15th July 2005, 11:19 PM
Many thanks Kevin.Tom, I really can`t answer your question as I left the IFA some years ago. I suspect that the Diggers Forum will be seen as a wake-up call and may just prompt the IFA leadership to seek dialogue with the profession at large. After all, if the IFA is to be the Institute for archaeologists, then a membership level way above the current one is required. For those of you who have seen the first newsletter, there is an invitation to present something at an IFA conference. I hope to do just that and encourage everyone to take a deep breath, see this as a new start and be positive in supporting the DF. After all, they would appear to be the lobby group closest to the turf so to speak. I have high hopes however, make no mistake, a return to the old IFA way of things will see me explaining their past shortcomings to the public at large in no uncertain terms. Ultimately, the IFA (AND ALL OF US) have obligations to the taxpaying voter and for the last 25 years, 60 million or so people have been excluded from the meat and veg of our lobbying. Thats a loud audience. I vote that we lobby for change in the spirit of reconcilliation with the aim of providing the nation with a professional institute that we can all be proud of and, has the nations heritage at the heart of its agenda.