Hi °C | Lo °C Paintings depicting the 1916 Easter Rising, which were removed from the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin five years ago, will not be reinstalled in a decision that has dismayed historians.
The 10 paintings, which show important scenes from the Rising, were removed in 2005 when An Post carried out renovations on the building for the Rising's 90th anniversary in 2006.
But An Post has now decided the GPO is “not suitable” for the paintings and is now looking for “a new home” for them.
Historian Pat Liddy said he believes the paintings should be reinstalled in the historic building.
“They were very revolutionary and romantic, and they got the message across,” he said.
“They were widely spread around the walls of the GPO, but now there's very little, except photos and a copy of the Proclamation, to say this is the place where it happened.” A spokesperson for An Post said: “While the possibility of improving the lighting and captioning of the paintings was investigated, this wasn't pursued as the space was not at all suitable for the purpose of displaying art pieces.
“The paintings remain in secure storage pending their display in a more suitable space.”
Councillor Larry O'Toole will table a motion in next month's city council meeting calling for a letter to be written to An Post requesting the paintings be returned to display.
