And there are quite a few auctions in Ireland every year.

There are essentially four major auction houses in Ireland. These are Whytes, deVeres, Adams, and most recently, O'Connors Art Auctions. These four auction houses have been instrumental in the increased interest in Irish art both at home and overseas, and thanks to the numbers attending who are actually prepared to pay good money for an artwork, in tandem with the overall quality of the works, Irish art is currently representing a very serious investment indeed.

Part of this could be due to the wobble in the property market. Instead of buying new houses, people are looking to make the best of what they have . . . and one way of making a room more beautiful is to hang something with genuine artistic merit on the walls. But, in the current climate, this beautiful work of art can be made even more beautiful thanks to its appreciating value.

Some examples of spectacular results recently include a complete set of lithographic brush drawings from Louis le Brocquy's 1969 illustration of Thomas Kinsella's translation of The Tain, which fetched 120,000 at Whyte's auction in April, and a world record price of 57,000 paid for a John Shinnors painting at O'Connors Art Auction in September.

Indeed, Garret O'Connor is expecting his next auction, which will take place in the Radisson in Stillorgan on November 13, to match these sorts of results.

"We have a William Leech painting (entitled "'The Lake (Grey) Regent's Park") which we expect will achieve a high price, and we have some le Brocquys which should do well following the results from London, " he said. "In fact, we have a good collection of heavyweights which we feel are available at reasonable prices, from about 20,000 to about 80,000."

Of course, it is impossible to tell how the paintings will actually sell at auction, but O'Connor is confident in the works which his auction house will display.

"I feel that Neil Shawcross is set to explode in terms of value, and, in fact, we have a number of Northern Irish artists who could be set to achieve very high prices. We have seen a lot of interest in our auctions, and our numbers attending are rising with every auction which we host."

Viewings for Garrett O'Connor's next auction will take place at the Radisson in Stillorgan from Friday, November 10 until 2.00 pm on the day of the Auction.