Man arrested over theft of State-owned artwork

€1m worth of paintings and artefacts stolen from Limerick lock-up in 2011

A man in his 40s was in custody last night after being arrested in connection with the theft of more than €1 million worth of paintings, artefacts and furniture from a lock-up facility in Limerick in 2011.

The Clare man was arrested and taken to Shannon Garda station and detained under the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Assisted by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, gardaí from Shannon and Naas arrested the man early yesterday in connection with the theft of the items belonging to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Gardaí have said that investigations led them to London, where items were found and pulled from a pending auction at Sotheby’s .

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The theft of the items from storage came to light last year when two portraits in an Adam’s auction at Slane Castle in Co Meath were spotted by a public servant who realised that they were part of the Killarney House collection.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times