Archiving Scheme
The Archiving Scheme aims to support the development of an archiving culture in the Irish broadcasting sector by funding initiatives that preserve content recorded for broadcast on radio or television.
Here are some examples of recently funded projects.
The Irish Adverts Archive
The IFI Irish Film Archive was funded to catalogue, digitise, restore, and preserve a large collection of 35mm film television advertisements made in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. These commercials were made for broadcast on Irish television by several prolific Irish advertising agencies, including Wilson Hartnell, Birchall, Hunter, and Arks, for various corporations (both Irish and international).
The collection of nearly 8,000 rolls of film had been held in damp warehouses for decades. Due to poor storage conditions, it suffered physical deterioration and contracted a mould infestation before being transferred to the IFI Irish Film Archive in the mid-1990s. The Archive team has salvaged this material through painstaking processes, including frame-by-frame assessment, extensive physical and chemical conservation, scanning, and digital restoration. The collection has also been catalogued and preserved according to international best practices, thus safeguarding it for the future and making it widely accessible for the first time. This project has created a substantial Irish TV advertising archive of national memory and cultural artefacts. Visit the online archive
The RTÉ Acetate Disc Collection
In 2023, with funding from the Archiving Scheme, RTÉ Archives made available to the public a collection of audio recordings originally held on acetate tapes and made between the late 1930s and early 1970s. The recordings include sound effects, performances, interviews, and reports created to produce radio programmes. There are also some news broadcasts and full programmes.
This collection is the earliest sound recording format held by RTÉ Archives, and the discs were used to record and broadcast content before the introduction of magnetic tape. This disc recording process was suited to capture sound on location and in a studio. The discs were usually made of aluminium with a lacquer coating, and the audio signal was cut directly into a groove in the lacquer of a blank disc. The full collection is available to the public.
The Loopline Collection
The Loopline Collection is a treasure trove of documentaries now stored in the IFI Irish Film Archive, chosen by Sé Merry Doyle for their cultural and social importance. The collection covers key areas of Irish history and arts and contains many stunning images revealing everyday Irish society in urban settings. The focus of the filmmaker is on national identity in a changing world. The collection contains a large quantity of urban material that chronicles the changing landscape of Dublin, its buildings and ways of life. The films include such historically resonant images as the clearance of slums, the closure of traditional markets, and tragic accounts of young teenagers dying from the heroin epidemic of the early 90s. The archiving project took one year to complete, and a selection of titles is available to watch on the IFI Player.
The Guinness Adverts Project
The Guinness Archive partnered with the IFI Irish Film Archive to catalogue, digitise and preserve a collection of 16mm and 35mm advertisements made in the 1950s, ’60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ’90s, making it the largest publicly available collection of brand advertising in Ireland and the UK. Created to advertise Guinness to Irish and UK television audiences, the collection of adverts features a wealth of talent both behind and in front of the camera, with directors including Alan Parker, Tony and Ridley Scott; music from artists Elkie Brooks, Clannad and the Chieftains; and a host of well-known faces such as Pete Postlethwaite, Bill Nighy, Robert Lindsay and Jon Pertwee. In addition to their ability to evoke nostalgia, this collection of commercials captures moments in cultural and social history spanning 50 years. It offers a fascinating insight into changing representations of Irishness both at home and overseas, evolving gender roles and the ever-changing role of the pub in Irish society. Guinness adverts have changed over the years and are continually evolving to consider changing society and advertising rules. These adverts may contain historical product claims not now endorsed by Diageo. In making these adverts available, we do not intend to promote the benefits of drinking but to show historical Guinness advertising in its original context. Browse the collection
More information
To find out more about the Scheme or learn about making an application, please visit our Archiving Scheme Industry page.
Queries relating to the Scheme can be sent to [email protected]