The collection of contemporary art owned by Anglo Irish Bank should be opened up to the general public because the bank is now in State ownership, the Labour Party has said.
Labour’s arts spokeswoman Mary Upton said the bank’s collection was hung, for the most part, in its corporate headquarters at Stephen’s Green in Dublin.
“Anglo Irish Bank was a significant patron of the arts when money was no object, and in the years before it collapsed, amassed a significant collection of contemporary art,” Ms Upton said.
“Shamefully however, there is virtually no public access to the building which means that the people who ultimately own the works of art, the people of Ireland, can never actually get to see them."
The collection includes work by Stephen McKenna, Yona Caffrey, Mark Francis and Tony O'Malley.
Ms Upton said the collection should be fully accessible to the public, and the pieces should be made available to the publicly-funded galleries and art centres around the country, as well as to the public offices of Government departments and agencies.
Labour's Ruairi Quinn tabled a Dáil question last week on the matter.
It asked Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan if, in view of the fact that the Anglo-Irish Bank is now State-controlled, he would arrange to have their art collection of the bank handed over to the Arts Council with a view to having the various paintings and sculptures handed over to public art galleries.
In reply, Mr Lenihan said there was no provision for such a move in under last year’s bank guarantee scheme, under which Anglo was taken into State ownership.
“Under the terms of the scheme, covered institutions pay a quarterly charge to the Exchequer in respect of the guarantee provided under the scheme,” Mr Lenihan said.
“In the case of Anglo Irish Bank, the bank is being run on an arms-length commercial basis by the board of Anglo.
“Consequently, the management of assets of the bank, including the holding or display of art works, is a matter for the board of the bank. This is in line with the position on such matters for other commercial State companies.”
Ms Upton said the Minister, in his reply, had “abdicated any responsibility” for the matter.
“I cannot accept this and I believe the Minister should take whatever steps are necessary to rectify this matter and to ensure that the people of Ireland can enjoy a valuable asset that they in fact own.”