WHAT a year it has been: with galleries opening and closing, exhibitions of international importance and record-breaking art sales, 2006 was an eventful year for visual art in Ireland.

It kicked off with the extension of the immensely popular Albrecht Durer exhibition at the Chester Beatty Library . . . without a doubt one of the highlights of the year (even though it actually opened in November 2005). It featured more than 120 prints, which is about one third of Durer's entire graphic works. They're usually kept in storage, so it was the first opportunity to see them together in more than 20 years. If you missed it, you should be kicking yourself.

One of the biggest events of 2006 was the reopening of Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane. After a long period of closure, it finally unveiled its impressive 13m extension in May. Designed by Gilroy McMahon, it is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the limited space offered by the site and the need to integrate with the existing Georgian architecture. With 13 new exhibition spaces and 2,000sq m of extra floor space, the gallery has now doubled in size, giving it new scope for temporary exhibitions and more space to display its permanent collection.

The year was also a time for the celebration of the achievements of Louis Le Brocquy, who is widely considered to be Ireland's greatest living painter. To mark his 90th birthday in November, a plethora of exhibitions took place throughout the year, here and abroad.

These included an exhibition at the Hunt Museum in Limerick, which threw new light on his lesser-known allegorical works; an overview of his achievements at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma); and an exhibition of portrait heads at the National Gallery of Ireland. And it's not over yet . . . the Hugh Lane Gallery will host an exhibition of his latest works in February 2007.

Also being celebrated was Samuel Beckett, with a major festival taking place in April to mark the centenary of his birth. It featured an impressive and farreaching visual art strand:

an exhibition at the Royal Hibernian Academy focused on his influence on two giants of 20th-century art . . . Philip Guston and Bruce Nauman . . . while US artist Jenny Holzer projected one of her famous textual displays onto public buildings around Dublin. There was also an exhibition of John Minihan's iconic Beckett photographs at the National Photographic Archive, as well as a major exhibition at the National Gallery which explored Beckett's own fascination with art.

Imma started off the year on a strong note with a retrospective of acclaimed British painter Howard Hodgkin. Later in the year, it hosted a survey of the work of sculptor Barry Flanagan. He is best known for his bronze hares and, thanks to the Hugh Lane Gallery, 10 of these graced Dublin's O'Connell Street over the summer, much to the amusement, delight and occasional ire of Dubliners.

Imma followed this with yet another impressive retrospective . . . this time of the internationally known Dublin-born artist Michael Craig-Martin.

It's a shame, though, that it had to be cut short: the gallery has been forced to close most of its exhibition spaces until further notice due to essential maintenance, ending a good year on a damp squib.

It was a memorable year for regional arts centres: the Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo scored quite a coup with an exhibition of work by punk musician Patti Smith; Lismore Castle in Co Waterford featured new site-specific work by world-renowned artist Richard Long; the Butler Gallery had a noteworthy solo show by Louise Bourgeois; and Draiocht in Blanchardstown is currently exhibiting a series of Matisse prints. Likewise, the visual arts section of Galway Arts Festival was particularly strong, with an impressive showcase of paintings by Hughie O'Donoghue and a wonderful exhibition by modernist master Josef Albers.

Art issues also had a habit of hitting the headlines. The year began with the sudden, shock closure of the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast. Then, after much delay and campaigning, the droit de suite, or artists' resale right, was finally signed into law in June. And who could forget the proposal to relocate the National College of Art and Design to Belfield campus? The idea was eventually quashed, to the relief of just about everyone.

But an overview of 2006 wouldn't be complete without some mention of those record-breaking, headline-grabbing auction sales: a Klimt selling for $135m, a Pollock fetching $140m and, here in Ireland, a recent Adam's Irish art sale that came to a record 5.9m in total. With all this, it makes you wonder . . . whatever is in store for 2007?