Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys has said she is very disappointed she has been unable to persuade the trustees of the Beit Art Foundation to cancel its planned sale of valuable Russborough House paintings in London.
In a statement last night, the minister said that she had a very frank meeting with the trustees.
However, she said they had insisted they were unwilling to cancel or even delay the planned sale.
The Alfred Beit Foundation has said it is the owner of the paintings due to be sold, and recently sold, at Christie's in London and that these paintings were not left to the State by the Beits.
In a statement issued this afternoon, the foundation said this issue has been "confused by commentary", which also omitted that the Beits themselves sold artwork to assist in the upkeep of Russborough.
The statement goes on to say that, having explored every other credible option, the board has decided the sale is the best strategic solution and will address the need for a long-term income stream to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of Russborough House.
Meanwhile, An Taisce has been given permission by the High Court to bring a legal challenge to the issuing of export licences for ten paintings which are part of the collection of Sir Alfred Beit.
Two of the paintings – both by John Atkinson Grimshaw - were yesterday sold at auction at Christie’s in London for £56,250 each.
The Irish Georgian Society has welcomed the efforts of Ms Humphreys to work with the Alfred Beit Foundation to postpone the sale of the paintings.
Others, including two oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens, are due to be auctioned on 9 July.
A number of groups opposed to the selling of paintings from the collection to raise funds for Russborough House attended a public press conference at An Taisce headquarters this afternoon.
Speakers included members of the Irish Georgian Society, An Taisce and UCD.
Patrick Guinness of the Irish Georgian Society suggested an "elegant solution" to the funding issue could be found by bringing paintings from the Beit collection on tour to raise funds.
Ian Lumley of An Taisce said partnerships could be established between Russborough and other bodies including the OPW or tourism bodies.
Yesterday, Ms Humphreys said the foundation had told her that to withdraw the paintings from sale at this stage would incur a cost of £1.4m, however the Irish Georgian Society today called on the foundation to negotiate with Christie's on this figure.
In a statement earlier, the foundation said it had informed the Ms Humphreys and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance of what it termed the “perilous financial situation” at Russborough before any sale plans were made, and that the State was not in a position to assist.
It said having explored every other option, the sale is the best strategic solution to the funding issue.
