Still not complete after twelve years the Royal Hibernian Academy hosts the first exhibition in its gallery at Ely Place Dublin.
Minister of State for Arts and Culture, Ted Nealon, officially opened the RHA gallery with the Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) Awards for Emerging Artists.
Today's exhibition in the three quarter finished building is the academy's first in its own gallery for sixty eight years.
Speaking at the opening, he said a group of experts had been appointed to make suggestions about the future development of the gallery. If the building was not completed shortly, it would become a rapidly diminishing asset.
The gallery has been under construction for twelve years. The site was donated by the Gallagher Property Group which subsequently collapsed putting work on the site on hold. It is three-quarters completed but still requires an additional £1.1 million to finish the project.
This is the first exhibition for the RHA in its own gallery for sixty eight years. The former gallery in Middle Abbey Street was destroyed by fire during the 1916 rising.
President of the RHA, Tom Ryan, said that they have had to refuse to host an international exhibition due to a lack of a premises.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 September 1984. The reporter is Kieron Wood.
