The Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, had announced that all children younger than 12 will be admitted for free to all heritage sites managed by the OPW Heritage Service.
This initiative will commence on Saturday, July 1, and will ensure that all children under 12 will have an opportunity to visit these sites for free with their families during the holiday period.
“I have set out to do this as one of my first acts as Minister for the OPW because I think there is a huge opportunity here to encourage our children to experience some of the best cultural and heritage sites in the country,” Minister Moran said.
“We have some wonderful places to visit and I want every child to have an opportunity to visit them with their families during the summer holidays and up to the end of the year.”
The OPW offers free access to all school-going children under their Free Schools Visits programme. About 80,000 children availed of this during 2016. This programme is intended to support the educational curriculum and children can, with their teachers, engage with many relevant aspects of their learning including art, history, and social science at these historic and heritage locations.
The OPW already offers free entry for children six years of age and younger, and the Minister said he was anxious to reinforce the message that a visit to a heritage site can be a great family day out for all ages.
“I’d like to spread the message to families that wouldn’t normally think of coming to a heritage site and encourage them to make a visit,” he said. “Admission fees at OPW sites are very reasonable, and as under 12s are to go free it will make for a very attractive and reasonably priced day out for the whole family.”
