General

• Please note that the RIA will not fund retrospective activities which means that no costs may be incurred as part of your proposed project before you receive your decision letter.
• Following the award of a research excavation grant, recipient must apply for the required licence(s) from the NMS (National Monuments Service) and the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) or Department for Communities and follow the conditions specified. RIA awards are subject to this licencing process and approval.
• The recipient shall comply in all respects with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, The Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, and any other Act amending that Act and with any Statutory Instruments or Regulations issued thereunder.
• Applicants should be aware that provisions of the Historic and Archaeological Heritage and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 may come into force during the project, until which time the existing legislation is still in force.
• Please note that under Section 14 of the National Act 1930 (as amended by Section 5 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004), consent from the Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government will be required before any works can take place at or in proximity to a National Monument of which the Minister or a Local Authority are the owners or guardians, or in respect of which a preservation order is in force
• Please note that under Article 4 of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995 any works resulting in the demolition, destruction or disturbance of, or any damage to, a scheduled historic monument require Scheduled Monument Consent from the Department for Communities.
• If, during the course of the project, previously unknown monuments are discovered, details should be forwarded to the relevant authority – the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, DHLGH, for inclusion in the Sites and Monuments Record, or to the Department for Communities for inclusion in the Historic Environment Record of Northern Ireland (HERoNI).
• If, during the course of the project, any archaeological objects are discovered, they must be reported to the National Museum of Ireland within 96 hours under Sec 23-1 of the National Monuments Act 1930 (as amended by the National Monument Amendments Acts 1954, 1987, 1994, 2004), except where the work is being carried out under excavation licence/consent.
• Please note any works involving the alteration of archaeological objects in Ireland requires a licence from the National Museum of Ireland in accordance with Sec 25-1 of the National Monuments Act 1930 (as amended by the National Monument Amendments Acts 1954, 1987, 1994), or in NI licencing from the Department for Communities.
• Please note any works involving the export of archaeological objects requires a licence from the National Museum of Ireland in accordance with Sec 24-1 of the National Monuments Acts 1930 (as amended by the National Monument Amendments Acts 1954, 1987, 1994) and Section 49 of the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997. Export of archaeological objects outside the EU must be undertaken in accordance with a licence issued under EU 116/2019. Archaeological applications relevant to this regulation are routed through the National Museum of Ireland and licences are issued by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Sport.
• The Committee will appoint one or more members to act as mentors for the project, who will normally visit a project not only to see work in progress but also to discuss with the grant recipient their research questions and any issues or problems they may have as the project proceeds.

• The RIA reserves the right to publish relevant details of recipients and funding including, but not necessarily limited to, the names of recipients, the amount of the funding offered and a summary of the proposed activity.

• Recipients are required to disseminate the results of the project in an appropriate manner agreed with the RIA. All such dissemination must acknowledge the assistance of the NMS, and RIA in line with ‘Guidelines for Acknowledging funding’. This must take place within two years of the last draw-down of the project.

• The RIA reserves the right to seek the full repayment of the grant if the applicant fails to comply with any of the reporting and publication requirements in these guidelines for applicants.

• Failure to comply with any terms and conditions in these guidelines for applicants and/or any terms and conditions for recipients imposed by the Standing Committee for Archaeology as a condition of award, may disqualify the candidate from future funding.

Reports and Publication

Final report: Grant recipients are asked to submit a report found here outlining the main findings of the project, along with plans for dissemination of the outcomes.
2. Oral report: Grant recipients are requested to make a presentation to the Committee on the findings/progress.
3. RIA conference: Grant recipients may be asked to present their finding(s) at the biennial RIA ‘Revealing the Past’ conference.
4. Financial report: The final report form must be accompanied by a statement of income and expenditure. The statement will be available to download from the final report form link circulated to grant recipients in advance of the given deadline, as outlined in the letter of offer. This statement must be populated, be accompanied by an itemized list of receipts (copies of receipts will suffice, please keep the original receipts) and then uploaded to the final report form. No card machine receipts can be accepted when submitting vouched expenses.
5. Feedback: Grant recipients will be asked to provide feedback on the grants processes.

Some or all of these illustrated reports may:

  • form the basis of a press release to be issued jointly by the NMS and the RIA
  • be published on the RIA’s website
  • be made available on the Digital Repository of Ireland
  • figure in other publications of the RIA or NMS
  • Where relevant, grant recipients are required to meet their reporting obligations as per any statutory licence/consent conditions issued by the relevant licensing authorities.
  • Where relevant submission of reports to the Academy does not exempt a grantee from a separate requirement to submit reports to the relevant licensing authority as per any licence/consent conditions.

Recipients are required to submit for publication the results of the project in an appropriate manner agreed with the RIA within two years of final grant drawdown, unless otherwise agreed. All such publications must acknowledge the assistance of the RIA, and NMS.

Payment and expenses:

• Initial payment will be made when all the correct documentation has been received. Once approved, the successful recipient can start the process to draw down 50% of the grant. The remaining instalment of the grant (50%) will be released upon submission of a final report, an income and expenditure statement and an itemised list and copy of vouched receipts as outlined above.

• For payments greater than €10,000 the recipient must forward their valid tax clearance number. (The online verification facility on the Revenue Commissioners’ website – www.revenue.ie should be used to obtain this number). Failure to supply a valid tax clearance number in such circumstances will disqualify a recipient from funding. The grant recipients’ PPS number will also be required.

• Please remember that expenses should be kept within reasonable bounds and are subject to specific Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regulations.

• Subsistence rates set down by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform can be used as a guideline for maximum allowable but only expenditure that is vouched can be reimbursed.

• Salary costs of grant recipients are considered an eligible cost if, in order to participate in the project, they must have their time ‘bought out’, or they must take time out from their usual employment or would not be financially supported to do this work without the grant funding and are not simultaneously in receipt of another income. As the Academy can only reimburse costs which are supported by evidence of payment, any request to reimburse salary costs must be supported by evidence that the salary has been paid (in the form of payslips, paid invoices etc.) from the employing body.

• Recipients are required to retain accounts of expenditure and all receipts for a period of not less than six years from completion of all project work. No card machine receipts can be accepted when submitting vouched expenses.

• It is a condition of acceptance of a grant that the recipient indemnifies the RIA against all claims arising in any manner whatsoever from the project. Each recipient should ensure that they have adequate insurance cover for their proposal. A copy of that insurance policy must be provided to the RIA in advance of the initial payment of the grant.

• If professional archaeologists or other categories of staff are to be employed, the recipient shall pay rates of wages and observe hours of labour and conditions of employment in line with the industry norm and standards.

• Funds are allocated according to the decision letter for the purposes specified in an application or as otherwise indicated by the Committee. It is recognised, however, that circumstances may necessitate some minor reorientation of funds during the course of a project but no significant alteration in the terms of any grant may be made without the prior consent of the Committee.

• The RIA reserves the right to seek the full repayment of the grant if the recipient fails to comply with any of the above-mentioned requirements.