Queen's University Professor Keith Jeffery asked Mr Poots to bring back the " modest grant" of £38,000 a year to the Ulster Historical Foundation that was cut off under direct rule.

The money was stopped by Direct Rule Minister Lord Rooker, who said the charity should not receive public money because it is "like any other commercial genealogy organisation".

Professor Jeffery told the UHF's 50th anniversary dinner on Friday that the decision was "grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unwelcome" - especially since the group had been publicly run until direct rule ministers cut it loose 20 years ago.

"The Ulster Historical Foundation is a unique and precious resource, with an extraordinarily rich and irreplaceable archive of historical materials preserved for posterity; a wide-ranging and ambitious publication programme; and it has a major role to play in sustaining local history and encouraging heritage tourism," he said.

"Unlike 'any other commercial genealogy organisation', to cite the previous Direct Rule Minister, Lord Rooker, the Ulster Historical Foundation deserves community backing," he said.

Originally called the Ulster-Scot Historical Society, the UHF was set up in 1957 by the old Stormont government to "promote the interests of the homeland amongst people of Ulster origin living overseas".

The organisation, renamed in 1975, was joined to the Public Record Office, exchanging records with it for the purposes of genealogy and family history.

Professor Jeffery said the foundation has played "a major part" in the growth of family history across all traditions.

Mr Poots attended Friday's anniversary dinner where Mr Jeffery made his call.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture confirmed that the UHF " received £38,000 over a three-year period to help the organisation move to a position of self-sufficiency.

"This funding was to help support publications and ended in March 2007."