Sir, – James Mahon (June 30th) has a point, although the opening hours of all the Dublin institutions are very generous when compared to the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork city. The opening hours there are 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, with a late opening on Thursday of 10am to 8pm. However, it is closed every Sunday and bank holiday of the year. Since there is no cultural or religious reason for this, I can only assume that it is down to economic reasons, along with a large dollop of apathy from the gallery management and the Department of Arts and Heritage. The latter established the gallery as a national cultural institution in 2006, but with its stated aims at that time now seeming to have been merely pious aspirations, perhaps it is time for a practical look at how they can be achieved. In my opinion, they can only be achieved by having the gallery open on Sundays and bank holidays all year round and properly facilitating locals and tourists alike, as the authorities are doing so successfully in our capital city. – Yours, etc,
MARY O’DONOVAN,
Douglas,
Cork.