Members of trust say art heist may force closure of Russborough House

A GANG of thieves that stole five priceless paintings may finally force the closure of Russborough House, the stately pile that houses one of the State’s finest art collections.

The Beit Foundation, a charitable trust set up to administer the house and collection, will meet later this week to discuss what action to take following Sunday’s raid.

Members of the foundation admitted yesterday security at the building would not deter thieves determined to break in and steal from the collection despite being upgraded following a theft last year.

The foundation, set up in the name of the late Sir Alfred Beit, has not enough money to install a top security system and is expected to ask either the Government, the National Lottery or a private benefactor to provide funding.

Repairs have already been done to the roof of the house while the foundation has already spent a substantial sum of money investigating earlier thefts from the collection, particularly the 18 paintings taken by Martin Cahill’s gang in 1986.

The five paintings taken in Sunday’s raid included two Rubens, one of which was stolen in 1986 and not recovered for seven years. Art experts describe them as priceless but that if they were put on the market would be worth at least 5m. Detectives have a confirmed sighting of a car travelling at high speed just outside Blessington, near the Roadstone quarry, towards Tallaght 15-20 minutes after the 6am break in on Sunday. They are appealing to anglers, golfers or persons travelling to or from the airport to come forward.

Garda sources have already pinpointed one likely suspect, a member of the Cahill gang who was with the gangland boss when he raided the house 18 years ago.