Garda buy 20 RHA paintings

TWENTY PAINTINGS have been bought from the Royal Hibernian Academy's (RHA) annual exhibition for the Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park.

The money for the paintings was approved in better times when there was not such severe budget constraints.

The works involved are by Aidan Bradley, Veronica Bolay, Eithne Carr, David Creedon, Angie Grimes, Con Kelleher, Paul McGinley-Heron, Brett McEntagart, Maria Levinge, Stephen Rinn, Robert Ryan, Tom Ryan, Aindreas Scholz, Michael Sheridan and Victor Sloane.

Among the works purchased are Ferry to Valentia by Angie Grimes which had a price tag of €1,775 and a landscape of Dún Laoghaire harbour by Brett McEntagart. The Office of Public Works paid prices of between €300 and several thousand for the works and the total cost of their buying spree was about €35,000.

The purchases were carried out under the Government's per cent for art fund which allocates one per cent of the capital cost of any state project for art works up to a maximum value of €64,000.

It was first introduced in 1978 and was designed to help Irish artists and also to enhance buildings under State control.

"You're not going to find a Van Gogh or a Renoir in it. That's not our role," said a spokesman for the OPW. "We buy from emerging artists."

Money for the art works was approved back in 2003 when the OPW began renovations on the Garda Headquarters.

Since then a new ballistics building and reception pavilion has been built, the crime and prevention unit has been updated, external refurbishment has been carried out on the officer's club and the school of music has been extended.

An OPW spokesman said: "The money and the project budget would have been assigned in the good days. You cut your cloth at the time. The money for these art purchases was already earmarked and assigned since 1993."