The Office of Public Works (OPW) has said an assertion by the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) that a plan to renovate the Royal Hospital Kilmainham site in Dublin fell short of international best practice was “disparaging and completely unacceptable”.
The contentious plan – which is still at a draft stage – is at the centre of a row between the OPW and Imma, which is housed on the Kilmainham site. Imma has sought legal advice on the matter, having previously said the conservation management plan (CMP) “entirely” overlooked the museum’s cultural significance.
Representatives of Imma and the OPW met on Wednesday amid ongoing efforts to finalise the plan. A spokeswoman for Imma said the meeting was “really constructive”. Both organisations plan to meet again next month.
As previously reported by The Irish Times, an architect who sits on Imma’s board said elements of the draft CMP were “at odds” with best practice guidance published by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). John McLaughlin outlined his concerns in a letter to the board’s chair, Ali Curran, in January.
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In a letter sent to John Conlon, chair of the OPW, on February 18th, Curran said Imma’s wider board agreed with McLaughlin’s “professional opinion” and called for the plan to be updated “in line with international best practice”.
The OPW took great exception to these remarks, newly released documents show. An internal memo, dated April 16th, noted: “Imma state that CMP is not [in] line with best practice, ie ICOMOS principles. This opinion is wholly incorrect.”
Shaffrey Architects was commissioned by the OPW to draft the plan in 2023. The memo said the CMP was “built on best practice, drafted by an internationally recognised architect firm”, and the comments were “disparaging and completely unacceptable”.
In late March, the OPW told The Irish Times it was awaiting “formal feedback” from Imma on the plan.
On April 1st, Annie Fletcher, Imma’s director, wrote to Rosemary Collier, assistant secretary general at the OPW, to dispute the claim that the museum had not provided feedback. Her letter noted that Curran had sent feedback to Conlon in February.
“This followed earlier observations shared by board member John McLaughlin, which informed the board’s discussion and subsequent response,” Fletcher wrote. “We understand this correspondence may already have been shared across the OPW team but wanted to ensure the feedback was clearly communicated at executive level.”
In the April 16th memo, the OPW said Curran’s letter to Conlon did “not deal with the specifics of the CMP” and cannot be considered “specific feedback”. The memo added that the plan “was only ever in draft form, had no status and should not have been presented” to Imma’s board.
The file was among several records released following a Freedom of Information request.
In a memo sent to Imma’s board on March 30th, Curran discussed the recent media coverage and confirmed the organisation had “secured external strategic communications input from Q4 PR to work up messaging for the board and executive during this immediate period”.
A spokeswoman last week said Imma had engaged the PR firm to deliver services “for an 18-month period, during what will be a strategically significant period for the institution”.
She said Imma was “committed to continuing working in partnership with the OPW” to develop the CMP, describing communication between the two organisations as “ongoing and constructive”.
A spokeswoman for the OPW said the plan was being “developed through a collaborative and consultative process which included Imma at all stages”. She said more meetings will take place “to bring this draft document to a satisfactory completion”.
The Irish Times has contacted Shaffrey Architects for comment.
