New data is good news for Irish archaeology indicating the decline in excavation is slowing.

Graph of excavation licences issued per quarter January 2012-April 2013.

Graph of excavation licences issued per quarter January 2012-April 2013.

New data suggests that the rate of decline in archaeological excavation in Ireland is slowing.
In the first quarter of 2013 to the 31 of March there were 112 excavation licenses issued by the National Monuments Service in the Republic of Ireland. This is a small reduction of 6.6% in the number issued in the same period in 2012. Although the total number of licences issued is still declining, the rate of decline is slowing. In my last post I noted that in 2012 the rate of decline in excavation licenses was running at more than twice the rate of the decline in construction output of 7.8%. This new data suggests that the rate of decline in archaeology is now tracking construction more closely. If this is the case we may entering a period of greater stability in the sector.

 

Cite this post as:

Mount, C. 2013. New data is good news for Irish archaeology indicating the decline in excavation is slowing. Charles Mount’s Blog, 4 April 2013. http://charles-mount.ie/wp/?p=1004

Indicators suggest that archaeological activity in Ireland continued to decline in the first half of 2012-revised. 9/07/12

 

Indicators suggest that archaeological activity in Ireland continued to decline in the first half of 2012.Archaeological excavation licensing figures for the first half of 2012 suggest that archaeological activity in Ireland continued to decline.

As of 30 June 2012, 230 archaeological excavation licenses had been issued by the National Monuments Service. This represents just 41% of the 558 licenses issued in 2011. The quarterly results will not have analytical value until year on year comparisons can be made beginning in 2013, however early indications are that archaeological activity in Ireland is continuing to decline. Corroborating evidence of the continued decline in construction and development activity in Ireland has been gathered by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). The CIF forecast that just 7,500-8,000 houses will be built in Ireland in 2012. This represents a reduction of 25% on the number of houses built in 2011 and a 93% reduction on the number of houses built in 2006. The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 42.5 in June from 46.3 in May. General weakness across the Irish economy is indicated by the Central Statistics Office Household Survey which shows that the number of people employed fell by 18,100 or 1% (seasonally adjusted to 0.4%) in the first quarter of 2012, with the second largest fall in the construction sector coming after the fall in employment in the hospitality sector. The construction sector has reduced from 267,000 employed in 2006 to just 103,100 employed today. The Central Statistics Office also notes that the unemployment rate has reached a new post-crash high of 14.9% in June.

Site this post as:

Mount, C. Indicators suggest that archaeological activity in Ireland continued to decline in the first half of 2012. The Charles Mount Blog, 9 July 2012. http://charles-mount.ie/wp/?p=862