Vol. 533 No. 3
124 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Defence if he will immediately authorise the return to the Model Niland Centre, County Sligo, of the portrait of W. B. Yeats by his father John Butler Yeats which is in the possession of the Naval Service at Haulbowline, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8638/01]
I have consulted the military authorities and I have been informed that the portrait of W. B. Yeats by his father John Butler Yeats was presented to the captain and the officers of the le Macha by the poet's wife when the body of W. B. Yeats was transported back to Ireland by the Naval Service for reburial in 1948. The portrait was taken on charge as the property of the officers' mess and is insured by the officers' mess. In 1972 the portrait was loaned by the Naval Service to Sligo County Museum and Art Gallery and it was returned in 1985.
