Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe: Ireland
Principal Investigators
Funding
- Heritage Council
- The Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI)
- European Commission’s Leonardo II programme
Abstract
The Institute for Archaeologists in the UK established Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe (DISCO) under the auspices of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) through funding from the European Commission’s Leonardo II programme. This is a transnational project that aims to survey and assess the state of employment within professional archaeology across Europe. Ireland is one of the twelve European partner countries in addition to the European Association of Archaeologists. The Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI), as the professional body for archaeologists is the Irish partner and the UCD School of Archaeology was engaged to undertake the research. The Irish survey is financially supported by the Heritage Council.
In UCD School of Archaeology the project was coordinated by Professor Gabriel Cooney. The survey was undertaken by Conor McDermott and Patrizia La Piscopia who were also the authors of the final report.
The international project has produced 12 national reports covering Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and the United Kingdom in addition to an overall Transnational Report and an international review of Qualifications and Requirements to Practice. All of these publications as well as national posters and evaluation and valorisation reports are available on the project website (http://www.discovering-archaeologists.eu).
Aims of the project
Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe: Ireland is a project that intends to identify, collect and disseminate information on archaeologists and archaeological employment across Europe.
The project has a number of objectives at a national and European level:
- to promote the transparency of qualifications and transnational mobility
- to identify barriers to entry to the profession and career progression difficulties
- to identify labour market information and trends, including training investment and recruitment
- to establish the number of archaeologists working in each state and the nature of their professional activity
- to identify training needs and skills shortages
- to provide archaeological employers with information to aid business planning and improve organisational performance
Every organisation that employs or commissions archaeologists in Ireland was invited to contribute to the current study, and it is hoped that both the national and transnational professional community will benefit from the results of this survey. All the data published in the report has been made available to employers, archaeologists, professional associations, training providers and decision makers. This will allow the development of specific strategies to create a highly dynamic, competitive knowledge based economy that will deliver sustainable growth and social cohesion.
Project Results
The survey was conducted in 2007 and the results captured the profession in Ireland at the crest of a wave driven by significant state and private sector spending in infrastructure and development. One of the most dramatic results was the large proportion of non-Irish archaeologists working in the country. The survey indicated that 44.5% came from outside the country with over half of these from Poland and lesser numbers from other EU States.
The estimated number of archaeologists working in the archaeological sector in the Republic of Ireland is approximately 1,709. This figure compares with a figure of 650 for the whole of Ireland recorded in 2002 representing an increase of over 250%. The survey recorded all those working in the archaeological sector in Ireland including both archaeological (91%) and non-archaeological support staff (9%).
In general archaeological employers indicated they are prepared to support and encourage individual employees in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). However, while 50% of employers have a training budget only 36% indicated that they have a formal training plan. Information technology was the training need most commonly identified and 86% of employers meet their needs through the use of external consultants. The main archaeological specialist skills shortages identified were in non-intrusive field investigations (including geophysical surveys) and conservation of artefacts and ecofacts. Employers highlighted a range of archaeological training priorities for current and potential employees with project management (53%), landscape characterisation (50%), information technology (50%) and a general need to improve fieldwork skills being the major areas identified.
