THE entire contents from the former Central Bank buildings on Dublin's Dame Street are to be auctioned in one of the biggest sales in the history of the Irish state.
Almost 5,000 items including desks, chairs and boardroom furniture were left when staff moved into new premises.
Original furniture specially designed by Central Bank architect Sam Stephenson will be among a massive range which took 25 articulated lorries to clear from the recently-vacated four-building complex.
Antiques and modern-day furniture expert Niall Mullen bought the contents and they will be auctioned in The Heritage Resort, Portarlington, on May 30.
He said: "All of the boardroom furniture, desks, chairs and ancillary items were left on site along with all the catering and restaurant furniture.
"The bank went through all the procedures in order to maximise the return to the state of the contents, but there was no-one willing to take the good, the bad and the ugly in one lot.
"I was asked to tender for the contents of the Central Bank lock, stock and barrel. I did and my tender was accepted."
Mr Mullen previously sold the contents of both the Morrison and Berkeley Court hotels.
"After working solidly for 24 days to extract the contents, I am confident that this will be one of the most interesting modern-day sales that Ireland has seen.
"It has been the biggest logistical challenge of my life. We extracted around 5,000 items over the last four weeks, filling 20 40ft containers."
Mr Mullen said there was spectacular boardroom furniture from the seventh floor of the vacated building made by top Irish furniture designers Klimmek, side tables, marble-topped sideboards and high-end executive chairs.
"We also have all the other furniture from throughout the building with desks and side tables in cherry, oak and maple as well as office chairs, computer monitors and keyboards, a fantastic array of potted plants and restaurant and kitchen contents."
