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World Heritage Sites -  What are they?

World Heritage sites are places that are important to and belong to everyone no matter where they live.  They have a recognised universal value that goes beyond the value they hold for a particular nation.

The World Heritage List – What is it?

World Heritage sites that are nominated for World Heritage listing are inscribed on the list only after they have been carefully assessed as being superlative examples of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.  
The Republic of Ireland currently has 2 properties on the World Heritage List.

As of June 2011, 936 sites of cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value have been inscribed on the World Heritage List. The prestigious World Heritage List includes sites such as:

  • The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, in Peru
  • Paris — the Banks of the Seine, in France
  • The Acropolis, in Greece
  • Stonehenge, in the United Kingdom
  • The Great Barrier Reef, in Australia
  • The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, in Canada

World Heritage Listing- How do you get a Site on the List?

Only the Irish Government, as State Party to the Convention can nominate Irish sites for inscription on this list.  The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has been nominated as the lead agency by the Irish Government to implement the convention. The World Heritage Committee assesses the places nominated on the basis of the advice of the Advisory Bodies of ICOMOS and IUCN  against a number of criteria and makes a final decision as to the places that are to be included on the World Heritage List.