Sir, - We in Ireland are lucky in our National Museum and especially with its spectacular new addition at Collins Barracks, where I recently had the good fortune to see the exhibition on arguably Ireland's finest designer of the last century, Eileen Gray.
However, in our neighbouring island the situation currently facing the premier museum, the British Museum, is nothing short of disastrous. It is internationally recognised as a cultural institution which houses collections that are among the most important anywhere in the world. But because of earlier decisions to maintain its policy of free admission, a principle the British government now endorses, the museum is suffering from a major deficit in its finances.
There are also other serious drains on its resources such as the staffing costs of the Great Court. The construction costs of this architecturally famous project was funded by the UK Lottery, but no funds were made available for the increased running costs associated with it.
As a result of a deficit of over £6 m sterling, the museum had to cut its staff by 10 per cent in the year 2000, and now it has to plan the loss of a further 150 staff. This proposed level of job losses will gravely affect all areas of its operation, including its world-famous conservation and research facilities.
This should be of concern to all of us who have an interest in our heritage, especially as the British Museum has been of inestimable specialist help to our own institutions with significant artefacts such as the Ardagh Chalice and more latterly the Derrynaflan Chalice. On many occasions our cultural institutions have benefited from the unique expertise available only in the British Museum.
In the same year that Queen Elizabeth has been given a car costing over £5 million to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, cannot the British Government also support another uniquely British cultural institution with a grant of roughly the same sum of money? - Yours, etc.,
Prof TERRY BARRY, Department of Medieval History, Trinity College, Dublin 2.