Taoiseach Charles Haughey was not happy with the quality of portraits of Pádraig Pearse and Theobald Wolfe Tone hanging in Government Buildings in the early 1990s and wanted the paintings to be “re-executed”, according to files released as part of the State Papers.
Government Buildings were being refurbished by the Office of Public Works (OPW) at the time.
On May 8th 1991, Colm Butler of the Department of the Taoiseach wrote to assistant principal architect Klaus Unger about Haughey’s concerns.
“Further to our conversation the other morning about the refurbishment work at the Council Chamber, I am writing to confirm what the Taoiseach has said in relation to the adjustments required,” Butler wrote.
READ MORE
“Of the portraits hanging on the wall of the chamber itself, the Taoiseach has reservations about those of Pearse and Tone, in terms of the quality of the work.
“Would it be possible to have these ‘re-executed’ (the portraits, of course) by other artists?”
Butler also raised the issue of a “Sweepstake rug”, saying Haughey was “not happy with the end product”, adding: “Could you arrange [to have] the rug removed?”
[ Is it time to acknowledge the legislative achievements of Charles Haughey?Opens in new window ]
Other files released to the National Archives highlighted how budgetary cutbacks were impacting on State entertainment.
A Department of Taoiseach briefing note, dated January 25th, 1990, regarding Ireland’s presidency of the European Council that year revealed a serious budgetary shortfall.
It noted that a State entertainment budget of IR£5,000 had been allocated for the six-month presidency. However, conservative estimates indicated the actual budget would exceed that by almost 900 per cent.
“Our allocation of IR£5,000 shows a shortfall of IR£48,500 at present for the (EC) Presidency,” the file stated.
“There is also the possibility of further expenditure ie possible inward visits (Iceland), gifts, printing costs, hospitality etc and we would consider that a contingency of IR£20,000 be provided for this.
“Therefore the additional allocation required for the 1990 funding would now be IR£68,500.”
The document noted that the cost of providing hospitality and gifts for EC commissioners would be IR£15,000 alone - three times the overall allocated budget.
A further IR£1,500 was required to fund a lunch for EC correspondents, the file noted.
Gifts provided by the Taoiseach when Ireland was hosting the EC summit amounted to IR£12,000. Ireland also had to host inward visits from other European countries with an estimated cost of IR£37,000.
The total allocation for all State entertainment in 1990 was IR£85,000, records show.
Malahide Castle in Dublin was being prepared at the time to host key elements of Ireland’s EC presidency.
“This note does not cover the matter of additional expenditure required to prepare Malahide Castle for the Taoiseach’s dinner on the occasion of the European Council in June,” the file states. “The estimate in this regard is IR£209,000.”
