Now that Terry Keane has decided to get rid of her bust and the portrait of her former lover, a golden opportunity has arisen for Mr John Howard, the owner of the swanky Dublin restaurant, Le Coq Hardi.
A man not shy at auctions, Mr Howard is well placed to transform the private dining-room of his eaterie - used regularly by Miss Keane and Charles Haughey at the height of their affair - into a mini theme park called Terryland.
There would, naturally, be a discreet charge to view the bronze bust of Keane by sculptor Gary Trimble and the Haughey portrait by Roderic O'Connor. But browsers would also receive a complimentary sip of Cristal champagne and a souvenir sweet(ie) to remind them of their visit.
As soon as the catalogue for the Important Irish Art auction (to be held on September 29th) was released on Wednesday night rumours started circulating about the provenance of certain items. By yesterday, the story that Keane was selling off mementos of her relationship with Haughey had made the front page of two newspapers.
Even if the bronze bust hadn't been labelled Ms Terry Keane, the fact that it was fashioned by the late Mr Trimble, who once sculpted a life-size horse in bronze for his patron, Mr Haughey, was a clue to its identity. Ms Keane has not revealed if the bust was a gift, but it seems likely it was yet another token of affection from Haughey to his mistress.
She went on the Pat Kenny radio show yesterday morning to explain her reasons: "One is at a point where one likes to get rid of a lot of stuff," said Ms Keane, who has just turned 60. " Wasn't it Beckett who said you shed your possessions as you get older, and I think it's a good idea."
The ending of her relationship with the former Taoiseach had been traumatic and rather like a death, and now it was out with the old and in with the new. "They are part of the past," she said, "and I live in the future."
Mr James O'Halloran, the managing director of James Adam, fine arts auctioneers, who is handling the sale, believes the items may be bought for their relevance to this time in Irish history. "They are definitely of interest in terms of popular culture, they would be a talking point," he said.
He pointed out that there were a lot of other items of interest in Keane's collection such as The Blackbird, a macabre painting by Edward Maguire which depicts a dead bird on a plate.
"It's not an easy painting to live with but it's spectacular," he said. Mr David Britton, the owner of the Frederick Gallery in Dublin city centre, said he thought pricing the Haughey painting at £2,500£3000 was "ridiculous".
"It's just a sketch, really," he said.
As for the bronze bust of Ms Keane, the auctioneer might have been better served calling it "picture of society woman" because, as Mr Britton puts it, "who would want a bust of Terry Keane?"
"If it was a portrait it might sell better because I can think of a few people who would use it as a dartboard," he added.
Yesterday, Terry Keane was doing a Greta Garbo, telling Pat Kenny, "I just want to be left alone." When The Irish Times phoned, she hadn't changed her mind. "No comment," she said, "and that's off the record."
See also Fine Arts, Page 20