GOD BE with the days when Irish architects thought nothing of travelling as far as Chicago or Helsinki for the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI)’s annual conference. This weekend, however, they’ll just need to catch a train to Westport for a conference themed ‘The Architecture of Recovery’.

“Architects frequently stand accused along with planners, developers, bankers and politicians ,” the conference flyer says. “The task for the profession now is to showcase its value.”

Among the speakers will be Richard Barrett, of Treasury Holdings. He is believed to be the first property developer to address an RIAI conference.

Now, with half of all Irish architects out of work, RIAI president Paul Keogh has launched a fundraising drive for the Irish Architects’ Benevolent Society (IABS), which helps architects in financial distress. Architects and artists are being invited to donate works for an auction to be held “at some time in the future when the art market has recovered, hopefully autumn 2011”. The photograph shows painter and architect Pat Scott donating one of his works to Paul Keogh, on behalf of the IABS.