Enjoy your trip. You will be amazed at the contents of AGO and the ROM, in my opinion, much more than the buildings. ( If you get a chance, check out the Science centre too.) Wrap up warm, though. Wouldn’t want my favouite opinion maker and s**t disturber getting lost in a snow drift. If you’re staying for a Canadian Xmas, be prepared for a blast. BTW, Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Daphne – Thanks and to you, too. I’ll be back just before Christmas, as the family’s in Malta. So far we’ve been lucky with the weather: it’s hovered just below nought Celsius.]

Joking apart, the National Gallery of Ireland, I believe, didn’t have a collection to start with and extra money had to be spent while it was being built in order to acquire some pieces. It was only a few years after it was constructed that private collectors were motivated into donating the bulk of its early collection. Over a century later, the collection is still no Louvre but quite impressive nonetheless.

Incidentally, when Ireland finally acquired its Independence, the palace right next door to the museum became the seat of parliament and it doesn’t seem like they plan on building a new one in the near future.

Having said that, I don’t think that a museum is the way to go at this present time. The collection itself would require continuous investment from the government and frankly I don’t see that happening.

[Daphne – No Irish jokes, please. But seriously, haven’t you ever noticed the many similarities between Irish thinking and Maltese thinking?]