The Minister attended the launch of a pilot website and the first phase of the project at Lagan Legacy, Belfast.

Gemma Reid from the Causeway Museum Service, one of the lead partners in the project, explained that the Northern Ireland Community Archive project will create an innovative new web portal that for the first time brings museums, archives and communities across the region together in exploring and promoting Northern Ireland's cultural heritage.

"The Causeway Museum Service has been developing community archives with local groups over the last few years, but this project presents a fantastic opportunity for those groups to share their experiences with a much wider audience and access resources and information from other areas," she said.

The Mayor of Coleraine, Councillor David Barbour who spoke at the launch event, said, "I congratulate the museums and archives involved in this project for their successful partnership working on such an innovate project.
"This is both a fascinating and educational project for our futures. It will enable our communities to come together to celebrate and promote their heritage and allow individuals to find out more about aspects of their personal history.

"It is accessible to all ages and abilities and allows those who are not familiar with digital technology to gain support and guidance to take their interests forward. The support provided by the partners involved is to be commended."
The website will include a huge variety of historical material, collected by local communities or held by our museums and archives. Users may find records relating to their family history, or perhaps come across some photographs of what their street looked like 100 years ago.

The project is currently led by a steering group of key stakeholders across the cultural sector, including the Public Records Office, Northern Ireland Museums Council, BBCNI, Northern Ireland Screen, Belfast City Council Culture and Arts Unit and the Causeway Museum Service (a partnership between the local authorities of Coleraine, Limavady, Ballymoney and Moyle).
The pilot website already includes a fascinating range of photographs, oral history, film and art. As the project grows, the website will provide access to an increasingly wider range of material relating to our cultural heritage.

If you are interested in taking part in the project log on to www.niarchive.org to find out more and register your name and email address. You will receive an email to let you know when you can upload your own photographs and memories to the site. You will also be able to find out about a programme of training and promotional events across Northern Ireland over the coming months.