Sir, - As someone committed throughout my life to facilitating the appreciation and understanding of modern and contemporary art in Ireland, it grieves me to learn of the current dispute between the chairman of the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and its director, Declan McGonagle.
Since the 1950s it has been my privilege to develop a collection of artworks by internationally known and esteemed artists, and to champion art initiatives for a wide range of publics in this country.
In 1979 when I was invited to join the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York I joined the vocal few in Ireland who were strenuously lobbying for a Museum of Modern Art, particularly among the business world and, as my records will show, politically, as a Senator in Seanad Eireann. The dispersal of Basil Goulding's wonderful collection of Irish and international art further aggravated the level of intensity so it was with great satisfaction that some of us were invited by An Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, to join his advisory board in 1988 on the suitability of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham as a location for a new museum. This involved a promise from me to donate my collection. I subsequently accepted the Taoiseach's invitation to join the Foundation Board in 1990.
For the last 10 years I have been overjoyed at the outstanding success of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Despite its youth it has already established itself, both at home in Ireland and in the international cultural arena, as a significant and distinctive presence. We owe this success to the visionary leadership of its Director, Declan McGonagle, and his dedicated staff.
After the dedication of the space in IMMA in my name in 1999 and the Minister's eulogy on that occasion I decided to write to her that I wished to retire to make way for a younger person when she appointed a new board in February last. She telephoned me personally and asked me to reconsider my position which I declined for reasons stated - my age.
The current, distasteful attempt to remove the museum's director is bound to destabilise one of our proudest success stories, at this early stage in its development.
Subsequent to donating my art collection to IMMA for the people of Ireland in 1992 I set up a Trust to invest in the care and preservation of my collection and I have continued to support the museum's acquisition process. I also stated my intention to donate my massive archival material of valuable art books, international and Irish periodicals covering a period of 30 years, a further investment in my Trust and support material for my collection of paintings, graphics and sculpture.
My donation and planned future donations are a response to Declan McGonagle's innovative and successful direction of IMMA. It is with deepest regret that I now feel I must reassess my present and future relations with the museum.
I would hope that the board members will honour the trust placed in them by the Minister on their appointment - that the Minister, in the light of her previous pronouncements, will see to it that IMMA continues on its successful course, serving the people of Ireland, in particular as it has under the direction of Declan McGonagle, removing, if necessary, any obstacles to that end. - Yours, etc.,
C. G. Lambert, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.