It probably cost no more than a few hundred euro to erect but it cost the State €29.3 billion before it was taken down again.
The Anglo Irish Bank sign, which adorned its headquarters on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, is now a museum piece.
It is one of 10 objects on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks.
It is part of The Irish Times’ “History of Ireland in 100 Objects” series.
Some 99 objects have already been chosen, and the public has been asked to choose the last one from a list of 10 modern-day symbols of Ireland.
The other symbols include the Riverdance costumes worn by Michael Flatley and Jean Butler in 1994; a pair of Katie Taylor’s boxing gloves; a patio heater symbolising both the smoking ban and the Celtic Tiger habit of decking; a euro calculator; a hospital trolley and a decommissioned AK47.
The Anglo Irish Bank sign was taken down in April last year. It was stored in the old bank vaults and now belongs to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which has lent it to Collins Barracks for the duration of the exhibition.
The sign is smaller than one might expect. It is made of a cheap alloy and is hollow to the touch. It is protected by security cameras, partly because people might want to steal it or even deface it, given the anger regarding the institution.
“We’ll see what happens. People could be a little wound up seeing it,” said Lar Joye, a curator at the museum. “We wrote to the IBRC asking them if we could borrow it and they were very keen that we take it.”
It could end up being a permanent exhibit at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, which already has some of the most valuable parts of Anglo’s former art collection. The exhibition will run until Sunday, December 2nd.
Visitors can vote in person at the museum or online at 100objects.ie. Votes can be cast up to midnight on Sunday, November 18th.
All 100 objects will be published in book form by the Royal Irish Academy in association with the National Museum of Ireland and The Irish Times in March next year.
