and were using foreign techniques.

Thatched roofs -- once associated with rural poverty -- are expensive to
maintain. Some have to be re-thatched every 7-10 years and are costly to
insure because of a perceived fire risk.