Notice to Readers – Industrial Action

Arising from the ongoing dispute regarding discussions on a successor public service pay agreement, work-to-rule industrial action for all public service unions commenced on Wednesday 30 September 2026.

The Reading Room will remain open; however, the action may affect the level of public service support available on site.

If a duty archivist is unavailable due to illness or other absence, staff will not be in a position to provide cover. On some days this may mean that no archivist is available to assist researchers with queries in the Reading Room.

Email queries submitted through our website (query@nationalarchives.ie) will continue to be answered, but response times may be slower depending on the volume of queries received.

Reader’s tickets will continue to be processed as normal. Some advance orders from offsite storage may experience delays.

Two strike days have been proposed: Wednesday 14 October and Wednesday 21 October 2026.

Researchers planning to travel to the National Archives should take note of these dates and avoid scheduling visits that coincide with them where possible.

We appreciate your understanding during this period of industrial action.