A TWO TON demi culverin cannon, with its 8 1/2ft barrel, stands outside the Hunt Museum in Limerick as if to protect the collection of art and antiquity valued at £50 million housed there.
The museum building, the former 18th century stone customs house converted and restored at a cost of £2.9 million, was formally opened yesterday by the Taoiseach Mr Bruton.
Apart from the ceremonial 17th century cannon, the museum has the latest and most sophisticated security system to guard what has been described as one of the last great private collections of artefacts in the world.
It includes Irish antiquities from preChristian times as well as European art objects up to the 20th century. This had been assembled over a lifetime by the late John and Gertrude Hunt, and presented to the State by their son Mr John Hunt jnr, and his sister, Trudy.
While the Hunt collection of some original items is internationally known for its religious works, it also includes ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman material.
A surprise addition to the museum, and put on show for the first time in almost 50 years, was the 15th century O'Dea mitre and crozier and the Arthur Cross and Arthur Chalice, under the auspices of the Limerick Catholic Diocesan Trustees.
The late John Hunt described these pieces as "the only medieval art treasures remaining in their ancient custody in Ireland".
Mr Bruton said that in making the customs house the permanent home for the "magnificent Hunt Collection, the board of the museum, under the chairmanship of Dr Tony Ryan, had successfully assembled a dynamic partnership. This included both the public and private sectors at regional, national, European and international levels."
He acknowledged "the vital financial support through the European Union Structural Fund Operational Programme for Tourism Development without which the project would not be the reality it is today".
Mr John Hunt jar, director of the museum, on behalf of his family, said they felt "privileged to have been able to assist in realising our parents' dream that the collection should remain intact and that the people of Ireland should have it as theirs". He said he was delighted that the collection was housed in Limerick, which he said would now be known as the cultural centre of Ireland.
Dr Ryan, chairman of the Hunt Museum, spoke of the Leonardo da Vinci horse, which is among the collection and which helped, with other treasures, to establish the present museum.