I missed this one first time but it's still worth mentioning, The Irish Times reports on damage to IMMA permanent collection due to inadequate storage which included a shipping container in the car park italics mine. Apparently IMMA officials have been trying to get proper storage facilities for ten years which to me just adds insult to injury. Surely one of the most important tasks of museum curators is to preserve the collection and letting a situation like this drag on for a decade is inexcusable and begs the question are these people really fit to take care of this part of the state's art collection?

Harry McGee blogs the full list of the damaged works (from a 2003 report) and the nature of the damage.
* 1. Queen of Proofs and Queen of Torments buckling caused by humidity and heat fluctuation
2. Slat Greaser Trough III a three-dimensional work incorporating grease by Terry Atkinson laminate buckling not fit to show, due to extreme fluctuations in environment
3. Slat Greaser V grease element leaching oil - that has been exacerbated by heat in the store
4. Large Head - a large polychromed wood carving by Stephan Balkenhol wood splitting due to lack of climate control stored in studio ‘temporarily’.
5. Anna on a Sofa oil on canvas by Basil Blackshaw paint surface badly cracked fluctuations
6. L’Oiseau de Feu lithography by Georges Braque print surface has adhered to the glass due to severe buckling caused by humidity and temperature fluctuations.
7. Saddle a sculpture incorporating a horse saddle and a cow’s udder by Dorothy Cross Leather drying more quickly that if stored in climate controlled store
8. Fragmens Sur Les Institutiones Republicanines IV 96 styrofoam panels inscribed with the messages smuggled out of the H-Blocks during the Hunger Strike in 1981, by Shane Cullen damaged by flooding
9. Cricketer massive metal sculpture by English sculptor Barry Flanagan was stored in outdoor shipping container and is displaying bloom on the metal
10. (unknown work) Oil leeching from work to support exacerabed by humidity and fluctuating environment
11. The Tain and Travellers tapestries by Louis le Brocquy no hanging system for textiles and no possibility of this in current store
12. Sphere Trame by Francois Morellet chrome lifting and metal rusting due to humidity levels.
13. Untitled 12 Lightboxes moisture damage due to humidity level
14. Untitled wax medium lifting off the support heat damage
15. Untilted painted hardboard surface has buckled and come away from its support as a result of temperature change
16. Figure with Owls by Colin Midleton buckled and broke the frame, as a result of temperature change
17. Fair Head by Colin Midleton Surface attachment fallen away a result of overdry conditions
18. (Unknown) recently conserved conservator stressed the need for ‘museum storage conditions’ to prevent recurrence of problem caused by humidity.
19. Permutations mould on prints caused by temperature change
20 - Partypiece a mechanical sculpture by John White rust damage caused by flooding A further concern arises in relation to the following list of artworks that cannot be taken in to the existing stores
2 1. Strange Fruit- a huge multi-media construction by American artist Lee Jaffe,- cannot be stored in any of the existing stores because of its size and weight.
* 2. (Unknown work) currently stored in a shipping container.