Press Ombudsman visits DCU and highlights importance of archives
At a special event hosted at DCU Glasnevin last night, the Press Ombudsman, Peter Feeney, spoke on the importance of universities acting as repositories of historical material. Referring to the Media History Collection, which forms part of DCU library’s Special Collections and Archives, Mr Feeney noted that without such initiatives, much material of historical importance would be lost to future generations of researchers.
The event was held to acknowledge and thank donors who lodged material with the Media History Collection over the past three years. This included:
- Mary Raftery Papers (documentary maker, States of Fear / Cardinal Secrets)
- Frank McDonald Papers (former environment editor, Irish Times)
- Hugh Lambert Papers (former editor, Irish Press)
- Dick O’Riordan Papers (former editor, Evening Press)
- Mary Kenny Papers (author, playwright, columnist)
- Jim Downey Papers (author, columnist)
- Irish Pirate Radio Archive
- Slattery’s Camera Circle Photographic Archive (1960s-1990s)
Thanking the donors, Mark O’Brien, Chair of the Media History Collection Advisory Board, noted that the project was now eleven years old and had brought over fifty collections to the university.
With DCU Library & Archives becoming the ‘go-to’ repository for material relating to media and journalism history, he noted that further donations and initiatives would be announced over the next few months.