OPW spends over €200k in five years on National Gallery's lighting system
The cost of the works on the 'highly specialised' system was around €40,000 per year in the period between 2019 and 2023, the Office of Public Works said. File picture
THE OPW has spent more than €200,000 on the retrofitting, repair, and modification of a lighting system at the National Gallery that was only installed in 2017.
The cost of the works on the “highly specialised” system was around €40,000 per year in the period between 2019 and 2023, the Office of Public Works said.
A database of spending shows nearly €92,000 was spent on track lighting repair in 2021, of which €14,065 was for a modification to the system. A further €15,347 was spent in 2023 while the bill for retrofit and upgrade was just over €67,000 in 2020.
It is understood there have been ongoing issues with the system; however, the OPW said lighting at the gallery was routinely updated and modified depending on requirements and what items were on display.
They said it was “crucial to the presentation” of art and had to function to “bring out the nuance of the artworks and provide balanced lighting in the galleries without causing any damage to the paintings".
The OPW said the lighting system and associated track were installed as part of a major refurbishment of the historic wings of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) in 2017.
It said: “Over the years, [we have] made modifications, at the request of the NGI, to facilitate changes in the display of the collections.
“These modifications form part of a wider programme of works delivered by the OPW, which includes the maintenance and upgrading of the light fittings, the mounting track and the associated controls.”
The OPW said that scaffolding was needed to access the lighting system and that costs for that had been included in the overall expenditure figures.
Expenditure for 2019 was €26,543, most of which was listed as “upgrade” or “retrofit” in the financial payments system.
The full €67,336 bill for 2020 was classified as “upgrade” work while €77,893 of the total bill of €91,958 in 2021 was marked as “repair.” The latest works in 2023 – which cost just over €15,000 – were also labelled as “repair” in OPW financial records.
