OPW admits spending €70,000 on three sets of replacement curtains in Dublin Castle

The Office of Public Works (OPW) spent almost €70,000 on three sets of curtains at Dublin Castle.

The Irish Mirror revealed that the final bill included the cost of flying in a consultant from the UK on two occasions, along with their assistant, to “vet [the] putting up of cords and rosettes” on the curtains, and “attend” their installation. The OPW itself has offices at Dublin Castle.

It's exactly what the coalition parties didn't want in the midst of a snap election campaign - yet another tale of crazy spending involving taxpayers money.

The latest OPW spending controversy follows the headlines and headaches caused by the €322,000 bike shed and the €1.4m security hut for the Department of Finance.

In the contract for the supply and installation of curtains on the Battleaxe Landing at the Castle, the agency stipulated that “all materials and workmanship throughout must be of the best quality and any inferior materials or practice will not be accepted”.

The OPW paid for flights and taxis for a consultant to travel from the UK with their assistant to “vet [the] putting up of cords and rosettes” on the curtains in November 2018, including a 70km taxi trip from Leeds to Castle Howard.

The OPW again paid the consultant a fee and covered travel expenses from the UK to Dublin Castle in January 2019, despite the project having been completed during the previous year.

The curtains, which were cashmere-lined and featured Italian-made cords and tassels, are located in an area of the castle that is used as the backdrop for “many photoshoots of visiting VIPS and dignitaries”, according to the agency. The final cost was €68,407.

“The OPW sought to adopt a sensitive, historically informed approach to the design and manufacture of appropriate replacement curtains for the castle’s Battleaxe Landing, which is one of the principal rooms in the State Apartments,” it said.

Records relating to the design, manufacture and installation of the curtains were released to the Irish Mirror under the Freedom of Information Act.

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