The new owners of Lissadell House in Co Sligo were still unknown last night, after current owner Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth said that he could not release the name of the buyers because of a confidentiality clause agreed in the terms of the sale.
However, he did reveal that the new owners - an Irish couple - were not from Sligo and that they were currently on holiday abroad. He said the house had been purchased to be used as a family home.
Sir Josslyn said he had to make a "hard economic decision" in deciding to sell Lissadell, childhood home of Countess Markievicz, to private purchasers.
He was very happy with the terms of the sale but accepted that there had been mixed reaction to the news.
"It would be fair to say that some people are quite upset. Change is not always easy to come to terms with," he told The Irish Times.
However, he said he was now pleased to have the matter behind him.
Meanwhile, the Government has been criticised for its inaction on the matter by Sligo's Save Lissadell House All-Party-Committee.
Sinn Féin's Seán McManus, a member of the committee and Mayor of Sligo, said the government should be held responsible for allowing the house to be sold.
Echoing comments made on RTÉ radio by Sir Josslyn, Mr McManus said the Government outlay on the property need not have meant the high amounts speculated.
He insisted that the house and its grounds were in good condition and could have been improved over a number of years, rather than all at once. He said that the €3.75 million that the owners were looking for would have secured the property for the state. He also questioned the Department of the Environment's estimates that it would cost between €26 and €30 million to purchase and maintain the house and its 400 acres of land.
Mr McManus added that although it was a "poor second choice", the focus would now be on trying to bring some influence to bear on the new owners.
He hoped they would open up the house to the public on a more regular basis.
Sir Josslyn would not comment on the final amount paid for the estate, but insisted that he had "bent over backwards" to accommodate the sale of the property to the Government.
However, he was unwilling to commit himself to one possible purchaser - the State - to the exclusion of all others.
"When you're selling a house, there is a momentum of events that only a fool would try to hold up," he said.
An Taisce also expressed disappointment with the sale of the property. It said the issue highlighted the need for Heritage Trust Legislation to be introduced in Ireland.
A spokesperson described the sale of Lissadell as "another classic example of how we are failing to protect our heritage because of a lack of legislation".
A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said the Minister had already made his position on the matter clear.
The "changed economic circumstances" of recent times had made it impossible for the State to purchase Lissadell outright.
The spokesperson added that a proposal to purchase the estate in a partnership arrangement had been made, but that no suitable partner had come forward in the short-term.
The new owners of Lissadell are expected to move in before the end of the year. Referring to the Gore-Booth family's imminent departure, Sir Josslyn said that it was the end of a chapter, rather than the end of an era.