‘I became immersed in the excitement of the business while still a schoolgirl’

Sell-off of paintings has raises €7m for stately home

Of the Beit paintings controversially earmarked for auction, three avoided the hammer

‘I’m secretly a bit of a petrol-head so a Lotto windfall might mean a vintage Jaguar’

Life’s Work: George Stacpoole, antiques dealer in Adare, Co Limerick, and president of IADA

Businessman’s cat head sells for €1,000 while tables go for €145,000 in Mealy’s auction

Deputy Fine Gael leader will include large collection of cars in sale of contents of Offaly mansion

The former ‘Riverdance’ dancer’s paintings – which sell for up to €340,000 – are the inspiration for a new afternoon tea in a Dublin hotel

‘You never know what the next telephone call or meeting might bring’

‘I don’t have the time to paint any more. Now I just finger-paint with my three-year-old daughter’

‘Francis Bacon’s studio in the Dublin City Gallery is my favourite work of art’

“After the hammer fell there was a huge burst of thunder and lightning outside”

‘My advice is to buy now because prices are ridiculously low but things are beginning to rise’

Hegarty and his wife specialise in the sale of Irish furniture, silver, glass and paintings

Life’s Work: Christine Ryall, now Ireland consultant to Christie’s, escaped to West Germany with her family as a girl

John Donohoe, bookseller, Athlone, Co Westmeath

James Gorry, a Dublin picture restorer and art dealer, shares his wisdom

“I eventually found the money hidden underneath my own bathroom’s shower tray”

‘You never know what will turn up – or where’