Much of Dominick Street, once one of Dublin's finest Georgian streets, was swept away in the 1950s and 1960s. But now a major restoration project already costing over £250,000 is under way at 20 Dominick Street, a large house, once an orphanage, which now serves as the headquarters of the National Youth Federation.

In 1996, the Federation established a committee to oversee restoration work on the house, which contains some of the finest examples of 18th century plasterwork in the city. Over the years the ceilings had fallen victim to neglect.

The key backers of the project are the Historic Houses of Dublin, FAS and the Irish Georgian Society, as well as the Federation, which has endured the extensive restoration work on its premises.

The building was originally constructed around 1760 as the residence of Robert West, a "stuccadore" craftsman who became one of the best known Irish plasterwork experts.

The restoration committee hired leading conservation architect Kevin Blackwood, who, in turn, recommended that one of Britain's best known conservationists, Richard Ireland, be brought in as consultant.

Mr Ireland played an important role in the £24 million restoration of Uppark, a stately English home destroyed by fire in 1989 and is currently working on the ambitious restoration of the British Library where Karl Marx researched Das Kapital. He also prepared the report on the plasterwork restoration at the recently reopened Belvedere House in Co Westmeath.

While Ireland has travelled over on a regular basis to act as supervisor, day to day restoration work on the plaster ceilings at Dominick Street has been in the hands of two young FAS trainees, Neil Maniford and Conor Tynan.

At present, there is an acute shortage of people trained to carry out practical conservation work in Ireland. Richard Ireland cannot understand why so little time in Irish architecture faculties is devoted to teaching conservation techniques and is deeply concerned about the activities of so called "conservation" or "restoration" firms.

Many, he believes, use inappropriate materials which often serve to accelerate the process of decay in the buildings in question. The Irish Georgian Society does keep a register of conservation practitioners and the RIAI is also putting one in place.

The first phase of the Dominick Street project involved the replacement of uPVC windows in the building at a cost of £85,000. Funding for this part of the project was provided by the Department of the Environment. Next, work began on the restoration of the plasterwork in the Green Room. Much of the design in its mint restored condition is now quite striking.

APPARENTLY, the Irish plaster ceiling tradition is marked by a sense of panache not evident in English ceilings of a similar vintage. West's flying birds are particularly striking.

The restorers have now moved on to the main reception area where the plasterwork restoration has presented an even greater challenge. This is because some of the early applications of paint have turned out to be particularly difficult to remove.

To date, the Irish Georgian Society and its donors, mainly from either Britain or the US, have come up with a badly needed £100,000 to fund the restoration. Dublin Corporation has donated around £70,000 in conservation grants while the EU funded Historic Houses of Dublin has provided another £70,000. But corporate Ireland has provided little or no support.

The restoration committee is keen to try and secure more funds to allow for work on the ceiling to continue beyond the summer.

As time is running out, priority has been given to the rehabilitation of the most striking pieces of decorative work on the ceiling and along the walls in the large hall area.

All the training for Neil, 24, and Conor, 20, has been provided by Richard Ireland in the time he has to spare between projects. The plan is that they will eventually set up in business as conservation experts. In Richard's view, they will need further educational grounding in conservation techniques - but what they are learning on the job is of infinitely greater value than textbook learning.

"The skills they are acquiring are very tactile. They need to have a feeling for the form of the plaster," says Richard. Neil adds: "When I saw the house, I was just amazed by it. At the beginning, the work was hard. The decorative work was so intricate. There was no quick way of going about the job."

At present, the number of people in Dublin qualified to restore plasterwork can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Richard Ireland believes that if the necessary effort is put in by the authorities, a workforce of skilled craftspeople can be created, or rather recreated.