In the High Court today, the State conceded, without reservation, that the National Gallery of Ireland's licence issued to Christie's acting on behalf of the Alfred Beit Foundation for export of art works in March 2015 was unlawful.

The Alfred Beit Foundation has announced its postponement of the proposed controversial July auction of artworks from its collection.

An Taisce has put forward a proposal to secure and manage Russborough House and the Alfred Beit Collection in the wake of an announcement by The Alfred Beit Foundation that it is looking to sell a significant part of the Beit picture collection on the international market.