MR JOHN Hunt, whose parents bequeathed a £50 million collection of some 2,000 Celtic and medieval treasures to the nation, has taken over as acting director of the Hunt Museum, Limerick, pending the appointment of a permanent director.
Mr Jonathan Voak (35), former curator of Apsley House, the 19th century home of the Duke of Wellington in London, was appointed director last April but retired last week due to illness.
He had been overseeing the completion of the £2.9 million restoration of Limerick's Customs House as a permanent home for the collection.
The Hunt bequest includes archaeological, Egyptian and medieval material as well as individual works by Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Gauguin and Renoir. It has been on display at the University of Limerick since 1978.
Mr Hunt has worked mainly in contemporary art. In 1990 he resigned as director of the Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, to concentrate on the development of the Customs House for the art collection which had originally been kept mainly at his family home.
Mr Hunt said that while the resignation of Mr Voak was regrettable, a number of other highly, qualified people had been interviewed for the post, whom he hoped would still be available.