Owner takes Pearse letter of surrender back to US

THE owner of Patrick Pearse’s handwritten surrender letter has accused the Irish government of apathy after the 1916 artefact was taken out of the Republic.

The note, penned by the rebel leader in his prison cell to mark the end of the Easter Rising, had been on display in the GPO in Dublin for more than a year after a minister refused to pay the €1million (£890,000) valuation and then blocked its export.

The US-based owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, paid €800,000 (£710,000) for it at auction in 2006, but said his original motivation was to ensure it stayed in Ireland.

He said he put it back up for sale to recoup his investment.

He added: “The reaction of visitors who stare with reverence and respect has been a welcome riposte by the citizenry to official apathy.”

Despite repeated approaches, no deal on a sale could be reached with the Republic’s Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, prompting the owner to remove it from the GPO in the days before Christmas.

It is understood it was being hand-delivered to New York yesterday after the one-year export ban lapsed.

The owner said: “I never sought to profit from my custodianship, I merely wished to recoup the cost of purchase when the time came to pass on the baton I picked up in 2006. Unfortunately, as there was nobody willing to take my place I will continue to protect and preserve this important national treasure, albeit outside of Ireland now.”

The letter failed to sell at auction in December 2016.