We are starting a local music archive in the West of Ireland

If you're starting the archive now, you're almost certainly better with digital storage. The state of reel-to-reels illustrates why!

If you've got existing reel-to-reel material, there are companies which specialise in transferring this to a modern recording. It's worth checking this, because it might be cheaper than reviving your reel-to-reel and doing the conversion yourself.

Graham.