THE Office of Public Works may have signalled a change of policy last Thursday when it outbid several private investors to buy the Bord na Gaeilge headquarters building at 7 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. The OPW paid £1.37 million at a Hamilton Osborne King auction for the Georgian house and two modern buildings at the rear with a total floor area of 14,260 square feet. They are rented by Bord na Gaeilge at £101,000 per annum. The 35-year lease has another 19 years to run. The yield of 6.8 per cent is thought to be the lowest in any of the Georgian squares.

It is the first time in about 10 years that the OPW has bought a premises occupied by either a State or a semi-State company.