Sir, – To have the fiasco of the “deaccessioning” of works from the Beit collection emerge just before WB Yeats’s 150th birthday is a bleak irony. Plenty of lip service has been paid to Yeats’s legacy in recent weeks by Heather Humphries, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Perhaps she might refamiliarise herself with Yeats’s poems on the Hugh Lane affair. Words, not to mention photo opportunities, can be cheap. Building and maintaining strong public artistic institutions and collections takes time, effort and money. This was something Yeats well knew and laboured tirelessly for throughout his life. If only Ms Humphries would show something of the poet’s vision and energy in making sure these works donated to the Irish people are not now flogged off.– Yours, etc,
Dr TOM WALKER,
Ussher Assistant Professor
in Irish Writing,
School of English,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Letter-writers to The Irish Times will not fill the empty coffers of Russborough. Let them donate hundreds of thousands of euro, or offer viable alternatives. Nor do I believe that they represent the thoughts of the vast majority of Irish people, let alone the over 100,000 people who visited and enjoyed Rossborrough House and its demesne over the last year, free of charge. We all know that no good turn goes unpunished and so the pro bono trustees of Russborough are being personally punished by public carping and sniping in a most unworthy manner.
The Government would be excoriated if it squandered money on these paintings that have lain unseen and if not sold would remain in vaults for decades. Homeless children, hospitals and schools have a far greater call on our limited resources. These trustees have repaired, maintained and preserved for us all the treasure that is Russborough and with good stewardship and fiscal rectitude, based on a self-funding sustainable trust, will guarantee this into the future. The decision to sell is morally correct and prudent while in accordance with the highest principles of good corporate governance. – Yours, etc,
CYRIL FORBES,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – There is a very simple solution to the mess at Russborough that protects both the house and the Beit collection currently threatened with dispersal.
First the Alfred Beit Foundation should dissolve itself. This is specifically allowed for its articles of association.
It has failed to make a success of Russborough and, even more clearly, by proposing to sell the collection that it is charged with safekeeping it has failed to protect the legacy of Sir Alfred and Lady Beit, who frequently expressed the wish that the collection should remain intact for the enjoyment of the Irish people.
The paintings currently at Christie’s, and due for sale on July 9th, as well as masterpieces by Gainsborough and Bernardo Bellotto owned by the Alfred Beit Foundation, should be donated to the State to join the earlier Beit bequest in the National Gallery of Ireland.
In return for this once in a generation enrichment of the national collection – in effect a dowry valued at €25 million – the Office of Public Works should take over responsibility for the running of Russborough with an advisory board based on the Castletown Foundation.
The OPW has an excellent track record of administering our country house heritage, and its professional management, as well as obvious economies of scale, could hugely reduce the running costs of Russborough and finally make it a centre for the arts in Ireland as the Beits had intended. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM LAFFAN,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The council of the Contemporary Irish Art Society wishes to join other individuals and organisations in voicing its strong objection to the sale of works from the Beit collection. We appeal to the trustees to reconsider.
Sir Alfred and Lady Beit very generously left the Russborough Estate to the Irish people with the aim of “keeping the house and art collection intact, making it a centre for the arts which is open to the public”, as Sir Alfred wished. This has obviously become difficult to run financially so surely it is time to open discussion with other cultural institutions and the public with a view to finding solutions which will not involve the dispersal of the collection. – Yours, etc,
MARY TUOHY,
Chairwoman,
DESMOND FINNEGAN,
ROSSA HURLEY,
SUE DAVITT,
BRIGID CONNAUGHTON,
MARY PAVLIDES,
LOUISE FITZPATRICK,
TONY STRICKLAND,
Contemporary Irish
Art Society,
79 Booterstown Avenue,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.