ENVOY’S €25K BILL TO MOVE ART JUST FIVE MILES
Just a portion of the €130k bill for items of ‘artistic value’
THE Department of Foreign Affairs spent more than €25,000 moving paintings and artwork when the Irish Ambassador to Austria moved to a new diplomatic residence five miles away.
The massive bill was paid as a ‘donation’ to the National Gallery, which in turn hired specialist movers to transport the art to its new home in Vienna.
The bill was the largest single portion of more than €70,000 spent moving art to and from ambassadorial residences and embassies last year, according to records obtained under the
Freedon of Information Act. The bill arrived in November 2015 when our ambassador in the Austrian capital was leaving behind his old €7,200-a-month residence on Hartackers trasse, north of Vienna’s city centre.
The official residence was being moved five miles across the city to an €8,964-a-month property on There sianumgasse, close to Vienna’s famous Belvedere Palace.
As part of the move, specialist contractors had to be employed to move all of the artworks in the residence to the new property, according to the FOI records.
An invoice for €25,504 after VAT was issued by the National Gallery for ‘transport of works from Ambassador of Ireland’s old to new residence in Vienna’.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said in an explanatory note: ‘The official accommodation relocated … and these art pieces had to be moved to the new location by specialists.’
On the same invoice, the Department also paid €15,426 (€18,974 with VAT) to bring home another piece of art from the diplomatic mission to Berne in Switzerland. It was described as ‘transport of damaged work from Berne to Dublin’.
According to Foreign Affairs, the unidentified artwork had been damaged in storage but the repairs were ‘covered by insurance’.
A third moving bill, totalling €17,716, was run up at the Irish embassy in The Hague in the Netherlands for a return shipment to the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
The outbound leg of the trip involved more than a dozen paintings, each of which had to be individually packed and transported by ferry from Rotterdam to Hull.
They were then taken overland to Holyhead before being shipped to Dublin Port and onwards to the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham.
The paintings included works by celebrated artists including Louis le Brocquy, Gerard Dillon, Colm Middleton and Mary Swanzy.
According to the invoice, 17 new paintings were then sent to the Netherlands where they were installed and hung at the Irish ambassador’s residence.
The transport bills make up more than half of over €130,000 spent by Foreign Affairs on ‘items of artistic value’ in 2015.
The Department also bought new works. The records show it spent €18,500 on Abbeyville, a painting by Hughie O’Donoghue, which is on display at the Department HQ at Iveagh House in Dublin.
It also commissioned seven replicas of Arrival, the bronze famine ship by sculptor John Behan, at a cost of €25,000. The original is at the UN Plaza in New York.
The Department said it had in place an agreement for the ‘loan and care of national art work’ with the National Gallery and Irish Museum of Modern Art.
It said: ‘As part of that agreement, the Department is responsible for the transportation and insurance of these artworks using qualified and specialist art transporters to ensure their safety and care.’
The Department said there were a limited number of specialised companies available and the complex work involved made it more expensive than standard shipping.
In a statement, it said: ‘The Department’s missions provide a platform for the promotion of Ireland’s trade and economic interests and cultural heritage, while also serving as showcases for Irish arts, craft and products… promotion of Ireland’s culture, arts and creative industries… is a key element of the Department’s Statement of Strategy.’
On the residential move in Vienna, the Department said it ‘had rented the previous accommodation since 1977. Difficulties with the residence, including a significant damp problem, resulted in a relocation to There sianumgasse in 2015… the new residence provides much more suitable facilities for the routine work of the ambassador and the embassy.’
A typical four-bedroom property in Hartackers trasse is on the market for €400,000. In There sianumgasse a similar property is on the market for €550,000. The Department did not respond when asked what the move cost.
‘€130k spent on items of artistic value’