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

An Taisce, The National Trust for Ireland has sent a formal letter to the Irish Minister for Arts Heritage and The Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys requesting investigation of the circumstances under which one of a pair of widely admired early 18th.Century French paintings The Cabinet Of Physical Sciences by Jacques De Lajoue, has been sold privately by the Alfred Beit Foundation.