THE CENTRAL BANK paid €616,000 for a sculpture at its new headquarters at Dublin’s North Wall Quay in 2022 – more than double the initial price tag mooted for the piece.

The bank secured planning permission for the Double Rainbow piece by artist Eva Rothschild in 2019, when the sculpture was expected to cost €300,000.

The architects of the new Central Bank premises, Henry J Lyons, told Dublin City Council at the time that the sculpture would be “monumental” and placed in a location where “a really strong and lasting engagement with the public is possible”.

The council granted permission after its then-public art officer agreed that “the sculpture will greatly enhance the public realm in the area”.

The Central Bark then published a note that it awarded a €300,000 contract to Rothschild’s London-based company Peacegarden Ltd. for the sculpture.

In 2020, a spokesman for the Central Bank said that the €300,000 figure was an estimated cost and that the actual cost was not definite at the time.

A spokesperson partly attributed the overspend to delays in the construction of the bank's new premises. Stephen McDermott / The Journal Stephen McDermott / The Journal / The Journal

The bank itself currently says that the cost of the sculpture was slightly above that figure.

In a breakdown provided on its website, it says that Rosthschild’s fee came to €70,000 and that €250,000 was spent on design and build costs – coming to a total of €320,000. 

However, the Dáil heard this week that the actual cost of the sculpture was €616,000.

A spokesperson for the Central Bank partly attributed the overspend to delays in the construction of the bank’s new premises because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The time estimates for the project were impacted by Covid related restrictions on travel and on the Mayor Street construction project, which in turn delayed the installation of the sculpture,” they said in a statement.

“This delay resulted in a requirement for post-fabrication/pre-installation storage and additional professional services costs.”

The bank also said there were additional costs related to VAT on UK invoices, which were not anticipated when the initial price was estimated in 2015 and which added to the cost of the sculpture.