A light which shone in a window at Áras an Uactaráin when Mary Robinson was president was valued at €250,000 according to the foundation which had planned to locate a presidential library in County Mayo.
Two weeks after RTÉ's Prime Time broadcast its last report on the proposed Mary Robinson Presidential Library, the Victoria House Foundation announced it was abandoning its plan to locate Mary Robinson's archive in Ballina, Co Mayo.
Instead, her collection of papers is to be gifted to NUI Galway.
In a statement, the foundation said it would "obviate the need to duplicate expensive archival facilities in Ballina".
The archive collection of hundreds of thousands of documents and other items has been valued by Revenue at €4.65m according to the foundation but Revenue has not confirmed this.
Separately, some years ago another valuation put it at €2.5m.
Documents obtained by Prime Time under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the Victoria House Foundation had told insurers that her famous 'light in the window' was worth €250,000.
The centre informed their insurers of this in an email sent by them on 20 February 2015.
Ms Robinson put the light in a window at Áras an Uactaráin when she served as president in the 1990s.
The light (above) was a symbol to Irish emigrants all over the world that there was a welcome for them at home.
It also emerged in recent weeks that Ms Robinson's brother Adrian Bourke has resigned from the foundation.
Mr Bourke owns the former family home and Mayo Co Council planned to buy it from him to locate the library there.
In October, Prime Time reported on the complex structures of the foundation; staff members at Mayo Co Council were members of the board, as was Mr Bourke, who was to sell the house to the local authority.
The proposed transaction was disclosed in the foundation's annual report and was not a breach of company law.
In mid October Mr Bourke resigned.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, Prime Time received the letter of resignation he submitted to fellow board members.
Áras 'light in the window' worth €250,000#RTEPT pic.twitter.com/CJRDH96FnK
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) December 16, 2016
In it, Mr Bourke confirms he has asked the council to re-value the house which they are to buy from him.
He said previous valuations - one was €665,000 - are "completely out of date".
He told board members he intended to engage with the Mayo Co manager Peter Hynes and his staff, "immediately in order to reach finality and an early closing".
He states that he is to resign from the board due to the discussions, and says, "there may be a conflict, either real or perceived".
Despite the fact the archive is now to be based in NUIG, the Victoria House Foundation has said developing a visitor centre in Ms Robinson's childhood home, "remains the preferred option" but "other options" are being explored as part of its review of the project.
