Bizarre break-in targeted Joyce director's files
Thieves focused on centre boss's dossier amidst inquiry into manuscript sale and relationship
GARDAI have been called in to investigate a mysterious break-in at the James Joyce Centre on North Great George's Street.
Intriguingly, the July 23 burglary -- which went unreported in the media -- saw those responsible focus their attentions solely on the personal files of the centre's controversial director, Laura Barnes, who has been at the centre of a long running internal probe by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
The Sunday Independent understands that investigating gardai are pursuing several lines of inquiry in relation to the break-in, which saw all items of value, including cash, left undisturbed.
News of the criminal investigation could not have come at a more sensitive time for Ms Barnes.
The Joyce Centre director has been at the centre of controversy over her sale of valuable James Joyce Finnegans Wake manuscripts to the National Library of Ireland.
The €1.17m price Ms Barnes secured in 2005 netted her a profit of €777,000, given the €400,000 she had paid a Paris book dealer for the manuscript less than a year earlier.
Adding to the sting felt by the National Library, was the fact that one of its own research fellows, Dr Luca Crispi, had already viewed the valuable papers in Paris before Ms Barnes purchased them.
No attempt was made by the National Library to purchase the manuscripts from the Parisian book dealer.
The Library's directors thought it "inappropriate" to deal with somebody with whom they had no "previous relationship".
Further complicating matters for the National Library, and for Ms Barnes, was her relationship with a senior civil servant at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, assistant secretary Niall O'Donnchu.
While that relationship had only begun some time after Ms Barnes' Joyce manuscript deal with the National Library, claims of a conflict of interest soon arose.
Questions raised in the Dail about the deal saw former Arts Minister John O' Donoghue order an inquiry in January of this year.
While the resulting report clears Ms Barnes of any wrongdoing, the Arts Department probe saw the Joyce Centre director's professional, and more particularly, her personal life, come in for scrutiny.
A copy of the report drawn up by former Arts Department secretary general Philip Furlong, and seen by the Sunday Independent, reveals how Ms Barnes' partner, Mr O'Donnchu, was compelled to reveal details of his involvement with her, and when exactly their "relationship progressed from professional to personal".
While Mr Furlong said it was not part of his "brief to probe relationship issues", the precise chronology of Ms Barnes and Mr O'Donnchu's relationship is outlined in a chapter dealing with allegations of a conflict of interest.
While the two first met in June 2005 -- three months after the National Library agreed the purchase of the Joycean manuscripts -- the precise point at which Ms Barnes and Mr O'Donnchu entered into a relationship is difficult to ascertain, Mr Furlong says.
He does reveal, however, how Mr O'Donnchu informed him in October 2006 of his involvement with Ms Barnes.
Mr Furlong states that Mr O'Donnchu also told him of the "steps which he had taken to distance himself from any work-related issues between the Department and Ms Barnes".
Mr O'Donnchu subsequently recorded his relationship with Ms Barnes officially in his 2006 return under the Ethics in Public Office Acts, listing it as a "notifiable interest".
Commenting on the difficulties personal relationships can present in the workplace, Mr Furlong is adamant that Mr O'Donnchu and Ms Barnes acted correctly at all times.
He added that "at no stage were the interests of the department compromised by the relationship between Mr O'Donnchu and Ms Barnes".
On the broader issue of the National Library's acquisition of the Joyce manuscripts, Mr Furlong notes that the €1.17m price paid could have been lower, had information about the existence of the manuscripts been communicated to them earlier.
In a recommendation for the future, the report states: "There is a need for the National Library to review its arrangements for obtaining timely market information on material likely to be of interest to it."
- RONALD QUINLAN Exclusive
