Description:Compiled and edited by Jessica Smyth. With contributions from Conor Brady, Jill Chadwick, Tom Condit, Gabriel Cooney, Ian Doyle, Loreto Guinan, Michael Potterton, Geraldine Stout and Clare TuffyThe Bend of the Boyne, or Brú na Bóinne, has been an important ritual, social and economic centre for thousands of years. Internationally renowned for its elaborate Neolithic passage tombs, and containing the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe, its universal value was recognised in 1993 when it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS), only one of three on the island of Ireland. The Heritage Council, in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, has drafted a research framework for Brú na Bóinne which re-assesses key priorities and looks at where future research should be directed.