A newly launched service to safely store valuable artwork and collectors’ items must surely herald an end to that nasty old recession – for some at least.

The walk-in strongrooms at Merrion Vaults are the latest phase of Ireland’s first non-bank safe deposit box facility that opened last year.

Located just off Merrion Square, Seamus Fahy of Merrion Vaults came up with the idea when he saw that banks were no longer interested in offering a strongroom service to clients, even for small valuables.

Since it opened last July, the firm has rented out around 1,000 safety deposit boxes but Fahy has seen that collectors also want a vault service for large valuables including paintings, furniture and sculptures.

“We have invested in the construction of a terrace of secure safe deposit rooms in our vault,” Fahy says.

The target market will include art collectors, antique dealers, hotels and homeowners between properties. Rugby pundit Brent Pope (pictured), who has been the victim of a number of burglaries in the past, was on hand for the launch.

With rates between €6,000 and €12,000 annually, the strongrooms cost more than the management fees on a luxury apartment.

But with a security level apparently approved by Lloyds, Fahy says that insurance fees on items stored in his vaults will cost much less than those kept in homes or businesses.