Overall the first half of 2014 is similar to 2013, with 253 new excavation licences issued by the National Monuments Service in the Republic of Ireland in comparison to 251 last year. However, in the second quarter of 2014 to the 30th of June there were only 124 issued, a decrease of 10% over the 139 new licences issued in the second quarter of 2013. In addition there were 25 extensions to licences taken out in previous years and 10 Ministerial Consents for excavations were issued, a reduction in the numbers issued in the first quarter.
The archaeological licencing figures contrast with the Ulster Bank Construction PMI Report for May which registered a statistic of 60.2 (a figure above 50 indicates expansion in activity), which was down from 63.5 in April, but still indicated a sharp rise in construction activity. If we look at the individual construction sectors, activity in civil engineering has continued to fall, though at a lower rate, and now stands at 47.9 for May up from 41.8 in April. The continuing decline in civil engineering construction probably accounts for the general lack of increase in new excavation licences this year. The figures indicates that Irish archaeological activity is still largely driven by the civil engineering and in the absence of significant government investment is lagging the general growth in construction output.
Cite this post as:
Mount, C. 2014. New archaeological excavation licences issued in first half of 2014 on par with 2013. Dr. Charles Mount Blog, 3 July 2014. http://charles-mount.ie/wp/?p=1415