Two members of the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art have resigned over the manner in which a new director has been appointed. This is the second major controversy over the directorship of the IMMA in less than a year and follows the resignation of Mr Declan McGonagle last April after a lengthy and public controversy.
On Monday night the chairwoman of the board, Ms Marie Donnelly, proposed that the position of director be offered to Dr Brian Kennedy, former assistant director of the National Gallery of Ireland and at present director of the National Gallery of Australia.
The interview panel set up to recommend an appointment had not selected a candidate, and proposed that the search for an appropriate candidate be widened, while continuing to consider the candidacy of Dr Kennedy. However, the board accepted the chairwoman's proposal, with two votes against, those of Mr Niall Crowley and Ms Terry Prone. They resigned from the board yesterday.
In his letter of resignation to the Minister for Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, Mr Crowley said that the previously agreed selection process had been ignored "in what became a headlong rush to appoint the candidate preferred by the chairperson."
Ms Prone described the manner in which the decision was made by the board on Monday night as "based ... on a fundamentally flawed interview process and an equally questionable procedure at last night's board meeting."
A spokesman for the Minister told The Irish Times that the Minister was "naturally very concerned that two board members should tender their resignations. She will be discussing with them their reasons for resigning and afterwards will be contacting the chairwoman."
The chairwoman, Ms Donnelly, told The Irish Times she had no comment to make about the matter.
The resignation of two board members over the appointment of a replacement for Mr McGonagle reopens the controversy over the style of the chairwoman.
This became the subject of public discussion last year when she informed the former director, Mr McGonagle, in November that she was advertising his position. After a four-month public controversy, during which he secured a renewal of his contract, he resigned.
Mr Crowley said in his letter yesterday: "The latest event sets at naught this effort of mediation by all concerned. I believe this raises serious questions for the future of IMMA."
He continued: "This unfortunately is not a once-off lapse. Process and procedure have been issues in the approach of the chairperson.
"This was evident in the dispute with the previous director. It has been a source of tension at board level in relation to programming decisions. It now arises again in this most sensitive area of recruitment of the director." Ms Prone listed four fundamental flaws in the interview process and five in the proceedings of the board meeting.
She stressed that she had no bias against Dr Kennedy, but added: "I believe that if he takes up the directorship based on the improper and inequitable procedures outlined, an unbridgeable fault line will run beneath his administration from the beginning."