Barbara Dawson, gallery director.
Barbara Dawson is director of the Hugh Lane, Dublin's municipal art gallery, which reopened yesterday after the completion of a €13 million extension
"This last week of the project was absolutely nail-biting, and it was very exciting, but what was great about it was the final tweaking of minor details. The building looks superb. We've got great positive feedback. We have acquired, through purchases and donations, over €9 million in artworks, including the Sean Scully donation and some other superb works which have refocused the gallery. Yes, we did have 14-hour days, but it was the only way, because even if you could stay away you'd just start to fret.
"For the opening I asked Charles Saumarez Smith, who's the director of the National Gallery in London, for all eight [paintings shared between Dublin and London] to be here for the opening. And they were. They're hanging downstairs. It's as beautiful a gallery as you'd see at the Musée d'Orsay or any French museum. When I became director, in 1991, it was a very different city, a very different urban scape around here. It's changed so rapidly and positively, and we are central to the regeneration of Parnell Square.
"The Rotunda's pleasure gardens have been built on, but there are plans to turn that back into a park, because this square falls in on itself, as opposed to Merrion Square, where the buildings around are cared for. This is one of the oldest parts of Dublin, and it's really quite beautiful. The city council has recognised the contribution artists make to the identity of the city. There's a huge return compared to the investment made, and this extension helps redress that balance."
In conversation with Catherine Cleary