AT the opening of a show of sprints by artists Taffina Flood and Marc Reilly, in the Graphic Studio in Dublin's Temple Bar, art collector and property man Luke Whittington was relieved to admit that his long term Irish project is nearing completion. The Australian, some time resident of Ireland has been renovating Portlick Castle on Lough Ree for the past two and a half years "though that doesn't count five long years of planning" and he expects it to be finished in the next couple of months. He doesn't intend to live full time on the 30 acre estate, although he has renovated some stables to keep as his holiday home. "It's too cold here to live here all the time," he says, though he would say that, having just returned from a sunshine holiday in Australia with friend Sara Law.