Crann an Óir (Tree of Gold) - Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

The Independent website reported the following in February 2015:

'No decision on plans to move Central Bank golden ball'

The Central Bank has dismissed suggestions that it will cost half-a-million euro to move an iconic statue to its new headquarters.

Senior bank officials said no decision had even been taken on moving the 'golden ball' work of art from the plaza at Dame Street to its new €140m headquarters at North Wall Quay.

The Crann an Oir (tree of gold) may be staying where it is when the current headquarters is sold, said a senior Central Bank figure.

Reports yesterday suggested that a decision had already been taken to move the statue, which also acts as the bank's official logo.

"No final decision has been made on the matter," said a Central Bank spokeswoman.

"Decisions in relation to Crann an Oir are part of the bank's wider considerations in relation to the move.

"A range of options are being considered."

It's understood those options include a new art work at the new headquarters, leaving the artwork by celebrated Derry sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty in place.

O'Doherty, who died in Dublin in 2011, was commissioned to make the tree of gold statue after a nationwide competition in 1991.

"The plaza outside the current headquarters is private property and not a public place," said another senior Central Bank official.

"The idea that half-a-million euro would be spent moving it is ridiculous," the official added.

Another official said the statue may well stay where it is.

The Public Art Ireland website tells us about the sculpture and its background:

Artist Name: Éamonn O'Doherty

Artwork title: Crann an Óir

Context/Background: In order to mark the occasion of Dublin becoming the European City of Culture in 1991, the Board of the Central Bank of Ireland (the ‘Central Bank’) decided to utilise the space around the Central Bank for a large scale sculpture which would enhance this popular meeting area for the people of Dublin.  A major national competition was organised for the Central Bank by the Sculptors’ Society of Ireland and a shortlist of 20 of Ireland’s leading sculptors were invited to make proposals. Éamonn O'Doherty (1939 - 2011) was commissioned by the Central Bank to make this piece for the Central Bank Plaza off Dame Street in Dublin 2 in 1991.

Description: Crann an Óir (Tree of Gold) was commissioned by the Central Bank of Ireland to mark Dublin's year as European City of Culture in 1991. The work is comprised of a formalised tree in gilded bronze surrounded by a sectioned building in Wicklow granite.  The tree symbolises growth under careful management and the building the role of the Central Bank in protecting and husbanding the wealth of the country.  The open nature of the architectural element in the design suggests that this wealth is not locked and hidden but is shared by the public.

Mediation: A public exhibition of the 20 shortlisted artists' proposals was held for over a month at the Central Bank before the Bank selected O'Doherty. The then Taoiseach, Charles J Haughey, officially unveiled the sculpture on 30th November 1991.

Biographies: Éamonn O'Doherty (1939-2011) was a sculptor, printmaker, photographer and architect born in Derry.  He received several prestigious commissions for public spaces in Ireland and abroad including  'Crann an Óir' at the Central Bank, Dublin; the James Connolly Memorial, Beresford Place, Dublin; the Great Hunger Memorial in Westchester County, New York; the Emigrants Sculpture, Waterloo Place, Derry; and the 'Protogonos' sculpture at St. James's Hospital, Dublin.

O'Doherty was for many years a lecturer in architecture at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street. He also taught at the University of Jordan, the Univeristy of Nebraska, and the École Speciale d'Architecture, Paris. In 2002, he gave up teaching to concentrate on artwork, specifically on small-scale, more personal work.