Museum head goes to court over removal from post

The director and chief executive of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Mr Declan McGonagle, is to take legal proceedings tomorrow preventing his effective removal from the post.

Board members were informed last night that lawyers for Mr McGonagle will apply to the High Court for an injunction restraining the museum from publicly advertising for the post of director.

Mr McGonagle (48), who has been director of IMMA since it opened in 1991, has already told board members that his legal rights were infringed by the decision to advertise the post. The chairwoman of the board, Ms Marie Donnelly, told him last week the post was being redefined and would be publicly advertised.

Mr McGonagle's second five-year term as director ended several months ago. His first-term contract was renewed after five years without recourse to a public competition. One source said he was "flabbergasted" by the move to advertise the post.

The move has split the board and prompted at least one member to threaten resignation if Mr McGonagle is not reappointed. The row highlights differences in policy at one of the State's flagship arts projects, located in the former Royal Hospital in Kilmainham.

Last night's board meeting was described as an information meeting by some of those who attended. It was decided to defer a decision on the matter until the outcome of the legal proceedings become clear.

One board member expressed strong concern at the impasse. He said he had thought Mr McGonagle's contract rolled over automatically. Another board member said the matter had been on the agenda for some time, but had not been substantively discussed. According to a third member, Mr McGonagle did not have "an absolute right" to the position of director. The issue needed to be dealt with "fairly and immediately".

Mr McGonagle, who lives with his family in the grounds of the museum, was appointed director in April 1990, before IMMA formally opened in the following year. After five years, his contract was renewed without the post being publicly advertised.

IMMA sources have described the dispute as a clash of "opposing cultures". Ms Donnelly is said to favour a "blockbuster" approach to the arts and is pushing for a greater international flavour to the museum's activities. She is anxious that the next director will have financial and fund-raising skills.

Supporters of Mr McGonagle say he is a proponent of a "people's museum", accessible to all.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, appointed Ms Donnelly and a new board last February. Only two members of the previous board were reappointed. A departmental spokesman said last night that it was a board matter.

Ms Donnelly is a leading socialite and charity fundraiser. As chairwoman of the Irish Hospice Foundation, she edited the WhosedAY Book in 1998, which raised £2 million.She and her husband, Joe, are regarded as Ireland's only serious collectors of international art. She is a member of the international board of the Tate in London.