Vol. 487 No. 2
116 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she has received a request for permission to use the railings of the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, to provide a Sunday art facility similar to that used in Merrion Square opposite the National Gallery, to facilitate the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery; if she is prepared to accede positively to that request; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3706/98]
The Garden of Remembrance is dedicated to all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom. The garden is reserved exclusively for formal State ceremonials connected with this dedication. It is considered that the proposal to use the railings of the gardens as a Sunday art facility — most likely with a commercial dimension to it — is at variance with the ethos of the garden and that the tranquil amenity of the memorial may well be diminished by the presence of such displays.
I have reviewed this matter since a similar question was put down to me on 12 November 1997, but I must inform the Deputy that the position remains the same.
I would, however, point out to the Deputy that, as the Minister responsible to the promotion of the arts in Ireland, I support the idea of maximising the use of public places and spaces to exhibit works of art. I give practical expression to this viewpoint by facilitating such exhibitions on the railings of St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, which also come within the remit of my Department. Moreover, I can inform the Deputy that art exhibitions are held in a number of properties operated by my Department throughout the country and I am pleased to encourage such exhibitions, the Glebe Gallery in County Donegal being a prime example.
For the reasons I have outlined earlier, however, I believe there should be certain limitations to this general approach, notably in the case of the Garden of Remembrance.
