Economic Value of Ireland's Historic Environment - The Heritage ...

environment should rightly be seen as having the potential to deliver a range of educational benefits as
well as being a facilitator of wider social and community development 17 .
Educational value may be identified as a particularly important social impact of heritage, reflecting a
range of both formal and informal educational opportunities available to different age groups 18 . Other
positive benefits may link to environmental and/ or quality of life related effects (to the benefit of local
residents), including corresponding property market uplift (enhanced marketability and potential for
improved rental, capital and land values). Whilst empirical research remains partial, with such benefits
often being extremely difficult - if not impossible - to quantify in a meaningful monetary sense, it should be
sufficiently clear that heritage may function as a critical provider of social and community capital in a
range of contexts.
2.5 Strategic Summary: Importance of the Heritage
Heritage may be valued in a variety of ways, from the aesthetic and emotional pleasure gained from
experiencing historic sites, through the role of heritage as a contributor to quality of life and sense of
cultural identify.
The economic value of heritage may be most readily apparent in terms of the role of heritage sites as
generators of revenue and job creation. More widely, heritage is a critical contributor to sustainable
economic growth, and to the creation of attractive communities that are places where people want to
live, work and visit.
There is a strong justification for public intervention and investment in heritage on economic grounds.
This rationale for public intervention is based upon the correction of market failure owing to heritage's
'public good' characteristics, and the positive benefits attributable to heritage which are not fully
reflected in market transactions.
Despite a growing body of research evidence it remains the case that the size and scope of the
heritage 'sector' is generally not appreciated and often poorly understood. There are complexities
connected to accurately defining and delimiting the sector and with attempting to place economic
value on categorisation of activity that does not fit neatly into traditional economic disaggregations, or
for which there are few directly observable market values.
However, recent work, including major new research undertaken in Scotland and Wales, has now
begun to successfully highlight the scale of economic significance that may be correctly assigned to
the historic environment in respect of national economies.
17 The importance of preserving heritage is detailed in "Valuing Heritage in Ireland", (2007), Keith Simpson and
Associates, Lansdowne Market Research, Optimize Consultants and the Heritage Council.
18 Indeed, such a role, together with provision and promotion of educational resources in relation to heritage sites,
often comprise statutory components of the remit of publicly funded heritage organisations
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